Times change, trends change, even habits and lifestyles change. In the past, this change was slow, but since the 19th-century progress has rocketed beyond recognition. Today people are not only accustomed to being online, they demand it of their brands. They want more personalization, they want more engagement, they want to feel like their voice and their opinions matter.

With the power of the Internet, they do.

Businesses cannot ignore their customers, and you cannot categorize them into demographics, because people are so much more than that. You need to understand them, engage with them, and follow this guide so that you can improve your business for future success.

Set Up Engaging Social Media Profiles

There are plenty of social media platforms out there, and to be a success you need to know what your demographic uses. If you sell to users who are mainly on Twitter, then putting a lot of time and effort into Pinterest will be a waste of time. Be active on the platforms that your customers are on, share posts, updates, sales, and special information specifically for your followers. Then you will want to comment, engage, and even share the user-generated content others have made with your products. Done right your social media persona can influence users’ perception of your brand, and allow you to create the right image and succeed as a result.

Have an Easy Review (and Reward) System

You want your users to review your services or products, but not many people will review if they are happy with the service they have received, and often only resort to this method if they have had a bad experience. To avoid this, you will want to add in a reward system for reviewing. A 10% discount on their next purchase for reviewing their experience can help boost repeat sales and give new customers real reviews to read.

Conduct Qualitative Market Research

Qualitative market research is how you put the person in front of the data. After all, having all the numbers in the world will mean nothing if you cannot put human reasoning and the human experience next to it.

There are many different ways you can conduct this market research as well, and limiting yourself to one or two methods will only hurt your company in the long run. For one thing, if you go in with too specific a question, you might only get the answer you are looking for, instead of gaining key insight into a problem you never considered before. You can obtain this extra insight by really getting to know your demographic. Video research, for example, can help you not just get the answers you are looking for, but to also put a face to your demographic. You don’t even need to conduct these video interviews yourself, and can instead outsource this task to professionals like those at voxpopme.com.

How to Implement this Data for Future Success

Staying in touch and engaging with your customers on these platforms will help you improve customer service, but it will also give you vital qualitative data that you can use to improve your company. If reviews contain an anecdote, you can keep that in mind and ensure you help other customers similarly. Make note of what people are saying, not just whether or not they are positive, and you can make the changes that will help your company succeed.