Market Research Secrets For AdWords: Online Conversations

Last week, we talked about using surveys to get your customers to tell you what they want (here).  However, you don't always have to ask them.  They're likely already telling you.  All you have to do is look at the online conversations they're engaging in.  In forums, social media sites, and thousands of sites around the web. 

Let's go through an example and say we have a product that helps relieve migraines.  We want how our prospects talk about their migraines so we can incorporate their language into our ads and landing pages.

The first stop is Search.Twitter.com.    Here, you can see what people are talking about on the popular social networking site, Twitter.com.  Simply enter either "headache" or "migraines" below:

Here's what appears for "Migraines:"

From these posts, we can get a pretty good picture of what it's like to have migraines.

We might then use the following copy in our ads:

• "Never wake up with a migraine again"
• "Make migraines disappear without drugs.  No more trips to the drug store."
• "Finally enjoy full 7 day weeks where you're full energy and life."

Do you see how the reader can relate to this?  You're not just making claims, but tying the claims back to his or her life.

In addition, the Twitter results are getting updated all of the time.  If a news story or new product comes-out, you're the first to knew.  You can adjust your message based on what's happening in the marketplace.

A great idea is to subscribe to the RSS feed for your keywords found in the upper right corner of the results:  

Next stop: Amazon.com.   First, just type-in your search query at the top of the page:

We then see various products:

Next, under each product you see information about reviews:  

Go-ahead and click on the number to check them out.

Here's just a sample of what appears:

Here, the comments go much deeper than on Twitter.  People tell their exact stories.  You find-out what they've tried in the past, what failed, what showed promised, and so much more.

If the product actually works, then people will tell what it's like to no longer have to worry about their problems.   In your copy, you then know exactly how to paint a picture of what it's like owning your product or service.

Next up:  Forums and message boards.    To find forums your customers are on, simply do a Google search:

The main advantage of forums is that people get very personal.  They often share their worries or problems that they may not even tell their significant others or closest friends.

More often on Amazon, people are trying to create stories designed for other people.  On forums, people tell their stories for their own self-therapy.  Their worries, problems, and desires you must address in your ads and landing pages become clear.

Finally, one more site is Answers.Yahoo.com.  Yahoo Answers is a site where people submit questions on a wide range of issues and people can then respond.  Get started simply by inputting your search query:

 

You can then see every question that's been asked about migraines:

The advantage Yahoo Answers offers is that people get very specific in their symptoms or why they're asking the question.  For a migraines product, this is useful because we can quickly see everything our customer experiences, such as how often the migraines occur, when they are occur, and other symptoms that go alongside them.

The bottom-line is that there is a wealth of information to create winning ads and positive user experiences at your finger tips.  All you have to do is spend 30 minutes to an hour every so often looking.