How to Utilize Surveys

In the previous article in this series (How Not To Fall Off A Cliff: Surveys In Today’s World), we covered two correct application of the concepts as laid out in L. RON HUBBARD’S ARTICLE OF 2 SEPTEMBER 1979, SURVEYS ARE THE KEY TO STATS. “To find out what people want or will accept or believe, one does SURVEYS.”

We covered Coca-Cola’s multimillion dollar research project to find out the public perceptions of Princess Diana in order to get their brand as well-regarded as the People’s Princess. By surveying to find out what made Princess Diana so popular despite the fact that she was vilified by the media for over a decade, Coca-Cola Chief Marketing Officer Sergio Zyman decided to partner with charities and make a difference in the world, thus increasing positive recognition of the brand.

We also covered how popular grocery store Trader Joe’s has managed to rake in an annual revenue of over $9 billion partly due to carefully surveying everything in their stock of about 4,000 items. Trader Joe’s success story is simple – finding out what the public wants via survey, then filling that want by providing the right items.

In this article, we will show you how you can apply the data covered in SURVEYS ARE THE KEY TO STATS. In this reference, L. Ron Hubbard states:

“To find out what people want or will accept or believe, one does SURVEYS.”

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The first step in any marketing campaign should be to conduct a survey to find out what messages your target demographic will respond to in order to ensure your product or service will be well received. Through understanding the needs and wants of your public, you can then craft your marketing campaign based off of certainty, rather than guesswork, thus making it more efficient.

“Promo done without survey, magazine ads without survey, fliers without survey, you are going it blind.

“It’s pathetic to realize that you might be within an eighth of an inch of the right offering without making it. Sort of like digging two feet away from the gold vein and getting an empty hole when you could have a million-dollar mine.

“Working without surveys you could spend thousands a month on promotion and lose it all.”

Even if you feel you know your public like the back of your hand, conducting a survey is still vital, for one could “almost” hit a button and end up wasting money on an ultimately ineffective marketing campaign. Furthermore, public tastes are prone to change. A message that worked even a year ago might no longer be effective as public opinion can be as fickle as the wind.

“Or working WITH surveys, you could spend hundreds on promotion and make hundreds of thousands.”

First, figure out what is the target market you want to conduct your survey on. A target market is defined as a particular group of people that have certain characteristics or similar qualities. By isolating which group you are trying to reach, you can tailor your campaign to hit that demographic you are trying to attract, thus making it more effective. Then determine what are the characteristics of this target market based off of your observation and any data you have.

Establish the questions by deciding what you want to find out from this target market. Be specific in what you are trying to discover. What do you need to know in order to launch your marketing campaign? If you were to get this data, how do you foresee this data benefiting you or your company?

Ask targeted questions of your public designed to find out the “why” of your customer behavior.  Survey Monkey is a very popular free online survey provider that can be an effective way to distribute your survey to your target market.

In addition to finding out what values are important to your public, also find out how they like to be communicated to, what medium would be the most effective way to reach them.

Be interested in what your public has to say, and remember, people love talking about their opinions!

“It all depends on knowing how to do surveys, doing them, really tabulating the results and USING what you find.”

As Mr. Hubbard points out, it is not enough to do a survey for the sake of doing a survey. Once the buttons are found, be sure to incorporate them into your marketing copy. Information is only valuable if it is used!

If you put together your marketing campaign based off of what your target market needs and wants per the survey data, your target market will feel like you understand them – because you do.

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