As a local newspaper, understanding your customers is crucial to the success of your business. From demographics and reading habits to feedback and complaints, gaining insight into your customer base can help you better serve their needs and grow your subscriber base. In this article, we'll explore 10 ways to learn more about your customers
1. Surveys and questionnaires: Send out surveys to your current subscribers and ask for their demographics, reading habits, and feedback on your newspaper. The Pew Center offers great advice here on writing survey questions.
2. Focus groups: Gather a group of current and potential customers to discuss their newspaper reading habits and what they look for in a local newspaper. Are you interested in best practices on focus groups? Membership puzzle discusses them here for more qualitative data collection methods.
3. Interviews: Conduct one-on-one interviews with current and potential customers to gain insights into their reading habits and what they value in a local newspaper. Don’t under estimate the power of one-on-one conversations. There's some discussion here about focus groups and individual interviews.
4. Online analytics: Use online analytics tools to track website traffic and user behavior, such as what articles are being read and for how long. Google Analytics is replacing Universal Analytics and the last day UA will be processing new hits is July 1st. More about making the switch here.
5. Social media listening: Monitor social media for mentions of your newspaper and track engagement with your content. There’s a lot of tools to investigate. Here’re just some.
6. Sales data: Analyze data on newspaper subscriptions, single-copy sales, and advertising revenue to understand your customer base. Some great data here from The Pew Center.
7. Competitor research: Research other local newspapers to understand their target audiences and what they offer. Not sure how to conduct one? A quick read can be found here.
8. Community events: Attend and participate in community events to connect with potential customers and gain insights into their interests and needs. Saving Community Journalism lists great ideas about connective via community events here.
9. Customer service interactions: Pay attention to customer feedback and complaints to gain insight into what customers want and need. This report from Medill at Northwestern talks about the importance of excellence in customer service.
10. Demographic data: Research demographic data on your local area to understand the age, income, and education level of your potential customers. Get familiar with the US census here.
There are many ways to learn more about your customers. By utilizing a combination of these methods, you can gain a comprehensive understanding of your customer base, which can help you better serve their needs and grow your subscriber base. Whether you choose to send out surveys, conduct focus groups, or analyze demographic data, remember to always keep your customers at the forefront of your business strategy. With this knowledge, you can make informed decisions that will help your local newspaper thrive.
