Statistics Will Only Take You So Far
Written by Alice Seba · Print This Article
I don’t know if it’s a human being’s desire for having things in a neat box, to have it on paper (if it’s written down, it must be true) or what. Or perhaps it’s just the traditional business approach of using general statistic data, using focus groups and conducting surveys. People seem to want numbers and “facts” from outside sources to prove that what they’re doing is right.
Problem is, if you’re only relying on statistics (that aren’t generated from your own customer data) to reach your target market, you’re making things much more complicated than they need to be. And even worse, you might be entirely missing your mark.
Focus Group? Your Focus Group is THE Internet
I remember a while back when I still owned internetmarketingsweetie.com, I had a woman ask me about how the “sweetie” thing came about. As you may know, that site has an audience of fiercely loyal and passionate followers. In other words, it’s a success. Anyway, this woman didn’t quite relate to the sweetie thing herself (not everyone does and that’s OKAY), so she asked me if I ran a focus group to see if it was a good approach.
Huh? Why would I get 12 people in a room and ask them if they like something, when I can inexpensively set up a website and use the Internet as my testing ground…or focus group, if you will?
If you want to know if something will really work, set up an inexpensive website, drive traffic, build a list and see the response.
Available Target Market Statistics Only Tell Part of the Story
There are services out there where you can gather statistics about general target markets. Quancast is one such service a customer mentioned during my recent Target Market & USP Clinic. According to the Quancast website…
…Quantcast engages all 220 million U.S. Internet users, providing detailed audience profiles for the advertising marketplace to learn more about what consumers are doing online. We also provide advertisers with a new way to evaluate their individual customer profiles against the entire U.S. Internet population, so they can identify prospective customers numbering in the millions, even tens of millions.
While I don’t dispute the value in this service as a starting point, it is likely only going to give you information that is a just the beginning for your business. We’re small business owners and that generally means:
- We target very specific niches.
- We get our market share by differentiate ourselves from the rest of the providers out there.
That last one is really key. On the Internet, we can use our personalities and unique perspectives to reach a specific and highly-passionate segment of a target market. This often means the demographic and psychographic information of our markets will be different from everyone else’s.
For example, if you sell products related to crafting, you might be able to gather data about customers who purchase crafting products. But if you’re targeting homeschoolers specifically or parents with special needs children, you have the opportunity to get a whole new perspective on your market that general statistical data won’t provide.
Again, the Internet is your playground when it comes to gaining intelligence on your specific target market. Listen to your market – read their blogs, read and respond to their comments, look at communities and groups they participate in. Just by paying attention, you’re going to get very valuable insight into your market. This isn’t always quantifiable, but it is most definitely observable and allows you to speak to your audience in a way that is meaningful to them.
Surveys – Say vs. Do
Many people attempt to survey they target market to find the data that they need. While this can help you gather important information, it’s not as valuable as watching and keeping your pulse on what your customers actually do. When people complete surveys, they often answer in a way that they think is desirable, but what they would actually do in a given situation might be completely different.
For example, you can ask your target market about how much they would pay for a product.
OR…
You can run split testing to discover the ideal price of your product based on customer ACTIONS.
In the second instance, you’re giving your customers the opportunity to actually show you what they’re willing to pay. In short, it’s much more valuable data.
Your Own Statistics + Impressions = The Key to Tight Connections with Your Target
It may be tough to operate in a world that is untangible, but I’m not talking about winging it here. I think available statistics provide a good starting point, but it’s your responsibility to gather and work from your own data (your customer information, split testing etc.) and yes, even work from impressions you gather by observing and interacting with your unique target audience.
The more you know about your specific audience, the more you can speak their language. And the more you speak their language, the more likely you’ll be able to deliver them the products they’re just dying to buy.
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People who go by statistics alone haven’t got the point of “market research”. They also tend to get it mixed up with “keyword research”.
Goes back to knowing exactly who your actual visitor is. “Building a relationship” is not done without caring about and empathizing with your visitor’s goals and dreams; and for that, you have to know who they are and why they’re there.