Too Much Market Research Is Hurting Your Content: Do This Instead

How reliant are you on Market Research to inform your content? We hear it all the time- in fact, I feel like I’ve said it a time or two. Market Research helps you figure out what your clients want from you, and helps you understand their expectations…but is this really a good thing?

In case this is your first time tuning in, let me introduce myself. Reporting from my laundry office in small-town Illinois, this is Virginia Kerr. And I’m here to help you stand out and make money by leveraging and up-leveling your social media videos. I’ve been in the TV and video industry for more than 20 years. Four TV newsrooms, hundreds of videos, blogs, and podcasts later, I’m here to share what I’ve learned with women ready to get the most out of their hard work. 

Does video intimidate you? Make you want to hide? I’m excited to help you push through your limiting beliefs and show you that you can shine on video! I’m closing the gap by teaching you easy systems and sharing templates that help your videos get in front of your ideal clients. 

Welcome to This is Virginia Kerr, The Podcast! Let’s get started!

Too Much of a Good Thing

Of course, it’s always necessary to engage with your audience and to know what they expect and want while working with you. To that degree, to show that you are competent and understand their needs, it’s expected that at least some of your content will showcase just that. 

Here’s the problem though; if all your content merely shows your clients what they want, where’s the growth in that? You’re not challenging their development with solutions they don’t know about (yet) nor are you growing your account. This is because market research is available to everyone, so it stands to reason that it will help you create content just like every other competitor out there. 

Market research also fails to take into account the basics of what is often required to get started. Things your clients don’t think to ask, are oftentimes things you take for granted as something everyone knows. Sometimes you have to get back to basics even if it feels redundant.

Remember You’re the Expert

If you spend all your time answering the same questions as everyone else you’re going to run into a couple of problems. First of all, you’re going to blend in with every other person out there who has a similar offer. What sets you apart is how you’re different, and the different strategies you use to make your content pop.

You’re also failing to establish yourself as an authority figure in your industry. Remember that YOU are the expert. If all you do is showcase the same information as everyone else, it doesn’t look like you believe in your own opinions and expertise, so why should your audience?

Lastly, if you base all your information on market research, you’re essentially letting your audience dictate your content. This means you’re only giving them what they want; the problem is, do they really know what they want? If they had your level of knowledge on the subject, would they even be searching for offers like yours in the first place?

As an expert it’s your job to give your audience what they want to a degree, balanced with what you know they need. This will make them curious about working with you, and it will also show them that you have been where they are. Sharing your unique journey suggests you know things they don’t (yet) and now have answers for questions they didn’t even think to ask. 

Relate to Your Audience: The Bottomline

To truly set yourself apart, you have to connect with your audience. This looks like challenging them when necessary, calling them out on mistakes/sharing when you also made mistakes and using relevant stories to show them that there’s a real human on the other side of your offer. A human being who has been where they are, and wants to inform and assist so maybe they can get to where you are now without all the heartache you had to go through. This relatability goes so much further than any market research ever could. 

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For more information about the podcast, or to learn more about This is Video School, visit my website. I would love to connect with you more on social media! You can find me on Instagram or join my free Facebook community, This is Video and Content Strategy, to help you level up your branding, messaging and video so you can grow your audience and convert followers into customers.

I look forward to seeing you there!