What are the best sources and tools to find out what your audience cares about?

You can learn a lot about what people care about on social media. In particular, I find Instagram and LinkedIn the most helpful because you've got two different demos on each with some overlap. Where I like to look is at publications and their posts. Not the posts themselves per se but in the comments. What are people saying? Are you seeing the same questions, concerns, or statements over and over again on a topic? Is it clear that the comments aren't generated by bots? If not, I would say that's a pretty good litmus test to get an idea of what people care about and how they feel about different iterations of the same idea.

Social media platforms are goldmines for understanding what your audience cares about. - Monitor trending topics and hashtags related to your industry. - Engage with followers through comments and direct messages to gather insights. - Use tools like Hootsuite or Sprout Social to track audience engagement and sentiment.

A plethora of tools and sources can help you tap into their desires. 1. Social Media Analytics: Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter offer invaluable insights. Track engagement metrics, popular hashtags, and trending topics to gauge audience sentiment. 2. Online Forums and Communities: Reddit, Quora, and niche forums are treasure troves of information. Join discussions, observe conversations, and identify recurring themes to understand your audience's pain points and aspirations. 3. Keyword Research Tools: Tools like Google Keyword Planner and SEMrush can reveal the most searched terms related to your niche. Analyze search volume, competition, and related keywords to tailor your content accordingly.

To find out what your audience cares about, use these sources and tools: 1. Surveys: Collect feedback using Google Forms or SurveyMonkey. 2. Social Media Analytics: Analyze engagement on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. 3. Customer Feedback: Gather insights from reviews and testimonials. 4. Website Analytics: Use Google Analytics to track visitor behavior and popular content. 5. Industry Reports: Review reports from Statista or Pew Research for market trends. 6. Competitor Analysis: Examine competitors’ strategies and audience interactions. 7. Online Forums: Explore discussions on platforms like Reddit or Quora. 8. Email Marketing Metrics: Analyze engagement from your email campaigns.

Conoce a tu audiencia. Desarrolla una narrativa poderosa. Comparte los valores de tu marca. Asegura una comunicación auténtica. Crea experiencias memorables. Demuestra empatía. Comparte historias de tus clientes. Crea contenido emocionalmente resonante.

Direct feedback from your audience is invaluable for uncovering their true interests and concerns. - Create and distribute online surveys using tools like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms. - Conduct one-on-one interviews to dive deeper into individual perspectives. - Analyze responses to identify common themes and priorities.

Balancing surveys and interviews with spontaneity requires structured questions and open-ended ones. Gather valuable data through consistent methods, but allow space for organic dialogue to uncover deeper insights, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of your audience.

Be meticulous when leveraging surveys. The most important aspect is getting responses from your target audience. Gleaning results from people who fall out of scope of that audience may skew your understanding of the group being observed. One way to do this is by ensuring to include qualifier questions. Likewise be sure not to make your title or description leading in such a way that responders seek to provide you what they deem the 'right' answer rather than the candid and honest one.

Reviews and testimonials provide honest feedback about your audience's values and expectations. - Read reviews on platforms like Yelp, Google Reviews, and Amazon. - Analyze testimonials on your website or social media pages. - Look for patterns in feedback to understand strengths and areas for improvement.

Balancing blogs and podcasts with spontaneity involves regularly consuming content your audience follows while staying open to new, relevant sources. Engage with diverse perspectives and incorporate fresh insights into your understanding, keeping your approach both informed and adaptable.

Reviews and testimonials provide honest feedback about your audience's values and expectations. - Read reviews on platforms like Yelp, Google Reviews, and Amazon. - Analyze testimonials on your website or social media pages. - Look for patterns in feedback to understand strengths and areas for improvement.

Using reviews and testimonials effectively involves analyzing structured feedback while remaining open to impromptu insights. Regularly check for new reviews and engage with customers directly. This balance provides a comprehensive view of your audience’s concerns and praises, fostering a deeper connection.

Reviews of competing products or applications are invaluable to market research. This can be a great first place to start identifying opportunities for improvement and even market gaps. Often times reviewers will write about their expectations and why they were or were not met. If you find frequent mentions of unmet needs, this may be an opportunity to inquire about a potential market gap. Take this insight through the other suggested mediums like social media and blogs and see if the opportunity or value is reoccurring. You may have found an excellent product position or a key insight into a certain group's needs and how they are or are not being met.

Data-driven insights from analytics and SEO tools reveal what your audience is searching for and engaging with. - Use Google Analytics to track website traffic and user behavior. - Employ SEO tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to identify popular search queries and content. - Monitor metrics such as page views, bounce rates, and time on site to gauge content effectiveness.

Balancing analytics and SEO with spontaneity involves using data to identify trends and behaviors while staying flexible to new patterns. Regularly review metrics but be open to exploring unexpected insights, ensuring a well-rounded understanding of your audience’s online interactions.

Consider attending pitch competitions as an audience member to learn not only from your competition but also to see what’s resonating and not with the audience – and to hear what questions the judges (who are typically investors) ask about. This will help you prepare for your next pitch.

Balancing competitor and peer analysis with spontaneity involves studying their strategies and audience interactions while remaining adaptable to new industry trends. Regularly review their approaches, but be ready to pivot based on fresh insights, maintaining a dynamic and informed strategy.

Focus on what matters. In my recent article titled, "Winning the opportunity to pitch: Piquing startup investors’ interest by sending the right signals in executive summaries" published in Business Horizons journal we found that human capital signals have a greater positive influence on potential investors’ decisions relative to social capital, intellectual capital, and financial capital. Human capital consists of the knowledge, skills, and abilities within individuals and entrepreneurial teams bring a more diversified and skilled resource base including diversity, education, industry-specific experience, prior founding experience, as these are shown to have positive effects on performance thus should be highlighted when pitching.

Ask! If you’re not sure about stakes, worries, and triggers of your audience, ask! Keep in mind though, be prepared to pivot your pitch in a different direction if the answer is not what you expect. When questions come from genuine curiosity, your audience will always answer.

The Mission, the values and vision Page in their website are crucial to understand the Company you'd like to work with. This Infos are very important to match te exact words the person Is using to describe bis personal expirience

I've been in all kinds of situations where the intell is incorrect on the audience. Different stakeholders showed up, outdated information, etc. It happens. I do standup comedy as a hobby. There's a situation where you no NOTHING about the audience and you got to try and connect with them. And if don't know what the audience cares about - you can't tell them a joke that will make them laugh. (Respect for them comedians, please...) Whether you're in a boardroom or on a comedy stage - one of the best ways to get some updated intell is to ask them some questions. Get them talking about themselves, or what they've been up to - or better yet - where they are going (strategically, I mean...) So use the "?" wisely. The best tool you can carry