Let’s talk about market research – as unglamorous as wearing yesterday’s pyjamas to the grocer’s. Why must we do it? Because deeply understanding your audience is the difference between messaging that converts and messaging that elicits a deafening silence.

If you’re winging it without research, you’re probably spending a lot of time and energy – maybe cash as well – into the marketing abyss. However, there is a way forward, a solution to offers, messaging, ad campaigns and more created with the confidence that your audience will buy what you sell.

In other words, market research gives you the language that will turn strangers into clients.

Market research – a.k.a deep listening – is how you write content that has people say “I feel like you’re inside my head, this is exactly what I need.”

Why Market Research Matters (and you skip it at your peril)

In business your ultimate metric for success is profit to the bottom line, but they don’t tell you WHY people buy. Market research uncovers the nuances, fills in the blanks – when YOU understand your potential buyers desires, priorities and frustrations, you can find more people like them who are in your audience today.

Not the dream audience you’re building or wish you had, but the people whose attention you already have. 

It does come with a catch; professional researchers know that what people say they will do is often different to what they actually do. So we do have to take all findings with at least a grain of salt. Nevertheless, you will discover the most powerful language and insights through the process and gives you the best chance of predicting behaviour in unpredictable systems.

How to Ask the Audience Oracle (Without Losing Your Sanity)

1. Competitor Analysis
Start with the obvious: check out the competition. (“Comparison is the thief of joy”, so tread carefully). 

Look at what they’re selling, the promises they make, and the language they use. If you find several purveyors selling the same specific service, you can safely bet there is demand for it – your task is to identify how you can attain the same outcome for people in a different way – and do it better.

Hot tip: Record voice notes to simulate an ideal client’s frustration, like, “I can’t handle these hot flashes anymore!” Then wait. Ads targeting that particular challenge will soon pop up, giving you insights into what your competitors are selling.

2. Social Media Listening
Scroll as a creator, not a consumer. What ads pop up? What topics are being discussed in groups you belong to? What questions do you see people asking? Respond where appropriate, and make notes of the language people use when describing a situation you can help with.

3. The Win-Win Call
Here’s a simple, genius tactic: invite an engaged follower for a 20-minute “win-win” call. Tell them you have nothing to sell but would love to hear about their challenges and desires. Sweeten the deal with a gift card, and really listen. Their insights can guide your messaging, offers, and promotions. 

Be sure to capture any specific language or turns of phrase, so you can use them in your content. Bonus: sometimes they’ll ask about working with you, too.

4. Insight Through the Veil – Divination, Dreams & Embodiment Work
🦊 Divination: Use tarot, the iChing or other divination system to ask for insight, for example a spread showing their journey to discover you, or specific questions such as What does my audience truly need?

🦊 Dream Scrying: If you’re confused by lots of potential messages and not sure which is the most important, ask for clarity through your dreams. Keep a notebook and record the insights that surface. The subconscious is a powerful tool for uncovering truths you might not consciously see.

🦊 Self-Role Playing: Flex your method-acting muscle and step into your ideal client’s shoes. Role play the person on the other side of the call; what do they say about your offer? What do they need to hear to feel seen? This exercise can help refine your messaging with eerie precision.

5. DM Conversations (multiple choice)
If you’re leading sales conversations in your DMs, sometimes the conversation dries up (or never got started). Sending a message “quick research question if you have time… which aspect of YXZ is the most important to you” and then giving 3 x options with cute emojis will give you some insight if you send it to enough people, and is fun and easy to respond to (winner for new or re-igniting old conversations).

6. DM Conversations (in flow)
Sometimes you will get very, very lucky and receive a ‘brain dump’.

I do NOT recognise using this type of questions as a conversation starter, but if you’re in flow and can drop in an open ended question like;

🦊 “How does this affect your daily life?”
🦊 “What have you tried before?”
🦊 “What’s stopping you from trying XYZ?”

This type of question has the potential to open the flood gates, and their answers can shape your next offer or piece of content.

7. Ask Hot Leads to Design Their Own Solution
Identify a likely suspect in your audience, someone you know a bit about their situation but it hasn’t been the right time for them to sign as a client yet. Ask them, “Would you do me the great favour of answering a handful of research questions for me?”

🦊 “What do you really want?” (as pertains to a problem you can solve.)
🦊 “Why do you think it’s hard to have that?”
🦊 “If you could design the perfect solution, what would it look like?”

One quick exchange can spark a new offer — if one person is dreaming of it, there are others in your audience too. An off-the-cuff exchange like this can lead to an idea that sells immediately.

8. Validate Before You Build
Never, I repeat, never create a program or offer without first validating it. Ask your hottest leads: “I’m thinking of creating XYZ. Does that sound interesting to you?” If you get nothing back, it’s time to tweak the idea. If you get enthusiastic yeses, there’s your green light.

Don’t Skip the Research

Whether you’re combing through competitor ads, hopping on calls, or running polls, market research really is the secret of powerful messaging. Best of all, most of these actions can be carried out in just a few hours, identifying small (or large!) changes that can instantly transform your results.

The insights you gain today will change your business tomorrow. Start exploring, kittens, and remember: the market always leaves clues, as long as you know where to look.

~ • ~

All of this, sweet kitten, is just one possible strategy for connection-based marketing and stand-out messaging that I teach as part of DEMAND.

You should definitely look into it 👇🏻🦊 and I will see you on the other side 💋

The seed of the idea: a low-cost product

Before I ever offered a group programme, before I opened a Facebook group or ran a live event, I set up a little online store with the idea of recording and selling guided meditations. 

I had recently come across someone running this kind of subscription service, and I liked the idea. Her visuals were cute, her writing was *chef’s kiss*, and I wanted to see if I could do something similar. It was a fun and creative side hustle, and seemed like an easy place to jump in.

Once I had written a script and recorded the first file on my phone, I tinkered with some sound editing software, uploaded it to Dropbox.

I threw together a quick image and description (see archive image 😍👆🏻) and made it available to my shop, for the princely sum of £3

*dramatic pause*

Lead Gen’s secret code: quite literally 👇🏻

Then I used the shop software to create a 100% discount/coupon code and named it FRIENDS or THANKYOU or something equally heart-warming 👼🏻

^^ this was my accidental lead generation tactic. I created the code for the purpose of having a few people friends test the checkout process, but quickly saw and understood the incredible response. Here’s why it was a stroke of genius ☿ ✨

1. it came from an authentic and genuine delight and gratitude for everyone who was paying attention to my social media profiles.
2. my motivation was thank them for their encouragement, support and feedback.

So, what did I do next? I’m so glad you asked:

1. I shared my image and description – separately and together – and a few other posts announcing the existence of this thing I had made, that the making of it was a lovely experience, and that I had a discount code for anyone who would like to listen.
2. A small number of people commented to say ‘yes, please!’, and, being the polite little cherub that I am, I asked their consent to send a message/DM.
3. In the DMs I sent a link to the product page AND the discount code without specifying how much – a beautiful conversation opener with people who were interested in my work.
4. I also sent a message to just about everyone on my friends list, with words to the effect that “I made this, I love it, I want you to love it too, here’s the purchase link and you can use the code THANKYOU for a big discount”

You can probably imagine what happened next?

❤️ My friend would get a warm fuzzy feeling and click the link, see a reflection of the thing they asked for (same copy, or same image, or both) at an extremely affordable price

❤️ Whereupon they would likely add the product to their cart, and apply the coupon code out of curiosity

❤️ And be surprised and delighted to receive 100% off their purchase – emotion at the point of sale which HUGELY boosts the likelihood of them completing the check out.

Connection-Based Marketing

Now, they have a transactional relationship with my brand (they had to click a link, apply a code, complete a checkout process) and in return they got a beautiful meditation but more importantly, they experienced surprise and delight, reinforcing a positive pre-disposed towards my business. They’re actually looking forward to hearing from me again.

Hail Hermes indeed, past Anna, for that truly divine inspiration ☿☿☿

I had a method for reliably growing my list without ads, so when I was ready to launch higher ticket offer (which I did just a few months later, at approximately £120 as I recall), I had a small but growing audience of appreciative friends who were eager to see what I was up to,

Mind you, at the time the process was clunky – I was manually copy-pasting email addresses from £0 transaction shop receipts into my email list and triggering delivery of the audio file. But this was four years ago and could be executed much more cleanly and efficiently these days. 

But it’s worth noting, that it was the very messiness itself, that prompted me to quickly discover the power of automation in my business; even as a very beginner baby business, was very quickly apparent that rapid growth can consume a great of time. I was motivated to find a better way – which became a guiding principle that has grown my business ever since.

Should everyone try The Surprise & Delight Strategy?

If it’s easy for you to set up the back end, why not? And, whether you do or don’t try out this specific transaction, spend some time contemplating how you can introduce elements of surprise and delight to your marketing, and to your message as well. I’d love to hear your reflections on this, please join me on Facebook if you use it.

All of this, sweet kitten, is just one possible strategy for connection-based marketing that I teach as part of The Demand Shift.

You should definitely look into it 👇🏻🦊 and I will see you on the other side 💋