In starting or growing a business, there are a number of easy online ways to find out what consumers want and are looking for as well as ways to reach them as an audience.

SEO writing, or Search Engine Optimization writing, has become the go-to in trying to attain viewers/ customers through search platforms like Google. Outside of gaining a following, SEO can also be used to find out what your target audience wants and looks for in a product.

Social media platforms can act as a free or paid way to advertise one’s business or brand. The best way to find new customers is to insert one’s self into the culture, following similar people, being active in the community, and finding out what key terms people use to share with said community.

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Looking on Amazon and Etsy for Answers

E-commerce websites, like Amazon and Etsy, are helpful in finding out what products (and their features) consumers like. By looking at competitors, one can see what prices and aesthetics people like and purchase.

• Price ranges
• Styles and colors
• Availability
• Quality
• Consumer want

For Example: “Dotted Bullet Journals” on Etsy

This “Geology Notebook, Geologist Hardcover Journal, Rocks Dot Grid Recycled Paper Notebook, Earth Science Notepad, Geology Bullet Journal, Sage” has 5,137 reviews, which tells me that it is a high demand product. This notebook could be popular for a number of reasons: shop popularity, hard cover, recycled paper, the design, or “free shipping” plus the sale.

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Finding Tags, Hashtags, and Key Words

There are many websites where if you type in your overall subject, they can give you what tags/ hashtags people use on a daily basis or on average. Tags can be used to both search and post with – when searching the tags, like scrolling Etsy, one can see what other people are posting and what is popular. This is also a great way to find online communities and to market towards them.

Twitter Tags and Instagram Hashtags

RiteTag organizes tags/ hashtags by “now” and “over time” use as well as which ones are used more on Twitter, Instagram, or both. RiteTag, at the very bottom of each key term, creates a word map of the main subject, which can be very helpful in coming up with tags to use or even new project ideas.

Googling SEO

By typing in the beginning or a word or phrase, Google allows users to see what other people commonly look up. For example, by typing in “How to draw,” Google tells me exactly what people what to know how to draw.

If a business is looking for ways to improve their viewership or popularity, the ways listed above will help greatly relieve any stress of market research. For example, if a DIY Youtuber wanted to know what people want to know how to draw, then a rose would be a perfect first step in trying to please the audience.

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Using Social Media for Customer Input

For companies and brands who already have a small active following, that makes for a great opportunity to get to ask them yourself what they want.

The trick to attaining an active following is to ask them questions. There’s a saying in marketing school, “WIIFM” or “what’s in it for me” and this is the taught way of the mind of the consumer. With this, asking people questions answers what is in it for them: saying opinions! People love to state their opinion, share their story, be heard. For this reason, when asking questions, be sure to respond to the answers as well as listen to them.

Above is a screenshot of Sweet Loren’s Instagram page that has almost 17K followers. Customers want to see what Sweet Loren is up to because they have a delicious and wholesome business. They also post really visually pleasing photos that seldom look like advertisements, making them seem closer to a personal account than a business one.

Social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Reddit) are websites that yes, can be promoted on, but can also be used as free advertising. In creating page/ profile for a business, one can gain followers who are willing to be advertised to for free. By posting photos of awesome products, followers become more and more interested and loyal to the brand itself.