analysis (where visitors come from and where they go), see Book 9, Chapter 6.
FIGURE 3-2: Quantcast estimates topics that interest users of Goodreads.
By using Quantcast in this way, you can obtain public information about visits to specific social media services or to your competitors’ or other related businesses’ websites. You can also use these services to profile your own business, although your website might be too small to provide more than rough estimates. If your business is too small, estimate the interest profile for your target market by running Quantcast for a verified, large corporation that offers a similar product or service.
www.quantcast.com/user/signup. Alexa’s paid options include Certified Site Metrics, if you want an independent, direct measurement of your site traffic and a more accurate site ranking. To get certified, you’ll need to sign up for one of the paid options and install Alexa’s Certify Code on your site. You can choose whether or not to display your results to the public.
Otherwise, consider polling your customers to find out more about their specific interests.
You can also use Google Trends (www.google.com/trends/explore#cmpt=q) to search by the interest categories shown in Table 3-3. Click All Categories at the top of the page to open a drop-down list. Google Trends uses real-time search data to estimate customer interest in various topics over time. You can select specific keywords, time periods, or locations for additional detail.
TABLE 3-3 Main Categories Available on Google Trends
| Arts & Entertainment | Autos & Vehicles | Beauty & Fitness |
|---|---|---|
| Books & Literature | Business & Industrial | Computers & Electronics |
| Finance | Food & Drink | Games |
| Health | Hobbies & Leisure | Home & Garden |
| Internet & Telecom | Jobs & Education | Law & Government |
| News | Online Communities | People & Society |
| Pets & Animals | Real Estate | Reference |
| Science | Shopping | Sports |
| Travel |
Researching B2B Markets
Market research and social media choices for business-to-business (B2B) markets are somewhat different from business-to-consumer (B2C) markets because the sales cycle is different. Usually, B2B companies have a longer sales cycle, high-ticket purchases, and multiple people who play a role in closing a sale; consequently, B2B marketing requires a different social media presence.
In terms of social media, more B2B marketing efforts focus on branding, top-of-mind visibility, customer support, customer loyalty, and problem-solving compared to more sales-focused messages from B2C companies.
www.lifewire.com/business-social-networks-3486557 may help you research people on your B2B customer or prospect lists.
According to research by the Content Marketing Institute, more than 95 percent of all B2B marketers use some form of social media content (https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2020_B2B_Research_Final.pdf). As shown in Figure 3-3, B2B firms may emphasize different forms of social media than B2C businesses. In many cases, the choice of social media varies by company size, industry type, experience with social media, and the availability of budgetary and human resources.
Adapted from Social Media Examiner “2020 Social Media Marketing Industry Report”
FIGURE 3-3: B2C (orange rows) and B2B (blue rows) businesses often utilize different social media channels.
For more information on using social media for B2B marketing, visit one of these links:
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-statistics
www.oberlo.com/blog/social-media-marketing-statistics
www.socialmediaexaminer.com/report
HubSpot (www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics) also offers a range of B2B market research tools, with additional webinars at https://library.hubspot.com/webinar.
As always, the key is ensuring that your customers are using the type of social media you’re considering. Use the search feature and group options on major social-networking sites to test your list of existing customers. Chances are good that if a large number of your existing customers are using that service, it will be a good source for future customers as well.
In addition to participating in general market research, you might want to try SimilarSites (www.similarsites.com),
