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How Would You Conduct Market Research For A Client's Site?

by Sinistar
12 replies
A client wants me to look over their site and determine how to market their B2C service, where to market, and how to scale their business.

How does one begin to do something like this and is there a template I can follow to write up this marketing analysis (if that's what it's called)?

I already have a sense of their demographic and have ideas on how to market the site but how do I tackle the scaling aspect of the plan? I have no idea what to write here.
#client #conduct #market #research #site
  • Profile picture of the author Justin Says
    I know they say to focus on getting clients, but if you don't already have an idea of how to lay everything out for them then you really need to focus more on that before you get leads.

    But of course in order for you to learn, ya gotta ask questions so kudos to that.

    My marketing plan is much different.. I don't setup nice booklets, don't waste my time on BS reports, and don't set a specific marketing plan until I get a REAL idea of what they want.

    Many times you might end of wasting time on something and finding out that they are stubborn. See what marketing strategies they have already used first and see if you can build off of those.

    I'm usually very casual with clients and straight forward as well.

    If in the event they do say "I'm not comfortable with that" and I know it's going to help them... I'll be flat out and say YOU HAVE TO DO THIS. I'm not screwing them over or tricking them into money, it's just what they need to do.

    For example if it's a local business. I've had local businesses actually tell me that they don't want to be listed in Google or Places...

    If that situation comes up I give them an example of another business I have worked for or know of that uses Google or Places for most of their traffic. If they are super stubborn about it I usually either tell them to find someone else or ask them to take this one chance for me to prove to them it's worthwhile.

    A marketing plan is going to have a lot of twists so make sure to talk with the client first, really understand their business model, and see where they are already marketing. If they aren't marketing on the internet, tell them that you'll get them more leads from the internet. If they aren't marketing outside of the internet, tell them you'll get them more leads offline.

    And if you don't know how to do any of that.. think about learning before jumping the gun. You really don't want to hurt your reputation before you've even started, especially when offering a service to someone

    Let me know if you have any questions about what I said above, I was really just rambling to give you some ideas.
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    My name is Justin Lewis. My digital marketing company has been in business for over 10 years with multiple six-figure years. We do provide a premium web design service.

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  • Profile picture of the author jeffsolochek
    Originally Posted by Sinistar View Post

    A client wants me to look over their site and determine how to market their service, where to market, and how to scale their business.

    How does one begin to do something like this and is there a template I can follow to write up this marketing analysis (if that's what it's called)?

    I already have a sense of their demographic and have ideas on how to market the site but how do I tackle the scaling aspect of the plan? I have no idea what to write here.
    What would be the main keywords for their business model? Then take those keywords and see how they rank on sites like Google, Youtube and Facebook.
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    Jeff Solochek
    http://www.jeffreysolochek.com/blog
    http://www.networkcelebrity.com

    I also build blogs for companies and individuals

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  • Profile picture of the author Justin Says
    One of my favorite tactics is by using Google Trends and seeing when their market is searching. If they own a pizza shop, type "Pizza Shop" in Google Trends and or "Pizza place", "Pizza Parlor", "Pizza stores", or just plain old "Pizza" to see when those terms are being searched the most and you'll have some really great insight to share with them on what they need to marketing towards.

    To go even further...

    Let's just say for this example it's January and pizza is searched more online in March, you need to tell them that your objective will be getting them even more leads by March, when searches for pizza are at their prime. If you can't reach that deadline then consider other strategies but be honest. Otherwise some other marketer will come along and take them from you if you're BSing them to keep them as clients.
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    My name is Justin Lewis. My digital marketing company has been in business for over 10 years with multiple six-figure years. We do provide a premium web design service.

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  • Profile picture of the author KenJ
    If the business is a local business to a particular city, then geographical keywords can be very powerful. Do instead of trying to rank for 'Home insurance', you would try to rank for 'Springfield Home Insurance'

    KenJ
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  • Profile picture of the author DubDubDubDot
    Originally Posted by Sinistar View Post

    I have no idea what to write here.
    What they are asking for requires years of personal experience in the field.

    The very most you are going to get out of this thread is the ability to BS the company just long enough to get some money before they figure out that you don't know anything. This is a potential problem if you have an existing relationship with them that could be strained.
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    • Profile picture of the author Sinistar
      Originally Posted by DubDubDubDot View Post

      What they are asking for requires years of personal experience in the field.

      The very most you are going to get out of this thread is the ability to BS the company just long enough to get some money before they figure out that you don't know anything. This is a potential problem if you have an existing relationship with them that could be strained.
      Well, they already know I don't have experience in their industry (BTW, this is the real estate niche where they market to customers on a national scale). However, they need someone to put together a marketing plan for them and manage things, and scale their marketing efforts from there.

      I'm really not sure what more I can tell them other than to start with a search campaign. Since they haven't even tried to do this yet, it makes sense to try this first since search is the most used and usually successful channel to market someone's business.

      And as for scaling, "Uh...well sir, when we see what KWDs are converting after our initial test, we increase spend on those KWDs while keeping us profitable and build out more ad groups with related KWDs." I mean, is there much more to it than that?
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      • Profile picture of the author Justin Says
        Originally Posted by Sinistar View Post

        Well, they already know I don't have experience in their industry (BTW, this is the real estate niche where they market to customers on a national scale). However, they need someone to put together a marketing plan for them and manage things, and scale their marketing efforts from there.

        I'm really not sure what more I can tell them other than to start with a search campaign. Since they haven't even tried to do this yet, it makes sense to try this first since search is the most used and usually successful channel to market someone's business.

        And as for scaling, "Uh...well sir, when we see what KWDs are converting after our initial test, we increase spend on those KWDs while keeping us profitable and build out more ad groups with related KWDs." I mean, is there much more to it than that?
        Do you have any marketing experience in general? It doesn't sound like you have experience in the marketing industry as a whole.

        I don't personally know you or what you have experience in, but this is just me responding to the fact that you don't know what to tell them..

        I think if anything you should either hand the project off and follow what that person does (for your own knowledge gain) or tell them straight up that you don't have a specific business plan and you need time to come up with one that YOU know how to follow through with.

        You don't want to share something with them and find out that you can't handle it, it'll be way worse for you once they realize you're "BSing" as someone said.
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        My name is Justin Lewis. My digital marketing company has been in business for over 10 years with multiple six-figure years. We do provide a premium web design service.

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        • Profile picture of the author Sinistar
          Originally Posted by Justin Says View Post

          Do you have any marketing experience in general? It doesn't sound like you have experience in the marketing industry as a whole.
          I have 5 years of experience in internet marketing...but 0 in real estate.
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          • Profile picture of the author Justin Says
            Originally Posted by Sinistar View Post

            I have 5 years of experience in internet marketing...but 0 in real estate.
            You don't specifically need experience in the real estate industry to know how to market it. I'm in real estate as well and have had many previous real estate companies come to me, but if you have 5 years of experience you should at least have some idea of how to setup a plan for their business, even if it's just starting out with something simple.

            Don't do anything too complex until you have at least a basic idea of how to market their company.

            I'm not trying to get at you, it's just your original post said nothing about real estate.

            The scaling aspect needs to be something that grows from your communication with them and your skills as a marketer.
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            My name is Justin Lewis. My digital marketing company has been in business for over 10 years with multiple six-figure years. We do provide a premium web design service.

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  • Profile picture of the author Fernando Veloso
    OP, if you don't know what you're doing, don't do it.

    That or get knowledge on WHAT, WHY and HOW to do it. And that knowledge, sorry to say, unless an angel comes down for you, you won't get it in posts in WF.

    It takes a lot of experience (time... money) to detail a marketing plan for a company, especially if they work nation wide.

    Have you considered the option of partnering with someone near you?
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    People make good money selling to the rich. But the rich got rich selling to the masses.
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    • Profile picture of the author Justin Says
      Originally Posted by Fernando Veloso View Post

      OP, if you don't know what you're doing, don't do it.

      That or get knowledge on WHAT, WHY and HOW to do it. And that knowledge, sorry to say, unless an angel comes down for you, you won't get it in posts in WF.

      It takes a lot of experience (time... money) to detail a marketing plan for a company, especially if they work nation wide.

      Have you considered the option of partnering with someone near you?
      I'd like to also toss on that you could also outsource to someone or hand the project off to someone else for a % of the profit.
      Signature

      My name is Justin Lewis. My digital marketing company has been in business for over 10 years with multiple six-figure years. We do provide a premium web design service.

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    • Profile picture of the author Sinistar
      Originally Posted by Fernando Veloso View Post

      It takes a lot of experience (time... money) to detail a marketing plan for a company, especially if they work nation wide.
      Well this was my thought too. And yet they think I'm going to just crank out a 1 page analysis for them in 2 days (for free!) without even really knowing the industry, their company, etc.

      I think it's crazy that a company would even ask this of a marketer just to see if they want to work with you.
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