Guesswork is not good enough when it comes to important decision-making in business. You need a strong market research strategy to guide you in the right direction. Market research is key to making good decisions, minimizing monetary risk and improving customer experience as you grow your car wash business. Collecting data can be done in different ways and much has changed over the last ten years. Technology has advanced at lightning speed and the impact of internet on business has reshaped how we research the market.
If you are thinking about launching new products or services, figuring out pricing strategies, checking out the competition or maybe even looking to expand in a particular location, market research shines a light on your best course of action. Let’s look at new ways you can conduct market research for your car wash business:
Different Ways of Doing Market Research for Your Business
Get Feedback from YouTube Videos and User Votes
Thinking of introducing a new car wash service or product? Test the idea on your customers via video to get feedback. Create a YouTube virtual experience video that shows off the new service and add cards to create a poll. This interactive element provides you with market research. You don’t need expensive equipment to shoot a video – a smartphone will do.
What results can you expect from this market research strategy? A free video-sharing platform (e.g. YouTube, Wistia, and Vimeo) is a great place to gather data and insights from customers. Its user-friendliness (optimized for mobile) is appealing and people love visual content (over 2 billion logged-in users visit YouTube each month). Uploading a video of your latest service will give people a real sense of what it is about and let you know how they feel about it once they cast their vote.
Create Explainer Videos to Engage Target Audience
Explainer (how-to) videos are great if you are looking for fresh car wash marketing ideas. Furthermore, they provide insightful research. For example, if you are introducing a new eco-friendly car wash shampoo, create an instructional video showing how to clean car upholstery using your fabulous new product. Add a poll then analyze user votes to determine whether or not to release the new product/service.
You can also embed videos on your website to attract more votes. Add a personal touch and introduce yourself as well as the new product. Use it as an opportunity to show industry expertise. If you want to maximize the results of this market research strategy, create a video that is three minutes or less otherwise viewers will lose interest and switch off.
Make Use of Google Keyword Planner
Thinking of opening a car wash in your area or setting up another car wash in a new location? If you have a Google Ads account you can access the keyword planner. This market research strategy allows you to research keywords, such as “car wash” in a particular area. If you see a high volume of searches for a car wash, then this is a good indication that people are interested in this service locally.
Run Polls on Social Media
Polls are not new but this traditional form of market research has had a major revamp. New features and updates have helped to make car wash market research more fun and engaging. Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook all have polling platforms. Ask your followers a question about a new car wash idea or product and provide them with a set of customized answers. For example, you can add a poll to your Instagram story enhanced with stickers for fun and visual appeal. If you are active and engaging on social media, connecting with customers becomes much easier and gives an insight into what they want from your business.
Reach out on LinkedIn to Get Feedback
According to Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, “Data really powers everything we do.” Tapping into the LinkedIn community is an effective market research strategy. Making connections is key. Join groups and participate in discussions. Once you’ve established presence on the site, start a conversation and, ultimately, share a survey or a poll within discussion groups or on your company page. Research shows that LinkedIn’s growth is faster than expected with an estimated 68.8 million users by 2023.
Make More Use of Facebook’s Features for Market Research
Use Facebook as a market research tool more effectively. Have you tried Poll for Pages as a market research strategy? The official app makes it easier to publish a poll on your Facebook page. It only takes 5 minutes to create a poll and you can analyze results through dashboards and graphs. Overall, it is a quick way to grab valuable research that could help increase car wash revenue.
You should also check out Audience Insights as a market research strategy. You can get a demographics overview, which helps you to define your target market. You’ll also be able to collect data on what people like and what products they might be interested in purchasing. Learn about lifestyles, too, such as income, family size and location, which is helpful if you want to choose a location for your car wash business.
Use SMS Text Messages as a Market Research Strategy
Humans have short attention spans so keep your market research strategy short and to the point. SMS text messages are a quick way to get valuable feedback when you are looking to improve your car wash business by adding extra services, such as mobile detailing. Compose a simple question and press send. For example, how likely are you to use a mobile car wash service? SMS are also good for “satisfaction” surveys (e.g. how would you rate our car wash service?) when you want feedback on business performance. SMS open rates are about 98%, which is three times higher than email.
Make Market Research Smartphone-Friendly
We know from observing digital marketing trends that people are never far from their phones. One way to conduct a successful market research strategy is to make it a phone-friendly experience. Create a survey optimized for a mobile device. Survey software specialists for small businesses such as Qualtrics Research Core, SoGoSurvey, and Zoho Survey allow you to run your own market research and get instant feedback.
Embed an Online Survey on Your Website
The latest software makes it quick and simple to create an online survey and embed it on your website. This is an effective market research strategy if you want feedback on the design and functionality of your car wash website or are looking for ways to improve user experience. For example, ask questions such as, “How easy was it to book a mobile car wash online?”
Customer feedback allows you to gauge the functionality of your site and make improvements if necessary to increase online bookings and identify precisely what services the customer wants. It eliminates the guesswork. There is a range of free online survey makers available, so explore the different options. For maximum results, you can create a targeted ad on Facebook to invite people to take a survey on your website, or elsewhere online.
Gather Data Online and Offline
It is by no means a new way to do market research but gathering existing data online and offline is still an effective market research strategy, especially if you don’t have a big budget. This method is known as secondary market research and involves collecting and summarizing data from secondary sources, such as the internet, newspapers and statistical databases. It is a good place to start when you want to find out about your car wash competitors, what services they offer and their pricing strategies. It also helps you pinpoint trends (e.g., the rise of an eco-friendly business) in your industry.
Incentivize Customers to Complete Surveys
Are you struggling to get people to complete your surveys? First and foremost, take a good look at your survey. Is it focused and asking the right questions? Survey Monkey suggests that you minimize the number of questions and stick to specifics. If you have produced a good survey but are still not getting results, think about offering your target audience an incentive to boost your response rates of this particular market research strategy. Incentives can range from a discount on a car wash program to a free coffee the next time they book a car wash with you. Low-cost incentives are a good way to thank respondents for their time.
In conclusion, when it comes to exploring new ways to conduct market research, leverage technology to your advantage. Make the most of software updates and the latest features on social media. However, don’t forget there are opportunities offline, too. Why not seize the moment and invite customers to fill in a survey while their car is being washed?
Overall, be open to exploring different research methodologies – you don’t need to stick to just one market research strategy. Check out DetailXPerts’ franchise opportunity and discover more about the detailing business marketing and sales support we offer to our franchise owners.
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