Foundational Research

Attract Customers by Understanding Their Journey

Delve into the depths of your customers’ behavior and preferences. Foundational research uncovers the critical moments and motivations that lead buyers to take action, helping you refine your strategies to attract and retain more customers.

Uncover Trigger Moments

Identify the specific events or circumstances that prompt customers to seek out your products or services, allowing you to target them more effectively.

Enhance Customer Personas

Develop richer, more detailed customer personas based on actual behavior and motivations, ensuring your marketing and product strategies resonate with your target audience.

Boost Customer Acquisition

Align your offerings and messaging with customer needs, leading to more effective marketing, higher conversion rates, and increased customer acquisition.

Map to UX Metrics

Brand Impressions

Brand impression is a foundational element of brand equity. It impacts customer acquisition, retention, and loyalty, ultimately influencing the brand’s overall success.

Reaction

Directly influence product adoption, user satisfaction, and long-term success by providing critical feedback that drives improvements and innovation.

Frequency of Use

Track user engagement and satisfaction, to maintain customer loyalty and drive revenue growth.

Comprehension

Ensures that users clearly understand how to use the product, which is crucial for effective adoption and positive user experiences.

Explore A Relevant Case Study

Salesforce’s Foundational Research

Dive in to how Helio supported the enhancement of User Experience and Conversion on Salesforce’s CRM Landing Page.

Find answers to business questions

These questions guide your landing page testing efforts to optimize user experience, increase conversions, and achieve your business goals.


1.
What events or circumstances prompt customers to seek out our products or services?
Caret signaling that you can click it to open the dropdown

Insight found from foundational research

To identify the events or circumstances that lead customers to seek out your products or services, utilize a combination of ethnographic studies, surveys, interviews, focus groups, and behavioral data analysis. These methods provide a comprehensive understanding of the triggers driving customer decisions, allowing you to target them more effectively.

Participant quotes

For example, a survey conducted by Skin Savvy revealed that a significant number of participants rarely seek professional advice for skincare. However, 77% showed interest in more communication with their esthetician outside of appointments. This insight highlights the opportunity to enhance customer engagement by facilitating better pre-appointment communication.

By understanding such trigger moments, you can refine your strategies to align with customer needs and preferences, ultimately improving your ability to attract and retain customers.



2.
How do different customer segments perceive our brand and offerings?
Caret signaling that you can click it to open the dropdown

Provider insights found from pilot program

To gain insight into how different customer segments perceive your brand and offerings, conduct both moderated and unmoderated studies on all of your segmented customer demographics. This approach helps capture varying perceptions across different groups. Additionally, using social listening tools to analyze how these segments discuss your brand online provides valuable insights into their opinions and sentiments.
For example, Skin Savvy used both unmoderated and moderated surveys to understand perceptions from providers and non-clients. Providers gave positive feedback on the app’s onboarding and loyalty programs, while non-clients appreciated the user-friendly interface but suggested improvements in the consultation form and learn section.

Consumer insights from pilot program

Combining these methods offers a comprehensive view, helping tailor your strategies to meet diverse needs. This way, you can refine your offerings and messaging to better resonate with each customer segment.



3.
What are the common pain points or barriers customers face in their journey?
Caret signaling that you can click it to open the dropdown

Request a Consultation insight

Common pain points or barriers customers face in their journey can be discovered by analyzing the entire customer journey through mapping to pinpoint stages where difficulties or frustrations occur. Helio can help accomplish this by highlighting sentiment throughout the journey, revealing specific areas of concern. For example, SkinSavvy learned through Helio that their repetitive consultation request form was a significant pain point for users.

Methods such as surveys, interviews, usability testing, and customer support feedback analysis are essential for identifying these pain points. SkinSavvy conducted surveys and reviewed feedback, uncovering that users found it frustrating to repeatedly provide personal information in their consultation request form.

Employing these methods, you can gather comprehensive data on user experiences and challenges. This data helps you understand and address these issues effectively, improving the overall customer journey and satisfaction. Helio’s tools can support this process, providing valuable insights and allowing you to tailor your strategies to better meet customer needs.



4.
Which channels are most effective in reaching and converting our target audience?
Caret signaling that you can click it to open the dropdown

Action Map

To determine which channels are most effective in reaching and converting your target audience, foundational research can be invaluable. Helio helps by highlighting sentiment throughout the customer journey, offering insights into platform preferences. For example, SkinSavvy discovered that their customers preferred using the website for booking appointments and personalizing services, while the app was popular for completing surveys and checking into appointments.

The methods used included analyzing engagement rates, conversion rates, and return on investment (ROI) through surveys and behavioral data analysis. These metrics helped identify the most effective channels.
You can replicate this by conducting A/B testing and customer surveys to gather detailed insights into channel performance. This approach ensures your marketing strategies are data-driven, aligning with user preferences to enhance engagement and conversion rates.


How to set up Foundation Research

1

Define Your Research Objectives

Clearly articulate what you want to learn about your customers and their journey.

2

Choose Your Research Methods

Select the most appropriate research methods for your objectives, such as surveys, interviews, ethnographic studies, or data analysis.

3

Conduct Your Research

Gather data on customer behavior, preferences, motivations, and perceptions.

4

Analyze Your Findings

Synthesize your data to uncover patterns and insights related to customer behavior and trigger moments.

5

Implement Changes

Use your insights to refine your product offerings, messaging, and marketing strategies to align with customer needs.

6

Monitor and Measure

Track relevant KPIs to measure the impact of your changes on customer acquisition and retention

The best research you can do is talk to people.

FAQs

What is foundational research?
Caret signaling that you can click it to open the dropdown

Foundational research involves deeply investigating customer behavior, motivations, and preferences to inform long-term strategies.


Why is foundational research important for customer acquisition?
Caret signaling that you can click it to open the dropdown

Understanding the fundamental aspects of customer behavior helps in aligning products, services, and marketing strategies with customer needs, leading to more effective customer acquisition.


What methods are commonly used in foundational research?
Caret signaling that you can click it to open the dropdown

Common methods include surveys, interviews, ethnographic studies, and data analysis.


How does foundational research differ from other types of research?
Caret signaling that you can click it to open the dropdown

Foundational research seeks to understand the underlying motivations and behaviors of customers, providing insights that inform long-term strategies. In contrast, other research types might focus on more immediate or specific issues.


What are some challenges associated with foundational research?
Caret signaling that you can click it to open the dropdown

Challenges can include the time and resources required to conduct in-depth research and the need for skilled analysts to interpret complex data


How can businesses ensure they are interpreting foundational research correctly?
Caret signaling that you can click it to open the dropdown

Engage experienced researchers and analysts, validate findings across multiple data sources, and be mindful of biases that could influence interpretation.