How we do customer research [steal our interview questions]

If you had a dime for every time you heard the advice, “talk to your customers,” you’d be retired on a tropical island, am I right? You already know the importance of customer research in B2B marketing. But that doesn’t make it any easier to conduct.

At Scribe National, we do customer research frequently. We know this kind of B2B market research is invaluable for getting the perspective of the person who is central to your story. In marketing, that person is your customer.

In this guide to customer research, we’ll cover:

• What constitutes customer research

• Why it matters for your content marketing

• Types and methods of customer research

• How to do customer research

• Sample customer interview questions

• Customer research FAQs

• How to use this B2B market research

What is customer research?

Customer research has many purposes. In startups, its focus is often on product development. 

For our purposes as content marketers, we can think of customer research as content research. It’s work that we do on an ongoing basis to better understand our customers' problems, wants, needs, and behaviours. Why? So we can create brand messaging and marketing content that caters to those things. 

This kind of B2B market research can hone in on a variety of elements:

• Demographics and firmographics: This basic information can help segment your audience so you can tailor your messaging to specific groups. (PS - if you’re wondering, firmographics are like demographics, except they relate to organizations, not people). However, you may find that gathering data on age, gender, job title, company size, industry and geographic location isn’t always all that helpful. This is where the next point comes in.

• Psychographics: Psychographics delve into the attitudes, interests, values and lifestyles of your customers. These attributes can help you understand what their habits are, what frustrates them and what motivates them. Psychographics provide a more nuanced view of your audience, enabling you to connect on a deeper level.

• Behavioural data: Observing how customers interact with your brand — whether through website analytics, social media engagement or purchase history — provides insight into their behaviours and preferences. This can help you identify patterns and trends. When you’ve got this data, you can make more informed decisions about content topics, formats, calls to action and more.

• Customer feedback: Direct feedback from customers is gold. It can come in many forms, including customer interviews. This feedback can give you psychographic and behavioural data as well as anecdotal information you wouldn’t otherwise be able to gather.

• Market trends: Keeping an eye on technological advancements, economic shifts and regulatory developments that could impact your customers is a form of customer research. Being proactive about these trends allows you to anticipate customer needs and adapt your strategies accordingly.

Why is customer research important?

Knowledge is power (thank you for that gem, Francis Bacon!). Instead of guessing what content your customers want to consume, research gives you a clear path forward. This is why knowing how to do customer research is a foundational content marketing skill.

For instance, you might be tempted to use clever copy in your content headings, but using phrases your buyers *actually say* when they’re discussing their problems is a better way to get their attention – and gain their trust. To do this well, you need to conduct customer research regularly.

Surface-level content is no longer enough to stand out (thank you for that, ChatGPT!) Jokes aside, this is a great opportunity for B2B content marketers to rise to the occasion.

Your content should answer your market’s most pressing questions with deep expertise. Establishing your position as a thought leader will encourage potential buyers to turn to you for answers. Leverage the insights you glean from your research to publish content that solidifies your company as a trusted resource.

Here’s an example: You work for a B2B fintech company. You've identified through customer research that your audience is struggling to integrate new financial solutions with their existing systems. 

Instead of a basic, listicle-style blog post, you could collaborate with industry partners and current customers to publish a report on the state of fintech integrations. The report would not only be packed with original research, but it would also address specific concerns raised by your customers. 

This is true ‘thought leadership.’ Anything else but original content crafted from original research is more like ‘thought regurgitation’.

Customer research has other benefits, too, like enhancing user experience on your website and helping you stay ahead of competitors when it comes to content strategy. And it enables you to better communicate how your products and services help buyers achieve the transformation they’re seeking, which can support marketing and sales alignment.

It can also improve customer retention. Regularly engaging with your buyers through research shows that you value their opinions and are committed to meeting their needs. This fosters a sense of partnership.

Types and methods of customer research

Primary research

Primary research refers to gathering data directly from the source — your customers. It gives you specific, actionable insights. Here are a few ways to do primary research:

• Conduct surveys or share questionnaires that enable you to collect quantitative data from a large audience. 

• Interview your customers one-to-one so you can get firsthand accounts of their experiences, challenges and motivations in more detail than a survey allows.

• Run a focus group to see what insights you can glean when your customers have a chance to interact with one another.

• Seek feedback through reviews, ratings and direct customer communication to uncover areas for improvement and validate what you're doing well.

• Observe how customers use your product or service in real-time to gather practical insights for user experience and content research purposes.

Secondary research

Secondary research involves gathering existing data that has already been collected by others. It’s useful for gaining a broader understanding of market trends, industry perspectives and competitive landscapes. Here are a few ways to do secondary research:

• Read reports from industry analysts and research firms to get data on consumer behaviour, market trends and growth opportunities – and to help you conduct competitive analyses.

• Use government and public data to better understand economic indicators, industry performance and demographic trends that can inform your content strategy.

• Review competitors’ websites and content to help identify opportunities for your company to stand out.

• Do a deep dive into research papers and articles from academic sources for theoretical insights and in-depth analyses of topics relevant to your industry.

How to do customer research for content marketing

We’ve talked about research methods. Now, let’s walk through the steps involved in actually carrying out the research.

• Step 1: clarify what you want to achieve. Are you looking to understand pain points or test content formats? Having clear objectives will guide your process and ensure you’re gathering relevant data.

• Step 2: identify your research subjects. Sometimes, you’ll want to gather insights from your most loyal customers. In other instances, you’ll want to speak to someone who chose a competitor. Knowing your target audience helps you tailor your market research questions and approach to get the most useful information.

• Step 3: choose your research methods. Based on your objectives and audience, decide which primary and secondary research methods will be most effective. Will you conduct surveys or interviews, read industry reports or do a combination of these? 

• Step 4: develop your research tools. This might include interview questions or discussion prompts for focus groups. We’ll share the interview questions we use shortly.

• Step 5: reach out to potential research subjects. Make it easy for them to say ‘yes’. Ensure it’s clear why you’re asking for their time and how the research will help you as well as how it will be used. If you’re conducting an interview, send the questions in advance of the call.

• Step 6: collect and analyze the data. Gather your findings, then begin making sense of them so the data tells a story. Look for recurring patterns and key themes.

Sample customer interview questions

As a former journalist, I love a good interview. I have conducted dozens – easily over 100 – interviews over the past 15 years. Interviews are invaluable tools for getting the perspective of the person who is central to the story. Remember, that’s the customer!

Here are some of the most common market research questions we like to ask our clients and their customers. Feel free to steal these!

1. Tell me a bit about your role within your company.

2. Before we began working together, what was the single biggest obstacle you faced in your role?

3. What were the other primary challenges (2 or 3) that you faced in your day-to-day work related to operations [operations is just an example – replace it with whatever area of their business your solution supports]?

4. What caused these challenges? (Walk through each)

5. How did these challenges make you feel? (Try to get specific answers for each)

6. What were you looking to achieve by getting help with content marketing? (Another way to ask this: What did you believe would be possible once you no longer faced these challenges?)

7. What criteria did a solutions provider need to meet?

8. What were the specific things about our company that made you choose our product?

9. How has our product helped you address the three challenges you mentioned earlier? (Try to get answers that focus on benefits – both practical and emotional)

10. What has been the result of working with our company? Can you provide me with any metrics that speak to the impact?

Customer research FAQs

You’ve got the plan – but you still have questions. You don’t want to cause any awkwardness by asking a customer to participate in research. Here are a few of the most common questions we get asked on the topic, plus our answers.

1. How do I get customers to give me their time?

Remember that you’ve got to make it an easy ‘yes’. Sometimes this means incentivizing participation. Offering a discount, gift card or exclusive access to new features can motivate customers to participate. Also be flexible with scheduling and keeping the interview as short and focused as possible.

2. What if my customers don’t want to participate?

Not everyone will be willing to take part, and that’s okay. Start by reaching out to your most engaged customers. Consider using different channels to recruit participants, like social media, email newsletters or direct outreach. Highlight the benefits of participation and reinforce confidentiality to build trust.

3. How do I ask the right questions?

Start with open-ended questions that encourage detailed responses. Avoid leading questions that might bias your respondents’ answers. Pilot your questions with a small group first to refine them before you take them to a broader audience.

4. How do I ensure I’m getting honest feedback?

You need to create a comfortable environment. Beyond ensuring confidentiality, it also helps to build rapport at the beginning of interviews or focus groups with some light, non-research-related questions. Emphasize that there are no right or wrong answers, and that you genuinely value their honest opinions and experiences.

What now? How to use your B2B market research

We’ve answered the question, “Why is customer research important?” and covered how to do it properly – with sample customer interview questions and FAQs. Your next step is putting this research to work. Here are a few ways you can use it:

• Inform your brand guidelines. This could mean incorporating customer feedback into your brand story to make it more compelling and authentic.

• Refine your brand voice. For instance, if your research reveals that your audience prefers a casual, friendly brand voice – and your brand feels buttoned-up and a bit distant, adjust your communication style accordingly. 

• Develop product content. Tailor your user guides, instructional videos or product pages to answer the questions and solve the problems your customers have expressed. 

• Inform your keyword strategy. Analyze the phrases your customers use when discussing their challenges and needs. Then, incorporate these keywords into your content.

• Plan a new content series. Use your research to identify themes of high interest to your audience. This could be the foundation for a new webinar series, for example.

• Provide insight to an external vendor. Share relevant findings from your research with your B2B marketing agency. This ensures any outsourced work aligns with your customer insights and brand strategy.

Stick with us! This post is part of a series on developing a 10-step content creation workflow for exceptional results. Read the next post.

Your strategic marketing partner

Are you looking for support with conducting customer research or implementing it into your marketing? At Scribe National, we consider it our job to make your life easier. That’s why our boutique B2B content marketing studio is dedicated to delivering bespoke service with a refreshing level of excellence. We’ll not only give you and your customers the white glove treatment — we’ll give you back time in your week. Schedule a call to find out how we can help.