PASS Process and how you can use it to boost your business
Much has been said about the importance of market research in the growth and success of any business. Keeping consumers happy and satisfied ensures that the consumer becomes a brand advocate, bringing in new customers, and hence, greater profits.
Most businesses are known to use market research to ensure that they are meeting the needs of their customers. By gathering and analyzing raw data, and procuring usable business information from it, brands make the most of the data acquired.
In order to help a brand reach its full potential, we use the PASS process:
Prioritize key consumers and prospects, thus limiting waste and increasing efficiency
Assess the most effective channels of reaching your target group
Segment consumers and understand where and how marketing dollars are best spent
Secure your marketing efforts by integrating your own customer data with in-depth market and media data to move confidently from gaining insights to marketing action
By keeping in mind the above four points, we ensure that the market segmentation is accurate, helping businesses target the right people, leading to a larger ROI (Return on Investment).
Prioritize key consumers and prospects, thus limiting waste and increasing efficiency: Reduces wasteful budget spending
It is vital to ensure that a company approaches and targets the right potential customers. The right target audience can be found through market research (offline and online to find out who would use the product, why they would use it, etc.), and ensures that a brand does not waste budget on ineffective marketing campaigns aimed at the wrong target audience. Additionally, it is important to build and maintain consumer loyalty through deep and meaningful relationships, which make customers feel valid. To do this, one needs to create an environment that makes the customer feel valued, and delights them with every interaction.
Assess the most effective channels of reaching your target group: Fix improperly targeted media campaigns
The most effective channel to be used by a brand depends on a number of factors, like the industry, the technology used, and the competitors. A targeted media campaign can be created to help understand the brand by focusing on which channel to use and who to target. For example, before launching a product, brands like to send samples to people that can review the product, thus reaching a bigger audience. For example, makeup companies tend to send makeup samples to YouTube beauty vloggers. This is a great way to market their product, and ensures that their brand reaches a wider audience.
However, if not done well, it can create a problem. Headphone startup Kanoa sent a review kit to Technology reviewer Cody Crouch. During the review, Crouch found that the product didn’t do any of the things it was supposed to, like the charging case wouldn’t charge the headphones when plugged in. Following this, he offered to do another review if the company gave him an improved product. Unfortunately, the company offered him $500 to do a good review. Incensed, Crouch’s review ended with: This is trash. You don’t want to have these. This is not a company that you want to deal with. The company has now shut down, even referencing the video as cause for it.
It is important to use the channel well and in an effective fashion, and to avoid any channels that may create issues. It is believed that the online channels are a fast-growing media; based on a report by Forrester Research, by 2019, the average firm is expected to allocate 35% of their marketing budget to online channels, up from 30% in 2016.
Segment consumers and understand where and how marketing dollars are best spent: Reduce risks
The target audience can be shortlisted on the basis of geography, demography, and user behaviour. Based on the product and the audience, a brand can create a marketing plan that is effective and successful.
Once you figure out your target audience, it is time to figure out the marketing plan. To do this, one needs to identify the best channels to reach the audience. Take the case of social media: To cater to the younger generations, advertising is mostly done on Twitter or Instagram with promoted posts, and if something is specifically business-based, marketing can be done on LinkedIn.
Secure your marketing efforts: Retain customers
In April 1985, Coke came up with a new and improved formula, and started selling cans of the “new Coke”. However, the response was unexpected — people revolted and refused to buy the new Coke, claiming “our children will never know refreshment”. Finally, in July 1985, Coke decided that they would re-start selling the old-formula Coke as Coca Cola Classic.
The reason for the failure was simple: Coca Cola did not ask the customers whether or not they even wanted a new Coke to begin with!
This is why customer surveys and feedback are the backbone of any successful business. By integrating your own customer data with in-depth market and media data, it is easier to make informed business decisions about marketing actions. By analyzing the responses and reviews from customers (as customer feedback provides tangible data), brands can identify common areas of satisfaction and improvement. Through this, they can keeps the areas of satisfaction consistent, and ensure their customers stay happy.
Precise segmentation and targeting for the most effective ROI
The success of a business is based on its relationship with its customers. Businesses that pay attention to the needs and wants of their customers are bound to have greater advantage over their competition.
Using the PASS process can lead to larger ROI and greater profits, as it ensures that a company knows and uses the best way to reach out to its consumers. This is because utilizing the most effective platform for your product reduces wasteful spending of budget, and saves time that could have otherwise been spent on improper marketing campaigns. This, in turn, helps retain customers and also brings in new ones.
