How to perform Netnography
Netnography is a method of ethnography that studies the behaviour of individuals online. It allows researchers to observe the interactions and behaviours of online communities, such as social media platforms or online forums. These observations are generally less intrusive and behaviours are unlikely to alter as much as if a researcher was present, particularly in the case of sensitive research topics.
By observing natural conversations on the internet, researchers and brands can gain a better understanding of consumer perceptions and use this in their marketing and business strategies.
In order to get the most out of your netnography research and navigate a noisy environment, you’ll need to have a clear plan of what you want to achieve and how you’re going to achieve it.
Benefits of Netnography
Netnography has many benefits for your business, as it provides insights about what your consumers want from your product or service.
One of the main benefits is it allows you to gain a deeper understanding of who your target audience is by observing them in their natural environment. You’re also less likely to experience participant bias by looking for insights and information in this type of environment, where they aren’t being incentivised to answer questions.
Netnography is also a cost effective way to gain direct access to cultures and practices of a group, allowing you to explore their habits, thoughts and feelings first-hand.
Finally, it can reveal opportunities to work alongside consumers to produce new products or change the way they do things to increase customer satisfaction and engagement.
Below are four things to think about before you start your netnography project.
Set clear goals and objectives
As with any research project, you’ll want to set clear goals and objectives to ensure your team are all on the same page and fully understand what it is you want to achieve. Knowing your end goal will ensure that you’re able to find the right information that will benefit your brand/business.
Netnography provides two different types of outcomes:
To understand your target consumer by receiving more context on their day-to-day lives, i.e. what do they really like and want from your brand?
To investigate a new trend or phenomenon that is happening online that could help to grow your brand. By looking at trends, this will give you a broader view of the types of conversations that are happening.
Find the right social platform and community
Social media, such as Facebook or Instagram, is one of the largest online communities that is popular with people of all ages. Not only can you study more intimate conversations but you’re also able to see when someone reposts your image or shares certain information that you’ve put on social media.
Although social media may seem like the obvious choice, as it’s one of the more dominant tools used by consumers, there are many different ways to reach your audience online.
Online forums, such as Reddit, are a great way to gain insight into specific topics and consumers. You can find topics about almost any subject, such as healthcare, beauty, fashion, travel, etc., where people speak openly with one another and provide their honest opinions.
Looking at reviews online can give a clear picture of how the consumer values your product or service. Both good and bad reviews will give you an idea of what is and isn’t working with your product offering.
Depending on the objectives you have set, you can focus your attention to the right channel so that you’re able to focus on the end goal.
Observe and analyse data
Once you’ve chosen your platform, you can start to observe your consumer or topic to gather data for analysis. At this stage, you’ll want to retrieve as much information as possible about your subject matter, as this will allow you to perform a deep dive and have comprehensive data that will give you better results.
Identify key trends or consumer habits
With the data cleaned and structured in a clear way, you’ll be able to group and create clusters of key trends and consumer habits, so you can start to get a good picture of what your target audience feels about your product or service.
By grouping your audience into segments of similar opinions and needs, you can then use this information to create business and marketing plans that meet these key thoughts from your consumer.
Final Thoughts
Netnography is a useful tool to analyse a particular environment and/or consumer group to gain in-depth insights about your products or services. Used alongside other research tools, such as brand tracking and/or market segmentation exercises, you can gain a clearer picture of your target audience and make informed business decisions around what your audience wants.
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