78% of consumers do their own research when considering a purchase because they don't feel they receive enough information otherwise--be it from TV ads to new articles. (survey by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates)
What can you do to make sure that your company has information available in the right places?
- Be aware of where people are getting their information. When people conduct their own research they usually seek information in the following places: searching on the Internet, reading newspapers/magazines and talking with family and friends.
- Make sure that your information is broken into categories: shorter blocks of information for people who are skimming, detailed specs for people who are closer to making a decision and reviews/comments/feedback from users to provide credibility.
- Make sure that people can find you. Although you will never be able to appear in all the places potential customers might be searching online, you can pick sites where they might be looking and see if you can add your information. You might also want to look into geographically-based paid search such as Google.
Remember, that the tight economy is growing the research trend because people want to be very sure about how they are spending their money. People have greater trust in the information they uncover themselves than any other, so be sure to help them out.
--Beth
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