Module 3Stage: Research90 min

Customer Research

Run a short, useful customer interview.

Jump to lesson:
01Customer Interviews02Surveys03Social Listening04Competitor Research05Turning Research into Marketing Insights
1
Lesson 1

Customer Interviews

Objective

Run a short, useful customer interview.

Teach
Ask about behavior and past decisions, not hypotheticals ("would you buy this?" gets unreliable answers). Ask "tell me about the last time you tried to solve this."
Real-World Example
Instead of "would you use a scheduling tool?", ask "how do you currently plan your posts, and what's frustrating about it?"
Common Mistake
Asking leading or hypothetical questions that produce polite, inaccurate answers.
Practical Exercise

Write 3 behavior-based interview questions for your ideal customer.

Lesson Checkpoint

The most reliable interview question style is

2
Lesson 2

Surveys

Objective

Design a short survey that people actually finish.

Teach
Keep it under 5 questions, mix multiple choice with one open text field, and always ask about a real recent experience.
Real-World Example
"On a scale of 1–5, how easy was it to find our pricing?" beats "What do you think of our brand?"
Common Mistake
Long surveys with vague questions get low completion and low-quality answers.
Practical Exercise

Draft a 4-question survey for your current audience.

Lesson Checkpoint

A good survey question is usually

3
Lesson 3

Social Listening

Objective

Use comments, DMs and mentions as research, not just engagement.

Teach
The questions people repeatedly ask in your comments and DMs are free market research — they show exactly what content or product gap to fill next.
Real-World Example
If "how much does shipping cost?" appears in every comment section, that's a content and FAQ opportunity, not just a reply task.
Common Mistake
Answering repeated questions individually forever instead of noticing the pattern and acting on it.
Practical Exercise

Scan your last 20 comments/DMs and list the 3 most repeated questions.

Lesson Checkpoint

Social listening is most valuable when it

4
Lesson 4

Competitor Research

Objective

Study competitors for gaps, not just inspiration.

Teach
Look at what competitors consistently do well, and more importantly, what they consistently ignore — the ignored space is often your opportunity.
Real-World Example
If every competitor in a niche only posts product photos and never explains "how it's made," that's a gap worth owning.
Common Mistake
Copying a competitor's exact format instead of finding the space they're leaving empty.
Practical Exercise

List 3 competitors, their most common content type, and one thing none of them do.

Lesson Checkpoint

The main value of competitor research is

5
Lesson 5

Turning Research into Marketing Insights

Objective

Convert raw research into a usable insight.

Teach
An insight is a specific, actionable sentence: "Our audience trusts founder-led explainers more than polished ads" — not a pile of notes. Every research effort should end in 1–3 insights like this.
Real-World Example
After interviews and listening, a brand might conclude: "Customers don't understand our pricing tiers" —ready to act on immediately.
Common Mistake
Collecting research and never converting it into a specific, actionable sentence.
Practical Exercise

Write one insight sentence from research you've already gathered this module.

Lesson Checkpoint

A good marketing insight is

Module Template

**Customer Research Worksheet** — see Templates Library.

Deepen Your Knowledge
  • •Nielsen Norman Group — user research fundamentals
  • •HubSpot Academy — market research lessons
Module Checkpoint Assessment

Test Your Mastery of Module 3

5 questions · 70% passing threshold required

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