How To Use Netnography To Gain Customer Insights

Marketing Viewpoint by Ruth Winett

Ethnographers watch customers engaged in their usual activities, such as washing dishes. For most businesses this type of research is impractical. However, businesses can use "netnography" to gain valuable insights by analyzing traces customers freely leave on the Internet and in blogs and social media. Through netnography, businesses can learn about customers’ "hobbies, influences, goals, concerns, and pain points. In essence, it is a tool to study virtual communities through observation and social network analysis," according to Socialfix.*

For example, a company that services electric vehicles can seek feedback on customers’ experiences from EV blogs.
https://wholepeople.com/electric-vehicle-blogs/

How to benefit from online discussions and social media

Divide your customers or clients into segments, and research where they leave reviews and comments. Do they access a blog or use Facebook? I found the following blogs by googling an industry plus blogs, e.g. "consulting blogs".

Best blogs in 13 different categories:
https://firstsiteguide.com/examples-of-blogs/

The 20 Best Business Blogs You Should Actually Take the Time to Read:
https://blog.shift4shop.com/best-business-blogs

Tsavo Neal Websites for Consultants:
https://tsavoneal.com/best-consulting-blogs/

Marketing blogs from Robert Middleton:
https://actionplan.club/blog

You can also gain customer insights by following social media groups.

Facebook Groups:
Use search bar in the upper left of Facebook page and type groups and then your target, e.g., “Starbucks unions.”

Businesses can access unscripted information from discussions found in blogs and social media. This information is spontaneous and unfiltered. The comments tell you what customers are thinking in the moment. While blogs may contain more chaff than wheat; nonetheless, when analyzed, blogs can help companies identify problems as well as opportunities, such as new uses for their products.

*https://www.socialfix.com/empathetic-marketing/#:~:text=Empathetic

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