Initial research to identify suitable topics
Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2025 9:38 am
The research to identify suitable topics can be carried out using different approaches that are more or less user-centered.
Inside-Out
Outside-In
inside-out topic research
Inside-Out describes methods that focus on identifying issues from within the company. This relies on the experience and expertise of the company's own employees. These include, for example:
Interviews with employees from product development, sales or service / support.
brainstorming workshops
The big disadvantage of inside-out methods for finding topics is the potential for operational blindness or the difficulty of putting on the customer's glasses. In order for such methods to lead to user-centered south-africa phone number data topic ideas and thus successful content marketing , a lot of knowledge and understanding of the customers must be available in order to achieve the change of perspective. From my own experience, I can say that this is only partially the case for most companies. The (potential) customer is often a stranger. As a result, this method is usually not really user-centered.
outside-in topic research
Outside-In describes methods in which the company gets perspectives from outside. Ideally, these should be user and customer perspectives. But they can also be interviews with external experts, the content marketing activities of competitors or successful content in specialist media.
The instruments of quantitative and qualitative market research focus most on customer and user centricity. In addition to identifying events and topics relevant to the target group, these are also suitable for identifying relevant touchpoints for customer journey and touchpoint management.
Market research instruments © Olaf Kopp & Michael Kempe, Aufgesang GmbH
The results from brainstorming, employee interviews and the various MAFO instruments should be archived centrally and constantly supplemented and updated. Every employee from communications and marketing should have access to the information. More on this in the article User-centricity in marketing: The path to the customer perspective
Since I am not a market research expert, I would like to focus on the methodologies that fall within my area of expertise.
Inside-Out
Outside-In
inside-out topic research
Inside-Out describes methods that focus on identifying issues from within the company. This relies on the experience and expertise of the company's own employees. These include, for example:
Interviews with employees from product development, sales or service / support.
brainstorming workshops
The big disadvantage of inside-out methods for finding topics is the potential for operational blindness or the difficulty of putting on the customer's glasses. In order for such methods to lead to user-centered south-africa phone number data topic ideas and thus successful content marketing , a lot of knowledge and understanding of the customers must be available in order to achieve the change of perspective. From my own experience, I can say that this is only partially the case for most companies. The (potential) customer is often a stranger. As a result, this method is usually not really user-centered.
outside-in topic research
Outside-In describes methods in which the company gets perspectives from outside. Ideally, these should be user and customer perspectives. But they can also be interviews with external experts, the content marketing activities of competitors or successful content in specialist media.
The instruments of quantitative and qualitative market research focus most on customer and user centricity. In addition to identifying events and topics relevant to the target group, these are also suitable for identifying relevant touchpoints for customer journey and touchpoint management.
Market research instruments © Olaf Kopp & Michael Kempe, Aufgesang GmbH
The results from brainstorming, employee interviews and the various MAFO instruments should be archived centrally and constantly supplemented and updated. Every employee from communications and marketing should have access to the information. More on this in the article User-centricity in marketing: The path to the customer perspective
Since I am not a market research expert, I would like to focus on the methodologies that fall within my area of expertise.