Welcome to the last lesson of the Audience Alignment section of this program! In this lesson, you’re going to learn some simple and easy ways to do market research, without having to do formal focus groups or case studies.

The information you’ll learn from doing market research will help you in all areas of this program - from getting clear on the problems and wants of your Aligned Audience to finding out the exact wording she resonates with when she envisions having the solution to her problem. So, even though you’ve already done a lot of work on getting clear on who your Dream Client is, I encourage you to continue to prioritize market research as your business grows.

In this lesson you’re going to learn how to do a form of market research called Social Listening. Social Listening is a really great technique to use no matter where you are in business. In Firm Foundations, I’ll teach you another form of market research called Clarity Sessions, which are really helpful for you once you have your first half-dozen or so clients under your belt and you are 100% certain that your offer is the right one!

But today you’re going to get started on some Social Listening. In the last section you got clear on who you will be looking for when you do your Social Listening. In this lesson you’re going to brainstorm places to go to find her, and then you’re going to commit to doing Social Listening each and every week!

What is Social Listening?

Distilled down to its most simple form, Social Listening is a technique for mining content that’s already out there on the internet to “listen” to your Dream Client. And when you find something that she says that aligns with your offer, you use that to help you create programs, offers, content, and messaging that resonate with her.

As you do your Social Listening, I recommend keeping a folder on your computer to save screenshots or a file to cut-n-paste text into. Then, periodically, check in with those files and see what information you can use in them to update your messaging or finesse the positioning of your offers. Or, you can even use it to create new offers or content. In fact, this iteration of this program was inspired by Social Listening I’ve been doing for the last year. I noticed that one complaint my Dream Client frequently had was that she didn’t know how to create her messaging or how to refine it to truly align with *her* Dream Client. And so, knowing that Messaging is critical to sales success, especially sales through content, I created this program!There are lots of places you can go to do Social Listening, but I divide them into two categories: User-Created Content and Reviews Mining.

User-Created Content involves going to a website where your Dream Client is spending time, and searching for content related to your offer. This includes Facebook groups, Instagram, Reddit, and forums or comment sections on other sites.

Review Mining involves going to books, courses, or other programs your ideal client would buy and searching the reviews for content related to your offer. Amazon & Google will be your two best resources for this type of Social Listening.

How Much Social Listening Should you do?

The exact time is less important than doing it consistently. I recommend everyone spend 15 or so minutes doing social listening 3-5 times per week, but even committing to spending time doing it once a week every week can go a long way in improving your messaging and ultimately, your sales.

At the end of this lesson, I will ask you to commit to your Social Listening by posting your commitment in the UnIgnorable Group on Facebook. But know that Social Listening isn’t a one-and-done type of thing. It should be a consistent practice that you keep up with throughout the duration of your business.

It’s time now for you to head into your workbook. Today you’re going to make a list of 10-20 places that you want to go for Social Listening. Be specific: list book titles, Facebook group names, or Instagram accounts to follow. Then, spend some time this week investigating those places.

You might find that some are a bust (for example, Facebook groups that seem promising might not be very active and can sometimes end up being duds) and some are places you’ll go now and then to check in, but won’t require you to check in weekly or monthly. Many books fall under this category.

So, do that initial Social Listening this week, then pick 5 of those Social Listening places to check back in on more frequently, and list those in the second question.

Then, head into Un-Ignorable and create a post letting me know what you’ve committed to so that my team & I can cheer you on!

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Now that you’ve completed the Audience Alignment section of this program, it’s time for you to submit your workbook to me! If you haven’t already, add me as an editor using the email address kelly@kellyvanhoveln.com and drop me a quick note in a Facebook DM or email letting me know that you’re ready for my feedback on the Audience Alignment section of the workbook.

Please give me 72 hours to dig into your workbook and leave some comments. In the meantime, you’re welcome to continue on with the Offer Optimization section!

An Easy Way to Get Familiar with Your Dream Client

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Welcome to Master Your Messaging

Audience Alignment

Offer Optimization

Messaging Mastery

Content that Converts