Using A Simple Idea to Target Your Audience

By Kellie Marzolf
Posted Friday, August 27, 2004

A wonderfully easy and free concept that many people seem to overlook during their online marketing career is the survey. If you are looking for programs to promote or ideas for articles, you really need not look much further than your own opt in list.

Your list subscribers are a wealth of information right at your fingertips. Surveys can be as simple as asking one single open-ended question or as complex as using an entire form with several different types of questions and categories involved. These categories can range from open ended to multiple choice down to the yes or no variety. You will be amazed at the response you can receive just by showing your interest in your subscribers wants and desires.

This approach can help you master the market in providing people with what they really want, whether that be a particular type of product, or a piece of information or instructions to make their online business more beneficial to them. In your initial email, it's always a good idea to notify your respondents that they will be notified of the results in a special email. If you send this out to your ezine subscribers, you can notify them that the results may be used in a future edition of your newsletter. I would also recommend offering a free gift to them for taking the time out of their day to help you with your project. Your respondents time is extremely valuable to them, so make it worth their while to spend a few minutes of it with you.

Once you have tallied up your answers, now is the time to look into a solution or idea for what seems to pique their interest or a problem that seems to be affecting a majority of them. Remember, people online are always looking for something that will help them, whether that be something such as losing weight or making their business advertising more beneficial to them. The subject possibilities are endless.

The ideas for survey questions are as different as the people who answer them. As you research solutions or products that might benefit them, you will become more aware of what may or may not work and this will come through to your readers. This simple action will help them to begin equating you with someone who is helpful, someone who cares and hopefully someone they can trust. Ask anyone who has their own list and they would probably tell you, building trust and a relationship with your readers is one of the most important things you can do with regards to your list and in my view this is what should be your ultimate goal.

About the Author
Kellie Marzolf publishes the GoForTheGold Directory Newsletter where you will find informative articles on marketing, promotion, and ezines. Weekly safelists to join, useful resources and free bonuses in every issue. Begin your subscription today: (http://www.goforthegolddirectory.com)