Ongoing Market Research Post-Launch: Optimizing With User Input

Launching a product or service is just the beginning. The most successful companies stay obsessed with learning from users to continually refine and enhance offerings.

This guide explores market research tactics to gather ongoing feedback post-launch for optimization. We’ll cover surveys, interviews, user testing, data analysis, and research through support channels.

Let’s ensure you never stop listening to users so you can deliver ever-increasing value.

Why Post-Launch Research Matters

Pre-launch research ensures you build what users want. But needs evolve and competitors advance, so insights can’t remain static.

Ongoing user research provides:

• Validation that launched features solve core needs as intended
• Identification of new or changed needs to address
• Friction points and problems limiting adoption
• Feature enhancements requested by actual users
• Technical issues decreasing satisfaction
• Changing preferences as audiences mature
• Opportunities for additional training or education
• Competitor benchmarking from their own customers
• Ideas for entirely new offerings or revenue streams
• Direct feedback on your differentiation vs. competitors
• Input guiding marketing and messaging optimization

Regular check-ins show you care while uncovering actionable tactics for iteration and growth.

Quantifying Satisfaction and Engagement

Surveys provide scalable assessment of user sentiment:

Satisfaction Surveys

Ask users to rate and discuss satisfaction with functionality, capabilities, ease of use, and benefits realized.

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Measure user loyalty and enthusiasm via the standard NPS question on likelihood of referral.

Account Reviews

Schedule periodic account check-ins asking for verbal feedback on positives and potential improvements.

Feature/Function Surveys

Understand part-by-part ratings of aspects like integrations, reporting, automation, etc.

Journey Mapping

Document step-by-step user workflows end-to-end to find frustrating pain points.

CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) Scores

Calculate satisfaction ratings commonly from support tickets and other engagement.

Broadly gather ratings then dig into details with interviews and testing.

Optimizing Through Qualitative Insights

Open-ended feedback provides rich directional insights:

User Interviews/Focus Groups

Discuss product experience in-depth with both power users and general users.

Feedback Buttons

Embed quick feedback buttons in-app requesting open comments from users on any frustrations.

Co-Creation Sessions

Engage engaged users in ideation workshops to refine concepts or brainstorm new offerings.

User Testing

Observe real users interacting with your product. Note confusion, workflow pain points.

CS Calling

Sales or support agents proactively call users simply to gain open-ended feedback.

Community Monitoring

Monitor forums and review sites where users discuss pros and cons. Join conversations.

Less structured qualitative feedback uncovers unexpected pain points and innovation opportunities.

Analyzing Behavioral Data For Insights

Hard usage metrics reveal powerful adoption trends:

Usage Funnels

Identify major workflow drop-off points causing users to neglect features or churn. Investigate root causes through research.

Usage Frequency

Note active usage cycles. Improving retention means understanding natural habits.

Feature Adoption

Determine rates for rolling out newly launched capabilities based on product analytics. Spot neglected features.

Critical Event Tracking

Log events like first workouts logged, completed purchase, profile updated etc. to evaluate onboarding and activation.

Cohort Analysis

Compare metrics for users who started at different times to reveal whether improvements worked.

Revenue by Feature

Estimate conversion impact of specific features using attribution. Demonstrate ROI.

Numbers often show shortfalls qualitative feedback misses. But combine both.

Monitoring Support and Community Channels

Support and community conversations provide honest feedback:

Support Forum Monitoring

Review common requests, complaints, and suggestions raised in your forums.

Chat/Email Support Logs

Analyze support conversations for recurring themes needing attention.

App Store Reviews

Monitor latest user reviews and weigh enhancing areas commonly noted.

Social Listening

Set up alerts on your brand name to monitor feedback across social media.

Subscriber Surveys

Email quarterly surveys to newsletter subscribers asking for input on improvements.

Professional Community Monitoring

Search conversations in professional communities like Slack groups or LinkedIn.

Public conversations provide candid insight – monitor carefully.

Creating Feedback Loops to Users

Show customers you implemented feedback:

Share Improvements Upfront

Preview upcoming changes highlighted in release notes attributed to user input.

Close the Loop

Follow up with users who gave feedback as improvements go live. Gratitude and recognition.

Foster Transparency

Admit publicly where you’re still researching solutions for acknowledged problems. Transparency defuses frustration.

Highlight Related Education

If usability issues arise from knowledge gaps, spotlight related training materials to guide users.

Promote User-Suggested Integrations

When launching user-requested 3rd party integrations, promote the capability they asked for.

Continued engagement earns goodwill long-term and keeps feedback flowing.

Key Takeaways for Continuous Optimization

Here are core principles for continually optimizing through market research:

• Seek broad feedback through standardized satisfaction and NPS surveys to identify weak points.
• Run focus groups and ethnographic user testing to uncover specific usability pain points.
• Analyze usage data and critical conversion funnels to quantify adoption and engagement.
• Monitor public support conversations and reviews on an ongoing basis.
• Close the loop with customers by sharing improvements inspired by their feedback.
• Balance short-term iterative fixes with longer-term innovations.
• Use multi-channel data to form a complete picture of the customer experience.
• Share roadmaps previewing coming capabilities to maintain transparency.
• Foster communities with customers as partners, not just sources of data.

Progress requires learning – treat users as collaborators, not subjects. Consistent applied research ensures you evolve in-step with needs, never getting detached from changing realities.

By perpetually listening, analyzing, and communicating with customers, you optimize satisfaction, referrals, and retention over the long-term. Your evolution never ends as user needs continually advance. Keep learning!