Marketers at SharkNinja set out a few years ago to find a product to help analyze and manage online web reviews, from the company’s own website to social media as well as Amazon, Kohl’s, Target, and Walmart sites. 

“We’re looking for keywords,” said Jake Finch, VP of intelligence and insights at SharkNinja. “What are the areas of complaints and delight to determine what people call us about or write about in reviews?”

It’s important to identify opportunities to reach consumers with a different message, he said, and customers sometimes will have a problem with a product — “heaven forbid.” 

“We may be talking about one thing, but everyone’s talking about something else,” Finch said. “We’re constantly raving about our ability to do chicken, but people are talking about making soup.”

SharkNinja, known for its Shark vacuum cleaners, continues to improve on its customer service as the market grows. The global household vacuum cleaner market is expected to reach $16.6 billion by 2022, according to Allied Market Research.

Zion Market Research pegs the industry at $13.4 billion in 2018, rising to $19.14 billion by 2026.

About 18 months ago, to support growth, SharkNinja marketers began working with Clarabridge to assist in analyzing the keywords and identifying unmet consumer needs — not just in its own products, but competitive products, too.

“It doesn’t necessarily help to identify the needle in the haystack, but rather it helps to identify what haystack to look in,” he said. “It helps to quickly identify questions.”

For example, he said, the issue that came up recently — has anyone complained about SharkNinja’s robot product leaving trail marks and groove lines in the carpet where the machine docs.

SharkNinja, with help from Clarabridge’s platform, brought new thinking to its product line and call center support such as matching the customer to the agent, rather than the agent to the customer. It also help to increase call center customer satisfaction by 6%, reduce total call volume by 5%, and lift their net promoter score by 42%. 

Finch said marketers also analyze the multiple ways consumers describe pieces of its products — such as a “dust cup” also being called a “dust canister” or “dust thingy” or “garbage can.” The ability to translate consumer language into business language is important, so marketers, product developers and product engineers can understand what consumers need.  

“We’re about a year out from launching more products,” he said — more products “that have been influenced by this strategy.”