Is there a need in my market that my company can fill? Researching the priorities and spending habits of your customers can help you determine whether it’s a good idea to attempt to do business in a certain market in the first place. Are my products and services meeting the needs of my customers? Researching your customers’ satisfaction with your business can help you increase your business’s competitiveness. Am I pricing my products and services effectively? Researching your competition’s practices and wide-scale market trends can help ensure you’re making as much money as possible without hurting your business. For example, you could set a goal of doing 10% better than your competitors. [1] X Expert Source Anna ColibriDigital Marketing Specialist Expert Interview. 29 June 2021.
Will I need to find extensive market data? Analyzing existing data can help you make decisions about the future of your business, but finding useful, accurate data can be difficult. Will I need to do independent research? Creating your own data from surveys, focus groups, interviews, and more can tell you lots about your company and the market it operates in, but these projects require time and resources that can also be spent on other things.
What do I predict my research to reveal? Try to have a hypothesis before you begin your research. Drawing conclusions from your data is easier if you’ve already considered them rather than if you’re reacting to a complete surprise. What would I do if my assumptions are proven right? If your research goes the way you think it will, what ramifications does this have for your company? What would I do if my assumptions are proven wrong? If your results take you by surprise, what should your company do? Are there any “back-up plans” you can make in advance in the event of startling results?
As an example of the type of government data you might want to access during your market research, the Bureau of Labor Statistics offers detailed monthly reports regarding non-farm employment in addition to quarterly and yearly reports. [2] X Trustworthy Source US Bureau of Labor Statistics U. S. government agency that collects and reports labor-related information Go to source These reports contain information on wages, employment rates, and more and can be broken down by area (such as state, region, and metropolitan area) as well as by industry. As you research, focus on understanding what the competitive landscape looks like and what you can expect out of the industry. [3] X Expert Source Anna ColibriDigital Marketing Specialist Expert Interview. 29 June 2021.
The Columbus Chamber of Commerce is an example of a local-level trade association that offers market research data. Yearly reports detailing market growth and trends in the Columbus, Ohio marketplace are available to anyone with an internet connection. The Chamber also handles specific data requests made by its members. [4] X Research source
For example, ABA Banking Journal offers a wide selection of articles online for free, including articles discussing marketing trends, leadership strategy, and more. The Journal also offers links to industry resources which can incorporate market research data.
As an example, Wharton University of Pennsylvania offers free access to a variety of market research resources, including academic papers and periodic market reviews. [5] X Research source
As an example, the aptly named MarketResearch. com offers access to a large wealth of market research data, studies, and analyses at a cost. The price per report can vary, but good insight can be valuable. The site also offers the ability to consult with expert analysts and to pay only for specific needed pieces of long, detailed reports. The usefulness of some of these purchases is invaluable. [6] X Research source
As a running example in this section, let’s say that we hypothetically want to start a landscaping service. If we investigate a wealth of market and data from local government sources, we might find that people in one affluent neighborhood of our town have, on average, a great deal of disposable income. We could also go as far as to use government water usage data to estimate the area with the greatest percentage of houses with lawns. This information might lead us to open up shop in a rich, affluent area of town where people’s houses have large yards, rather than in an area where people generally have neither large yards nor the money to pay for landscapers. Using market research, we’ve made an intelligent decision about where (and where not to) to do business.
For instance, a survey that simply asks customers to write about their experience with your business may not be the most effective choice, as this requires reading and analyzing each response individually to derive meaningful conclusions. A better idea might be to ask your customers to assign a number rating to multiple aspects of your business, like customer service, price, and so on. This makes it quicker and easier to identify your strengths and weaknesses in addition to allowing you to quantify and graph your data. In our landscaping company example, we might try surveying our first 20 clients by asking each to fill out a small ratings card when they pay their bill. On this card, we might ask our clients to give a rating from 1-5 in the categories of quality, price, speed, and customer service. If we get lots of 4’s and 5’s in the first three categories but mostly 2’s and 3’s in the last, some sensitivity training for our employees might improve our customer satisfaction and increase our referral rate. Try to check in with your customers on a regular basis. [8] X Expert Source Anna ColibriDigital Marketing Specialist Expert Interview. 29 June 2021.
In our landscaping company example, if we want to consider upselling lawn care products as part of our service, we might invite loyal customers to participate in a focus group. At this focus group, we’d have them receive the sales pitches for some of these lawn care products. Then, we’d ask them which ones, if any, they would be most likely to buy. We’d also ask them how the sales pitches made them feel — were they friendly or condescending?
In our landscaping company example, let’s say that our company is trying to design a short ad that will run on local TV. Interviewing a few dozen customer can help us decide which aspects of our service to focus on in the ad. For instance, if most of our interviewees say that they hire landscapers because they don’t have the time to maintain their lawns on their own, we might make an ad that focuses on the time-saving potential of our service. I. E. , “Sick of wasting all weekend stomping through your overgrown weeds? Let us do the work for you!” (and so on).
In our landscaping company example, let’s say that we’re considering offering a new service where we plant flowers in the customer’s yard after doing our landscaping. We might let a few “test” customers choose to have the chance to receive this service for free under the condition that they discuss it with us afterwards. If we find that our customers appreciate getting the service for free but would never pay for it, we might reconsider our roll-out of this new program.
Let’s return to our landscaping company example in which we’re trying to decide whether it’s a good idea to offer a flower-planting service with our standard lawn care package. Let’s say that we gathered government data that revealed that the majority of people in our market are wealthy enough to afford the added cost of the flowers, but that a survey we conducted revealed that very few were actually interested in paying for the service. In this case, we’d probably conclude that it isn’t a good idea to pursue this venture. We might want to modify our idea or even scrap it entirely.
Let’s say, for instance, that as we tried to determine whether our flower planting service was a reasonable idea or not, we found that a significant number of participants in our testing noted that they liked the look of the flowers but didn’t have the resources or know-how to care for them once planted. We might classify this as an opportunity for our business — if we do eventually implement the flower planting service, we might try including gardening tools as part of the package or as a potential upsell.
For example, in our flower planting example, let’s say that, although the majority of respondents reported that they wouldn’t pay for the flowers if given the opportunity, most elderly people reacted favorably to the idea. If backed up by subsequent research, this might lead our business to specifically target the elderly market — for instance, by advertising at local bingo halls.
In our landscaping company example, for instance, our research has led us to the conclusion that offering a flower-planting service in our current market is not necessarily a wise idea. However, several questions remain which may be good topics for further research. A few additional research questions are listed below, along with ideas on how to solve them: Is the flower planting service itself unappealing to customers, or is there a problem with the specific flowers we’re using? We might research this by using alternate flower arrangements in our product tests. Is there a certain section of the market that is more receptive to our flower planting service than others? We might research this by cross-checking our previous research results with demographic data from the correspondents (age, income, marital status, gender, etc. ) Are people more enthusiastic about the flower planting service if we package it with the basic service and increase the price slightly, rather than offering it as a separate option? We might research this by conducting two separate product tests (one with the service included, one with it as a separate option).
