Let's imagine that you have an excellent idea for a product in mind and you're confident that it will solve people's problems. You're all excited to get this product out in the market and quickly jump into production. However, no matter how certain you are of your product's success in the market, there's a crucial step you've missed - market research.
Often, business owners overlook the importance of industry research in product development. Some reasons might be:
Not being open to criticism
Believing that research is expensive
Assuming that they don't have resources to conduct research and it would be time-consuming
Blind belief that their product is perfect
In a rush to bring the product to the market
The common notion that market study is expensive could be valid years ago, but the information and technology we have access to proves otherwise at present.
"For good ideas and true innovation, you need human interaction, conflict, argument and debate." – Margaret Hefferman.
What is Market research?
Market research is the process of collecting information about your business's target audience, buyer personas, and customers to determine how successful your product or service would be.
The primary purpose of conducting market research is to understand the market associated with a particular service or product to decide how the audience will react to it. There are many types of market research, but we'll see two major types in detail - Primary and Secondary.
Why should you conduct Market Research?
Market research is something that allows you to meet your buyers where they are. Sure, you might have a general idea of who they are and what they need, but you need to dig deeper if you want to win their loyalty.
Without research, it's impossible to understand your users. You can aptly craft your service or product to appeal to your buyers naturally by understanding their pain points, problems, and desired solutions.
Advantages of market research
Market research is a must for all. Be it companies, startups, service providers, or individuals. It helps make better, more informed decisions. Along with that, market study has many other benefits. Here's listing out a few:
Market research is highly customer-centric. It helps you determine what the customer needs. When you provide what they really want, your service or product is bound to be successful.
Primary and secondary research help identify potential threats and opportunities that may otherwise have been missed.
Market research helps you discover your competitor's strengths and weaknesses. You can adapt their strengths and work on their weaknesses to create a space for yourself in the market.
Staying ahead in business is usually about being the first. And a compelling market study helps you spot emerging trends.
Market research also gives you a competitive advantage. Companies can leverage strategies that can help them stay ahead of their competitors.
Types of market research
Now that you know why an in-depth market study is necessary, let us understand its types and how it is carried out.
There are two major types of market research:
1. Primary market research
It is a process where organizations contact the end consumers or employ a third party to conduct data-relevant studies. The data collected can be both statistical or non-statistical.
We can gather two types of information while conducting primary market research - Exploratory and Specific. Exploratory research is open-ended, where a problem is solved by asking open-ended questions in an interview format. Specific research is more pinpointed and is used to solve the issues that are identified by exploratory research.
2. Secondary market research
Secondary research uses information organized by outside sources like media, government agencies, etc. This information is published in magazines, newspapers, books, company websites, as well as free government and non-government agencies. It is specifically useful for analyzing your competitors.
How to conduct Market Research?
Below is a step-by-step guide for conducting adequate market research.
Step 1: Define the problem
Step 2: Define your buyer persona
Step 3: Define the persona group or sample to engage with
Step 4: Prepare research questions
Step 5: List your primary competitors
Step 6: Analyze the results and make a research report
On a Wrapping Note
The key to staying ahead of the game is to leverage the findings and insights you extract from market research, audience research, competitor study, and data research. It is crucial for an organization's success and growth. That being said, always remember the fundamental purpose of conducting market research and don't do it just for the sake of doing it.
But market research can be as complex as the needs that each business or project has. Why go through such a long process alone when Conceptcape is just a call away?
Contact us now to get effective and personalized research at your fingertips!
New to Market Research?
We have tried to answer all frequently asked questions about market research below to help you out.
1. What is market research with examples?
Market research is collecting and analyzing information about competitors, consumers, and the effectiveness of marketing programs. An example of market research can be conducting an online search on a particular topic and noting the most recent data published on that topic.
2. Why do we do market research?
Market research provides critical information about the market and gives you an accurate view of your business and your marketplace. It can tell you how your company is seen by your target audience.
3. How do you use market research?
People use market research to determine the practicability of new business opportunities. Following are some ways to use it effectively:
Keep a check on your competition
Conduct customer market survey
Test new product/service
4. What are the tools in market research?
Google Alerts, Google trends, Synthesio, NodeX, Tableau, RapidMiner, etc. are some of the free access and easy-to-use tools that will help you deliver better market research.
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