2. What is Market Research?
• Market research is the process of determining the
viability of a new service or product through research
conducted directly with potential customers. Market
research allows a company to discover the target
market and get opinions and other feedback from
consumers about their interest in the product or service.
3. Benefits of Market Research
• It helps businesses strengthen their position.
• It minimizes any investment risk.
• It identifies potential threats and opportunities.
• It helps to discover your and your competitor’s strengths
and weaknesses.
• It facilitates strategic planning.
• It helps in spotting emerging trends.
• It assists businesses to stay ahead of the competition.
• It provides revenue projections.
• It focuses on customer needs and demands.
• It helps to evaluate the success of a business against
benchmarks.
4. Types of Market Research
• Brand research: Brand research is focused on creating or refining
your company brand to make a bold and favorable impression on
your target market.
• Marketing campaign evaluation: Some market research
focuses specifically on marketing campaign effectiveness. You can
evaluate how many people have seen your online ads and what the
click-through rate has been, for example.
• Competitor research: Competitor research focuses on the
competition to help you gain insights into how your company can
pull ahead.
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• Customer segmentation research: An important type of market
research, especially for new businesses, is customer segmentation.
These studies divide your larger consumer base into different groups
or personas.
• Consumer research: Nearly all market research involves the
consumer in some fashion, but some research is focused specifically
on understanding consumers within a certain segment better.
• Product development: Developing products calls for market
research first to ensure the concept has value and then to refine the
product over time. For example, you may see sales dipping on a
flagship product and discover that customers’ needs have shifted and
this product should offer a new feature to be more useful or
convenient.
6. Importance of Market Research
• Identifies new products or services
• Identifies potential customers
• Establishes viability of a product or service
• Anticipates and discovers future market trends
• Keeps your company ahead of competitors
• Decides best marketing strategy
• Reduces risk and increases profitability
• Identifies threats and opportunities
7. Does Market Research Really Work?
• Market research takes time, effort, and finances to
complete, so it makes sense to spend these resources
only if you’re going to get a positive return. The reality is
that market research remains a crucial part of running a
successful business because it is indeed worth the
investment. Of course, market research alone won’t
cause your business to succeed — but it will give you the
information you need to make strategic decisions that
will steer your company to success.