Market Research & Competitive Analysis

There is a good reason why the expression “knowledge is power” has become so commonplace: it’s true! If you take the time to understand your customers, their needs, and what motivates them, you will find yourself with a powerful tool that can benefit your business. Knowing how people interact with your products and services allows you to make improvements or tweak your offerings to make them even more attractive to potential customers.

Proper knowledge gives you the confidence to develop better processes and campaigns that will reach the target audience more effectively.

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE IN DOING MARKET RESEARCH

DEFINE THE PROBLEM OR OPPORTUNITY

Defining the problem or opportunity is a crucial step to unlocking potential solutions.
This process helps us understand the nature of the issue and its scope, so that appropriate measures can be taken. It also allows us to come up with benchmarks that we can use to track progress and measure success.

Defining the problem or opportunity might involve brainstorming, interviews, and surveys with stakeholders in order to gain an accurate assessment. Investing effort in this first step will effectively facilitate responses and outcomes.

IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

Knowing your target audience is essential to make a lasting impact with your message.
Knowing who it is that you are trying to reach and understanding how they think can allow you to craft an effective marketing strategy, tweak content for accuracy and relevance, and ultimately appeal to the people that you need in order for your business or product to thrive. 

Doing research about your target audience will give you a better appreciation of their needs, wants, and desires so that you can create something that appeals directly to them–setting the stage for success with the right demographics in place.

COLLECT DATA

Collecting data can help businesses set realistic goals and identify trends in customer interests, behaviors, and preferences.
By understanding customer needs, market research provides businesses with valuable insights that can help them effectively target their marketing efforts and successfully launch products or services in a competitive market. Utilizing the right research methodologies and survey techniques to collect quality data is important for obtaining actionable data that produces meaningful results.

Analyzing the collected data can allow companies to make better decisions about their strategy, operations, and other functions that are related directly or indirectly to consumers.

ANALYZE THE DATA

Analyzing the data gathered through market research provides businesses with invaluable insights into customer preferences, pricing strategies, and competitive trends.
These insights help shape the company’s marketing and strategic planning, ensuring that resources are used effectively and that decisions are made wisely. Furthermore, being aware of customer insights can help businesses stay ahead of industry trends and better identify opportunities for growth. 

Since market research data is constantly changing, it’s important for companies to have a process in place for regularly analyzing their findings and adapting accordingly. Through time-sensitive analyses of current industry trends, businesses can gain insight into what customers want today—and anticipate what they may want tomorrow.

There are many reliable sources that provide customer and market information at no cost. Free statistics are readily available to help prospective small business owners.