Demystifying market research: A Guide for Business Owners
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INTRODUCTION
Marketplace studies is a critical device for agencies of any size or enterprise to understand their target market, become aware of client needs and possibilities, and collect facts approximately their competition. In a nutshell, marketplace research helps agencies grow and be successful. this is a primary intention for small companies, making market studies indispensable to small companies making data-driven selections with a view to help them to develop and reach their industry.
Hitherto, market research performs an important position in contemporary commercial enterprise landscape as companies are seeking to develop a success products and services and make informed commercial enterprise decisions https://www.ejbmr.org/index.php/ejbmr/article/view/14/18. It entails comparing the viability of a new services or products by using amassing information at once from ability clients. This article explores the concept of market research, its types, and its significance in shaping business strategies.
Meanwhile, market inquiry may look like an unnecessary step that costs some money, time and effort yet looks dispensable for smaller businesses. However, it is a basic step that may determine the business’s life. Conducting market research can be expensive and time-consuming, but not having proper data can lead to even costlier mistakes and a lack of understanding in the market, so it is critical to be able to invest in market research. And marketplace studies don’t must be complicated or high priced.
Marketplace research incorporate a huge spectrum of strategies and methodologies employed to accumulate records approximately a goal marketplace. those methods can be extensively categorized into primary and secondary studies.
Market inquiry will assist you develop a successful advertising approach. It’s far one of the reasons why market research is so essential for corporations that need to make knowledgeable alternatives. this newsletter will spotlight the relevance of marketplace studies and significance of marketplace research.
On your services and products to be properly-customary thru customers, you have to recognize the choices and opportunities of your target market. marketplace studies afford you with vital facts about your competition and existing products.
The results offer you insights into what it would take to succeed in the market. Hence, organizations base their business decisions on good market research, such as sales and marketing strategies.
Market research helps reduce risk by allowing you to determine product features, pricing, and promotions from the outset. It additionally enables you attention resources where they may be most effective.
WHAT ARE MARKETPLACE STUDIES?
advertising studies is described as a technique, fashion, approach or set of practices utilized by corporations, organizations and commercial enterprise corporations to accumulate facts to better recognize and absolutely recognize their target audiences and target markets. Business organizations use this data to update products, improve user experience (UX), and improve the experience of their target customers.
Market research is the process by which companies seek to collect data systematically to make better decisions. Still, its true value lies in the way in which all the data obtained is used to achieve a better knowledge of the market consumer.
WHY MARKETPLACE RESEARCH IS IMPORTANT FOR A SUCCESSFUL CORPORATIONS
Market research serves as a beacon of illumination inside the often-uncertain realm of business. Its significance stems from its potential to:
Determine market tendencies
Inform product improvement
Identify marketplace opportunities
Apprehend consumer behavior
Compare advertising effectiveness
METHODS OF MARKET RESEARCH
Primary studies
by doing primary studies, researchers’ goal to answer questions that haven’t been spoke back or even asked earlier than. This degree of originality sets primary research apart from secondary research. Primary research is also known as original research and it is often carried out with the intention of discovering new knowledge.
Types of Primary Research
Surveys
Interviews
Observation
Data analysis
Focus groups
Secondary research
While primary research involves active participation from the researcher themselves, secondary research involves the summary or synthesis of data and literature that has been organized and published by others. When doing secondary research, researchers use and analyze data from primary research sources. Secondary research is widely used in many fields of study and industries, such as legal research and market research.
Types/sources of secondary research
Academic peer-reviewed journals
Published books and articles
Government agencies
Educational institutions
Commercial information sources
TYPES OF MARKET RESEARCH
There are a whole lot of concepts that make up a market and marketing activities, some of these concepts are what are being categorized as the types of market research which are discussed below as follows:
Marketing campaign evaluation: Some market research focuses specifically on marketing campaign effectiveness. You could examine how many human beings have seen your on-line advertisements and what the press-through fee has been, for example. This sort of statistics can help you make modifications if needed and tell destiny campaigns so you attain clients efficaciously and hold purchaser-acquisition fees down.
Competitor research: Competitor research focuses on the competition to help you gain insights into how your company can pull ahead. Looking into a competitor’s marketing campaigns, brand reputation, revenue or sales volume, and other important data points can help you learn from their strengths and weaknesses.
brand research: brand research is centered on creating or refining your business enterprise logo to make a ambitious and favorable impression in your goal marketplace. you can investigate the extent of brand consciousness among your target market, how dependable clients are to your logo, what kinds of qualities humans’ partner with your brand, and different components of clients’ dating with your logo.
customer segmentation studies: An essential sort of marketplace research, especially for brand spanking new groups, is consumer segmentation. that research divide your large purchaser base into extraordinary companies or personas. expertise the exceptional varieties of customers, you need to connect with can help you create individualized campaigns tailor-made for each organization.
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. You may want to learn about their purchasing habits, interests, motivations, and more. The better you understand your consumers, the more effectively you can appeal to them.
Product development: developing merchandise requires market research first to ensure the concept has value and then to refine the product over the years. for example, you may see income dipping on a flagship product and discover that clients’ wishes have shifted and this product should offer a new function to be more beneficial or handy.
Usability testing: much like product improvement research, usability trying out is targeted on merchandise but the focus right here is on how purchasers use your product. you may launch a beta version of your mobile app, as an example, and get comments from users to find out if there are any insects or different issues you need to exercise session.
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E-Mail: info@qeeva.com
Office Address: 5, Ishola Bello Close, Off Iyalla Street, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria.
Types of market research data that small businesses can collect
There are several types of market research data that small businesses can collect in order better to understand their customers, target market, and industry. Some common types of market research data that small businesses should consider collecting include:
Sales data
Social and Online data
Surveys
Demographic data
Behavioral data
Competitive data
PITFALLS TO GUIDE AGAINST IN CONDUCTING MARKET RESEARCH
Misinterpretation of Data
Lack of Timeliness
Failure to Implement Findings
Lack of Clarity in Objectives
Insufficient Sample Size and Composition
Inadequate Data Collection Methods
IMPORTANCE OF MARKET RESEARCH
Conducting research is one of the best ways of achieving customer satisfaction, reducing customer churn and elevating business. Here are the reasons why market research is important;
Competitive advantage: To stay ahead of competitors market research is a vital tool to carry out comparative studies. Businesses can devise business strategies that can help them stay ahead of their competitors.
Forecasts: By understanding the needs of customers, businesses can also forecast their production and sales. Market research also helps in determining optimum inventory stock.
Valuable information: It provides information and opportunities about the value of existing and new products, thus, helping businesses plan and strategize accordingly.
Customer-centric: It helps to determine what the customers need and want. Marketing is customer-centric and understanding the customers and their needs will help businesses design products or services that best suit them. Remember that tracing your customer journey is a great way to gain valuable insights into your customers’ sentiments toward your brand.
COMMOMN TOOLS FOR MARKET RESEARCH
Google Trends
Pew Research Center
Tableau
SurveyMonkey
Survey methodology
Make My persona
Qualtrics
Typeform
Interviews
Market Finder
Ubersuggest
Census Bureau
Keyword research
Answer the Public Ltd.
Focus groups
Mention
Semrush
BuzzSumo
Think with Google
Attest
Claritas, LLC
Loop11
BrandMentions
THE BENEFITS OF MARKET RESEARCH
Market research can deliver valuable benefits to companies like yours. Let’s look at some of the most impactful ways market research can empower your company to succeed.
Maintain a Customer-Centric Approach
Market research is all about understanding your consumer base better, and that is an essential step to creating a customer-centric business. Customer-centric companies keep the customer experience at the forefront of all they do.
Market research is how you come to understand those needs and desires in the first place, along with other important aspects of your target customers. You can’t effectively build a customer-centric business unless you understand your customers. Conducting market research allows you to appeal more specifically to your customers’ pain points and preferences. It’s a win-win for your customers and your business.
Connect with Your Audience More Effectively
When you understand your target customers better, that means you’ll be able to more effectively reach them. When it comes to your marketing campaign, you don’t want to waste time and money on trial and error — you want to have an informed marketing strategy. There are two main elements of effectively connecting with your audience: the marketing channels you use and the content you share.
Choosing the right marketing channels is an important first step to reach your audience, but to truly connect with them, you also need to tailor the content of your marketing materials. Everything from the features of your product you advertise to the tone and visuals you use should be crafted to speak to your target audience. When customers feel you’re “speaking their language,” they’re more likely to pay attention to what you have to say.
Identify Opportunities for Growth
Market research isn’t just an important step for new companies or companies launching new products. Conducting market research periodically can help you discover new opportunities to improve and grow. For example, you may discover:
Unreached segments:
You may come across unreached segments that, like your current customers, could benefit from your products or services. Perhaps they just don’t know about your brand yet, or they think your products are intended for someone else. This segment could be consumers of a different age, gender, income level, or geographical region, for example. A simple modification in your product or marketing strategy may be all it takes to unlock a whole new customer base.
Business partnerships: Through market research, you may also discover opportunities to partner with other businesses that already have an established connection with your target audience. Joint promotions can be mutually beneficial for you and the partner company. Essentially, you can combine the power of both your brands to expand and strengthen your reach.
Product improvements: Market research can reveal possible shortcomings in your product or services that, if remedied, would allow you to appeal to more customers and improve customer satisfaction. You may also discover opportunities for add-ons, product bundles, or other upsells that appeal to customers’ preferences and help you increase profits.
Reduce Risks by Testing Concepts
Risk is a necessary part of any business venture. If businesses didn’t take on risks, they would also limit the potential for reward. However, successful businesses tend to mitigate their risks in strategic ways. The way to avoid risk is not to avoid doing anything. Instead, businesses should use market research to minimize risks and maximize rewards.
After you’ve created your product, whether it’s a prototype or a limited run, you can employ market research again to help you refine your strategy before an official product launch. For example, you could give samples of a new food product to passersby in exchange for their feedback. You can also use market research to test reactions to a new logo, new packaging, or any number of other business decisions.
Make More Informed Decisions
Market research empowers companies to make more informed decisions that are backed by data. Gut feelings are not reliable means of making decisions. For instance, you may think releasing a luxury version of your product at a higher price point is a great business idea, but consumers willing to pay that price may associate your brand with budget-friendly products and opt for luxury products from luxury brands instead. The only way to know for sure is to conduct market research.
Market research data can serve as a compass, steering each choice a company makes to take them one step closer to their goal of successfully converting and retaining their target customers.
Compete More Effectively
Solid market research can be the difference that gives you a competitive edge in the marketplace. For one, by understanding your customers better, you may be able to engage them more effectively than your competitor is doing. Additionally, competitor research can give you direct insight into your competitors so you can understand how you fit into the marketplace.
If you’re a newcomer and want to know the best ways to draw customers away from legacy brands, market research can help you find out where consumers are dissatisfied with these brands and their offerings. By pinpointing these gaps, you can appeal directly to consumers’ desires and market yourself as a disruptive company with a superior solution.
You can also use market research to help you discover underserved segments of the market. By targeting these underserved consumers, you can carve out a place in the market for yourself where you’ll excel. For example, the founder of War Paint, a cosmetic company marketed to men, said, “Growing up, I never felt there was a brand for me, that spoke to me.” War Paint and some other emerging cosmetic brands target male consumers who were previously not part of the equation in the makeup market.
Stay on Top of Trends
Market research isn’t just important for new businesses. As consumers evolve, companies must also evolve to optimize the way they connect with customers. Market research is a valuable means of staying up on relevant trends. Researching trends can often be done through secondary research. Industry reports or research from your competitors, for example, can reveal what new product features consumers are interested in.
Trends are especially important and cycle more frequently in some industries, such as fashion and design. If your company sells light fixtures, for example, you need to conduct research frequently to see what styles appeal to modern interior designers and homeowners. You also need to be aware of any new technology you can incorporate into your product to help you stay at the cutting edge and deliver the latest and greatest products to your consumers.
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Tel: (+234) 802 320 0801, (+234) 807 576 5799
E-Mail: info@qeeva.com
Office Address: 5, Ishola Bello Close, Off Iyalla Street, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria.
BRANCHES OF MARKET
While we explore the importance of research, it is expedient to have an overview of the branches of research that exist in order to help us to know how to navigate our researches.
According to various sources from web, there are a plethora of researches which are;
ANALYTICAL RESEARCH:
Analytical research uses critical thinking abilities to assess data and information in relation to the available project. Diverse professionals across various fields of discipline deploy this branch of research to identify the most crucial material during findings. Essential information from analytical research helps to contribute insights to the work they are propelling.
APPLIED RESEARCH:
Applied research is defined as a non-systematic way of finding solutions to specific research problems or issues. These problems or issues are based on individual, group, or societal level. It is regarded as non-systematic because it goes straight to finding solutions. Applied research aims to solve a current issue facing the society or a business and industrial organization.
BASIC RESEARCH:
Basic research dwells on curiosity and the crave for knowledge for its sake. Its goal is to investigate the study questions and not to provide definitive answers.
DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH:
It is described as a type of analysis that outlines the characteristics of the population or issues being under studied. Descriptive inquiry is channeled towards studying the what and how many of this what. However, it is channeled towards answering questions such as, what is this?
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:
This is described as type research that aims to gather and analyze non-numerical data in order to comprehend individuals’ social reality, including comprehending their gestures, beliefs, and motivation. This method are frequently used in the social sciences parlance to gather, collect and interpret information.
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH:
This research study ventures into a phenomenon through quantitative data gathering and mathematical, statistical and computer-aided tools to get its results.
STEP TO STEP GUIDE ON HOW TO FOR CONDUCT MARKET RESEARCH
Today’s successful enterprises use powerful market research survey software that helps them conduct comprehensive research under a unified platform, providing actionable insights much faster with fewer problems. Following are the steps to conduct effective market research.
Define the Problem
Having a well-defined subject of research will help researchers when they ask questions. These questions should be directed to solve problems and must be adapted to the project. Make sure the questions are written clearly and that the respondents understand them. Researchers can conduct a marketing test with a small group to know if the questions are going to know whether the asked questions are understandable and if they will be enough to gain insightful results.
Define the Sample
To carry out market research, researchers need a representative sample that can be collected using one of the many sampling techniques. A representative sample is a small number of people that reflect, as accurately as possible, a larger group.
Carry out data collection
First, a data collection instrument should be developed. The fact that they do not answer a survey, or answer it incompletely will cause errors in research. The correct collection of data will prevent this.
Analyze the results
Each of the points of the market research process is linked to one another. If all the above is executed well, but there is no accurate analysis of the results, then the decisions made consequently will not be appropriate. In-depth analysis conducted without leaving loose ends will be effective in gaining solutions. Data analysis will be captured in a report, which should also be written clearly so that effective decisions can be made on that basis.
Make the Research Report
When presenting the results, researchers should focus on: what do they want to achieve using this research report and while answering this question they should not assume that the structure of the survey is the best way to do the analysis. One of the big mistakes that many researchers make is that they present the reports in the same order of their questions and do not see the potential of storytelling.
Make Decisions
Market research helps researchers to know a wide range of information, for example, consumer purchase intentions, or gives feedback about the growth of the target market. They can also discover valuable information that will help in estimating the prices of their product or service and find a point of balance that will benefit them and the consumers.
CONCLUSION
Market research serves as an invaluable tool for businesses of all sizes, providing the insights and understanding necessary to navigate the complexities of the marketplace. By embracing market research, businesses can make informed decisions, optimize their strategies, and ultimately achieve sustainable success in their respective industries.
However, the primary purpose of conducting market research is to understand or examine the market associated with a particular product or service to decide how the audience will react to a product or service. The information obtained from conducting market research can be used to tailor marketing/ advertising activities or determine consumers’ feature priorities/service requirement (if any).
– Call-to-action to contact for a consultation
Tel: (+234) 802 320 0801, (+234) 807 576 5799)
E-Mail: info@qeeva.com
Office Address: 5, Ishola Bello Close, Off Iyalla Street, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria.
FAQ
What is market research?
Market research is the process of gathering information about your target market and competitive environment.
It helps companies understand customer needs, preferences and behaviors so they can make informed decisions about products, pricing, marketing strategies and more.
Why is market research important?
Market Research helps:
- Reduce Risk: Hitherto, understanding the market before launching a product or service can help you avoid costly mistakes.
- Identify opportunities: Market research can reveal new needs or products you can produce.
- Make better decisions: Insights from market research data can guide business strategies and increase the chances of success.
- Gain a competitive advantage: Understanding your competitors and the market can help you better position your offerings.
What are the different types of market research?
- Qualitative research: Use surveys, polls, and other methods to collect statistical data that can be measured and analyzed.
- Qualitative research: Use focus groups, interviews, and other methods to gain in-depth information about customer perceptions, opinions, and behaviors.
- Secondary research: Involves collecting and analyzing existing data from market research reports, industry publications, and government statistics.
What are the most common market research methods?
- Survey: Surveys administered via the Internet, e-mail or telephone to collect information from a large group of participants.
- Focus groups: small, medium-sized interviews with your target audience to learn their thoughts and feelings about a product or service.
- Interviews: in-depth conversations with individual customers to obtain detailed information.
- Social Media Listening: Monitor online conversations to understand customer sentiment.
- Web analytics: analyzing web traffic data to understand user behavior and preferences.
How do you do market research on a limited budget?
- Use free online tools like Google Forms or ResearchMonkey.
- Have unique conversations with your customers.
- Analyze publicly available information from official sources or industry reports.
- Use social media to follow brands.
What factors needs to be taken into account when carrying out market research?
- Define your research objectives: Clearly define what you want to learn in your research.
- Target the right target group: choose trainees who best represent your target group.
- Ask the right questions: Ask clear, concise and unbiased questions to get the information you need.
- Analyze your data carefully: draw valid conclusions from your findings.
- Be ethical: ensure your research activities are ethical and comply with data protection regulations.
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