Module 3: Conducting the Right Market Research
Your Marketing Plan: A Roadmap for Where You Want to Go
Some ways to conduct primary research include:
- Asking customers what they think about your products. Would they buy it? How much would they pay for it? You don’t have to ask only customers. You can also ask friends, family, or acquaintances for their input.
- Visiting businesses that are similar to yours and picking their brains. Depending on your industry and the market environment, some may be quite helpful in giving a new business some direction.
- Conducting a survey of people in your market either at a relevant offline location or online. ‘Relevant’ means a place relevant to your business such as a sports club if your business sells sporting goods.
- Contacting organizations in your industry and speaking to representatives from these organizations.
Dig Into the Data with Secondary Research
It’s best to conduct both primary and secondary research. Primary research is more labor-intensive for you, but it yields direct feedback that’s very useful. Secondary research is easy but not quite as fruitful. However, you can glean important insights through secondary research because the subjects aren’t on the spot. They’re more likely to be freely discussing their opinions. It’s also easier to get ‘big picture’ data through secondary research.
What to Look for in Your Research
Study your competition to find out what products and services they offer, and what makes these offerings unique. How and where do they reach out to their customers? Try to learn about their sales figures and in what areas they’re having success or not having success. Pay attention to their reputations and how their customers feel about them.
Finally, your research should include the industry and environment in which your company exists. Look for trends in the industry that could affect your sales or reputation. Look for the top selling items and services in your industry and how their sales vary over time. Don’t forget to also look at technological changes and how these might affect your market.
Action Steps
- What information do you already have about your customers, competition, and environment?
- Conduct primary and secondary research using at least one of the methods mentioned to complete gaps in your current understanding of your market.
- Use the Market Research Summary worksheet to keep track of the research that you gather on each of the key areas – customers, competition, and environment.
Todd McCall
I help practices who are marketing professional services get the attention they deserve by developing an online presence that converts visitors into clients.