- Introduction to Market Research. - If you want to minimize risk and improve your chances of success, you need sound, objective data. - That's where market research comes in.. - Market research is the process of collecting and analyzing information about the customers you want to reach, called your target market. - Market research can help you create a business plan, launch a new product or service, fine tune your existing products and services, expand into new markets, develop an advertising campaign, set prices or select a business location.. - Types of Market Research. - Market research methods fall into two basic categories: primary and secondary. - Using Market Research. - Market research allows you to pinpoint a host of key business factors about your market. - o Size of your target market. - Market-Research Techniques. - Market research can provide critical information about the buying habits, needs, preferences and opinions of current and prospective customers. - Using concise, straightforward questionnaires, you can analyze a sample group that represents your target market. - The results are not statistically reliable, which means they usually don't represent a large segment of the population.. - Secrets of Successful Market-Research Studies. - Whether your goal is to expand into new markets, introduce a new product or service, or gauge customer reactions, even the smallest of small businesses can benefit from a simple but well planned market- research study.. - Market research helps you understand your market, your customers, your competitors and larger industry trends. - In addition to giving you insight into customer needs, market-research studies can help you avoid costly mistakes, such as introducing an unpopular new line of goods or developing a service that no one really wants. - By performing a study and asking people what they thought of the new formula, the company could have avoided public-relations headaches.. - When you set up a market-research study for your business, follow these basic guidelines:. - Your surveys must reflect all characteristics of the market, such as geographical area or population group from which it is drawn. - Nielsen TV ratings are based on very small samplings of the overall audience, but they're accurate to a few percentage points.. - For example, if half of your target market is aged 65 and older and half is 30 and younger, make sure that the sample size accurately reflects your demographic. - If you follow these guidelines, you’ll collect information that can contribute to the success of your enterprise. - In short, market-research studies can save money, save time and — above all — save you from disaster.. - Understanding Your Target Market. - In a nutshell, it requires you to find out everything you can about the customers you intend to pursue. - The facts you need to know about your target market fall into these three categories:. - Begin your research by checking the demographics of the region you plan to target.. - Give some thought to where and how your target customers live. - spenders or savers? The answers will help determine what you can sell to them, how you should sell it and at what price.. - Then you can design and market your club accordingly.. - Once you´ve considered the key demographic factors, you can begin to assemble a customer profile, a more focused statement that describes your target market in detail. - Chairman of the Board. - $5 million $9.9 million. - $25 million $99.9 million. - $1 million 4.9 million. - $10 million $24.9 million. - If you answered yes, in what industry or profession were you employed and what was your job title before you became an owner or partner?. - If you are planning to start or buy a new business, when do you plan to do so?. - In the last 12 months, have you been directly involved in initiating, recommending, ordering or approving the purchase of any of the following products or services for your firm? (Please check all that apply.). - Which of the following are important to you when evaluating a computer equipment purchase? . - Which of the following sources of information do you use to make decisions about computer or software purchases? (Please check all that apply.). - Which of the following publications do you rely on for information regarding your business or your plans to start a business? (Please check all that apply.). - As a smallbusiness owner, please check those of the following topics covered in Entrepreneur magazine that you consider useful. - All of the above. - You need market research to hit the mark with prospects. - But if costly surveys and focus groups aren't in your financial picture, try these creative, budget-friendly ways to get to know your target audience.. - The paradox: Conventional market research is expensive (corporations regularly budget tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars for it), but no one needs it more than a startup entrepreneur. - This article walks you through the basic steps of do-it-yourself market research. - The focus is on startup research, but many of the same techniques can also be used to refine your marketing plan for an existing business or to figure out why it's not flourishing the way you think it should.. - Step 1: Define Your Target Customers. - Resist the temptation to be too general in the hopes of getting a larger slice of the market. - That's like firing 10 bullets in random directions instead of aiming just one dead center of the mark?expensive and dangerous.. - H Are your target customers male or female?. - How much money do they make? This is most significant if you're selling relatively expensive or luxury items. - You can't say the same of custom murals.. - l What other aspects of their lives matter? If you're launching a roof-tiling service, your target customers probably own their homes.. - For example, if you're selling collectible comics through a Web site but aren't willing to brave international export regulations, your customer location can stay in the United States. - Or if you're planning to open a custom-tailoring shop and need busy executives to come for three fittings, you may need to limit it to your local area.. - Step 2: Decide if You Have a Market. - You can find answers in a number of ways:. - The local field office of the Department of Commerce: It should supply you with free or nearly free information on population, demographics, housing, the economy, market trends, surveys of current businesses, and more.. - Only you can decide if 14 competitors are too many for 19,000 target customers, or if you want to gamble on the fact that your target customer spent 30 percent more last year than three years ago. - If you don't like the numbers, at least you've just saved yourself a potential financial disaster. - Before your research is over, your ideas about your target customer may change several times. - Market research that's done specifically for your business, or "primary research,". - You can glean information just by finding archived threads relevant to your business and paying attention to comments made by those who fall into your target demographic. - You can also take it one step further and start your own thread to initiate a more tightly focused discussion. - You can follow up the answers with further questions until you have the level of detail you want.. - You can learn about what to do and not to do by studying your competitors. - Keep a record of each one, and ask yourself what all or most of them have in common, why you think that is, and how you can set yourself apart.. - Try to persuade them that your business would make a great real-life market research project.. - They may agree, especially if you're willing to provide samples and demonstrations on request. - You'll have a better chance at certain times of the year, so if you've caught them at the wrong time, ask when might be better and whether they can refer you to anyone who runs on a different schedule.. - Whether you're just starting out or if you've been in business for years, you should always stay up-to-date with your market information. - The purpose of market research is to provide relevant data that will help solve marketing problems a business will encounter. - In fact, strategies such as market segmentation (identifying specific segments within a market) and product differentiation (creating an identity for your product or service that separates it from your competitors') would be impossible to develop without market research.. - Whether you're conducting market research using the historical, experimental, observational or survey method, you'll be gathering two types of data. - Reports and studies done by government agencies, trade associations, or other businesses within your industry are examples of the latter. - Of the two, specific research is more expensive.. - When conducting primary research using your own resources, you must first decide how you will question your target group of individuals. - There are basically three avenues you can take: direct mail, telemarketing or personal interviews.. - If you choose a direct-mail questionnaire, be sure to do the following in order to increase your response rate:. - Unfortunately, even if you employ the above tactics, response to direct mail is always low, and is sometimes less than five percent.. - At the beginning of the conversation, your interviewer should confirm the name of the respondent if calling a home, or give the appropriate name to the switchboard operator if calling a business.. - Some of the more experienced interviewers can get through up to 10 interviewers an hour (however, speed for speed's sake is not the goal of any of these surveys), but five to six per hour is more typical. - Most of the costs here concern the printing of questionnaires, envelopes, postage, the cover letter, time taken in the analysis and presentation, the cost of researcher time, and any incentives used.. - The main costs here are the interviewer's fee, phone charges, preparation of the questionnaire, cost of researcher time, and the analysis and presentation of the results of the questioning.. - However, you spend far less than you would if you hired a research team to collect the data firsthand. - Educational institutions are frequently overlooked as viable information sources, yet there is more research conducted in colleges, universities, and polytechnic institutes than virtually any sector of the business community.. - Statistical Abstract of the United States. - One of the best public sources is the business section of public libraries. - If “Yes,” what is the present market value of your primary residence?. - $1 million $1.9 million. - What is the total net worth of yourself and all members of your household? Include the estimated market value of your business if you own one, all real estate, including primary residence, car, household possessions, bank accounts, stocks, bonds and other investments and assets.. - $1 million $1.4 million. - $2 million $4.9 million. - $1.5 million $1.9 million. - $5 million $9.9 million
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