Market research is one of the best ways to gather information on your competitors, market and customers. In fact it is one of the best business marketing tools you can use to help you grow your business.
However it seems with market research is not perhaps used often enough by us in small businesses. Market research can help you make better business decisions and it can provide you with new or better ideas.
Why Use?
- Gain a better understanding of how customers think, feel and behave. The more you understand these areas the easier it is to meet their needs better than your competitors
- You can test customers’ responses to new ideas or concepts and even get them to be involved in the development of new products or services
- It can take the guesswork out when you are planning to do a new marketing initiative
When to use?
- When you are launching a new product or service
- Trying to improve and update customer service levels
- When you want to see if there have been changes in your customers’ problems, needs, behaviour and attitudes
- Looking for ways to get the jump on your competitors
Today we are lucky as there are many online surveys that are free or have a minimal cost such as Survey Monkey which takes you step by step through the process of setting up a survey.
One of the best ways to conduct market research with your customers is to talk with them. Why not set yourself a goal that each time you talk with them you find out one aspect that you didn’t know about their business, needs, problems etc.
Do you have any tips to share?
Especially now that times are tough – this is a great opportunity to do a little research to find out how best to speak to your customers and what matters to them most – especially when you can do the research for very little $ or even for free. I also use Zoomerang for online surveys – they tend to have better reporting features that make it super easy to share results. Thanks!
How Market Research Can Help Your Business…
It seems with market research is not perhaps used often enough by us in small businesses. Market research can help you make better business decisions and it can provide you with new or better ideas….
My comment looks like it’s a while after the first one, and I would say that market research is most applicable now because a lot has changed in the market over the year since ‘the meltdown’. Customers’ buying behaviour and media consumption patterns have changed as well as their spending habits and strategic outlook. Companies need to get the pulse of their customer to understand how to market to them, and refresh their competitive intelligence to understand who they are competing against for dollars. We are starting to see more activity around this kind of research – essentially marketers in big and small companies are saying – the world has changed, we better get back to basics and understand what our market needs and how best we can talk to them.
Hi Lisa,
It is interesting that the companies are seeing the need to get greater insights and you are right so much has change over the past year. Perhaps also they are realising that customers and markets will not go back to the old ways.
Do you see any major changes in your client’s marketing once they have done research or is still early days?
Thanks for your comments.
Yes, they’re moving to new marketing channels and tactics. Since it’s usually a recognition that their marketing strategy and tactics are outmoded that prompts them to an assessment in the first place, it makes sense. As always the balance between old and new is the challenge – and it’s only through a market intelligence process that they can determine the right balance for them, given their industry, company maturity and customer base.
You are right Lisa about the challenge between new and old. By having research results, it can stop a lot of guesswork and false assumptions of the best way forward.