Companies shouldn’t underestimate the virtue of solid market research. Many successful new companies can enjoy market durability due to regularly performed market research that offers insights about their market, consumer problems, and competitors.
Though market research can be conducted at any stage in the business lifecycle, a clear understanding of the market from the very beginning helps establish a strategy for brand growth.
Businesses also need to figure out and define their unique goals for successful market research:
Primary Market Research
- Sale effectiveness
- Measuring service quality offered by the competition
- Identifying competitor communication channels
- Measuring active competition in the market
Secondary Market Research
- Published company data reports
- Existing studies or surveys
- Newspaper reports
- Government Information
Market Research Process
- Analyze if any similar research has already been conducted.
- Study the existing data that meets your goals.
- Decide how any existing data can be used and who will use it.
- Figure out if your company needs to perform primary market research, and if not, decide who will conduct it.
Market research helps new businesses understand the way their customers think so that they can be converted into champions of your brand. Typically, there are three types of customers:
- 01Smart ShopperUsually wants to find the best available value for their buck and are usually informed about competitor pricing.
- 02InfluencerEducated about your target market and is in a position to influence other customers that value their opinion and insights.
- 03End UserRegularly uses your products and services and are the perfect candidate for primary market research.
When to Begin Market Entry Research
To sidestep issues like wasting internal resources, money, and time, businesses need a new product development strategy (NPD) that helps avoid:
- Launching a weak product.
- Mispricing products.
- Ineffectively allocating resources and budgets.
- Exposing your company to competitor threats.
Here are some critical steps for planning an NPD strategy:
- Define your product.
- Identify market needs.
- Establish development and implementation timeframes for your product.
- Pinpoint key challenges and develop appropriate approaches for your customers.
