Market research is the process of assessing the viability of a new service or product through researching with potential customers. This process allows businesses to understand their target market, gatherer and document buyers’ opinions, and make informed marketing decisions. Although organizations can carry out their research, it is always more effective to outsource market-research agencies with expertise in the process.
The Benefits of Market Research
It’s important to research the market, and how your products or services will fare in the market is critical. Below are some of the benefits you will enjoy:
- Product Investment – Researching the market landscape encourages good marketing and sales strategy. These strategies lead to better and productive involvement since they ensure no funds get wasted on unproductive ventures.
- Determine the Market Size – Conducting this research allows your company to gauge the size of the market. This aspect ensures your company is profitable since you get informed on the number of products you should produce to guarantee complete and maximum sales. It also helps you to know the amount to spend on promotion and advertisement.
- Produces Accurate Information – Operating a company using assumptions is detrimental to the business. It leads to severe losses and other financial calamities. Therefore, the viable option is to research the market since it provides you with accurate information.
- Informed Decisions – The daily operations of a company require you to make various administrative decisions. These decisions range from production, packaging, marketing, customer service to sales strategies. Researching the market landscape provides you with useful insights, which allow you to make an informed decision about your company’s operations.
- Learn about your Customers’ Preferences – The most critical when conducting product sales is understanding your customers’ liking. Performing research allows you to understand the inclinations of your current and potential customers.
Types of Market Research
It is divided into two types according to the method of study used in each. For effective research, these two types must get conducted simultaneously. Below is an overview of the two types:
1. Primary Market Research
It is the research process where organizations reach out to the end-user or involve an outsourced third party to conduct the market studies. The data gathered using this type of research is either quantitative data(statistical or numerical) or qualitative (non-numerical). The collection of qualitative data involves the study of non-structured and semi-structured data such as taste and preference.
When conducting this type of study, the information gathered is qualified as scientific and exploratory. Exploratory is usually open-ended. The problems get explored through inquiring open-ended questions in a sample interview format consisting of several people. Scientific is more direct and aids to solve the challenges identified through exploratory.
2. Secondary Market Research
The research uses data that’s organized by other sources such as media, government agencies, and the chamber of commerce. This information is published on public media such as magazines, company websites, newspapers, and books. This type also makes use of educational and commercial sources.
Although big enterprises research by themselves, it is expensive for most small and medium companies. Such businesses can solicit these services from professional research companies that have expertise in this field. These companies make it cheaper and more efficient. An example of such or such a company is NetBase Quid.
NetBase Quid is a professional company that offers market research companies to its clients. The company uses advanced research tools to conduct an in-depth analysis of the market and produce viable information. After the research, the company then delivers a detailed report about the findings and insights about the market landscape.
