Have you ever wanted to know what people are thinking about your product or service? If so, then market research is the perfect way for you to find out. Market research will help answer questions that concern everything from pricing strategy to target audience demographics. In this blog post, we will discuss how small businesses can do market research and get a better idea of their customers.
What Is Market Research?
Market research is the process of gathering and analyzing information to understand a particular market better. A small business can do this by asking their customers or surveying potential buyers, for example. This information will allow you to make smarter decisions about your company’s marketing strategy as we advance, such as pricing, branding, product design, etc.
Why Is Market Research Important?
It is important to conduct market research for your small business because it will help you find out what people want and how they feel about the product or service that you are offering. By taking the time to do market research regularly and implementing changes based on this research, you will better serve your customers and grow your business.
In addition to providing insight into a wide range of things that affect your bottom line, market research also provides insight into:
- Where your target audience and current customers conduct their product or service research
- Which of your competitors your target audience looks to for information, options, or purchases
- What’s trending in your industry and in the eyes of your buyer
- Who makes up your target market and what their challenges are
- What influences purchases and conversions among your target audience
There are many different ways to conduct market research, and you must decide what will work best based on your specific needs.
For example, if you want to find out how people feel about a new product idea or interest in a certain type of offering, one way would be to put together an online survey or poll to solicit responses. But if you need feedback on an existing product or service and want to get ideas for making improvements, then it might be best to talk with your customers in person, over the phone, by email, etc.
Beware of pitfalls:
- It is important that any research methods taken into consideration include a wide range of people who are representative of the market you’re seeking to understand
- It is important that any research methods taken into consideration use a variety of different questions and answers formats in order to make sure all aspects are covered.
Your research method must be scalable so it can grow with you as your business does.
Do not forget to allow for the possibility of unexpected data or outcomes.
Market research is an important tool that will help you make better decisions about your company’s future and provide insight into a wide range of things that affect your bottom lines, such as pricing strategy and target audience demographics.
Let’s take a look at two methods used to collect research data.
Primary vs. Secondary Research
Primary research has many benefits, but it can also be time-consuming and costly since you are researching new data. Fortunately, Secondary research is an easy and efficient way to get the data you need in no time since it already exists!
Primary Research
Primary research is original information collected for a specific purpose, such as surveying potential buyers or shoppers in the store.
An example of primary research would be a small business owner surveying their customers to learn more about what they want from the company.
The following are the three types of primary research:
Exploratory Primary Research is used to determine what type of information would be best or most beneficial to collect.
Specific Primary Research is used for a specific purpose, such as surveying potential buyers to determine where they go online for product research and their preferred vendors.
Primary Market Research includes anything you do with people who have agreed to participate in your survey, poll, or interview.
Secondary Research
Secondary research is information that other people or organizations have collected for a different purpose. This type of market research includes public sources, commercial sources, and internal sources such as your company’s records of customer purchases.
Public Sources include publicly available information from a source such as government agencies, trade organizations, and online databases. An example would be checking out what other small businesses in your industry have been up to by looking at their press releases on websites like PR Web, for instance.
Commercial Sources include information available for purchase, such as market research reports from firms like Nielsen.
Internal Sources are the records of customer purchases within your company or organization. This may be in a database, spreadsheet, or manually maintained filing cabinets and paper files.
Next, we will discuss the different types of market research and group them by their perspective methods.
Types of Market Research
There are three main types of market research:
Qualitative
Qualitative is when you ask people their opinion and discover what they like or dislike about your product or service. Qualitative information will help you to understand your potential customers’ needs.
Some examples of qualitative research are:
Face to Face Interviews: In a face-to-face interview, you ask potential buyers or shoppers in the store.
Telephone or Video Call Interviews: In a telephone interview, you ask potential buyers or shoppers for their feedback.
Focus Groups: A focus group is when you bring together individuals who share common interests and concerns for discussion to learn more about them as customers.
Participatory Observations: These are observations of what people do with your product or service, such as watching them use it, watching them as they shop with your product or service, and asking questions afterward.
Non-Participatory Observations: These are simply observing people’s actions without their knowledge while working with your product or service but not interacting with them in any other way.
Analysis of Diaries, Blogs, Journals, and Letters: This is when you study what people write in their journal, blog, or letter.
Collages: A collage is when you put pictures of things together to show what they represent, such as how your customers feel about your product or service, by putting words and images on a poster, for instance. Collages are also called content analysis because the information gathered is qualitative data.
Analysis of Video Recordings, Vlogs: This is when you record customers with your product or service and ask them questions about their opinions afterward.
Commercial Sources: A commercial source might be a company that sells market research information, for example. These are available to the public but usually require payment in exchange for this type of data.
Quantitative
Quantitative measures things such as price or advertising effectiveness on a large scale. Quantitative research will help you learn how much of an issue something is for the public and what factors might drive your sales.
Quantitative is information that you collect by measuring and counting things. Quantitative research will help you understand how much customers need your product or service based on their purchasing habits.
Some examples of quantitative research are:
Surveys: Surveys are a questionnaire that you can send to potential buyers or shoppers.
Focus Groups: These are when you bring together individuals who share common interests and concerns for discussion to learn more about them as customers.
Questionnaires: A questionnaire is the same as a survey, but it’s usually shorter, has a set of questions, and you email it to people.
Market Surveys: These are when your product or service is being sold in various forms such as stores, online, TV advertising, etc., and you collect data about where customers buy the most often from.
Media-Based Research: This is when advertisement effectiveness can be analyzed through television, newspaper, and magazine advertising.
Internet-Based Research: This is when you analyze data from social media sites such as Twitter or Facebook to learn about what people are saying on these types of sites.
Evaluating Other Market Research Sources: You can also get qualitative information by evaluating how other research sources measure things like price or advertising effectiveness on a large scale.
Ethnographic
Ethnographic research is the study of a particular group and includes participant observation, in-depth interviews, or focus groups. Ethnographic research is a detailed study of people’s culture, beliefs, and behaviors that are often used to improve products and services.
Some examples of ethnographic research are:
Social Media Analytics: Social media is used by over two billion people, and anyone Internet user has on average five social media accounts.
Eye Tracking: Eye-tracking records what a person sees when they move their eyes around a computer screen, for example, videos or images that are moving and still images like photographs. This type of research is often used in marketing to understand what people are looking at or reacting to.
Scrapbooks: Scrapbooking is the process of documenting an event, large or small, with photographs and memorabilia such as ticket stubs, bus passes, receipts, etc., then pasting it into a scrapbook book for safekeeping and viewing by others.
Discovery forums: Discovery Forums are online discussion boards where people post questions and can then view other’s answers in their specified category, for example, “business.”
Vox Pops: Vox Populi is a Latin phrase meaning “voice of the people” or “public opinion.” This type of research involves asking members of the public their opinions, for example, through interviews or surveys.
Online Diaries: Online diaries are a way to share information and experiences with others while keeping them completely private from third parties such as family members, friends, or coworkers. People with mental illness can use them to help them get support without telling other people.
Choosing The Best Research Method
The best method is the one that gives you the information that you need to make an informed decision as well as meets your budget and timeline needs. There are many different types of market research techniques, so it’s important to know which ones will work well for your situation.
Qualitative techniques are good for understanding people’s opinions about a product or service and what they need to feel satisfied with it. Qualitative research is also very subjective, which means that you may not get the same results from different people who take this type of survey, so it won’t be easy to compare different surveys.
Quantitative techniques are good for understanding the number of people who need your product and how often they buy it and estimating customer satisfaction levels with a few questions. It’s not so good at understanding what exactly customers want from your service or product.
Customer feedback research asks customers to comment on their experience after they have bought a product or service and understand the value that customers get from your business.
How to Do Market Research
Market research for your small business is straightforward when you know what to do! Here are some tips on conducting market research to help with a pricing strategy to target audience demographics.
Here are the main steps to get started:
Define Your Persona
The first step in doing market research is to define your buyer persona. This will help you identify your ideal customers, what they like to do, where they live, and their age group, for example. You can also get a better idea of how much money these buy personas make on average and sort by gender or education level.
Identify Persona Group to Engage
For the next step, you will want to identify a persona group interested in your product or service. You can do this by using social media advertising and finding out who is following related pages on Instagram.
Prepare Research Questions for Participants
You’ll need some research questions that you can ask your participants. For example, what would be the most important features if it’s a new product or service? What do people want that they don’t currently have in their lives? If this is an existing business, how does our company compare to other similar companies, and why should someone choose us over them?
List Primary Competition
For this step, you will need to list all of your primary competitors. This can be not easy because it’s important for them not to know who is researching their company and what products they are providing. Hence, we recommend using secondary research or asking family members for help with this one!
Summarize Your Findings
The final step in market research is to summarize your findings. This will help you make decisions about pricing, target audience, and things like that.
Final Thoughts On How To Do Research For Your Small Business
Market research is an essential step for any small business. Before you start a new venture, it’s important to know what your customers want and how much they are willing to spend on products or services like yours. The Max Brand Builder system includes market research to help small businesses create an effective growth strategy. Contact us today for more information about our comprehensive strategy packages that include everything from website design to SEO marketing!
