Market Research is essential to any business during the start-up, development and growth cycle of the business. It is essential for answering key questions to inform your strategic vision and planning for the business:-
- Identifing the market – Does a gap exist? Who are your competitors? What are they offering? How will your service / product be differentiated? Anticipating changing consumer trends that indicate opportunity?
-
Identify your position in the market- At what price? Delivered through which channel?
-
Research viability of internal process – Researching suppliers and their compatibility with your business.
-
To get under the skin of your customer – Align your product to the values, aspirations, expectations of your customers.
Write yourself a Research Brief
What – Are your objectives, what do you want to know? Who – Which specific people do we need to talk to? Where – In certain locations or more widespread? When – Can interviewing occur anytime or do we have to be specific? How – Is there a need for hard objective fact (quantitative) or are we exploring an issue at this stage (qualitative)?
Turning Research into Insight
Do – Be objective and critical – Present a balanced picture – Champion the consumer voice – Identify common themes from a wide range of sources – Ideally combine different techniques – Keep it simple – Tell a story – Bring the data to life
Don’t – Overclaim – Did a lot of people think this or just a minority? – Don’t try and make the research fit your hypotheses- If something is odd, its likely to be a problem with the process you used.
