Market Research

Brief Introduction about Market Research

One must have intuitions and instincts are vital in businesses, however, only feeling is not enough. The understanding of the customer preferences and requirements are needed to be understood as well as minimize risk and improve the chance of being successful. The market research thus becomes extremely essential for the business to conduct as understanding is needed on the customers by collecting, gathering, and analysing information on the consumers, also called target market. Vital research is needed for business intelligence, helping for making definitive and decisive decisions. Market research is needed for creating a significant business plan while launching any new products and services or fine-tuning their existing product range. The market research helps the business expand its business over new locations and develop promotion campaigns. Businesses use market research to be successful, determining what the customers need and who they are, penetrating them altogether. Market research is needed to be accurate in delivering specific information on the competitors, thus, important for understanding how to expand the business. The research shows the demand for the product, directly addressing the activities done by the company, determining success or failure. The research strategies can be complex and layered but they serve for understanding the need of the customers of the business.

What are the 4 types of market research?

There are numerous ways a business can conduct their market research for understanding their customer preferences collecting vital data that might be used later by the organization for making informed decisions. The four most common types of market research approaches include interviews, surveys, customer observation, and focus groups.

• The Surveys are used widely as a type of qualitative market research that aims to gather knowledge from the participants in form of short close-ended or open-ended questions delivered in form of a questionnaire. The surveys tend to be inexpensive gathering a wide range of consumer data in a small period.
• The interviews are one-on-one interactions and conversations with the participants from the target market, gathering in-depth knowledge about the participants, is one of the most beneficiary interventions.  
• The focus groups are selected groups of people sharing the same idea, fitting target market, who are further analyzed by the moderator to gather knowledge and better insights.
• The customer observation is an intervention where the participant uses the desired product and the invigilator takes notes on the various observation made by the participant.

Organizations mostly mix and match the research type for determining the most viable option for understanding their customer preferences.

What are the main types of market research?

Market research is the activity of collecting and gathering knowledge and information on the market preferences and requirements. There are multiple types of market research namely:

• Primary Research: Primary research is conducted by directly connecting with the target market through multiple methods, gaining explanatory or conclusive answers.  
• Secondary Research: Secondary research is conducted for collecting the data that have been gathered previously to determine the result from historical data.
• Quantitative research: The quantitative data are in the form of numerical, collected by primary or secondary research.
• Qualitative Research: The qualitative data is non-numerical, and collected from primary and secondary research.  
• Customer Research: The research helps in understanding the key influencing customers as the target market, knowing how customers affect the sales.
• Competitors Research: The research is done to gather data on the competitors understanding strengths and weaknesses of the new product to enter the market, compared to market data.
• Product Research: The product research helps in addressing the quality, fit and experience of the product to be launched in the market, determining how well the product can perform in the market.

These types of market research are vital to gain insights into the perception of the market on the products.

What are the 7 steps in market research?

The major steps that are involved with the marketing research are:

• The purpose of the market research is found, determine the correct way of tracking throughout the process of the studies.
• The current market state and position of the business is needed to be understood and aligned with the objective of the research.
• The target customers are needed to be understood and determined market size and influences.
• The competition of the business is needed to be assessed accordingly by determining the strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the target market. The competitor assessment helps in determining the market saturation.
• The data collection is started to gather additional data on the target market by using various research approaches and techniques like surveys and interviews.
• The data collected from the research are gathered and analyzed, to calculate accurate outcomes for the benefit of the organization.
• The outcome of the analysis is further used for making improved business decisions, and understanding client preferences.

The research to be conducted in these above-mentioned steps helps the data to be organized in form of a report to be utilized for business decision-making later.

How is Market Research done?

Market research is defined as the approach of collecting, gathering, and analysing consumer information and understanding the target market for the success of the product to be launched, helping teams to effectively communicate with each other to increase the company’s growth. Multiple types of market research are conducted to collect data namely surveys, focus groups, and interviews. Market research can be conducted by understanding and defining the persona of the target audience, and gathering knowledge of their preferences. A group of people is selected from the desired persona, engaging with them continuously to gain new data and knowledge that can be utilized later. The data that needed to be collected are gathered using appropriate research questions targeting the participants. Finally, the competitors are analyzed thoroughly and all the findings are summarized in form of reports for clear understanding and future use. The final report can help with understanding the action plan needed for the business to expand its product and services, and stay sustainable and profitable in a fiercely competitive marketplace. The research conducted helps in providing vital information on the market and the business positionality.