First, What is Market Research?

Market research, also known as a market study, is a collection of techniques that collect data and information to paint a clear and concise picture of the current state of the market in which you want to venture, or in which you are already competing.

This type of research is useful if you want to launch a new product or service, as well as if you are planning a new marketing campaign, renewing your strategy, and even if you are about to start your new business.

Collecting information systematically through a market study will allow you to make better decisions. We are going to give you the most important information so that you are clear about why you need market research, what it’s for, how it’s done, and we’ll also give you a useful guide so you can get going right away.

Why It’s Useful?

Any brand or business needs to research the market in which it ventures to know the trends of the industry, to know what its competitors are doing, and to know in depth its customers or consumers.

This information is vital in order to reach them effectively and with relevant information for their specific situation, and thus be able to move them through the buyer’s journey or marketing funnel.

Good Market Research Allows You to:

• Make decisions based on real information that favor the growth of your company.
• Know problems that may have gone unnoticed and take actions to solve them.
• Know with certainty the size of the market to cover with your product / service.
• Know the real needs of your consumer, including details such as tastes, preferences, purchasing habits, income level, communication preferences, etc.
• Be aware of changes in the habits and preferences of your clients and be able to adapt.
• Detect new niches or microniches for your brand.
• Know what your competition is doing.
• Develop a better marketing plan or strategy.

These are just some of the advantages of performing a market study. There are many more and you’ll realize that the value (ROI) of doing this type of research compensates the resources it needs.

How To Perform Your Market Research

The first thing to do before conducting a market research is to determine its needs and objectives.

Generally, the need to conduct a market study arises as a consequence of the presence of a problem or an opportunity. These can include a drop in sales, a decrease in audience share, a new market niche to exploit, an event that can be exploited, etc.

After determining the need for your market study, you must establish clear objectives. If the need arose from a problem, the objectives may be related to finding the cause of the problem and a solution to it.

If you need a market study because you detected an opportunity, the objectives are related to determining the feasibility of the idea and how to make the most of the opportunity.

Once the need and objectives are established, the following steps will help you build a clear and efficient process that generates positive results for better decision-making.

1. Collect Information

Nowadays, information is at your fingertips easier and faster than ever. In addition, it’s also much more abundant. So use all available means to collect the most relevant information to your market study.

We recommend starting with the following sources of information:

• Free Information on The Internet

Collect statistics, data, censuses, and other information from reliable sites such as associations of entrepreneurs, chambers of commerce, research centers, universities, and other official bodies that ensure the accuracy of the data.

You can also visit the websites of your competitors or companies in other parts of the world that are dedicated to the same activity as you to obtain useful information about their strategy.

• Paid Information on The Internet

There are professional tools on the Internet that offer very useful information about positioning and how your competition is working. Some examples are MOZ, Semrush, Sistrix, etc.

• Expos/Fairs and Magazines

Companies and associations of your industry surely offer fairs and publish magazines where you can find very valuable information.

• Your own information

Unless you are conducting market research for a business you are just about to start, you should have information already stored in your files such as accounting, sales and production reports, customer service reports, online behavior analysis, results of advertising campaigns, etc.

2. Direct Observation

Investing resources in direct observation of the market yields information that will be highly important when making decisions. Use the following techniques to collect information:

• Collect traffic data from a store.
• Observe the behavior of customers in your competitor’s stores.
• Observe the behavior of customers in your stores.
• Visit your competition.

These observations must be made both physically and digitally, depending on the nature of your company.

3. Interviews and Surveys

Asking is the best way to gather data. By conducting interviews and surveys you’ll be able to greatly deepen your knowledge of the market, your brand, your target customer or buyer persona (more on this later), and your competition.

There are several techniques for conducting interviews and surveys, and you can even develop your own variations depending on your objectives. 

Consider these options:

• Experts
• Existing clients
• Potential clients
• Discussion groups
• Massive surveys
• Online or in person
• Panels or focus groups
• Etc.

4. Your Competition

It’s vital to deeply understand your competition to know who’s doing things right and who’s not, this will help you know who you really compete with, identify business opportunities, keys to success, trends, and best practices.

Also, the creation of your business, the launch of a new product / service, or a new advertising campaign will cause a reaction in your competitors, so knowing them will help you prevent their reaction and evaluate a counter-reaction on your part .

When making an analysis of your competition remember to never underestimate your competitors and trust more in real information than in your intuition about them.

5. Define your Buyer Persona(s)

With all the information you’ve collected up to this point, it’ll be possible to create your Buyer Personas. These are representations of customer groups or niches in your market that share features that will help you reach them in a much more effective way.

The traits that define your Buyer Personas include origin, purchasing power, tastes, culture, behavior habits, communication channels, consumption habits, socioeconomic class, family status, professional positioning, etc.

6. SWOT / CAME Analysis

All the information collected from your market study must be organized in a final report that can be shared with the parties involved in the decision making process.

Prepare a report with the main findings and develop a SWOT analysis to summarize where you’ve identified Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

This simple exercise will be very useful when defining a marketing plan and / or a sales strategy. Along with this exercise, you can develop a CCKE analysis to provide guidelines necessary to act on aspects diagnosed in the SWOT analysis as ways to Correct, Confront, Keep, and Explode.

This illustration can give you a clearer picture of how the SWOT and CCKE analyzes are connected.

Thanks for using this guide. We hope it’s been useful and has helped you better understand why you need a market study.7. TIF

If you have any doubts or want us to help you with this process, click here to schedule an appointment with one of our experts.