Market research is an important process for any company to undertake. However, it can be a time consuming task and more often than not yields no tangible results. With the help of blockchain technology, market data collection becomes much easier while providing potential benefits such as accurate product pricing information and increased trust in digital transactions.
Market research is an essential part of any business. It can help you find out what your customers want and how to make the most money from them. However, market research has both advantages and disadvantages. Read more in detail here: advantages and disadvantages of market research.
This post is part of our “Business Startup Guide” — a collection of our articles that will help you get up and running quickly!
Market research is critical for all startups since it enables you to determine if your offering is likely to create demand, among other things. Following are some more considerations to consider after you’ve established who your consumers are:
- What happened to these customers?
- What is the total number of customers?
- What are their expectations of your product or service?
- How do you plan to contact them?
Focus on these general understandings you’re aiming to create in regard to your clients and market while trying to answer these questions:
- Recognize your consumers’ whereabouts. If you want to operate a coffee shop in Dublin, you should keep in mind that the major market you’ll service will be primarily determined by the amount of foot traffic in the neighborhood. People do not go far for what is effectively a commodity service, thus your addressable market will be mostly local due to the fierce competition. As a result, the suggested physical site will be a crucial factor of success in this case. While coffee is a high-margin product, the significance of being located in high-traffic locations means that leasing prices per square foot are also expensive, so keep that in mind when making your plans. Finally, you must be extremely clear about your competitive advantage, since there are likely to be many other coffee shops in the area where you want to operate. This isn’t always a negative thing. Opening in a neighborhood where there are no coffee shops might indicate a lack of foot traffic. Consider a different scenario: in the context of software development (or simply Internet websites), product managers will often design comprehensive personas of typical clients, which will later aid in the creation of the application. It is critical for Irish developers to have a global perspective from the start. The domestic market is limited and lacks the size that software firms need. As a result, you’ll find instances of Irish firms targeting non-Irish clients from the outset, such as Zartis.com, which charges in dollars (despite being situated in Cork) to sell successfully to its greatest customer base.
- Calculate the size of the market you’ll be able to service. Once you’ve determined the size of the market you can realistically target, you can make sure you’ve got the right resources in place. Similarly, if you plan to seek external funding, the size of the market and the amount of money they are willing to spend will be important considerations for potential investors. The market size for a coffee shop will be a mix of individuals living within a square kilometer of the location, coupled to footfall or passing traffic. Doing some primary market research is a simple approach to generate some believable market size estimations. For example, you may go to a nearby coffee shop, purchase a cup of coffee, and count how many people walk by in an hour. You may return at multiple dates to account for the business’s cyclicality (customer numbers typically peak around rush hour commutes). This information may then be extended to assist you estimate a range of client demand on a certain street. The market size for software developers is obviously dependent on the actual product and feature set. Because clients don’t have to be local, the reach may be much broader (and is mostly a function of the underlying demand for the item, the language on the site, and the site’s location in Google’s search engine). Again, there are a variety of methods that may be used to determine potential demand ranges, such as keyword competition analysis, number of competitors, and so on.
- Make sure you know what your consumers want. It’s critical to understand the various needs of various client groups. Customers of coffee shops near a crowded railway station may just desire quick service as a crucial feature. Because they are likely to drink ‘on the move,’ a basic kiosk may provide the highest return. Customers at a suburban coffee shop may be looking for a place to relax. Some people value internet connectivity above all else, while others value the ability to squeeze a buggy through the entrance. While the primary product remains same, the service offering might change significantly. Having a strong understanding of your various consumer groups and their wants will enable you to profitably address the needs of various niches. It is better for software developers to cater to the needs of the biggest niche with a major product. Once the application is out, the goal will be to gather input from all early users and determine if their various needs can be combined into new features, which might take the form of new product versions. As a result, ‘power users’ may choose a premium product with more features than the standard version.
- Make a marketing strategy to successfully target them. For coffee businesses, location is vital, thus this will be an important part of your company strategy. After that, exterior branding and RiseVision signage will assist you in communicating your business to the market. The store’s inside layout will also indicate which markets are served. Brand recognition may also be increased by listing in local company directories, giving out brochures, and putting ads in local newspapers. As the proliferation of smart phones continues at a rapid rate, consumers will increasingly depend on geo-targeting apps to access services they need while on the go. It is critical for software developers to discover the 5-10 keywords that are most likely to create traffic and optimize the site for them. PPC advertising will also be a cost-effective way to reach out to potential customers. Following that, a wide range of marketing activities, such as print advertising, trade show participation, and social media marketing, might be considered for your marketing strategy (blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook activity).
In conclusion, having a firm understanding of who your clients are from the start can help you correctly define your market. You can therefore successfully advertise to these clients while also ensuring that your cost base is in line with the predicted demand levels. Knowing more about your clients makes it simpler to address their requirements and target them with relevant content. Finally, it will assist you in gaining a better understanding of the larger environment, including people you do not want to target as well as the key replacement and rival offers.
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ToggleFrequently Asked Questions
What are the benefits of market research?
A: Market research is a process of gathering information and drawing conclusions about the market or population being researched. An individual conducting market research may find new areas with opportunity, identify current gaps in needs that can be filled by an offer, determine what competitors are doing, create marketing plans to address certain segments of the target audience, etc.
What are the 3 importance of market research?
A: Market research is a process that helps companies know what consumers want, need and expect. This knowledge can then be used to develop new products or create advertisements specifically targeted towards those needs.
What are the 4 main purposes of market research?
A: The four main purposes of market research are to determine what consumers wants, needs and values. These can then be taken into account when creating new products or services for the market. It is also used in marketing strategies such as pricing a product higher than competitors because its unique selling point will attract more customers to purchase your product over theirs.
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