Market Research Step-by-Step Guide for Marketers
Market Research Step-by-Step Guide for Marketers
Market research should be a critical piece of your total marketing strategy and product launch. Here’s why…
Table of Contents
What is market research?
Market research is the data and research information gathered about a new service or product. Typically, the market research process determines the viability of a product or service gathered directly through or with potential customers.
Why should my business complete market research?
The ultimate goal of market research is to allow a “discovery phase” when deciding on a target market. Opinions and feedback are welcome because they should only help to strengthen your marketing plan for the product or service to a target audience.
Who conducts market research?
Typically, market research can be conducted in-house or by a third-party company specialized in gathering data. Information can be gathered through many tactics including, surveys, focus groups, product samples, and product testing.
When should market research be completed?
The best time to conduct market research is during the research and development phase of a particular product or service. If your business is working on something new, market research may be the best way to garner valuable feedback. It can also be completed on larger projects like rebrands or redesigns to ensure that the updated product or service meets the expectations of your target audience.
Your Business’s Step-by-Step Guide
Target Audience Definition
Create a simple user persona based on your perceived target demographic. The best way to gather this data is usually through surveys or short interviews.
- Who is your customer?
- What are their dreams and aspirations?
- What do they do for work?
- What is your buyer’s top goal?
- What are their main barriers to achieving this goal?
Expert Tip: Keep it simple for this stage. A brief and concise survey will be the most effective way to gather your data. Once you’ve gathered your data, organize it into 3-5 principle user personas that you can target with your marketing strategy, branding, and messaging.
Conduct Observational Research
- Gather data about how your users are interacting with the product.
- Set up focus groups where target users can encounter, test, and enjoy your product in a focused setting.
- Record data about their experiences during the focus group exercise.
- Focus on capturing the what, why, and whom of the interaction.
- Follow up this focus group with surveys to the users and invite them to share any additional feedback
Expert Tip: Try to be as undisruptive as possible when conducting observational research. Any attempt to steer, question, or interfere with the experience could skew your data analysis.
Conduct Interviews
- Target a small (ideal target audience) group of subjects to interview one-on-one about the product or service
- Prepare your interview template
- Conduct the interviews
- Keep in mind! You are an unbiased intermediary
- Ask why consistently to prompt more deep answers
- Record the conversation for future review
- Record data in the form of transcripts or highlights
Expert Tip: Listen as much as possible and allow your subject(s) to speak freely without judgment. This step requires less quantity of interviews and should instead focus on the quality of information and its data analysis.
Analyze your Data
- Focus on providing quick and actionable insights
- Sort data that are alike
- Put data into visual maps when possible (ex. customer journey map, flow model)
Expert Tip: Your information is only as good as your data analysis. Make sure to spend time analyzing and truly examining information with as little bias as possible. If necessary, consult external sources to review the data and ask if they see any additional insights you may have missed. Once your information is analyzed, it’s time to implement it into your overall marketing strategy!
To read more about content marketing, check out Why content marketing is important for SMEs? article.
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