Market research is a great asset to a business that can come in handy in many different situations. Are you in the process of launching a new product, rebranding your business, or trying to boost sales? Conducting market research is a great idea in any of these instances.
But market research and its results will only help you if you’re executing it properly. If you’d like to learn more about how to conduct market research and use its findings to your advantage then you’re in luck! Read on for your ultimate market research guide.
What Is Market Research?
Let’s begin with the basics. What exactly is market research? In essence, it involves looking at consumer behavior and attitudes in order to draw conclusions and gain actionable insights.
There are lots of different types of market research, for example, interviews, surveys, polls, questionnaires, focus groups, and outcomes research (click here to learn more about this particular methodology). The best method to use will depend on things like your aims, your sample size, and the resources you have at your disposal.
While market research doesn’t always have to be such a formal and formulaic affair, there are some best practices that you should follow if you want to get the most out of it.
How to Conduct Market Research
When you’re carrying out any kind of market research, planning is key. You should make sure that you’re as organized as possible and know exactly what methods you’re going to be using ahead of time.
You should also know what segment of the market you want to target. If you don’t already have a number of buyer personas for your business, you should create some, and then choose which one you want to look at with this research.
If you want the data and findings from your market research to be accurate and actionable, then you need to be fastidious in how you go about collecting them. Whether you’re collecting surveys from your sample pool, videoing their interview answers, or manually taking down the information, make sure that all the data you collect is accurately recorded.
Try to ask open-ended questions where possible, to get the most elaborate answers you can from your group. The more they say, the more you’ll have to work with.
Another important point is that you want to treat all of your survey subjects with respect. Make sure that they’re aware of how appreciative you are they’ve taken the time to answer your questions, and never act aggressive or unprofessional.
Your Ultimate Market Research Guide
We hope that this guide has given you a grounding in how to conduct market research. It’s something that every business can benefit from at some point or another, so it’s handy to know how to do it when you need to.
If you’re on the hunt for more business advice don’t go anywhere. We’ve got some amazing and actionable articles right here on the rest of the site.