Market research is no longer an unfamiliar concept. Almost all existing and upcoming businesses have started investing in market research. They now rely on the market research reports to take any major decision regarding their company instead of indulging in guesswork.
Market Research is extremely essential when you are trying to validate your business idea or deciding on how to execute the business plan. It gives you answers to some crucial questions like –
Is the idea feasible?
How will the market respond to it?
How does this business idea differ from the existing ones?
What need of the customer or client does this business fulfill?
However, it is a common misconception to think that market research is only needed while launching a new company. In these times of competitive market, you need a proper research-based action or plan in almost every step of the evolvement of your business. Launching a new product? Market research will tell you of the people who are ready to buy such a product. It will also answer questions like –
When is the correct time to launch your product?
How to promote it in the right way?
How much will the customers be willing to pay for it?
At what price would it be too expensive?
At what price would the customers begin to question its quality? etc.
This article will deal with the basic concepts of market research. If you are new to market research, read to find out What and How is everything done while conducting market research.
What
The ‘What’ refers to the things that you want to research. It means the things that you measure, calculate or analyze while conducting market research. What we do while conducting market research can be broadly classified into two categories. First, your own product or service, and the second category is the overall market.
- Your Product or Service
What we do in this case is focus on the product or service only. This means that all the questions in the surveys and the topic of another kind of researches are directed towards figuring out an answer for the following questions-
- What is the position of your brand in the market?
- How is your brand perceived by the customers?
- Why do the customers choose your product over others?
- Why do the customers not choose your product over others?
- How can you improve your product for a better customer experience?
- How are the customers using your product? Etc.
This research helps to see the product the way your customers see it. You can make better and informed decisions about your product once you know what place does it actually hold in the market and how to improve its position.
The Overall Market
The other and probably the more important aspect of what do we do while conducting market research is researching the overall market. There several things that we study while researching the overall market.
- Size of the Market– It tells us how big or small in terms of areas or population is the market you are working with.
- The Supply and Demand in the Market– It tells us how much of your or similar products are being consumed in the market and how much more scope is there of consumption.
- Trends– These are mostly temporary waves of popularity of certain things or actions. Such trends related to your product can largely affect your sales.
- Growth or Saturation– It tells us if the market you are working in expanding or contracting.
How
The ‘How’ refers to the process of doing the ‘What’. It deals with how you accomplish doing the researches mentioned in the above-mentioned section. It also refers to how you use the research that you have done.
- Data Collection
There two basic categories of data and hence two basic methods of data collection- Qualitative data collection and Quantitative data collection. Depending on the type of research that you are performing and your objective, you can decide to use either of the two methods.
- Qualitative Data – It is a more appropriate method when you are researching your own product or service. Since it mainly involves your customers or your prospective customer’s opinion and experience, such data are mainly acquired through surveys, focus groups, in-person interviews, online questionnaires, etc.
- Quantitative Data– This method is more suitable when you are researching the market as a whole to determine how you are going to operate. It mainly involves statistical data and hence secondary sources (such as government financial reports, census data, economic reports by trusted private organizations, or market research companies) should be used.
Nevertheless, it generally considered best to combine the two methods for accurate ad effective market research.
- How to Use the Data
It is probably the most crucial part of market research. How you use the data that you have by far collected will decide what you will gain from this research. It requires careful analysis of the data to identify patterns and trends. It also helps immensely in understanding the market which is the sole purpose of the market research.
We understand that it is not an easy task to do thorough and effective market research. it requires time, patience, and money. If you think that you want to get the research done professionally, you can go for the market research companies. Aeon Market Research is one of the best companies that have a team of highly professional researchers and expert analysts. The core members have experience of approximately two decades so you have the best of the market. They aim at providing you the best value for your money and time with a report that is comprehensible as well as effective. With Aeon Market Research you also get expert opinions and suggestions on any related topic that you want and need.