If you are a businessman or businesswoman or aspiring to be one in the near future, you cannot escape the concept of market research no matter how much matter what. Thorough and effective market research is necessary for almost all stages of the evolvement of a business.
Be it the stage of ideation, execution, production, promotion, or even transportation, market research can make your work so much easier and almost full-proof in most cases. Hence, it is better to realize this indulge in the process early on.
There are many market research companies that specialize in market research. They are a team of professionals who gather information, analyze and customize it to provide you the knowledge you need. Aeon Market Research is a market research company that is hell-bent on providing you all the information in a concise and comprehensive manner and helps you in whichever way you want through the research.
However, if you think that you can manage the time and make the efforts, you can also conduct your market research on your own. Here are a few things you need to think about while conducting market research for your company-
- Data Collection Methods
There are two major types of data collection methods that are generally used by a researcher- Primary data collection and Secondary data collection.
Primary data collection basically involves surveys, focus groups, or interviews. This method refers to the collection of data directly from the source, that is, the customer or the consumer.
Primary data collection requires you to plan and conduct your research or survey keeping in mind how the second party is going to respond, i.e., what medium are they going to use. It can be via phone call, internet, email, or in-person. You need to conduct curate your survey questions and procedure accordingly.
Secondary data collection, as the name explains, is the data that you gather from a secondary source, i.e., not directly from the customer or consumer. This method involves government census documents, government economical reports, or economic survey reports of trusted private organizations.
It is comparatively cheaper and less time taking. It is also easier to analyze this data and recognize trends as it is already organized.
- Ultimate Goal of Your Research
Before you even start working on your market research, it is essential that it is clear to you as to why are you conducting this research.
You should not do market research just for the sake of it or because you read some articles or someone told you so. You must have your objectives right in front of you and you should look at them before you take any step further. You much take each of your steps in such a way that it takes you nearer to your goal.
Your goals or objectives can be anything that you wish to know about the market of your product or service before taking a particular action. Your objective can be to know- what is the age group most likely to use your product or service? which particular areas of the country are the best market for your product or service? How much are people willing to spend on your product or service? What are the advertisement methods or mediums that your target market responds most positively to? What is the best time to launch a particular product? So on and so forth.
- Competitor Study Significance
Observing your competitors while doing your market research is a very smart approach and allows you to have an edge over others. You can learn a lot from your competitors about what to do and also what not to do.
Secondary sources are more appropriate while gathering data about your competitors. You can figure out what approaches do they use in launching their products and promoting them and how successful these approaches are. You may also find a fault or lack in their product or service which you can fulfill and use greatly to your advantage.
Studying your competitors is also useful while conducting your surveys. If your product or service is similar to the products or services provided by your competitors, you can ask questions about those products to gain some perspective. It is relatively easier than explaining your product and then asking for feedback or opinion.
- The Budget
Practically speaking, though there are numerous advantages of conducting market research, it can be expensive. And while doing the research on your own, you do not even realize how much money you have already spent.
Therefore, it is important to allocate a budget beforehand. It makes sure that your market research does not hamper the overall functioning of your company. Even when you are thinking of outsourcing your research and looking for a good market research company, you must consider your budget before finalizing anything. Running a company requires you to consider a lot of things before taking any major decision, budget is one of the most important among them.
- Outsourcing the Research
Although you can conduct your research on your own, it has its advantages and disadvantages.
When you conduct your own research, you get to know the procedure well and you have the knowledge of everything that is going on. You decide what methods to use and what people to involve.
However, since it is not the only thing to do when you run a company and it takes a lot of time and effort, it can seriously hamper your other tasks. Your company requires your supervision on a lot of things. If you cannot manage your time very prudently, getting involved completely in just one process would not prove beneficial in the long run.
Therefore, if you think that you would do better with a helping hand, feel free to approach a market research company to do the research for you as per your needs. Aeon Market Research is the one we recommend.