The Nuts & Bolts of Market Research

It’s not rocket science, just market research

In this article, we will explore the ins and outs of market research to help you make an informed decision when building a brand and delivering the right message to the right audience.  When approaching video and branding projects, the first thing we always ask is who is the audience that the project is targeting?  Does the client know who they are making the project for? Is it a video asset, graphic design or paid advertising? 

It’s important to know this so we can best establish the needs of the audience and how to address those needs within a given project.  By defining the target audience and conducting market research, asking the right questions and how to analyze the answers gets you a lot closer to the goals and why you are pursuing the campaign in the first place.

Simplify your needs

Market research doesn’t have to be complicated.  We are refining who the audience is and then know what their needs are so the project can be relevant to your ideal prospects and consumers.  When your audience is engaged, they stay on your website longer, watch a video longer or better yet, do what your request them to do after experiencing the video or website- the Call to Action [CTA]. 

Market research can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to feel like a foreign language. With our tips on how you could improve your skills in market analytics and understanding of customer needs across various industries; the process will start feeling more natural than ever before.

The importance of market research cannot be overstated. It is a necessary part in order to know your customer and what they want, which will give you an edge on the competition!

Know thy customer

The customer is King! It’s all about what they want and need, which means that marketing should be tailored towards them. And market research will help you find out where your customers’ needs lie so their wants can become a reality for both parties involved in this transaction – from here on out it’ll seem like something straight out of Lewis Carroll book: “Every word has two meanings; if one party chooses to accept its obvious interpretation then he precisely understands the intention behind any given statement.”

Market research is a study of what people think about when they’re deciding if it’s worth their time and money to purchase one product over another. We interview prospective customers, observe how long you spend in stores or on websites before making purchases decisions, record where we saw ads for our company’s products/services compared with other brands’ advertisements (and note any differences), analyze social media posts separating opinions from complimentary messages–all information which helps us identify target audience needs better than ever!

The first step in doing good quality Market Research for businesses is gather all the information available from various sources like surveys or focus groups before deciding what type(s)of inquiry would be best suited towards achieving desired results – whether those include customer satisfaction ratings; product trends among key demographics such as age groupings between 18-34 year old who drink alcoholic beverages frequently compared those 35+ years old.

This type of research is a necessary component of any successful business. There are many advantages to conducting market analysis, and this article, we will explore some tips on how you can get started with your own company’s needs.

3 key objectives for market research

While conducting market research, these 3 objectives will help navigate you and keep your research focused:

• Administrative: Having a well-organized administrative department is one of the most important factors for business success. This includes planning and distribution not only human, but also material resources & assets within an organization to ensure that services are cohesive and on-brand.

• Social: The definition of social media is expanding to mean any form or instance where people come together, whether online or off-line. It can be anything from contacting your friends on Facebook chat messages all the way up through developing new products for customers based around their needs and desires as expressed in surveys!

• Economical: Whether it’s a new product or service launch, the extent to which an organization can be economical with their success is important in determining whether they will ultimately fail. The actions prior to implementing these programs are key for defining what you want out of this venture and how much time/money should go into getting there.

2 Main Types of Market Research

In most cases, there are two types of market research to consider- primary market research and secondary market research. Let’s zoom in and look at the differences.

Primary:

Primary research is the most important type of market survey. It’s where you, as an organization, get in touch with your target customer and ask them questions about their needs or wants for products they may be interested in buying. You can either do this qualitative (interviews) or quantitative by using data collection methods such as surveys/questionnaires etc…

The difference between primary and secondary research can be blurred, but there are still some key differences. Primary investigates & helps gather information that is not available elsewhere- like exploring a topic in depth or solving problems identified from exploratory studies for instance; while specific market inquiries focus on solutions to premeditated issues raised by the initial phases of inquiry.

We can then breakdown the primary research into 3 sub-types: Focus Groups, Personal Interviews, Ethnographic research.   Each of disciplines are pretty self-explanatory but you can always contact an agency like us to explore each possibility.

Secondary Market Research

The secondary research is a lot more accessible than primary, as it only uses materials that are already public. These can be newspaper articles or magazine pieces of work with researchers who have done this type before and published their results in some form; there’s also online information available such as sites from government agencies which provide data on trends within certain industries- all these things help to give you an edge when trying out new strategies!

• Public sources: libraries, records office and court documents are examples of public sources.

• Commercial sources: The media we see present everyday: TV, journals, newspapers, blogs (wink), magazines are all great resources to collect some good details for your research.

• Educational institutions:  These great facilities are constantly conducting research and because they are funded mostly by the state and federal government, accessing this research will be very helpful in your pursuit.

The nuts and bolts of your Market Research

Define your problem

It is imperative for researchers to know the topic they are researching before asking questions. Without understanding what you want, it will be difficult to get an appropriate answer and this could result in wasted time or even worse-no answers at all!  Stay the course and make sure you narrow your focus on the problem so you can find the right solution/s.

Define who to research

Make sure to select the right sample size for your study. It will ensure that you get a representative result and waste neither time nor money on irrelevant data gathering efforts, ensuring proper representation in all aspects of research planning.  This includes future decisions based off this information.

Probability sampling is the best way to make sure that each participant has an equal chance at being included in your study. Non-probabilities samples can be tricky and sometimes give unfair results because people who are better able take part might not get chosen if they’re less desirable or popular among other participants. 

Collect your findings

The best way to learn about your customers is by understanding their needs. You can do this through market research, which includes asking them questions and getting answers. Make sure the respondents are researched properly so that you get all relevant information for both qualitative or quantitative data collections methods. Once these tasks have been completed successfully, then it’s time go ahead with analyzing what was collected in order find out how well we’re doing at meeting those desires – individually AND as part of our business overall.

What did you learn?  Analyzation.

Data analysis software helps you make sense out your data with just a few clicks.  It processes and visualizes all the information from different sources, giving an insight into what’s happening in any given situation or environment based on numbers alone.

Ok, we got some new data.  Now what?

The data you collect will allow for insights that can lead to action. Once we’ve processed and analyzed it, our team of experts will be able provide a solution tailored just for your needs. For example, now that we know Susy is comfortable with non-organic milk, we realize what types of things she value more than others.

Getting ahead of the game with Market Research

• What better way to make decisions than with market research? Market researchers have conducted extensive interviews and analyzed vast amounts of information in order for you to take advantage. It is through this process that we get insights about your customer base so when it comes time create products tailored just right specifically towards them, usually resulting in increased sales.

• With market research you can rest assured that your decisions are based on verified and factually correct data. So, the risk of going wrong is greatly reduced!

• With so many people now shopping online, it’s easy to underestimate just how important knowing your market size is. Why? It tells you what kind of numbers are realistic for a company and whether they can afford some really grandiose schemes or not!

• The market research is an integral part of any successful business because it helps you plan your sales system, which in turn positions the product or service accordingly within this ever-changing landscape.

SEAL Medialoves to tell stories. People will not remember facts and figures but they will remember how you made them feel. Contact us today and let’s team up to optimize your message and your brand! info@sealmedia.us (949) 335-3764.