Image via Freepixels.com
Market Research: The Promise and the Challenge
Market research can help you not only evaluate the initial development of your product or service; it can also facilitate more effective targeting of your advertising and other promotional campaigns. Nevertheless, market research can be tricky, and knowing the best way to plan and execute an effective market study can mean the difference between success and failure for your product, your service, or even your business.
The following resources will help clarify the market research process.
Market Research Guides and Tutorials
The Small Business Administration's Small Business Planner answers the "what," "why," and "how" of market research, offering a step-by-step guide for creating your own personalized market research program.
In the above guide, the SBA states the following about the process:
Marketing research is not a perfect science. It deals with people and their constantly changing feelings and behaviors, which are influenced by countless subjective factors. To conduct marketing research you must gather facts and opinions in an orderly, objective way to find out what people want to buy, not just what you want to sell them.
Marketing Research tutorials, from KnowThis.com's Principles of Marketing Tutorials series, provide varied and helpful marketing-related guidance, including the following sections, specifically related to our topic:
Market Research Articles
Inc. Magazine offers numerous marketing research-related articles, from How can I find an affordable market research service? to Grandma got run over by bad research.
Market Research Information Centers
Another great resource for all things market research is Market Research World, which provides information and resources of many types, including a selection of helpful writings in its multi-section Library of Research Articles.
Market Research Videos
A number of videos are available online which provide greater insight into the market research process, from short niche marketing videos to a full-length, in-depth assessment of the all-important customer, offered by Google.
Niche Marketing: Niche Market Research (a 9+ min. video on online market research)
Niche Marketing: Finding Hungry Buyers, (approx. 4 min. video)
Conducting Market Research (2-1/2 min. video from Idea Buyers - offers online marketing research resources)
How can we better understand customers? (a 50+ minute Google Tech Talk video)
Check out the above group of valuable marketing research resources, and learn how to successfully lay the groundwork for your next product or business launch.
