Conducting market research is an important part of doing business. It can help you determine problem areas and pain points in your processes, and it can also help you understand the needs of your customers better. Moreover, using the data gathered from the research, you’ll be able to make smarter business decisions going forward.
Market research can be qualitative, quantitative, or both. There are also different types of market research designed for unique purposes. As such, it’s crucial to work with market research companies to help you conduct studies that are relevant to your goals. Listed below are common types of market research to help you decide which one you need.
It doesn’t matter if you have the best products or offer the best services. If you aren’t talking to the right market, you won’t be able to sell effectively and maximise profits. Just imagine shooting arrows at random and merely praying that most of them hit the bull’s eye. With market segmentation research, you can more accurately identify who your customers truly are and hit the proverbial bull’s eye with them. Market segmentation also includes studies related to customer values and behaviours, along with the identified market’s demographics. The latter is especially important in creating customised campaigns.
Brand awareness studies can help you monitor how many people are aware of your brand and how much they remember about your past marketing campaigns. More importantly, you can also determine how much of an impact you’re making to your target market. Some of the things that you can measure using brand awareness studies include brand recognition and recall, identity and image perception, and level of trust. You should conduct regular brand awareness studies, especially if you’re often releasing new marketing campaigns. This will help you gauge which types of materials and approaches resonate better with your audience and potential markets. Some of the best ways to conduct brand awareness research are through surveys and focus group discussions.
Are you planning to launch a new advertising campaign? It may be best if you conduct an advertising testing study first, especially if the previous one was well-received. Most advertising testing research is conducted with a focus group composed of both your current target market and a potential audience. This type of market research will help you gauge the likely response to unreleased material. If the reception is lukewarm, you may want to tweak elements in your campaign or to change it completely. It wouldn’t do to go ahead with the campaign if you already know that it won’t achieve your desired results.
Like advertising testing, product testing aims to gauge your customers’ response to an unreleased product. This doesn’t only apply to an actual physical product like food, cosmetics, or other fast-moving consumer goods. Product testing can also be for non-tangible products, like additional features on your website or a new app. You can also test multiple products in one go, so you can identify which ones are more appealing to your target market. You may even test a competitor’s product together with your own so that you can determine threats and advantages. Product testing can also help you identify which aspects of the product can be improved and which can be retained. Finally, through product testing, you can also identify certain features or characteristics your customers want the most.
Pricing research helps you figure out how much your customers are willing to pay for the things they want. For example, if you’re planning to launch an app where customers can book cleaning services, it will certainly help if you can gauge the range of service fees that people are able to afford. Conducting pricing research can help you determine a reasonable price to charge customers without short-changing your own people and your company. This type of market research can also help you maintain a competitive price, especially if you’re in a field with plenty of players.
The bottom line is that all of these types of market research can help boost your business. You just have to determine which ones to do, depending on your goals. Good luck!
