The Importance of Market Research To Your Company

One of the most common mistakes a startup business makes is to forget about the importance of market research to their company. They consider it as “unnecessary,” a “waste of time,” and even “costly”.

Even though it can take a certain amount of time and money from your business, doing market research will eventually benefit your company’s reputation and overall performance in selling your products or services.

For people who don't have much idea about the importance of market research, we're here help you. If you’re not that familiar with this type of service, let us introduce Market Research to you.

What is Market Research?

Asking potential customers how they feel about the product or service that you offer is market research. Conducting a customer survey is market research. Gathering information and insights from an online article, research publication, or local newspaper is also market research.

Any process where you systematically gather data from your target market or consumer - whether an individual or a company - analyzing their wants, needs, and preference, is Market Research.

Afterward, results are analyzed and collected in a report. These reports would show the feasibility of a product or service that you produce and its effectiveness to the target market.

Moreover, market research can help you make innovative ideas, develop better strategies, and discover valuable operations you can use in your business.

For instance, market research can also work to adapt to what’s trending.

Let’s say you run a pastry shop. But thanks to your marketing research technique, you were able to discover that people in Melrose love some fish and chips. A few days later, you add this to your store’s menu. What do you think would be the result of this change?

Market research is truly a necessary service for your company to run smoothly, efficiently, and effectively. More than these facts, here are other benefits market research can bring to your business

Types of Market Research

There are several types of market research classified depending on where it focuses. But based on the analysis of data, the following types are as follows:

• Brand Awareness
• Campaign Research
• Competitive Analysis
• Customer Insights
• Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty
• Market Segmentation
• Product Development and Usability Testing and;
• Pricing Research

Before conducting market research processes, identify your business's existing problem and determine the specific approach you need to resolve it.

Now, let's talk about the two primary methodologies used in market research.

Primary Research

A methodology that gathers insights and data directly from the target audience. This could either be qualitative research (investigative approach) or quantitative research (scientific approach).

Examples are focus groups, customer surveys, interviews, and ethnographic research.

In today's current situation, most of the research happens through online meetings or mobile applications according this 2020 report from Statista.

Secondary Research

Secondary market research is another type of marketing research methodology that collects data from using third-party sources gathered by other people or organizations.

Some of these sources are educational institutions, publications, and commercial sources.

The Importance of Market Research

Market research is truly a gem to increase the sales and business growth of your company. To to prove the importance of market research, the following opportunities will show you why:

• A key to communicate with your potential customers and target audience - although this is not the only way to communicate with people, market research focuses on identifying customer needs and demands. Once you learn what the majority wants, you'll act upon these discoveries and create products or services most suitable for them. Plus, you can reach several customers without having to ask them one-on-one.
• Identify the best place to locate your business - get someone to analyze the percentage of the footfall (number of people entering a shop) in a specific area even if you have a chain of competitors in the same place. On the other hand, low footfall can signify a bad location for your business.
• Minimize investment risks - discover the potential problems on a product or service before producing thousands of them. Doing so would help you save up, implement the best decision, and make better options. Most of the time, this can help you generate more sales that can cover up the expenses you paid for market research.
• Encourages new and strategic planning - Creativity is a plus! Come up with a strategy to meet your objectives as you identify what would make you superior to your competitors. Continuously discover what's on-trend, and plan accordingly. Figure out how you can improve your products and services based on dynamic changes in the current market. It's also worth noting that customer experience will become the key brand differentiator ahead of price and product according to a recent Walker Study.

• Establish market positioning - measure your brand reputation or where you are in the industry's current hierarchy. This helps you benchmark and explore further steps to take your business to the next level while monitoring your progress.
• Evaluate success from competitors - besides analyzing the business of your competitors, you can also ask prospects about the comparison and preferences.  Even though it’s a hard pill to swallow, reality would help you understand what your customer wants and help you improve your marketing strategy whether you're doing B2C marketing or B2B marketing.
• Strengthens advertisement - as a newbie in the industry, many people might not have heard about your business. But market research would indirectly help you promote products and services while getting the best idea from the preferences of your customers. You can also use this to generate leads that you can easily pass on to your sales team.
• Ensure your company's success - after figuring out what most of your target audience wants, ensure your company’s success, take immediate action, and act accordingly. This would help you succeed and secure the survival of your company several years from now.

How Would You Use Market Research to Help Your Business?

When starting a business, spending time and other marketing research resources is probably the last marketing strategy on your mind. Sometimes, we might just want to produce and sell a product or a service right away. But that alone is not enough.

The process in order to conduct market research is essential in ensuring customer satisfaction, especially for new business who enters the most critical stage of marketing.

Since day one, the relevant information about market research has been everywhere. Starting from your existing customers, important mediums, competitors, other companies, and even down to the internet.

Market research would help you grab this information and apply the necessary steps, improvements, and changes for your business.

But the question is, can we help you? There's no reason to believe otherwise. Appointment Setting UK has helped consumers and businesses connect with the best market research companies in the United Kingdom.

We partnered with several marketing companies in the country, offering B2C and B2B marketing services. We're confident we can help you find the right one to outsource your market research to.

Reach out to us by answering our simple test, or you may call our customer service team at 020-80599450 for any questions you might have about our business services.