Market Research 101: What You Need to Know

Before starting a business, you have to do research first. You need to know who your target audience is, monitor your competitors, and find resources for your marketing funds. You will need money to run ads, pay for your staff, and your business in general, of course. 

You also need to have a good website to run your business or passion project. Hiring a website developer can be a good idea if you want to make your website look good and functional. If you are new to market research, here are important things that you should know, and why it is essential to every business. 

 

What is market research for? 

As the term suggests, market research involves understanding your target market and how you can pull them toward your brand. You get to understand what your market wants, dislikes, and why they would buy your product or service in the first place. 

Market research will also highlight potential business opportunities and possible threats that can affect your business. Knowing these will help you plan for the long-term and minimize the impact of such threats if there are any. Not to mention, help you plan on your marketing budget. 

 

Questions to ask in market research 

Having said that, market research means you need to spend on it to help achieve your business objectives. You also have to determine several things first before you start with marketing research. 

 

What is the research problem? 

Before starting the market research, you need to determine what exactly your target market’s problem is. From there, you can come up with a plan on how to solve their problem through your brand. One way is to find related keywords your target audience search for. 

 

How will you plan for the market research? 

How you plan to solve your target market’s problem is the driving force behind your market research plan. You need to determine whom you will ask and how you will ask them. You can also check out authoritative websites that can help with your research. Regardless of your research method, make sure to use one that will work best according to your budget and timeframe. 

 

How will you consolidate data for your marketing research? 

Once done with the survey and further research, you will have to consolidate and interpret the data. Include important quotes and interview transcriptions to validate your research. You can also use online survey tools to help with the research data. Much better if you have more useful data to back up your research. 

 

How should you analyze and present data? 

These steps should help you discover the solutions you are looking for to address your customers’ problems. Check your data for any trends and the explanations behind them. Emphasize the data that will determine how you are going to solve your customers’ concerns.

If the data turns out negative or contrary to your expected results, that means you might have to change your direction or scrap the project. At the end of the day, it will save you money and further disappointments in the future. 

So if you are planning to start a business or create your website, you might want to do your research first. It could mean spending some money along the way. But this will help you decide to push through with your planned project or shift gears.

 

Speaking of the website, you might also want to hire a professional website developer in Franklin TN that will help represent your business the best way. Contact one today!