How to Conduct Market Research

Market research is the evaluation and study of business marketing which helps those businesses identify strengths and weaknesses in their marketing strategies.  Market research is important for all companies, large and small, and can range from complicated studies that cost millions of dollars to simple questionnaires sent to clients of a small business.  Either way, market research is important for any company in understanding whether they are receiving a return on their advertisement investments and how to best use marketing tools to accomplish their goals.  

Marketing research can help any business understand if their advertisements are reaching clients and whether the message is being relayed.  This can be extremely important information that will tell you if your marketing strategies are working as you had planned.  Marketing can cost a business a lot of money and any inefficiencies in the marketing plan can lead to losses and hurt business.  

Market research can be very expensive, especially when seeking the help of outside consultants and firms that specialize in it.  While large companies often must use market research firms, such as the Nielsen Company or IAG, there are cost effective methods that are also available.  Asking clients about how they heard about your company, sending simple questionnaires, or simply seeing how many people respond to direct marketing are all cheap and simple ways of getting an idea of how your marketing plan is working.    

Once you have determined how you can budget for market research, you need to come up with a plan for obtaining the information.  Start by writing your market positions and goals.  Next, you will need to define what you will accomplish within a specific time period.  You will then have to write a list of your target markets and the specific segmentations or niche areas you want to cover.  

Then you will have to list the appropriate marketing channels, which are how you will specifically market to each of your target markets and what mediums you will use.  These can include targeted mailing materials, television or radio media, or internet marketing.  Finally, you should plan on how you will adapt to your competitors response.  

After establishing your plan, you will need to gather all of the information and make sense of it.  Market research does not always result in completely straightforward information, so be prepared to analyze seemingly conflicting information.  You may find that certain marketing strategies work for some clients but not all.  Remember, market research is not the end result, but rather the means of changing your marketing strategy for the better.  

Market research can cover a host of different types of marketing plans, but you will need to find which type of market research best fits your business.  Costs will be one of the most important factors in determine your level of research that you need.  It is important that the costs of the research do not outweigh the benefits you receive from the information, so make sure that you fully understand what you are getting for what you are paying.  Also keep in mind the type of marketing you have conducted, as your research will need to mirror the sources and forms of information that is needed.