Developing Good Market Research Habits
Market research is a skill that is essential to the success of any corporate marketing department. Market research is ongoing, scientific and very comprehensive. Everything that your company knows about your client base and the competition is learned through effective market research. When you take the time to develop good market research habits, then your company can develop effective marketing campaigns that will help you expand your customer base and generate more revenue.
The first sign of an effective market research process is that very few things surprise your company. A good marketing department is constantly reaching out to potential customers and existing customers to keep tabs on the latest consumer trends. Not only are the trends monitored closely through media research and customer surveys, but the way in which your products fit into these trends is also monitored. It is not enough to know which direction the consumer opinions are heading. You also need to know what changes you need to make to your products to allow your product to fit into those changes.
Every piece of market research you do on your own products also needs to be done on every product offered by all of your competitors. You need to know as much about your competitor’s products as they know. If you do the right kind of consumer surveys, then you could wind up knowing more about your competitor’s products than they know. You need to always know what is going on with your competition so that you can make good business decisions that keep you ahead of the competition at all times.
One thing that many marketing departments neglect to do with their market research is take chances. If you really want to try and map out the future of your industry, then your surveys and other market research methods need to think outside the box and start looking for information that the competition is not asking about. Along with the standard information you need to determine what upgrades your products need and what new products would be effective, you also need to go that little extra step and try to get your customers to help you to look into the future of your industry as well.
A very good market research habit that all marketing departments need to develop is flexibility. During the course of your market research surveys and media research, you may start to detect patterns and trends that you were not expecting. That information could be the foundation of major changes at your company that will help you to generate even more income and take your company to the next level.
When you are talking to your customers about your products and when you are getting marketing data from focus groups, you need to listen to the things that your subjects are saying. The product requests and opinions that they are giving could help your company to move into a direction that expands your success and allows you to become one of the leading companies in your entire industry.