You can have what you think is an absolutely fantastic idea for a product and still completely fail at launching it as a business. All in all, these failures can usually be traced back to a lack of basic market research. If you don’t understand what the likely supply and demand for your product would be in a given market, you are basically gambling as a business owner. Market research should be used to uncover certain facts. Below are six questions to guide your market research.
Who Are Your Likely Customers?
Market research concerns the consumers in a given market. It should be used to find out as much information regarding your most likely customers as possible. This should include information regarding their age, sex, race, ethnic background, religion, and more. You need to develop likely profiles for your typical customers based on this research. What you find may surprise you. You may have started with the assumption that young people would be your most likely customers. However, the research may indicate seniors are actually the most interested in your product.
What Should Be the Direction of Your Branding?
A second important matter to help settle thorough market research should be the direction of your branding. Branding can completely transform how consumers view your product. Think, for example, of how premium food brands for things as mundane as mustard can sell for much more than brands considered “generic” on the same store shelf. How you present a product in regards to branding matters a whole deal. According to Branding For The People, an award-winning branding agency, a successful brand strategy includes a combination of brand positioning, brand purpose, brand architecture, messaging, and naming. For all intents and purposes, your branding will shape how your product and business are viewed by the public.
How and Where Do People Want to Buy Your Product?
You should also address exactly how people want to buy and obtain your product. Many people prefer to order certain products online. Others may prefer to buy a product in person. This can vary greatly depending on the product category. Statistics show that most people prefer buying groceries in physical stores and books in online stores. Find out what these preferences are for your own products.
Why Do Certain People Not Want to Buy Your Product?
You may also discover through your market research that a portion of a given market doesn’t want to consume your product at all. Part of your research should be uncovering the reasons why. Is it only the marketing that is turning people off? Do they think the price for what is offered is not fair? Do they just dislike the product in general? This can be valuable information in regards to increasing your sales and profits. While you may not want to radically change your product, it is still good intelligence to have.
Who Are Your Likely Competitors?
Discovering who your competitors are should be another goal of market research. Knowing who you are competing against can give you an advantage because you are drawing from the same customer base. If you do not know who your competitors are, you may never figure out why you can’t retain customers. One thing you may learn is that your real competitors are not who you think they are. Movie studios, for example, may think their real competitors are other movie studios. However, in reality, they may be competing for consumer attention against things like video games and YouTube, entities they were never positioned to compete against in the first place.
How Could You Improve Your Product?
You may be reluctant to change your product. Still, you should listen to consumers’ opinions regarding where you have room for improvement. Maybe this has to do with the design of the product itself. Maybe it’s just how it’s packaged or delivered. Regardless, you should be open to receiving this kind of feedback. This is especially the case if you have yet to launch your product and offer it to the public. If enough people say the same things regarding your product, there is probably truth to their critiques. This should necessitate making tweaks before your product’s launch.
Performing market research is an absolute necessity for any serious new business. Without it, it can feel like wandering alone in the wilderness. However, with the data compiled from market research, you’ll have a much easier time deciding exactly what direction to advance towards with your product. It could make the difference between success and failure.