What is Marketing Research?

What is marketing research?

This business research article will outline what is marketing research, why you shouldn't ignore it, and will also outline the two common business research methods used in market research.

Trying to start a business without first researching the market is one of the most costly mistakes made in business.

Let's think about it. Huge companies like Coca Cola, Microsoft, Mc Donalds, Ford, and Nike conduct extensive market research before launching any new product, or altering existing product lines.

These companies are all multi million dollar organisations with world-wide reputations, yet they still invest heavily in finding out what the market wants and needs. They don't just develop a product and assume that their customers will want to buy it.

The companies mentioned above are all market leaders. They are experienced in product development, costings, branding, marketing and management.

Yet every year thousands of people around the world (many of them inexperienced in business), launch businesses on nothing more than a whim, or a 'gut feeling'. This is astounding! It is also arrogant, amateurish and unprofessional.

So why do they do it? Often it is because they don't know how to research the market. They haven't studied business research topics so they are not familiar with business research methods.

What is Business Research?

So what is marketing research.

Market research is the process of gathering information that assists you in making informed business decisions. This information can provide insights into customers buying choices, habits, needs and opinions.

By gathering, recording and analyzing data about your products or service you are better able to position yourself in the marketplace.

We constantly hear the business experts telling us to research our market and find our niche etc. We are told that we need to define who our market is, what they expect, and how to find them. But how do we find this information? Where do we go to get specific information that applies to our particular business...the one that we probably haven't even started yet!

Typical Business Research Methods

There are two types of research available to you;

primary research,

secondary research

Let's start with secondary reseach.

Secondary Research

Secondary data is information that has already been collected by someone else, for another purpose. It is information that is already freely available in the marketplace.

Some examples of secondary rearch that you can use to research your business idea include; Government websites and publications, trade journals, various industry associations, phone books, and online directories.

These types of data can show you;

What the competition has done, or is doing
what customers want

market trends

peaks and troughs in your industry

specific demographics, ie household income, average age per household, the average temperature in different geographic areas, percentage of renters vs home owners is a particular location

and much, much more

Primary Research

Primary Research is that which you have specifically prepared. Primary research provides first hand information. This is where you go direct to customers. Some of the ways that you can collect primary data is through surveys and questionnaires. These types of data collection methods can be done yourself.

This data is the most useful as it is coming directly from the source. Although it can be time consuming to collect this type of data, it will be the most targeted and up to date as you are able to ask specific questions.

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