Whether you are pitching to the investors, chalking out a business plan, for launching any new product, analysing the market is the necessary first step to it all. Keeping the costs down is a constant priority and more so if you are a small business. There are more ways than one through which a business can access the information it needs without paying much for it. The following are the five strategies of market researching that can come in handy for any business.
Be a Part of a Trade Association
The trade associations help you in staying updated regarding the latest occurring in your industry. Some of the facilities that these organisations offer include networking events, magazines, conferences, newsletters, and other such forums that have the ability to give you a world of pertinent information. When you join the organisation, you get access to any competitive information that is there about the fads, trends, and market shifts.
Your Competitor’s Sales Material and Advertising
The regular review of the marketing material used by the competitor can help you gain some insights into the market and industry. Check their websites and keep an eye out for their press kits and advertisements. Look into things like their position and the products they are trying to push. These factors help you in getting a thorough understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. Make sure that their weakness can be turned into the strength of your company and their strength to manifest more in you.
Using the Internet to your Benefit
No one needs to be a computer genius to gather significant intelligence from the internet. In your market researching strategies, you can start by setting Google alert for your company that will help you in tracking your online presence and gauge customer reactions. The Google alert reaches your notifications whenever someone posts something about your company.
Checking Social Media and Customer Reviews
Social media is a valuable tool in researching and knowing the emerging trends. There are social media advertisements that give you an insight into the minds of your target audience, including their lifestyle, the pages liked by them, gender, and so much more. There are many customer review sites that showcase candid and spontaneous feedback about business. This helps in understanding the customers regarding their wants and demands.
Request for Customer Feedback
The customers can be emailed a few days after they have purchased the product in order to understand how far they like your product. Request them to rate the overall experiences and customer services. The information that you will get is going to help you in modifying your approach to make it fit the preferences of the customer.
You can take the initial approach all by yourself, but in the long run, it is important to have an industry expert by your side. The experts are able to amass particular quantitative data which is difficult for you to gather. However, these strategies ensure that you are good to go in the initial stages.
