Marketing Research Tools (Market Research Part 2)
Posted On Monday, December 15, 2008 at by Sun JunThis is part of the continuing series on How to Start your own Business. Information are based on the book The Ultimate Guide to Starting Your Own Business by Entrepreneur Philippines.
Have you done your market research? Getting to know your target market is Step 3 of the process. If you are a bit lost on how to do this, here are a few approaches that might help you gather information.
- Surveys - Surveys makes use of structured questionnaire that is distributed to a group of respondents. In conducting surveys your objective must be clear and the questions must be well constructed in order to point to that objective.
- Focus Group Discussions - These discussion groups usually last for one to two hours. It is led by a facilitator and participated by around 6 to 8 persons. The facilitator must know what he is doing and must ask the right questions to generate discussion among the group. This methodology is good if you want to go deep into the reasons behind why people regard a product a certain way. After the discussion, an analysis of the insights gained must be presented.
- In-depth Interviews - Interact with one or two respondents and uncover what they think about the product. Get their opinions, values, and personal preferences.
- Ethnography - With this approach, the researcher will have to live temporarily in the same place as his respondents. The researcher uses this time to observe and record the respondents' behavior.
- Product Testing - Find out how your product fares against competition before officially launching it. You can go house to house or find areas where there is a high concentration of your target market. This tool is very useful to find ways to differentiate your product from competition.
- Concept Testing - Test your product or service's acceptability. Ask your makert if they would buy a product or avail of your service if it's available. This test will tell you how different your concept is compared to existing products.
- Mystery Shopping - Go to a competitor's place of business and try their products or service. Take note of the kind of customers they attract, the times they come in, how long they stay and the products or services they pay for. This is a good way to study your competitors and to see the business' potential.
