Conducting Market Research
Market research is an overarching term for gathering information from you customers about your business, and focus groups are one way to conduct market research. Whether your focus group’s goal is to give feedback on a product or service or help you assess how your brand stands out in your competitive landscape, thought-provoking, open-ended questions are essential to a productive discussion. Focus group questions should dive into the mind of a consumer. What do they think? How do they make their decisions? You want more than a yes or no answer, and your questions need to generate them. However, it is easier said than done. What can you ask beyond “What do you think of our product?” to provoke the most fruitful answers? Here, we have compiled the most insightful questions you can ask in your next focus group to get the best insights from your participants. Copy-and-paste the questions…
When I was younger, my dream was to open a cheese store with my family. My mom, brother, sister, and I — we’re all obsessed with cheese. So anytime I see a cheese store, I’ll go in and sample everything … for research, obviously. Although I’d never thought about it this way before, I was already thinking in terms of market intelligence and market research (two different concepts, but more on that below). I was thinking about the product and its competitors. As a marketer, market intelligence is important because it can help you understand your position in the market, evaluate your product, know your target audience, and conduct competitive analysis. With this information, your marketing team will be better equipped to position your company in the marketplace. For companies that prioritize intelligence data, decision-making can be five times faster. Feeling hesitant to rely on intelligence data? Gartner reports over…
Today’s consumers have a lot of power. They can research your product or service and make purchase decisions entirely on their own. Moreover, rather than talking to one of your sales reps, they’re more likely to ask for referrals from members of their networks or read online reviews. With this in mind, have you adapted your marketing strategy to complement the way today’s consumers research, shop, and buy? To do just that, you must have a deep understanding of who your buyers are, your specific market, and what influences the purchase decisions and behavior of your target audience members. Enter: Market Research. Whether you’re new to market research, this guide will provide you with a blueprint for conducting a thorough study of your market, target audience, competition, and more. What is market research? Market research is the process of gathering information about your target market and customers to verify the…
Sometimes, commercials really get me. T-Mobile’s Super Bowl commercial this year is a prime example — “What’s for Dinner?” demonstrates the infuriating process of choosing what to do for dinner for a young couple, and it’s gold. The reason T-Mobile’s ad was so relatable is because of their market research. They looked at what their target audiences wanted — including their thought processes, what informs their decisions, and the trade-offs they’re willing to make for their products. To accomplish all of these important factors in one go, many companies use conjoint analysis. Think about buying a new phone. Attributes you might consider are color, size, and model. The reason phone companies include these specs in their marketing is due to research such as conjoint analysis. Would consumers purchase this product or service if brought to market? That’s the question conjoint analysis strives to answer. It’s a quantitative measure in marketing…
If you’ve ever been in charge of gathering reports for your marketing team, then you know there are a plethora of metrics you can measure. One metric that gets overlooked is share of voice. However, this is a versatile metric that you can use in a competitive analysis for social media, organic traffic, or even paid advertising. As a marketer, share of voice is important because it helps you understand how well your brand is performing against the competition. Below, we’ll review everything you need to know about share of voice. This metric was mainly used as a way to measure success in paid advertising, however it’s much more than that now. You can calculate share of voice for organic traffic and social media, in addition to paid advertising. By calculating your share of voice, you’ll have a better understanding of many people know about your brand, and you can…
When you’re developing or launching a new product, service, or business, you’ll want to have a general sense of how receptive your target market will be to it. Typically, this is done through extensive market research — and one key component of the research process is running a focus group. In this article, we’ll define what a focus group is, give you an agenda to follow when conducting on, explain how to run a focus group step-by-step, and help you plan your questions with a focus group questionnaire. What is a focus group? A focus group is a small group of people, typically representative of your target market, with whom you share ideas and ask questions about your product, service, or business. The individuals who make up the focus group should be a mix of current customers and people who’ve never made a purchase but might in the future. The…
Porter’s Five Forces is a model that identifies and describes the five economic forces that shape every industry. More specifically, it explains how these forces dictate every industry’s competitive intensity, potential for profitability, and attractiveness. Porter’s Five Forces has become a fundamental model that most businesses use to grasp the dynamics of their industry and, in turn, drive their business strategy. And it can help you do the same, too. To help illustrate this, we’ve fleshed out the five fundamental economic forces at play in every market and provided an example analysis in each section, so you can see how each of these forces might play out in your specific industry. The way you apply this model to your own business is totally dependent on the nature of your industry. Once you understand the forces affecting your industry, you can better extract insights that are relevant to your business. Let’s…
According to a 2020 survey, most businesses have an average of 29 competitors. Do you know who yours are? All businesses have competition — and knowing yours is key for innovating your products, services, and marketing strategies. But identifying the competition isn’t always obvious. Some are direct, while others may take more time to uncover. Here, we’ll cover the three types of competitors to watch, and five ways to identify them. 3 Types of Competitors in Business 1. Direct competitors. A direct competitor probably comes to mind when you think of your competition. These are businesses offering similar (or identical) products or services in the same market. They also vye for the same customer base. Some famous examples of direct competitors include Apple versus Android, Pepsi versus Coca-Cola, and Netflix versus Hulu. But direct competition isn’t exclusive to well-known national or international brands. Two shoe stores in a rural town…
When was the last time you ran a competitive analysis for your brand? And most importantly, do you know how to do one efficiently? If you’re not sure, or if the last “analysis” you ran was a quick perusal of a competitor’s website and social media presence, you’re likely missing out on important intelligence that could help your brand grow. In this detailed guide, you’ll learn how to conduct a competitive analysis that will give your business a competitive advantage in the market. A competitive analysis can help you learn the ins and outs of how your competition works, and identify potential opportunities where you can out-perform them. It also enables you to stay atop of industry trends and ensure your product is consistently meeting — and exceeding — industry standards. Let’s dive into a few more benefits of conducting competitive analyses: Helps you identify your product’s unique value proposition…