1.
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Understand and articulate the goals / objectives of the
research
It is critical to understand why the research is being done, as well as what
questions need to be answered, before spending time, effort and cost on a
market research effort. Typically, organizations will create a market research
brief that level sets expectations for all involved in the process. The market
research brief can be one paragraph or 10 pages.
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| 2.
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Description of the Market
Once all stakeholders have agreed on what will be delivered in the market
research study, the actual data gathering efforts can begin. As you can
imagine, market research studies include a wide range of data collection,
depending upon the questions to be answered. However, there are some common
themes that cross many market research studies. These themes include
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Overall / general description of the target market
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Why this particular market was selected
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Who composes the market? – this implies profile information such as
demographics, psychographics, behaviors, etc. |
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Are there specific benefits that this market seeks or are there specific pain
points that need to be addressed?
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Assuming we can deliver the benefits or resolve the pain points, are there
specific factors which affect their purchase or use decision
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In terms of other current products in the market, how do customers feel about
these products?
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How is the product used?
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Products and Services that appeal to the target market
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Are customers essentially using substitute products now but could benefit
greatly from a more direct product or service that meets their needs?
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What are the major trends that, or will, affect the market? |
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Are there factors outside the market that will have an impact? e.g. technology,
legislation, societal developments or attitudes, etc. |
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| 3.
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Market Metrics
Having put together a basic overview of customers in their market, as well as
identifying specific needs or pain points, it is then useful to start bringing
a more quantitative perspective to the market research study. The following
items will help an organization further understand the scope and scale of the
market:
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Current overall market size (number of customers, purchase volume)
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The markets true potential size |
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Expected market growth rate over the next 1,3,5 and 10 years |
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Penetration of current products/service within the overall market
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Expected growth in product or service penetration over the next 1,3,5, and 10
years
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What are, if applicable, the individual market segments
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What are the segment sizes |
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Expected growth rate of each segment |
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What is the product/service penetration in each segment |
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Expected growth in product or service penetration over the next 1,3,5, and 10
years |
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| 4.
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Competitive Analysis
Another area involved in a market research study that is important for
companies to understand is competitive analysis. Competitive analysis will
provide a richer context for the study by assessing how each organization is
performing in the market. Competitive analysis can involve data collection on a
number of fronts and varies based on the type of questions an organization is
attempting to answer in the research study. However, some of the basic items
included for each competitor:
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Products & Services (e.g., description, features, pricing,
accessibility, etc.) |
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Current customers
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Sales, marketing and promotional strategies
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Key partnerships, alliances and distribution relationships
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Recent news
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SWOT Analysis - Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities & Threats
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Value Chain Analysis |
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Core Competencies identification
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Market Research can be a time consuming and data intensive process. That's why
we've developed an online tool to help collect, synthesize and distribute
market research information, specifically within the context of a
competitive intelligence project. To learn more about the benefits of
this online tool, please visit our product
information page.
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