A Comprehensive Guide to Market Research: 4 Proven Methods

It is the process of evaluating the feasibility of a new product or service, through research conducted directly with potential consumers. This method allows organizations or companies to discover the target market, collect and document opinions and make informed decisions. Market research can be conducted directly by organizations, companies or this process can be outsourced to agencies that have experience in this process.


Usually, marketing research is the first step in the marketing process. After visualizing product ideas, small businesses conduct market research to obtain information from the market, which they use to solve problems, obtain information about competitors, and identify the needs and desires of consumers and non-paying customers, then marketers analyze data and develop different marketing strategies.

Market research consists of systematically collecting data on people or companies, then analyzing it to better understand what this group of people needs. Market research results, usually summarized in a report, are used to help business owners make more informed decisions about the company’s strategies, operations, and business base. Market research is an important activity for companies that hope to understand their customers and the market better so that they can improve their products and services to better meet the needs of the market.


1- Using focus groups:

Focus groups are usually conducted in focus group facilities. These facilities contain one-way mirrors so that managers can listen to consumer feedback about their products and services.

A focus group supervisor or interviewer usually runs and develops a discussion guide from (5) to ( 10) Questions about the product, then ask the participants different questions about the product, where the ideal size of the focus group is from (6) to (10) people.

A supervisor might talk to customers about a new chicken sandwich meal in a small restaurant. You might ask them if they like the idea of a new chicken sandwich, how much they'll pay for it, and whether or not they'll buy it. Companies often use focus groups to narrow down several versions of a product to the best.

 

2- Individual interviews:

Face-to-face interviews are conducted in a similar way to focus groups, but with one person, as one-to-one interviews go beyond typical in-person interviews, and company managers use these to see someone actually using their product.

For example, a computer software company might want to test a new program, so they set up a computer and watch as people use the program, such as focus groups.

That's how much they like the software, or how easy it is to use it, and then companies decide if they need to make changes to the software, based on actual consumer usage.

 

3- Conducting phone surveys:

Companies use phone surveys to validate information obtained from focus groups and individual interviews, marketers conduct phone surveys among more consumers and customers, so data from more phone surveys indicates what the average consumer thinks about a particular product or service.

For example, a bank may conduct (300) telephone surveys to measure customer satisfaction with customer service, marketers will develop a questionnaire through which questions can be asked, this may include key measurable elements such as friendliness, timeliness and accuracy in the questionnaire, then ask customers to rate these elements On a scale of (1) to (10), with (10) being the highest rated, the bank may ask customers to clarify their responses, which the bank manager can then use to make improvements to customer service.

 

4- A/B Testing:

Companies often take marketing research one step further with test marketing, for example a restaurant company might actually rotate their chicken meal to (5) of (10) local restaurants, and advertise the meal on TV, local radio, and through coupon magazine ads. Since corporate marketing managers can then track sales and profits to verify the success of the new meal, the restaurant knows if its marketing research is an accurate indicator of success.