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The Importance of Market Research

Get to know your clients!

By Maliha AnwerPublished 5 years ago 3 min read
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Market research, in simple terms, can be defined as an in depth analysis of of existing and potential customers of a business and exploration of opportunities and ideas available. The scope of market research includes and is not at all limited to competitor analysis as well. Last week, a friend of mine from a different field of occupation asked me the question, “Why do companies need market research?”

While I tried to answered her query to the best of my knowledge and practice, since I have been a market researcher myself for most part of my life, I decided to write an article on “The Importance of Market Research.”

In this era of digital marketing and social media promotions, it is not easy for businesses to retain their customers for a longer period of time IF, the products and services they have offered, fail to deliver the value sought by the consumers. Therefore, every business, whether existing or a new one needs to know and emphasize on the importance of knowing and understanding their clients. Whether a business is trying to venture into a new product launch or trying to focus on current product’s development and market reach, whether it is trying to capture a new market or trying to penetrate the existing one, whether a company wants to expand and grow as a business or wants to improve sales and generate cash, market research can provide insightful perspective on how to improve one’s product and services, pricing strategies, geographical availability and promotion tactics. For this purpose, businesses conduct market surveys to gain first hand knowledge about their consumers’ tastes, preferences, age groups, and everything else necessary to understand their position among competitors in a market.

There are two ways in which businesses can conduct market research: Primary Research and Secondary Research. Primary Research is the research conducted personally by a business to gain immediate knowledge, while Secondary Research is the research where businesses rely on pre existing information available in the market gained through other people’s research.

There are a variety of primary research methods, which can be employed by businesses, and they include internet polls, interviews, observations, focus groups, and surveys. Surveys, in my pinion, are by far the best and most direct method for conducting thorough market research.

Surveys are a type of primary research method which are used to collect data from a group of people through questionnaires. They are extremely helpful in strategic decision making for existing and new businesses. Surveys help businesses improve their products and services by getting to know their customers through customer feedback. They also help businesses in adapting according to the changing market trends and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of their competitors so that they can maintain their competitive edge over them. Surveys can also help companies devise proper pricing strategies and knowing which promotional tactics work in the market and which do not. Other reasons may include gaining useful insights into existing marketing opportunities, learning about new market trends, improvising the marketing mix based on customers’ taste and preferences and adjusting accordingly to them. Surveys also assist businesses in redefining their target market, learning how to efficiently capitalize on their niches, retaining their existing customers, and penetrating into further new markets.

Other market research methods have their own pros and cons. Companies can go for any method which fits their time and budget. With changing times and advent of digital advertising and social media marketing, companies and aspiring entrepreneurs now more than ever need to focus on familiarizing themselves with the environment they are going to perform in. Otherwise, if they rely on trial and error method, which means they first test the hot waters with wrong choices and then adjust, that would cost them time a lot of time, money, effort, and reputation damage too. Potential customers might also move onto to some other competitor offering better bargains. So it is better to take precautions and gain knowledge because as they say ‘knowledge is power.’

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About the Creator

Maliha Anwer

Writer | Blogger | INFJ

Website: The Home Girls Digest

Social Media:

1. Pinterest: Maliha Anwer

2. Instagram: The Homegirl's Digest

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Nice work

Very well written. Keep up the good work!

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