Sunday 1 September 2013

The Main Uses of Market Research


Author: Max
Market research is one of the most important aspects involved in conducting successful business in any niche. There are a plethora of reasons as to why most, if not all, businesses conduct market research continuously - this is not a one off process. If your business is to keep its edge and successfully keepahead of its competition, then frequent market research is necessary. Besides being one of the major ways through which a company can understand its target market and customers, the main uses of market research are:

Identifying potential clients

Before you can sell your products, you have to know who it is that needs it and is likely to buy it. Are they old, young, single, middle, upper or lower class, where do they go to get their product information, how much are they willing to spend on what you are offering? These are all things a company needs to know if it is to succeed at all. Otherwise it will be what marketers commonly call, 'spraying and praying' which doesn't always work out too well. A targeted approach is more productive and saves a lot of time and marketing expenses.

Understand your market

If every company only sold something once, everybody would be out of business by now. Companies need to keep repeat clients as well as gain new ones. This is the dynamism that the business world survives on. Market research helps you understand what satisfies you current clients and what can gain you new ones. A company needs to know what their customers value the most. Is it the product or service, the delivery method, the customer service or the incentives? Whatever it may be, it is essential in the acquisition and retention of clients and this is at the core of a business' success. BCGroup's mission, for example, is the development of Russia's business environment through the provision of Russian Market Research, allowing any company to enter the Russian market with good prior knowledge.

Targets

Only through proper market research can a company set realistic projections and targets. Be it in sales or brand awareness campaigns. Market research also allows a company to decide when to launch a new product, which leads us to our next point...

Product Development

A company cannot sell the same thing year in year out and expect to remain competitive. It needs innovations and new ways to satisfy its market niche. The only way to do this is to find out what is missing in its current market or what it is they want more of. There is no point of undertaking the often very expensive task of developing and marketing a new product or service unless you know for sure it is needed and it will sell. Proper market research is the one sure way through which companies can find this information out and collect the necessary data that supports and accompanies it.

Formulate effective strategies

When a company knows its market intimately, it can formulate the appropriate strategies. Be it marketing, expansion or community outreach based, that will assure the most efficient and productive results. It's all about client satisfaction and the bottom line. There is no 'one size fits all' strategy. They all need to be custom fitted. Market research comes in great handy here.
About the Author
There are many varied reasons depending on the market, company goals and products but these are the main uses of market research to any company in the market arena.The BCGroup Marketing Agency has helped companies to open new business all over Russia.We work on Market Research Russia and business intelligence.

No comments:

Post a Comment