In recent articles, we’ve looked at what market research is and the main two categories of research available to start-ups. Today, we’ll be taking a closer look at how to focus your research and choose the best methodologies. So let’s jump in.
Branding Market Research
Branding market research helps a company to create, manage and maintain the company brand. It can help support the decision you make regarding the tone, branding, images, values or identity of the company. It can also be used to evaluate your brand loyalty, brand perception, brand positioning, brand value and overall brand identity
The main aim of research will be to understand:
- How your brand is performing in relation to other competitors
- If there are areas where you need to improve your brand activities
- If there are certain positives that enhance your brand’s image
Branding market research can be carried out using a combination of interviews, focus groups, and surveys. For example, brand awareness surveys will ask your participants whether the brand is known to them and whether it is something they would be interested in buying. It can also be carried out using quantitative data collected from your existing marketing campaigns.
Product Market Research
Product market research helps you determine whether your products and services are ready to launch, and whether they are likely to perform well on the market.
The main aim of this type of research is to understand how your product is perceived and if it provides value to your target customers.. It can be to assess product suitability. It can also be used to guide future product development.
Product market research involves looking at:
- Product branding – Does the product appeal to customers in the intended way?
- Product feature testing – Does the product work as expected?
- Product design thinking – Does it solve your customers’ problems?
- Product marketing – Do the marketing messages resonate?
Primary research methods can be very helpful for this type of market research. For example, surveys can give an indication of which features are most popular or useful to customers. Meanwhile, in-person interviews can be particularly useful in understanding how customers use the product and how they feel about the marketing.
Customer Market Research
Customer market research looks at the key influences on your target customers and how you can improve your strategy to encourage sales. The aim of this type of research is to get a better understanding of your customers and how they interact with the company. This could include:
- Customer satisfaction – What is it that keeps your customers happy?
- Customer loyalty – How do they interact with and experience your brand?
- Customer segmentation research – What are their behaviours and preferences?
Customer market research involves looking at historical purchase records, customer journey mapping, customer segmentation, demographics and persona templates. It can also be combined with primary research, such as NPS and customer satisfaction surveys, or customer satisfaction interviews at the end of customer support calls.
Competitor Market Research
Competitor market research looks at who your competitors are, how they position their brand, and how they compare to your own company. It also looks at how competitive your product offering is, or how to best enter a new market.
The aim of this type of research is to find new ways to stand out, to improve your offering, and to better meet customer demand. For example, for competitive analysis, some researchers would do an in-depth SWOT for your business and for your competitors’ businesses, to see how they compare.
Competitor market research often incorporates many types of primary research. For example, you can interview customers about their buying preferences. It also includes some secondary research. For example, you can also look at market share and broader industry trends. With competitor analysis, you can understand what you need to change in order to become more competitive, and to increase your business performance.
Final Thoughts
Market research is an important process. Whether you’re a new company trying to launch, or an SME trying to accelerate your growth, there is always something to be gained from understanding your place in the market. This is particularly true for companies operating in the forex and crypto space, where the markets are highly saturated. For more information about market research, visit the blog.
