Large market research agencies are generally only interested in businesses that are willing to spend thousands of pounds on a project and if you are a market research novice, it can be tricky to know exactly where to start. It might even feel so overwhelming that you deem it not worth bothering with. But, market research is an essential ingredient in improving and developing your business.

We asked Alice Broomhall – London-based market research consultant – to share her top tips on how to do your own market research without breaking the bank!

1. Research, research, research

Spend time researching other businesses offering similar products or services to you. Become a ‘mystery shopper’ – look at competitor websites, shops, leaflets, and call their call centres or offices. Join their email mailing lists.

• How easy is it for a potential customer to find what they want?
• How does their product quality, product information, customer service, delivery service, branding etc compare to yours?
• Do this regularly. Who are the new players on the market? Which competitors are continually updating their website / products etc?

2. Talk to your customers

Get into a dialogue with your customers. Use email, free research tools such as Survey Monkey, and social media to ask for feedback on your products and services.

• Don’t be afraid to ask difficult questions, or to invite constructive criticism. They don’t have to answer and you may be surprised how easy it is to address any criticisms.
• A discount or prize draw is a good incentive. And telling your customers what changes you will make as a result of their feedback is a great way to make them feel closer to your brand.

3. Keep talking

It doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive to regularly run your own mini focus groups to evaluate new ideas or check how well your existing services are meeting target customer needs.

Get a group of family, friends, friends-of-friends etc together at home, or in the pub, and run through a list of planned questions. Try to be as impartial as you can.

4. Get close to your customers

Once you’ve established the target market for your business, find a handful of people that fit the profile (or use your existing customer base) and ask if you can visit them at home (or setting most relevant to your business area). Talk to them about how your product / service fits into their life, how they use it, and what benefits they get (or don’t get) from it. Watch how and where they use your product / service, and how long they spend using it.

Seeing your customers in their own environment can give you real insights into what their needs are and how you can develop your business further.

Some final tips:

• Whatever market research you decide to do, make sure that you keep organised notes (with dates!) to help you identify trends in your customer satisfaction, or the market as a whole, over time.
• Record conversations and interviews where possible. It is difficult to remember everything your respondents say, especially when you’re thinking about what to ask next.
• If using email or online survey software, keep your questions short, impartial, and use plenty of open ended (free text) questions. Unless you are likely to get hundreds of responses, a written response “What did you like most and least about your last purchase?” will give you more useful information than just a tick in a box “How satisfied were you with your last purchase on a scale of 1 to 5?”.
• If you are unsure about how to ask the right questions to the right people, there are cost effective ways that a market research professional can help you. Online resources such as this Government video  and websites including Small Business and Marketing Donut are also crammed full of useful information.

Alice Broomhall is a freelance market research consultant specialising in helping start-ups and small businesses understand their customers and develop their services. Before going solo she spent twelve years working for large, international market research agencies, covering everything from helping banks to develop new business banking services, to testing car insurance advertisements, to evaluating how parents choose toys for their children. She loves being out in the park with her two daughters and in her spare time, likes to buy and renovate properties.

The post How to do your own market research appeared first on Marketing Vision.

And with busy lives to lead, it is easy to get frustrated with being phoned or stopped in the street to answer market research questionnaires that promise “this will only take five minutes”.

But what actually is market research and how can it help your small business grow?

We asked Alice Broomhall – London-based market research consultant – to give us the low down on why market research is so important for every business.

Market research is vital for success

Market research is in short, the practice of understanding the market for your business. Usually by asking questions to – or observing – your customers, your target market and/or your competitors. Pretty important stuff.

How can market research help your business?

There are four key areas in which market research can – and should – be helping to improve and develop your business:

1. Your product or service

• While you know it’s a fantastic idea, how good is it really? Is the quality high enough? Is the location right? Is there a genuine need for it in the market?
• Is your chosen price point giving you the optimum balance between profit and size of customer base?
• Are you sure that any future developments you have planned for your business are going to be popular with your customers? What direction should your business take?

2. Your brand

• Have you already developed a strong brand and worked out how to consistently get your brand identity out there? How do you know how well it is working?
• If you haven’t yet decided on the direction your brand and visual identity will take, how do you decide which road to go down? Which will have the greatest impact on your target customers?
• Do your customers and potential customers know what your brand stands for? Do they recognise your brand? Would they remember it should someone ask them for a recommendation?

3. Your customers and potential customers

• Who are they? What is their demographic profile? What is their current purchase behaviour in your field?
• How much will they pay, and how often?
• What do they think of your business? How satisfied are they with your product or service, and what improvements would they like to see?

4. Your competitors

• The competitive arena is much larger than it used to be – it’s not just local businesses any more. Do you know who your competitors are?
• What do they do better than you? What do you do better than them?
• Which competitors do your customers and potential customers use or aspire to use?

Market research can turn a good business idea into a great business!

If the answer to any of these questions is “No”, then it’s time to get out there, talk to your customers and potential customers, and do some market research! It doesn’t have to be expensive or particularly time consuming, but it can help make the difference between a good business idea and a great business.

Alice Broomhall is a freelance market research consultant specialising in helping start-ups and small businesses understand their customers and develop their services. Before going solo she spent twelve years working for large, international market research agencies, covering everything from helping banks to develop new business banking services, to testing car insurance advertisements, to evaluating how parents choose toys for their children. She loves being out in the park with her two daughters and in her spare time likes to buy, and renovate, properties.

The post 4 key ways market research can help your small business appeared first on Marketing Vision.