Easy market research

Why do so many companies fail? Often new business owners are so enamored of their new product ideas that they fail to do their research , or they ignore what the research tells them. It is important in product development to develop products that your consumer’s want, not simply what you desire to produce.

Here are some steps to find out more about your target market.

Step 1: Go to www.google.com

Step 2: Identify key words that describe your target market and service/product offering

Step 3: Run a search on each of those keywords

Step 4: Research the top 10 Sites that show up on Google and the sponsored links on the right for the following 7 Key Market Research Questions :

1. Who is the company and principal of the company?
2. What products and services are they trying to sell?
3. At what price point are they offering these products and services?
4. Who are they targeting? What are the demographics of their target audience?
5. How are they delivering their product and service?
6. How are they positioning their product and service?
7. How are they promoting their product and service?

Step 5: Create a one page document for each company that summarizes the key questions and then one final executive summary of all 10 sites comparatively. Use this information to create and position your own marketing strategy.

Other Ideas

• Ask your existing customers by:
  • conducting a survey
  • holding an informal focus group

• Get media kits from magazines that your target market reads
• Find other businesses who target your market and ask them for help

(photo courtesy of Shannon Cherry of Be Heard Solutions)