subject: Business Market Research Reports And Industry Analysis [print this page] Whether you are starting a new company, revamping an existing one or just working to stay abreast of fast-changing business situations, you need information. This information is all around you-in the newspapers, on TV, in corporate PR and annual reports, in myriad places both on and off the Internet-beaten path-but is often difficult to obtain, much less analyze with confidence.
Researching markets and analyzing industries is not for the fainthearted or easily thwarted. It takes time, attention and a solid triple-digit IQ, as well as that hard to define "business sense" that some people just have, and others just envy.
Where's the beef?
This is why there are firms that specialize in this work. While you put your focus and expend your energy on growing your business, professional market researchers and analysts put their time into gathering, sifting, checking, rechecking and performing microscopic quality control on the data you need to make both strategic (big picture) and tactical (task oriented) decisions.
Of course, there is more to getting the right info, from the right place, than flipping open the real or virtual Yellow Pages and choosing a company at random. Additionally, whether you do go the DIY (Do It Yourself) route or buy your reports, you need a clear idea of what information you really need, what goal(s) the data will support and its overall value in a strict, bottom-line sense.
What do you need to know?
If you don't formulate a clear idea of what you need to know, you may end up simply paying four figures or more for a foot-thick binder and/or DVD full of data. Instead of getting answers and a focused response, you get another job-digging through all the pages to find out what you want to know, assuming you will recognize it when you see it. Before you start your own research project, or write a check for business market research reports and industry analysis, consider a few guidelines:
Start at the end: This is just a clever way of saying "define your goals," which will force you to think about why you need the research in the first place.
Strip it down: If you narrow your focus and get specific about the results you want, you will save DIY time if you go that route, or money if you opt to buy the data.
ID your competitors: You always need to know who your competitors are, and also how they define themselves to consumers.
ID yourself: Much of the time, businesses in the same industry say a lot of the same things, so research and analysis helps you establish a differentiated brand.
What to do besides read reports
Some of the information that you may pay for will be out of date when you get it. So you will have to consider periodic reports and analysis, or take on some of the follow-up yourself. For instance, with today's "social marketing" and Net-Connected Everything, you can follow customers, competitors and even online business analysts throughout the day on blogs, forums, MySpace/Facebook pages, the industry-oriented LinkedIn and even the 140-character mini-newsfeed Twitter.
In addition, such websites as SurveyMonkey.com and Zoomerang.com let you create your own surveys, define and buy special reports, rent targeted mailing lists and otherwise interact with both current and potential customers. For every possible question, you must ask yourself, "What does it mean if a respondent answers this way as opposed to that way?" Decide beforehand how you will treat your responses, what weight you will give particular ones and where the "tipping point" is for getting you to adjust your plans.
Personalized for you, or by you
Conducting in-depth interviews with existing customers, even potential ones, is a good way to get a feel for your market and your message. You can often customize the questions you want answered when you contract for reports from market researchers. Experts agree that open-ended questions that allow respondents to answer in their own words will get you the most valuable, usable feedback.
However, and wherever, you get this important customer (and potential customer) feedback, you will benefit from much more than crunched numbers and standard analytical breakdowns. You will get the "voice" of your market, as well. Smart business people know that customers are the best source for an "expert opinion" as to what constitutes a powerful marketing message. Your messages should sound more and more like your customers all the time if you are making the most of your market research and industry analysis.
If it begins to sound like a time- and brain-intensive undertaking, that's because it is. You will have to consider, in your own special circumstances, what your time is worth as opposed to the cost of the market reports and analysis purchased from one of the many "knowledge brokers" and "metrics" vendors. With a little tailoring beforehand, there are few purchases you can make that will benefit you as much as good marketing research and analyses, no matter the size of your business, the industry it's in or your annual sales.
If you get your firm the best business market research reports and industry analysis you can afford you will doubtless come to consider it one of the best investments you ever made-and soon, too.
by: Bruce Munro..
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