What is market research

What is market research Market Research is the process of gathering information about your business's buyers porsons, target audience, and customers to determine how viable and successful your product or service would be, and/or is, among these people.rnWhat does market research tell you? rnMarket research provides insight into a wide variety of things that impact your bottom line including (but not limited to): • Where your target audience and current customers conduct their product/ service researchrn• Which of your competitors your target audience looks to for information, more options, or to make a purchasern• What's trending in your industryrn• Who makes up your market and what their challenges arernWhat influences purchases and conversions among your target audience As you begin honing in on your market research, you'll likely hear about primary and secondary market research. The easiest way to think about primary and secondary research is to envision to umbrellas sitting beneath market research: one for primary market research and one for secondary market research.rnBeneath these two umbrellas sits a number of different types of market research, which we'll highlight . Ding which of the two umbrellas your market research fits beneath isn't necessarily crucial, although some marketers prefer to make the distinction.rnSo, in case you encounter a marketer who wants to define your types of market research as primary or secondary — or if you're one of them — let's cover the definitions of the two categories next. Then, we'll look at the different types of market research in the following section. rnPrimary vs. Secondary ResearchrnThere are two main types of market research that your business can conduct to collect actionable information on your products including primary research and secondary research.rnPrimary ResearchrncrnExploratory Primary ResearchrnThis kind of primary market research is less concerned with measurable customer trends and more about potential problems that would be worth tackling as a team. It normally takes place as a first step — before any specific research has been performed — and may involve open-ended interviews or surveys with small numbers of people.rnSpecific Primary ResearchrnSpecific primary market research often follows exploratory research and is used to dive into issues or opportunities the business has already identified as important. In specific research, the business can take a smaller or more precise segment of their audience and ask questions aimed at solving a suspected problem.rnSecondary ResearchrnSecondary research is all the data and public records you have at your disposal to draw conclusions from(e.g. trend reports, market statistics, industry content, and sales data you already have on your business). Secondary research is particularly useful for analyzing your competitors. The main buckets your secondary market research will fall into include:rnPublic SourcesrnThese sources are your first and most-accessible layer of material when conducting secondary market research. They're often free to find and review — lots of bang for your buck here.Government statistics are one of the most common types of public sources according to Entrepreneur. Two U.S. examples of public market data are the the Bureau of Labor & Statistics, both of which offer helpful information on the state of various industries nationwide.rnCommercial SourcesrnThese sources often come in the form of market reports, consisting of industry insight compiled by a research agency like Pew, Gartner, or Forrester. Because this info is so portable and distributable, it typically costs money to download and obtain.rnInternal SourcesrnInternal sources deserve more credit for supporting market research than they generally get. Why? This is the market data your organization already has!rnAverage revenue per sale, customer retention rates, and other historical data on the health of old and new accounts can all help you draw conclusions on what your buyers might want right now.rnNow that we've covered these overarching market research categories, let's get more specific and look at the various types of market research you might choose to conduct.