Why does your company need market research services?

Market research companies globally accrue a total revenue of USD $73.38 billion. This figure is a testament to the need for market research in today’s business environment. Market research is defined as the process of deducing whether a new product or service will resonate with potential/intended customer demographics. Market research is the method organizations employ to understand their target market and uncover information around them to make calculated business decisions. 

Market research is often outsourced to market research companies that are well versed with the methods needed to understand markets within their respective countries and fields. Their expertise minimizes the likelihood of collecting wrong information or wasting resources on methods that would not resonate with their target demographic. 

There are four types of market research that tend to overlap. The main methods are known as qualitative and quantitative research. Qualitative can be gathered using non-statistical methods while quantitative is the assessment of numerical information. These two categories are further broken down into primary and secondary research. Primary research is conducted by the business directly for firsthand information. Secondary research is conducted by assessing information already available to the market including government reports, the media and websites. 

Companies need market research to stay up to date with their customers’ growing needs and requirements while keeping a firm grasp on industry trends. This allows businesses to introduce a competitive advantage and consistently generate revenue and profits. Here are five reasons why your business should be investing in market research; 

1. Identifying New Prospects  

Market research reveals information around the key demographics your product or service reaches. This includes information such as age, income level, marital status and location. Understanding this information paints a clear picture of the end customer and if this information varies from who the company presumed their customers is, they can realign and strategize to tap into parallel and perpendicular markets. 

2. Understand Who The Customer Is  

Much like understanding new prospects, market research reveals who the intended audience is for not only your products, but also your competitors. Market research offers clear insight around how customers make their purchasing decisions within your field allowing businesses to understand whether a product or service is used as intended, the problems the product solves for customers, what influences a customer’s decision and where their attention lies when they aren’t shopping.  

This critical information allows businesses to approach their offering from a customer’s perspective and make possible improvements or understand where upselling prospects lie.  

3. Crafting Efficient and Effective Strategies 

Information is key to making the best possible business decisions. Market research reveals the efficacy of sales and marketing efforts for organizations to understand what is working and what needs to be improved. Market research can reveal whether pricing needs to be reassessed, opportunities to diversify product lines and whether the target market is resonating with advertising efforts. With this data, companies can optimize internal activities and create strategies that minimize wasted resources and maximize profits. 

4. Understand Business Concerns  

When organizations face issues, research around causation is imperative to solving the same. It isn’t uncommon for businesses to face issues around brand awareness, coping with competitors and slumps in sales. At moments like this, it is important to introduce a quick yet comprehensive solution highlighting where the business is failing and realign the same with haste.  

5. Tap Into New Markets  

Conducting market research helps businesses understand evolving market trends and brings to light markets that may be underserviced. This is the perfect opportunity for a business to comprehensively conduct research around the best ways to expand and tap into new customer bases. 

There are currently 213 million businesses across the world. The markets are fiercely competitive and businesses are constantly looking for ways to stay relevant and overtake competitors. 68% of companies that have used market research as a tool, have seen an increase in sales according to a report conducted by Hanover Research. Businesses looking to overcome industry obstacles and understand their customer must look to a market research company in the UK for relevant answers and the best possible methods to reveal business critical information and opportunities.