How to Market Research Before Launching a New Product or Service 

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Market research is a key part of business planning. Understanding the market can help you create a product or service that sells well and satisfies your customers. Most successful companies have an annual (if not quarterly) research program. If you’re planning to launch a new product or service soon, it’s important that you conduct at least a single round of market research beforehand. 

Below, The Professionalist blog covers some best practices on how to conduct market research: 

Start by identifying your research objective

Every research initiative has an ultimate objective. Defining that will help you focus your research efforts effectively. Your objective should be based on your main business goal – the successful launch of a new product or service, for instance, or your transition into a new market. Identify the information you need to achieve your business goal. 

Develop research questions 

Your research questions should be based on your research objective. What do you need to know about your customers, industry, competitors, and other factors to be successful? For instance, when researching the market, develop questions to pinpoint the demographics, economy, viability of a product launch, future potential, and existing players. If researching customers, check their behavior, location, income, and general background. Similarweb offers a list of scenario-specific questions.  

Conduct your research 

Next, it’s time to actually ask the questions. You can perform qualitative or quantitative data gathering, which are two main types of research methods. According to a Scribbr explanation, qualitative research helps you learn something new, while quantitative research helps you to confirm or test something you already know. You can collect data through interviews, telephone polling, mailed questionnaires, surveys, and personal interviews. To get high-quality data, focus on finding high-quality, reliable participants and incentivize them. You can use apps and online tools to gather, analyze, and later use data. 

Understand your research 

Now, it’s time to analyze and interpret your research. Have you achieved your research objective? Does your data confirm or deny the viability of your business goal? You can analyze your data better by organizing it and visualizing it through lists, tables, graphs, and mind maps. Attempt to identify patterns and glean key insights. A simple but effective way to understand your research is to use SWOT analysis. 

Conceptualize or make changes to your product 

Your research can help you create an appropriate new product or make upgrades to an existing one. You conveniently and quickly visualize designs or create prototypes by using a 3D design tool. A good software solution will let you make changes to your model at any time, without you having to redo the entire process every time. This would allow you to test different versions of your design, which may then help you get customer feedback faster and help you make better decisions when researching potential products.  

Work with professionals 

As you can probably tell, market research is difficult to perform, especially if your company is new or doesn’t have in-house experience. You can team up with marketing professionals to get marketing research done faster. Blox Marketing offers an array of powerful marketing services that you may find useful. Work with us to achieve all your marketing goals quickly and conveniently. 

Conclusion 

Quality market research will help you get to know your customers, your industry, and the competition. The knowledge can help you make informed business decisions and develop a product or service that aligns with customers’ needs. It’s always best practice to have a market research program in the works. Make it a quarterly or annual endeavor, and automate key tasks for the best results.

Are you looking for more great resources to help you build your business? Then check out The Professionalist today!

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