1. Defining the problem.
Defining the problem is more or less taking your product and service and finding out how that product or service will fit into the current marketplace. Part of this process may be a test market of a new product to see if the targeted audience responds favorably or unfavorably to it.
Defining the problem consists of two steps one is setting objectives, the measurable goals you wish to achieve. An example of an objective would be increased sales. The second is setting up specific measures of success,criteria used to figure out a solution to your problem.
2. Developing the Research Plan.
The next step in marketing research is to develop the research plan. The research plan will allow you to sort out the details of which information you need to make a reasonable marketing decision.
First you need to identify the data you will need to make you marketing decisions. Over the course of doing research there is always a lot of irrelevant data collected so you want to be sure to use just the right data or else your final report will be flawed. This means that you will to develop the right concepts and methods for collecting your data.
In marketing concepts are those ideas that are formed about a product or service. For instance when a car company wants to see if a new car model will go over with consumers they develop and show off a concept car. This give the consumer a basic idea of what the car is going to be like.
3. Collect Information
Once you have the right concepts laid out and the methods you will use to collect data, you can start the actual data collection. When collection data make sure you collect only the type of data needed to make rational marketing decision. The data you collect will come from two sources; the primary data and the secondary data.
The primary data, which is the new fact and figures that you have collected specifically for the purpose of helping you with your current marketing decisions. The secondary data is information that have had previously used or stored which is your internal data, or external data which is that data that can be found at other sources outside of your immediate resources.
It is up to you how you collect the primary data, surveys, questionnaires etc., but no matter how the data is collected primary or secondary make sire that it reliable and useful to your research.
- The Final Report
The final report is simply a detailed document where you present your research findings and make recommendations based on those findings.
The final report will give you the information you need to either move ahead with marketing your product or service or to say enough is enough and you realize that it just won’t work. Remember marketing research must be done whether you are an independent business person or a company making millions of dollars.
BASIC 2 TECH 