Conducting Market Research: A Beginner’s Quick Guide

March 5 2021

Conducting a market research analysis can provide companies with an advantage over their competitors. This type of analysis allows them to identify opportunities for growth and can inform them on how to best prepare for future challenges. The market research process involves collecting data and leveraging insights about trends within the industry and consumer habits to inform future marketing strategies. 

Once the information has been gathered, companies can identify gaps to better serve their customers and prospects, better position their value proposition to resonate with target audiences, and to keep ahead of their competition. 

How to Conduct A Market Research Analysis

Benefits of Market Research Analysis

Businesses across every industry can benefit from analyzing the market. It provides insight into where their sector is heading and what their target buyers want down the road. Studying the market provides organizations with a competitive advantage because they are able to identify opportunities for innovation or investment that they may not have otherwise been aware of.

For example, a clothing brand can use real-world data to identify when a new fashion trend is emerging or to find out when customers started purchasing athleisure. Based on insights from their research, the retailer can develop campaigns to specifically market products that best fill that needs of these consumers.

In addition to informing strategies, market research analysis can also identify potential challenges that may be on the horizon, such as a shift in consumer preference or increase regulation, which allows companies to pivot their strategies accordingly to minimize any negative effects and better resonate with prospective consumers.

Four Steps for a Successful Market Research Analysis

There are four steps to conducting a successful market analysis, many of which include having access to the right data to reveal key market insights.

1. Define the Purpose of the Research

Before starting a market analysis, businesses should define what they are hoping to accomplish from the research. Are they trying to gain a competitive advantage? Is the organization interested in planning for the future and designing a strategy to best capitalize on near- to long-term trends? 

Once a company establishes the purpose of their research, they can then determine how they will gather the information to guide their business objectives. 

2. Determine What Data to Include in the Analysis

Being data-driven is one of the most important aspects of staying competitive, and the same can be said for enabling effective market research. First, businesses should determine what type of data will be the most useful.

Companies hoping to better understand consumer behavior and habits should consider using real-world data like location intelligence. Location intelligence provides insight into where people travel in the real world, and these insights help companies understand changes in consumer buying habits. 

Once an organization has determined what types of data will best serve their market research analysis, they can then decide if they will work with a firm and data providers to receive what they need to best understand the current and future market. To expedite data collection, it is best to work with a data provider who can provide high-quality data. In addition to evaluating quality, it’s also important to ask the provider about their flexible data delivery options to ensure that the data is timely.

3. Analyze the Data

Once the data is collected, analysts will have to cleanse and sift through the data sets, removing any unnecessary or irrelevant data. While data teams can do this themselves, they may lack the internal resources to do so efficiently. For many, it’s easier to work with a data provider that is able to provide the cleansed data sets they need. 

Once the data has been parsed, the business should work with their market research firm to analyze overarching trends like whether consumers are changing where they choose to shop or what types of businesses they visit the most.

4. Use Insight to Pivot Marketing Strategies

The final step in conducting a market analysis involves drawing conclusions from the data and using them to inform marketing campaigns and help meet business objectives, such as increasing sales, staying ahead of the competition, or expanding audience reach.

Once a company creates a campaign based on market research insights, they should benchmark the campaign’s performance against previous marketing efforts to help inform future strategy.

Scroll to Top