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Defining
Market Segment & Customer Profile |
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Demographic (education,
occupation, income level, age, gender, etc.)
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Geographic location
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Business markets (type, size,
location, turnover, etc.)
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Consumer behavior characteristics
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Face the
Reality
There's nothing bad about market
research as long as you remember that marketing is the game of the
future. "Most marketing surveys are reports on the
past. Research tells us what customers already did and not
necessarily what they're about to do. They don't know what they're going to
do and we shouldn't embarrass them with questions."3
Tracking Trends versus
Traditional Market Research
New ideas, concepts and models are very
difficult to measure. There is no frame of reference. As product life-cycles
are shortening at an immense rate, traditional market research – both
quantitative and qualitative – can sometimes be more of a hindrance than a
help. It is good at measuring the past and present.
Besides, "traditional research has the drawback
of relying on what consumers say, which is sometimes different from what
they actually do in real life. People don't know what they will do until
they face an actual decision."1
While you cannot predict the future, you can
get a handle on trends, which is a way to take advantage of
change
and convert risks into opportunities.
Spotting and tracking
trends can be a very useful tool in dealing with unpredictable future.
Test Market Your New
Products
How do you test market a new product
or service? How do you find out if people are actually going to buy it?
First, make or get a prototype. Create or get a sample. If it's being
manufactured somewhere else, get a sample of it. If you're going to
manufacture it yourself, create a prototype so that you can show it,
demonstrate it, photograph it.
So that you can let people see it,
touch it, feel it, and get an opinion from it...
More
Google
is the Internet’s number one search engine today. What is the reason for
their remarkable success? It’s
beta
testing and
market learning. They launched a less than perfect service into
the market place to get market feedback.
Feedback is the key to dominating a market. It also makes great business
sense. Google's competitors were trying to perfect a product by themselves
separate from their target market as Google was continuously and rapidly
upgrading their original beta version by
listening to the customer.
They strived to achieve
harmony with the
reality...
More
7 Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurial Firms
By: NBIA
More
Most Common Reasons Behind
a Failing
New Product...
New Product Development:
Keys To Successful Market Learning...
Marketing &
Selling Strategy at Different Company Growth Stages...
Understanding What
Motivates People...
Five Popular Innovation
Myths...
Test Marketing Your New
Product...
Observing People...
Listening To
Customers...
Learning from
Customer Feedback...
Learning About the Markets
for New-to-the-World Products...
Case in Point
Palm...
Case in Point
Dell
Computers...
Case in Point
Google...
Case in Point
IDEO...
Case in Point
Innovatel...
Case in Point
Fun4Biz...
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