Business owners hoping to increase sales and maintain a competitive edge often consider expanding their pipeline of available products or services. However, a product line expansion is more than just adding a new bullet point to a list. Many product launches fail due to unthoughtful planning, never reaching the right audience or miscalculating market trends. Market research can help with that.
With thorough market research, you can put your ideas into practice with products and services that address the true needs and unspoken desires of your customers. Below, we share market research tips that will help you better understand your customers, making your product launch more successful.
1. Identify your market
One of the cornerstones of good market research is understanding who your customers are and how best to reach them. Online and offline market research tools can help you gather information so you can focus your efforts on the right target market and improve your brand positioning. Consider questionnaires that could take the form of a telephone interview, face-to-face interviews, or online surveys. You can also read blogs for insights on what customers are into today, the products or services they are looking for, and what sparks their interest. Using these techniques will help you evaluate who your customers are and how your new offering will best fit into their lives.
2. Competitor analysis
Knowing who your competitors are and what they offer can give you some perspective on what products and services customers would buy if they didn’t buy yours. Review your competitors’ marketing materials and analyse how your new product will stand out amongst what’s already available. The easiest way to obtain this kind of information is through a traditional Google search.
3. Formulate a unique value proposition
Part of your market research is knowing what sets you apart from the competition. What makes your product or service unique? How will it meet the desires and needs of your customers and how will you communicate that to them? One of the ways you can come up with a unique value proposition is by speaking with your customers or conducting psychological profiling. This way, you can gain a deeper understanding of who your customers are by getting to know their temperaments, lifestyles, income levels, consumption patterns, and media patronage. These trends will help you formulate messages that resonate with them.
4. Test your product and get insight
Product tests help you determine whether your actual product is effective. Whether you’re doing tasting tests to find the most popular flavour or creating device prototypes to learn the problematic features of your design, testing will reveal whether your product will fly when you launch them into the market. Gather consumer feedback about your product’s taste, smell, look, design, usability, packaging, and other variables. The response you get from these tests will help you know which aspects to improve on and which marketing approach to use so you can make informed decisions based on reliable data.
5. Stay abreast with new business models
Market research is an ongoing process. Consumer behaviour and market trends evolve constantly, and that’s why it’s also vital to stay abreast of what’s happening in the market. As you develop new products and business growth strategies, you need to know what the new business models, emerging technologies, regulatory norms, and disruptive products are. This will better equip your business to adapt to the current dynamics of the market. You can subscribe to newsletters or journals or engage with industry experts to keep you informed and give you the best chance of business expansion.
Build your network with Bartercard!
Whether your business wants to drive profitable growth, enter a new market, or sustain competitive advantage, market research is imperative. And you can boost your business growth strategy through seeking networking opportunities that will help you connect with the right audience and build new business networks.
When you join Bartercard, you extend your business’s reach as you engage with thousands of other Bartercard members who can offer you new perspectives and help introduce your brand to new customers. In this way, you can create the best product for your brand and for your target audience. Learn how your business can benefit from the Bartercard network, get in touch with us today!
