Marketing Plans - How to conduct your own market research

Congratulations, you've decided to try and answer your burning business questions with information from your market. It's not that you don't trust your gut, your spouse, or your partner you just feel the questions or issues are important enough to merit confirmation from another source. Ideally your customers. Hello, I'm Peggy Collins with how to conduct your own market research. To conduct effective market research it's imperative that you determine who your market is, and what you want to know. Assuming you're clear on who and what, you have some decisions to make on how your going to obtain the information. First you have to decide on some parameters. How much am I willing to invest? What's the budget? How quickly do I need the information? What are the time lines? Do I want to do this totally on my own, or work with a consultant? Next, you have to determine the type of research. Secondary research is an investigation into information that is currently available on your specific market. This may include press releases, chamber of commerce data, or government statistics, as well as any other publication with information relative to your market. This information is typically free and is a good place to start your investigation. Syndicated research is a little different. That's published research reports that are available for immediate purchase. Syndicated research is good value but the challenge is finding publications that are (unknown) to your specific market in question. An internet search that includes the topic in term research will lead you to sites such as marketresearch.com that provide information on available publications. Customary or primary research is the big dog of research. It allows you to collect specific information on your specific market. It is in effect, everything you need and nothing you don't want. While custom research typically requires the largest initial investment it is often the best value when time and quality of the information are determined. Primary research requires that you determine the sample, design the measures, collect the data, and analyze the results. Considering the complexity of the process it's often beneficial to at least consult the professional. As a general rule of thumb regarding research it may be cheap, fast, or good. Unfortunately only two of the three conditions are realistic and something will be sacrificed. Wherever possible, I'd recommend leaving research to the research gurus for the best data and analysis. I'm Peggy Collins wishing you good luck and good business.