Conducting market research early on is essential for startups and new businesses, especially when it comes to building a sturdy foundation. Market research can put your startup on an early road to success.
Before launching a new business, it is important to consider the current state of the market you are looking to break into. Conducting market research for your business’ early stages can ensure you make the best decisions for your new business when it’s in its most vulnerable stages.
In this blog post, Drive Research, a full-service market research firm, will explore the advantages of conducting market research for a new business through two methodologies:
- Competitive Assessments
- Market Surveys
By utilizing a third-party market research company, your new organization will be able to collect the data it needs to distinguish itself from existing competitors in the industry and help your business meet customer expectations.
Our new business market research firm explores the advantages of conducting market research for a startup through these two key methodologies.
1. Start with a Competitive Assessment
Before launching a new business, it is important to understand what the market looks like in the industry you’re trying to get into. A competitive assessment is a great place to start.
Drive Research has developed an exclusive step-by-step process to our competitor assessment market research. Competitor assessments are valuable as a stand-alone component or can be incorporated into a larger project. They are an incredible measurement tool.
A competitive assessment typically starts with formulating a list of direct and indirect competitors. Consider who you’ll be sharing and competing for customers with. In addition to active competitors, researching potential new startups you may be competing with is essential, even if they’re not currently in the market yet.
Conducting secondary research helps to identify these younger businesses. Next, we’ll focus on the products and services your competitors offer.
We’ll answer the following questions:
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How do competing brands sell their products and services?
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What is the pricing structure of competitors?
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What are competitor’s marketing strategies?
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What does their social media look like?
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Do they have a strong following?
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What is the market share of competitors?
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Are there any strengths or weaknesses that stand out?
The categories to explore in a competitive assessment are truly endless.
It is a common practice for businesses to withhold information such as pricing and strategies to the general public for competitive reasons. In order to overcome this challenge, our market research firm for new businesses conducts mystery shopping emails, calls, and visits to complete a full evaluation of competitor operations.
At the end of the day, your organization will have a complete understanding of how each competitor operates, giving your startup incredible insight into the industry.
2. Conduct a Market Survey
Now that your new business has a good understanding of its competitors and the industry as a whole, it’s time to understand one of the most important aspects of any business; your customers!
We live in a world where customers have a lot of power. Customers have a seemingly endless supply of businesses to choose from in any specific industry. Where they choose to spend their hard-earned money speaks loudly.
Our new business marketing research company recommends conducting a market survey to maximize your startup’s understanding of customer expectations. Using information gathered from your competitive assessment, Drive Research will dive deeper into what your customer wants and needs from a company in your new business’ industry that they’re not getting - or what could be done better).
Conducting a market survey to understand customer expectations can reveal a lot of essential information.
The survey can address how much a customer is willing to pay and the quality they look for. Since keeping customers happy is a large part of building brand loyalty, asking customers about what they look for in customer service is important.
Researching customer communication preferences such as social media, television, radio, print, etc. can optimize your startup’s messaging. Understanding where and how your target audience wants to be communicated with creates effective messaging, builds a following, and prevents customers from clicking the “unsubscribe” button.
While you might have an idea of who your new business’ target market might be, conducting market survey research can also uncover new audiences, creating new opportunities for your business.
Drive Research is a market research company located in Syracuse, NY. Drive Research will work with your startup company to create an integrative and completely customized project that is engaging, unbiased, and statistically reliable. We offer the essentials every new business needs to make important decisions.
Interested in learning more about our market research services? Reach out through any of the four ways below.
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040