There’s a saying in the business world: “If you’re not changing, you’re dying.” A bit dramatic, maybe, but it’s a sentiment that smart businesses take to heart if they want to stay relevant in a quickly and constantly evolving world. One of the best ways that companies can stay abreast of trends and monitor their own status within a market is by conducting quality market research. But they can’t stop there; successful businesses know that to make the most of their marketing research processes, they must act on what they learn. Take a look at five ways they use the marketing research process to better their products, their practices and their profits:
They Use the Marketing Research Process to Understand Their Consumers
Learning what consumers like and don’t like is a key component of research that businesses use to design and market their products. But really successful businesses use the same information to craft messages that communicate with consumers in ways that effectuate positive responses from them, as well.
They Use the Marketing Research Process to Understand Their Competition
Data from certain types of studies can highlight what a business is currently doing well and also what it isn’t. By extension, this information can be used to make inferences about how competitors might be meeting consumer needs in better ways, either by having a better product, more effective production, lower prices or preferable messaging. Knowing where a company stands in relation to everyone else in the market says a lot about its products and practices, putting it in a position to maximize strategies that work while minimizing both the competition’s advantages and its own risks.
They Use the Marketing Research Process to Test Their Ideas
Successful businesses use the research process to experiment. They don’t wait for the data to come to them; they actively seek out consumer opinions to plan for the future. They use what they learn to diagnose problems and guide development instead of merely assessing performance.
They Use the Marketing Research Process to Test Their Relevancy
Gathering industry data allows businesses to do more than measure their efficacy within a market. It allows them to monitor their progress and set goals. And because change is inevitable, knowing how and why and when it might come about is a powerful advantage for businesses to have. Savvy businesses routinely test their current relevancy in order to anticipate the demands they might be required to meet in the future.
They Use the Marketing Research Process to Track Changes
Similarly, the same industry data helps shrewd businesses monitor a market’s evolution. They notice their product’s performance over time as consumer demands shift or when economic, political and social circumstances transform policies, all actions that directly affect any product’s potential for longevity and success; by noting product performance and market trends, they are able to devise products and procedures that can stand the test of time.
Ready to Learn More?
Success isn’t often a result of luck. Smart companies make smart decisions and use the marketing research process to not only answer specific questions and track specific changes in the market, but to leverage experience in to insights that can provide sustainable ROI. If you’d like to learn more about the marketing research process and how it can help your business grow, contact our team at Communications for Research (CFR).
