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Guides & Articles on Market Research

Conducting an Email Survey

Use email to quickly and effectively survey customers online

By Jennifer Mattern

Conducting customer surveys via email, rather than direct mail, phone, or other print surveys, can save your business both time and money. Email surveys are effective because: They're inexpensive. It doesn't cost much more to send 1,000 emails than it does to send one email. They reach participants quickly. Results are usually available immediately. ...

Using Customer Focus Groups

Finding out what customers want is easier if you ask them

By Matt Alderton

When it comes to business, there is perhaps no greater riddle to solve than "What do customers really want?" After all, there are entire industries built on researching consumer tastes, trends and buying habits. And yet, customers remain a complete mystery to many business owners. Solving the puzzle gets a little easier, however, when you seek answers from the puzzle pie...

Using Mystery Shopping Techniques

Hiring secret shoppers can improve your customer service and more

By Carol Smalley

When customers enter your store, phone your firm or shop your Web site, are you certain that they’re getting the best service possible? If not, it could be hurting your business more than you imagine. The majority of dissatisfied customers never complain; they simply never return to your place of business, and they tell their friends and colleagues about the poor experience. ...

Using Consumer Behavior Research

What science can tell you that might help predict future sales growth.

By Toni Klym McLellan

There's an expression that past behavior is often the best predictor of future behavior. That's the idea companies are banking on when conducting consumer behavior research. By tracking past purchases and returns, businesses hope to predict what products and services consumers want. Consumer behavior research can help your company in the following ways: It builds predicta...

Tracking Business Trends

Keep your finger on the market pulse to boost your bottom line

By Linda Formichelli

You notice that everyone is wearing pink breast cancer ribbons, or that all the coffee shops are selling free-trade organic coffee, or that obesity has become an epidemic, or that lines in the airport are longer than ever. Don't just notice – capitalize! Every trend represents a new opportunity for you, so keeping on top of trends should be a part of your business. By tra...

Conducting Your Own Market Research

Your customers can guide you to success if you ask the right questions

By Barbara Whitaker

No matter how small the business, it's important to know your customers, the competition and the marketplace. The American Marketing Association suggests business owners put aside .02 to 1 percent of gross annual sales for market research. Even businesses with virtually nothing to spend can research their market using easily accessible tools available at local libraries, small ...

Selling to Seniors

Marketing to this fast-growing market will pay major dividends

By Charles Dervarics

Across the U.S., a new person turns 50 every seven seconds. But while aging baby boomers get most of the attention, the senior market is diverse. Relationships matter most to a 75-year-old consumer, while '60s music and a glitzy ad campaign may attract the "young" senior. Since seniors account for about 75 percent of all U.S. wealth, there's money to be made with this population. ...

Evaluating Competing Vendors

Narrow your options with an eye for price and service level

By Jennifer Nichols

Even if you're a sole proprietor, you know that a successful business is more than its owner. Strong companies, no matter the size, depend on strong relationships — with customers, with partners and, of course, with vendors and suppliers — to stay afloat. Building a team of reliable vendors isn't always easy, though. It requires patience, persistence and a kee...

Creating a Market Research Plan

Tools on the Web make market research easier than ever

By Barbara Whitaker

You may think you have the best idea ever for a business or product, but without laying the proper groundwork it could easily go the way of the Edsel. Not only do you need to size up the competition, you need to identify who will buy your product, how much it will cost, the best approach to selling it and how many people will demand it. To get answers to these questions, you'...

Establish a Market & Competitive Intelligence Function in your Organization

Understand WHAT and HOW your customers will decide TOMORROW! Business Intelligence is invaluable to understand your opportunities.

By Jens Thieme

Economic pressure and accelerating speed of global competition, deregulation and technological change are the primary drivers of an increased usage of market & competitive intelligence and competitive intelligence across all industries.Successful business planning and development requires a good understanding of market potential, and of your capabilities against those of your c...

Marketing to Teens

When it comes to reaching young people, technology and trends are key

By Matt Alderton

It used to be that for small businesses, teenagers were a liability. According to popular business mythology, they loved to loiter, were prone to shoplifting and were far more likely to make a ruckus than to make a purchase. Today’s business owners know better. The savviest among them are able to recognize true market potential when they see it, and to disregard stereotypes i...

Marketing to Parents

Win with moms and dads when you help them save time and money

By Matt Alderton

Companies large and small spend billions of dollars every year marketing their products to children. They work hard to make their products fun, their packaging cool and their sales messages hip. The most successful marketers, however, know that to seal the deal with young consumers, they’ve got to win over their parents, too.Parents are discerning consumers. They shop careful...

Marketing to College Students

Find future customers when you get schooled on student trends and targets

By Matt Alderton

College students are more famous for skipping class than for being classy, more highly regarded as thrifty shoppers than as sophisticated consumers. Still, smart companies covet their attention, as well as their approval. Why? Because even though they may not make a lot of money, college students spend a ton of it. And they don’t just spend it on Ramen noodles, either. Instea...

Competing in Your Industry

Understanding the Phantom Competitors in Your Industry

By Kylon Gustin

Many business owners fear the global economy and labor market, but is that the only danger on your horizon?  There are other forces (phantom competitors) that can impact your long-term success and this information will help you to discover them for your industry.This is a summary of what Michael Porter, a professor at Harvard Business School, calls Industry Attractiveness, or ...

Getting your marketing strategy on target

If you want success check on how your marketing programs stack up

By Bob Wendt

It is easy to recommend that you make a regular, objective evaluation of your marketing program. It's far harder to accomplish. The day-to-day pressures of selling, coping with customers and solving basic business problems make it difficult to conduct an effective marketing appraisal. Usually, only a crisis forces a company to take a closer look at its marketing program: Compet...

Finding Manufacturing Equipment Online

Use the web to purchase the best process equipment for your business

By Gwen Helene Kleist

Whether your company manufactures automotive parts, industrial products or anything in between, finding the right manufacturing equipment can make or break your business. Thanks to the Internet, finding the right manufacturing tools and process equipment is easier than ever. With the click of your mouse, you can access hundreds of industrial equipment suppliers who sell the fabrica...

Internet Survey Research

Choose the right survey research firm to meet your data collection goals

By Trisha Schulz

Internet survey research can be imperative in discovering your customer’s wants and needs and, in turn, offering them the best service. Surveys have long been a common way to get that feedback but Internet surveys have become a better, faster and easier way to gather those opinions. Depending on the information you’re hoping to gather, a number of survey research compan...

Web Poll and Survey Software

Choose the right online survey software and poll software for your business

By Frank Alvarado

There are a wide variety of companies that provide easy-to-use polling software for businesses that want to add web polls and web surveys to gauge customer satisfaction online. Most of these firms offer trials for free survey software that allows you to evaluate which web poll and survey software out there suits your company’s needs. As you review the different polling softwa...

Research on Privately-Held Companies

Privately held company research helps to build profiles, find prospects and create sales leads

By Jeanne Dininni

If your company has a product or service to sell, you must be able to quickly and efficiently locate information on privately held companies, which will point you to the most likely prospects for your goods and services. Among other things, this will help you build viable mail and call lists. So in addition to finding out who your prospects are, you'll also need to locate valua...

Automotive Market Research

Conduct successful automotive market research to find the best deal

By Jeffrey Lindblom

Thanks to the wealth of information available through your home computer, automotive market research has never been easier. Without proper preparation, the decision to buy or lease a car can be stressful. Make sure you utilize the valuable resources the US auto market puts at your fingertips, which includes information at manufacturers’ websites. Spend the time now to avoid s...

Construction Market Research

Grow your construction business by collecting construction market data

By KB Gibson

Marketing research is the gathering of information about the marketing of a product or service. It deals with both quantitative data and the more subjective qualitative data. And for the building construction market, current economic conditions strongly influence the construction market outlook. Learning and providing what clients want leads to a more successful business. You have ...

Cross-Cultural Communication Education and Training

Go global with cross-cultural communication training

By Yvette Pryce

Cross cultural communication skills are ever important In today’s business world as it’s likely that you’ll interact with global suppliers, clients and colleagues. It’s just as likely that you’ll have employees from a wide range of cultures on staff. While this sort of globalization brings new opportunities to your business, it also brings the potentia...

Market Research Firms in California

Find a market research firm in California that will help promote your business

By Nate Waymire

Market research firms in California exist to help companies in the Golden State understand how to effectively market their services, reach the right audience, increase their market share and become more profitable. California market research firms investigate the spending habits of consumers -- what they buy, where they make their purchases and how much they spend. They also follow...

Online Marketing Research

Use internet marketing research techniques to improve business performance

By Kimberly Ben

Internet marketing research provides businesses with the opportunity to learn much more about their target market. As an online business owner, talent and experience can only get you so far. Learning more about your target market gives you the leverage you need to fulfill their needs, increase sales and develop effective strategies and marketing plans to grow your business.Online m...

Data Collection Consultants

Data collection consulting helps you streamline your business

By Nikki Davis

Data collection consultants come in many shapes and forms. Data collection consulting can come in the form of tracking your inventory data to make crucial purchasing decisions. It can also come in the form of collecting and analyzing market research to make quality control or pricing decisions about your product or service.Data collection consulting information can easily turn your...