Conducting market research is an important part of starting and running a successful small online business. It helps you understand who your target audience is, what their needs and preferences are, it helps you identify any gaps and opportunities in the market, it helps you understand who your competitors are and what products and services they offer, and it allows you to make better data-driven decisions to improve your product or service.
Here are some steps to help you conduct market research for your small online business:
- Identify your target audience
- Your target audience are those people that are most likely to buy your product or service. Start by creating a profile of who your perfect customer is, this is called a customer persona, you need to include information on their demographics, interests and hobbies, professional information, pain points, and buying habits. This information will also help you create a more targeted marketing strategy.
- Define your research objectives
- Your research objectives will guide you in your market research. These objectives describe what your research is trying to achieve and explains why you are pursuing it. A few examples of research objectives include brand awareness, buyer behaviour, understanding customer needs and preferences, predicting industry trends or identifying marketing channels.
- Choose your research methods
- There are quite a few different types of research methods that you can use, these include surveys, questionnaires, focus groups, polls, interviews, industry reports and online research tools. You can choose between primary and secondary research, primary research includes methods using surveys, questionnaires, focus groups, polls and interviews whereas secondary research methods include industry reports, public databases, news media and any online research. You need to choose a research method that suits your research objectives and fits within your budget, you can also use a combination of different types of research methods if you have enough budget.
- Conduct research
- Plan your research questions and then recruit your research subjects to conduct your research. Ensure that the research subjects you choose can provide you with the right insights you need to achieve your research goals. You can also use different types of online tools like Google Trends, Keyword Planner, and social media analytics to get insights on your target audience’s online behaviours; interests and habits. You can also use your own website analytics and social media analytics to understand your customer’s behaviour, preferences, interests and pain points.
- Analyse your research findings
- Once you’ve collected all your data, analyse it to identify any relevant insights, trends or patterns to help you make the right decisions for your small online business. You should also use this information to develop your marketing strategy and improve on your product or service.
In summary, market research is an important step for your small online business. You need to first identify who your target audience is, then define what your research objectives are, choose the right research methods that fit within your budget, conduct your research and then analyse your research findings. Your findings will help you identify any changes or improvements that are needed in your product or service and will also help you in when you develop your marketing strategy.
