Small business owners should be constantly searching for marketing methods to find new customers and offer new services to existing customers. Conducting regular market research can help you determine your target market, their buying habits and what they may be looking for next. If you aren’t the business offering what they’re buying, they will end up elsewhere, one of the big reasons that most small businesses fail in the first five years.
Market research is often conducted by a small business owner or a third-party company. Conducting market research can offer insight into your target market’s demographics such as location, occupation and even income level. This information can help you choose new products or services for sale, optimal times for offering them and even set a price point.
Market research should be performed on a regular, ongoing basis, but especially prior to opening or moving your business, in times of slow or stagnant growth, and when you plan on offering a new product or service. Few business owners have all the customers they want and should be searching for ways to breathe new life into their marketing activities for better results.
As a business owner selling a service or product, do you have good idea of your target customer ?Are you selling to other business owners? Do you want to reach stay-at-home moms, or corporate employees? Does your service/product cater to a niche interest group? These are questions you should be able to answer in detail at any stage of business ownership.
Once you’ve nailed down target customer demographics, visit the SmartBiz Small Business Blog for great information about increasing sales, customer engagement and how to strengthen your bottom line.
Emily Andrews is the marketing communications specialist at RecordsFinder, an online public records search company. Communications specialist by day and community volunteer at night, she believes in compassion and defending the defenseless.