Repeat after me — a quick Google search is not market research.

While we’d all love it if it were that easy, analysing the market with this approach would barely scratch the surface.

A true market analysis goes a whole lot deeper. It's all about understanding the underlying dynamics of your target audience, the competition, and the industry as a whole. Not only is market research essential for any business that wants to stay competitive, the gold you’ll uncover in this process can inform your brand strategy and even refine your offering.

By conducting market research businesses can identify trends, understand consumer behaviour, and gain insights into what drives their customers. This understanding is critical in developing marketing strategies that resonate with the target audience and ultimately drive sales.

Is market research really worth it?

Short answer: yes.

The long answer: yes, because market research will provide you with a genuine, factual basis to make decisions on and build strategies that will actually get the job done.

Why operate on assumptions and guesswork when the information you need is out there - you just need to ask for it?

AJ Marketing’s market research

A market research piece is part of the process for us when developing our clients’ annual marketing plans. The survey is designed to extract specific information that is relevant to your industry, target audience, and specific business goals - and it even builds funnels for you.

We don’t want to just wing it. Market research means that we can develop marketing strategies and plans that are based not only on industry best practices but also customised to your business’s unique needs and circumstances.

A comprehensive approach here means that the annual rollout is a clearer, simpler process. Clients aren’t distracted by bright and shiny trends that don’t suit their strategy, and it’s easier to stay on track when we know what we are out to achieve.

Our process is a high-level corporate approach that is provided to SMEs in a cost-effective way, to get them ahead of the game, and everyone is held accountable. We like it that way.

Invaluable insights for your marketing and business

Market research can offer you invaluable insights across a variety of areas. When you get stuck in your market research, we recommend covering the likes of:

• Your customers

• Your competitors

• The bigger picture around your products or services

• Your suppliers

• The area you are in or servicing

• Industry trends

You’ll likely gather market research from a bunch of different sources. Some may be from third parties, such as government data and market reports. Other information will be firsthand from within your business, including purchase patterns, buyer personas, reviews, and website analytics.

Putting your research to great use

Once the market research phase is complete, you’ll be armed with everything you need to make decisions for your marketing and your business. The result is a relevant, customer-centric marketing plan that is more likely to get you the results you’re after.

Your market research will enable you to identify new opportunities, respond to obstacles to purchase, enhance the way you communicate with your customers, and build a competitive edge.

Completing market research is taking a proactive approach to marketing planning — and it pays off. If you want to know more about our market research survey and how we tackle marketing planning, reach out, and let’s have a chat.