Thinking of starting a new business? Adding to the business
you already have? Introducing a new product or service?
Wouldn't it be nice to have a good idea of how successful
you'll be before you even start? That's the money-making
edge that smart market research can give you.
You've probably heard that market research is expensive, only
something that big companies can afford. That's partly true.
Even a relatively modest research program can eat up several
hundred thousand dollars in a hurry. But market research
doesn't have to so complicated only expensive consultants can
figure it out. Here are some very simple ideas and tools for
getting a pretty good idea of where you stand--BEFORE you
shell out big bucks for marketing and advertising.
FINDING THE RIGHT
PEOPLE TO RESEARCH
Most products and services have next to no chance of success
without a good, strong marketing program to promote them. No
small business has the budget to do a saturation ad campaign
that attempts to reach everyone. There's no need to. Your
business, no matter what you're selling, likely only needs to
get the attention of a select group of good prospects.
Market research techniques help you get the factual
information you need about your target audience and the
effectiveness of your message. If you are wondering which new
product to offer, market research can poll people who have
bought from you in the last six months, people who bought once
but never bought again, and people who usually buy from your
competitors. This will give you a very good idea of how well
your new product will fair once it's introduced.
GETTING A GOOD
SAMPLE
While research can be very complicated, there are a number of
simple techniques that will deliver fairly reliable results.
Quantitative research methods provide statistical information.
A carefully chosen scientific sample is studied as a
representation of the larger public. In other words, 50 people
are chosen. If we've chosen them with an eye to good sampling
methods, those 50 will closely represent everyone else who is
included in the target audience.
This can be a bit trickier than it seems. You've surely seen
the market research person with a clipboard standing in the
mall asking people if they'd like to take a survey. Would this
be a good sample of the entire community? No. Not everyone
goes to the mall. A great many people, including people who
don't own a car, people who live a long way from the mall, and
older folks ho don't leave home often rarely or never go to
the mall. Mall shoppers may be inordinately young, or more
affluent than the rest of the population. It wouldn't be
accurate to assume that mall shoppers represent the entire
community. However, the market research person in the mall
might get a very good picture of what the mall-shopping
community is like.
The most common kind of quantitative research (the kind that
provides you with numbers and percentages) is the telephone
survey. It's fairly accurate to go through the telephone
directory, calling every eleventh person listed. The problem
here is that not everybody has a telephone and a great many
people have unpublished numbers. This will reduce the accuracy
of your findings, although you will still be way ahead of the
mall survey.
The best solution is to use a computer program which gives you
at random all possible telephone numbers in your area. These
programs can be purchased, and most university communication
departments have them for student use. Perhaps a student can
print you a randomized list of telephone numbers.
You can also mail surveys to homes and businesses, or visit
them in person, through this method. A sample of locations, be
it homes or offices, can be gotten by first choosing areas at
random, then blocks at random, then homes on those blocks at
random. You could roll dice to determine which locations are
picked. All this keeps personal opinions out of the research.
You can do surveys with randomly chosen email addresses
provided those in the study have given their permission to be
contacted.
Most research is based on simple statistics. No higher math is
required. You can do just about everything with a simple
calculator and advice from your junior high-aged child. If you
want further information about scientific sampling and the
statistics you can perform on your sample results, please
consult one of the great many books on research. It's a
subject that has remained largely unchanged for the past 50
years, so an old tattered volume i n the used book store or
at the public library will do just fine.
STEPS TO A GOOD
QUESTIONNAIRE
You want your questions to be carefully written so that they
do not confuse or suggest "correct" answers to the respondent.
Here are some general guidelines:
1. Make sure your questions are clear and easily understood.
2. Keep questions short. People in a hurry won't take time to
understand a long and unclear question.
3. Questions must be in sync with the purpose of the research.
If the question is irrelevant to what the survey is trying to
study, leave it out.
4. Don't ask questions that can be broken down into two or
more questions. For example, "Do you think the mayor is
dishonest and a poor financial planner?"
That is really two different questions. Be wary when the word
"and" appears in a question.
5. Stay away from biased words. For example, "Do you eat a
healthy breakfast or just have a Big Gulp at 7-11?" The word
"just" prejudices the answer by suggesting that the Big Gulp
is less worthy than the healthy breakfast.
6. Avoid leading questions. "Like most New Yorkers, do you
drink coffee every morning?" Watch for a hidden premise
showing up in questions. Remember, the goal is to accurately
determine what the respondent thinks, even if it isn't what
you wish they would say. The purpose of research is to find
out which of your ideas are wrong.
7. Leave out questions that require very detailed answers.
8. Avoid questions that may embarrass the respondent. Many
people don't like to give their age, and most won't tell you
how much money they earn. A better way is to give the
respondent a broad category that they can identify with
without giving away sensitive information. "Are you between
18-24 years old, 25-49 years old?, etc." Additionally,
research carries with it a certain authority that will make
your ideas more persuasive to others.
Kevin Nunley provides marketing advice
and copy writing for businesses and organizations. Read all
his money-saving marketing tips at
http://DrNunley.com/ . Reach
him at
kevin@drnunley.com
or (801)253-4536