Understanding the Market: 5 Top Tips

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If you’re a new business, you may already have a sense of what the current market is like, or who your target audience is. However, getting a concrete understanding of the market not only gives you more room for success but also less room for failure.

With that said, here are five tips to bear in mind.

Check Out Your Competitors

If you’re not sure where to begin looking for who your competitors are, it’s recommended that you check out local business directories your local Chamber of Commerce, advertising and press reports. Once you know who your competitors, you can start to unpick what they’re doing right, and more importantly what they’re doing wrong. Picking the holes in their business means you have an opportunity to fill it. It also gives you a healthy perspective on how successful you can realistically be.

Appropriate Market Research

If you are in a specialized industry, it could be genuinely embarrassing to miss out on important market research. For example, if you’re in the healthcare industry, using a service such as Gilliankenny.com to gain crucial insights will keep your company on top of all the necessary information. Conversely, if you’re looking to open out into a new market altogether, piecing together who composes that demographic is fundamental. For example, if your product has hitherto been mostly a product that resonates with middle-aged customers, what needs to change to access a younger audience?

Re-evaluate Customer Engagement

Where is most of your customer engagement coming from? Are most people giving you feedback on social media or telephone questionnaires? Running a slick customer feedback operation means they’re much more likely to maintain loyalty. Using live chats, live Instagram videos and keeping your comment sections open ensures that customers feel like they have a say. It also means any glitches or unfortunate hiccups with your service can be dealt with swiftly.

Understand Your Demographic

If your demographic is between the ages of 18 and 25 and you’re not on social media, this could be devastating for your company. Getting a fundamental sense of who you’re trying to appeal to means you can alter all of your channels accordingly. Looking into techniques such as ‘segmenting’ are a handy way of breaking down who your customers are:

Geographic
Demographic
Psychographic
Behavioral

SWOT Analysis

You may have heard of this before – it’s often knocked around in meetings and business talks. It’s particularly useful, though, when looking at the broader market. It solidifies your position within it and keeps you savvy against threats from other rival companies.

Build on strengths (S)
Minimize weaknesses (W)
Seize opportunities (O)
Counteract threats (T).

The last two are of particular consideration. If you have a potential opportunity open to you, throwing your hat in the ring could open plenty of doors for you in the future. If you’re up against a few companies, going along for the ride means you have the opportunity to eye up the competition.

Having regular meetings, particularly with your marketing team, to discuss your goals and ambitions with the market is advised. Getting together to picture what your customer looks like, what they value and how they behave is the first bit of groundwork that should be done. Investing in market research and engaging with those who buy your products in the first place might just determine your success as a company.

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