Market Research

I like to start my market research with online search volumes using Google's keyword tool – which gives an overall general picture of basic keyword categories and how popular they are.

A simple and fast initial market research.

That initial keyword research will reveal some broad keyword categories, to search on Google's search engine and find some top ranking websites.

I was asked:

As you know, we intend to write content in each vertical some of which we will outsource, I understand it is important for us to include popular keywords in that article, what is your advice: write the article and then work in the keywords or find the keywords and sculpt the content around it?

My response:

Keep both options open.  You need to get familiar with the main interests / keywords of each vertical.  That way, any articles you write will tend to include relevant keywords.  Also, maintain a big long list of relevant keywords for each vertical, and then just generally browse that list whenever you write articles.  

Write for the reader, not the search engine.  Naturally written content that keeps visitors on the page, relevant to the market, is what google looks for.  Keyword inclusion is really the simple and easy bit.  Most important is to use keywords in article titles, plus just a few relevant keywords in the title itself, but don’t stress about it.  

Lots of fresh new content on the site with good rss feeds will have google visiting and ranking the site well, as long as keywords are in the article titles.  

Yes you can look at competitor sites, and should do to help develop your strategy and know what sells well etc.  For keyword research there is not much wrong with using the adwords keyword tool. http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/ is free which is a light version of a very good keyword tool. 

Reviewing competitor websites helps build a picture of what is being presented to the market, giving other ideas for further keyword research.

Then use www.alexa.com and www.quantcast.com to get further insight into the audiences of those top websites whilst finding other such websites.

At this stage, we are looking for big market themes, main 'competitors', what products are promoted and/or popular, what interest exists in the market, and parallel or niche markets I or my client may want to consider.

In 2007 I conducted some online market research for the UK company Accident Advice Helpline.

They wanted to:

  1. Reduce their Pay-Per-Click advertising spend, whilst
  2. Targeting their focus on the profitable areas of the market,
  3. Plus increase traffic from the search engines (SEO).

This involved theme research and then subsequent niche keyword research.

  • The diagram demonstrates initial theme research for Accident Advice Helplines market category of 'Personal Injury' (left column of picture).
  • As you can see this is not just a 'keyword list'. It is structured into a long-tail hierarchy covering key areas that get the most searches and sales online (middle columns on picture).
  • Each area splits into related long-tail niche terms, and each has a long list of associated keywords (right column of picture)

By covering all areas in such a hierarchy for the products/company's market place, we can come to 'swallow the entire market'.

Once I have a general overview of the market based on search volumes, keyword hierarchy, and 'competitor' web presence, I do some social research.

Social Media for Market Research

Now we're getting somewhere.

And next we need to begin building a segmented picture of the market.

Market Segmentation

Rather than being based on 'company-in-love-with-its-own-ideas', segmentation should always be needs-based.

Note: For comprehensive market research, at this stage we are not considering your company's core competencies, resources, or values. That will come later when we decide on market targeting.

From our research so far, we can consider:

  1. The market's interests and needs.
  2. Possible product categories.

Create a product/customer matrix depicting product categories against market segment categories like this simple ice-cream market example.

customer-segmentation

This will help identify the right products for the right target audience. It's not hard to do and can be very enlightening. Begin yours on computer or paper now. You just might have an easy but useful 'aha' moment.

Whilst developing your market's product/customer matrix for segmentation, consider the buying process to help identify and separate viable categories.

Buying Process Segmentation

We must also consider the buying process to develop our market segmentation
  • What is bought? – Features.
  • Why is it bought? – Benefits, solution, attitudes, perceptions, preferences.
  • Who buys? – How is it bought, demographics, socio-economics, brand loyalty, heavy/light users, personality, lifestyle.
  • When is it bought? – Seasonal, spontaneous, considered, problem, pain, dissatisfaction.
  • Where is it bought? – Online, high-street, mail order, etc.

Segmentation Validity

You can also use the following 4 criteria for needs-based segmentation (Kotler, P. 1991) to check the validity of your product and customer categories. Segments must be:

  1. Homogeneous
    • Similar needs and wants, motivated by the same types of propositions
    • (e.g. people who want to get specialty coffee drinks quickly on their way to work)
  2. Distinct
    • Needs and motivations from this group are different than those of other groups
    • (e.g. This group is different from people who drink non-coffee drinks or who prepare coffee drinks at home or who do not drink coffee while commuting)
  3. Accessible
    • This segment can be identified and distinguished from other segments
    • (e.g. Quick coffee consumers can be reached by lists that define coffee-drinking commuters)
  4. Viable
    • Segment can be reached and addressed at a profit
    • (e.g. There must be enough people who drink coffee and commute within an area to justify building and promoting a coffee outlet)

Offer Segmentation

The traditional 4 P's of Marketing lend themselves well to considering the major categories of your product offer whilst working on your segmentation research:

  • Product:
    • Think 'utility'.
    • What are the practical benefits and useage of the product for the potential customer segments?
  • Price:
    • Think 'budget'.
    • What different price points exist in the market category that can be exploited?
  • Place:
    • Think 'convenience'.
    • How easy does it need to be for customers to ensure maximum purchase frequency / volume
  • Promotion:
    • Think 'perspective'.
    • What are the beliefs or views about that product that can be divided out into different market categories, including perceived value (benefits) and perceived risk (performance, quality, time, etc).

A final word on market research…

The Macro and Micro Environments

Start from the widest picture of your market… The macro-environment in which it exists. Consider the 'PESTLE factors' for macro-analysis (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, Ethical, Environmental).

Then consider the micro-environment through Porters 5 Competitive Forces model…

  • Substitute products – what other options exist to satisfy the needs of the product besides the particular product in question?
  • Suppliers – how much influence does the supply chain have on the success / value
  • Buyers – do buyers have a lot of options or do they NEED to have this product?
  • New entrants – where could new competitors spring from?
  • Competitive rivalry – who are you in direct competition with? (Conquer the art of competitive intelligence)

The scope of these questions allows you to analyse the market place broadly and comprehensively.

You are then ready to proceed with customer insight research.

Related Main Articles

Tags:

Leave a Comment

Fields marked by an asterisk (*) are required.

Subscribe without commenting


 Powered by Max Banner Ads 
Login