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Market research involves collecting, organising, analysing and communicating information that can be used in order to make an informed marketing decision. Performing market research will complement your marketing mix strategy as it enables you to make educated decisions regarding selecting markets, your image or branding and products or services.

There are five key steps to conducting market research:

Define the Problem

In this stage you need to identify the actual problems that are relating to the apparent symptoms. For example, poor sales within a business are not the problem, they are the symptom of a larger issue such as a weak marketing strategy.

Further business problems may include:

• Who are your target customers?
• What method could be implemented to reach these customers?
• Who are your customers and what advantages and disadvantages do they have over your business?
• What size is the consumer market you are trying to engage?

Collect the Data

There are two types of market research that can be performed:

• Primary research - involves collecting information from sources directly by conducting interviews and surveys, and by talking to customers and established businesses.
• Secondary research - involves collecting information from sources where the primary research has already been conducted.  Such information includes industry statistics, market research reports, news paper articles, etc.

There are also a number of different collection methods and techniques such as qualitative and quantitative research.

Qualitative research is where you seek an understanding of why things are a certain way. For example, a researcher may stop a shopper and ask them why they bought a particular product or brand.

Quantitative research refers to measuring market phenomena in a numerical sense, such as when a bank asks consumers to rate their service on a scale of one to ten.

Analyse and interpret the data

You must attach meaning to the data you have collected during your market research to make sense of it and to develop alternative solutions that could potentially solve your business problem. You should determine how the knowledge you have gained through researching your market can be applied and used to develop effective business strategies.

Reach a conclusion

With the alternatives you have developed to solve your problem in mind, perform a cost-benefit analysis of each alternative keeping in mind the potentially limited resources available to your business. You may also need to perform further investigation into each alternative solution to arrive at the best decision for your business in regards to meeting consumer demands.

Implement your research

Put your final solution into practice. Without completing this step your research could potentially have been a waste of your time and resources. Further, ensure you communicate your plan to your employees to ensure they are informed, can put your solution into practice, and monitor results.