Transcript Market Research

Market Research
International Trade Center
NCA&TSU
Dr. William Amponsah
Interim Director
Mr. Amr M. Ahmed, M.SC.
Business Counselor/ Loan Officer
Market Research
• How to collect certain information about
your customers, market and competitors.
This information tells you about your
potential market, prices, trends,
competition, target customer, its
preferences, income, habits, accessibility,
convenient time and plans. This
information should be accurate, and
reliable to help you make the right
business decision.
Important questions
• What kind of business
should I do?
• What is the demand for
my business?
• Who are my customers?
• What are the market
forces that will affect my
business?
• Where should I locate my
business?
• How much profit can I get
at different locations and
times?
• Who are my competitors
and what kind of product,
price and service they
offer?
• How I differentiate my
business from my
competitors?
• What types of service do
my customer prefer?
• What types of advertising
attract my customers?
• What is the market price
and how I can change my
price accordingly?
An Existing business
• What are the new trends, product, time, location
and service in the market? And how I adapt
them?
• What are my weaknesses and strengths in my
business compare to my competitors?
• How I can differentiate my business and make it
unique?
• Should I change and redirect my advertising
campaign according to the recent situations?
• How can I change my customers’ spending
habits?
• How can I expand my business with minimum
cost?
Marketing techniques
• Unique product and •
distinguished service.
• Customer recognition •
& referral reward
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policy.
• Reactivation policy. •
• Track advertising
effectiveness.
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• community service
and charities.
• Letter of news.
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Public image &
identity.
Join business groups.
Be visible in your
community.
Sales, sampling &
coupons.
Service guarantees
and full money back
policy.
Survey your customer’
opinions and satisfy
them.
Tips to conduct market
research?
• The public & college
library.
• Vocational schools.
• Observation
/questions.
• Chamber of
commerce.
• Potential consumers/
survey.
• Business competitors.
• Wholesalers and
manufacturers.
• Federal & state
government agencies.
• Trade associations.
• Business publications
& magazines.
• Media
representatives.
Surveys
• Survey is the first step of market research. A
survey collects information from a specific group
of people or data on a specific subject: Forms of
survey interviews:
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Personal interview
Telephone interview
Mail interview
Focus group and group interview
How to design a questionnaire
• Keep your questions very
short, understandable,
and clear.
• Ask direct questions.
• Ask questions that can be
answered easily,
open/close-ended .
• Ask questions that do not
have more than one
meaning.
• Make sure your questions
do not offend anyone.
• Make your questions only in your
subject matter.
• Customize your questions to
encompass more than one group of
people, male/female.
• Be honest with the intent of the
questionnaire.
• Give enough time answer.
• Be courteous and friendly when
asking people to participate in your
survey.
• Ask questions in different repeated
ways, so you minimize missing data.
Marketing plan summary
• Goals & objectives: short &
long.
• Potential customers
characteristics: race, age,
location, gender, income,
etc.
• Target market
characteristics, free
market, monopoly, etc.
• Competitors’ strengths,
weaknesses.
• Your company analysis;
strengths, and
weaknesses, and
opportunities and threats .
• How you will differentiate
Your competitive position
and how you will be
unique.
• Marketing strategies and
tactics.
• Marketing personnel, job
description and duties.
• Timetable for start-up,
retention and expansion.
• Marketing, promotion and
advertising budget.
Improve your business image
• Build public relations.
• Become certified.
• Send personal letters
to public figures.
• Join non-profit
societies and give out
charities .
• Design a logo and
letterhead on all your
stationery.
• Provide a press
release for the media.
• Publish newsletters,
fliers and brochures.
• Contact all the civic
and professional
organizations.
• Always give careful and
professional advice.
• Distribute business
cards.
• Always be in good
professional
appearance.
Publicity kit
• Company description.
• Product and services
description.
• Personal biography.
• Customer
identification.
• What makes you
unique.
• Include previous
experience.
• Letters of support
from community
leaders and
customers, these will
enhance your image &
reputation.
• Publications,
brochures, fliers,
pamphlets, articles.
I. Executive Summary
• Brief description of the project/company.
• Introduction to Product or service.
• Objectives of the project and Potential
customers.
• Competitive position/market niche/market
share.
• Market problems and marketing
plan/strategies.
• Projected sales & profits.
II. Marketing Analysis
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Market survey for data collection.
Market research; market forces and forms.
Market demand and customers’ characteristics.
Product-services’ characteristics and analysis.
Feasibility study, needs assessment, personnel
and financial resources.
• Company weaknesses and strengths.
• Competitors’ weaknesses and strengths and their
market share.
• Interpretation, evaluation, decision making, and
future plan.
The process of collecting, organizing, analyzing, interpreting
and utilizing specific information for the purpose of making
future marketing decisions.
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Identify your problem and objectives.
Design a research methodology.
Conduct survey and collect data.
Organize, analyze and interpret the data.
Make the right business decision.
Solve your problems and plan for future.
• Location: countryside, town,
county, state, national &
regional market.
• Size: based on volume of
dollar sales/votes,
area/shopping center &
number of customers.
• Product and Seasons:
market can be identified by
different product, winter,
summer, and etc.
• Demand factors: price,
people, places, income &
things that influence demand
must be identified and
satisfied.
• Consumer satisfaction:
demand, needs, wants, &
preferences
• Convenient service:
alter or extend your hours to
accommodate customer needs.
• Demographics: age , race,
religion, nationality gender,
marital status, occupation,
education, job title & etc.
• Competition:market can
segmented according to free,
perfect, monopoly market.
• Potential growth: quality
and price are different
according to the degree of
growth.
V.Marketing Mix( 4 -Ps)
• Price:
How much your customers will pay for your product &
services.
• Product : What kind, and quality of product & services you
offer to customers that satisfy their needs.
• Promotion:
The communications and advertising devices
you use to inform customers & referral sources of your products &
services and price.
• Place: Where you will locate your business also what is the best
way to display your products and services to be appealing to your
customers.
• There are other important factors: Positioning, People,
Politics, & Profit, and Service.
VI. Marketing strategies & tactics
• Business problems, goals & objectives.
• Marketing advantages and disadvantages.
• Marketing strategies: how to measure your
business and what conceptual procedures
you use to solve your business problems.
• Marketing tactics: action plans and
implementation.
VI. Promotion
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Communication
to activate strategies & tactics
Advertising program: to give information about
your business, through newspaper, radio, T.V.,
magazines, brochures, fliers, forms, displays,
personal referrals and word of mouth
Publicity: how to change purchasing behavior to
increase your reputation and creditability.
Public relations: to foster your image.
Direct mail, telemarketing, speeches, personal
selling, samples, sales, networking, charity and
community service.
VII. Evaluation and follow-up
• Evaluation of action plan and strategy.
• Checking your sales, cash flow and income
statement and balance sheet.
• Achievement of projected goals, market
share & unique competitive advantage.
• Recommendations for future opportunities,
and change of market plan accordingly .
VIII. Appendices: Budget, forecasting,
charts and graphics
• Projected budgets including variable/fixed cost,
salaries/wages, equipment/tools,
inflation/depreciation, miscellaneous expenses
and etc.
• Projected cash flow month-to-month.
• projected income statement.
• Pro-forma balance sheet.
• Advertising copy, layout and forms.
• Tables, charts & graphics.
• Legal documents & required licenses, approvals.
• Goals & Objectives: Goal is
long term aim & objective is
short term aim to achieve the
goal.
• Strategies & Tactics:
Strategies are the decision
making about what should be
done & how should be done to
enable your business to
achieve its goals & objectives.
Tactics are the methods by
which strategies are
implemented.
• Strategic influences:
expected market
forces/conditions which
influence the operation of
small business.
• Strategic comparative
advantages(
strengths):these will improve
your marketing position.
• Strategic Barriers and
disadvantages
(weaknesses): you must
overcome to start, retain and
expand your business.
• Advantages/strength:
such as Unique product and
services, large customer
volume, location,
management, financial support
or personnel.
• Disadvantages/weaknesses, such as lack of
capital and management,
strong competitor and lack of
customer services.
• Market opportunities:
more training for better
customer services, more
demand, price drop, more
money available, easy access
to recent technology,
• possibilities of partnerships,
bankruptcy of competitor and
etc.
• Market threats: new
strong competitors having
lower price and better
services, financial crisis, labor
strike, changes in taste &
preferences, some political
threats, new monopoly, and
etc.