One
of the first things you learn in any marketing course is to identify your
market. The more you know about your market and what they want and need, the
easier it is to address their needs.
You
can obtain information in a number of ways. One, pay attention to what your
customers/clients are asking for. You can determine what your market wants by
studying your own market and customers, studying your competitors’ products and
services and what your competitors’ customers are buying. And…. by asking.
The more you know, the more targeted your approach to development and delivery
of products and services can be which equates to higher revenues and increased
profit margins.
One
of the best ways to “ask” is to conduct a survey. A well constructed survey
will reveal a great deal. There are several types of surveys you can use;
multiple choice, open ended questions and/or rating from 1 – 10 on an item are
just a few that work.
You
can conduct a “name required” survey or one that is completely anonymous.
Often, respondents will be more frank and honest with the anonymous survey;
people tend to not hold back if they are not identified. There are pluses and
minuses with anonymous surveys.
The greatest benefit in taking this important steps is you have a much better
idea of what your market wants before investing a lot of time or money
developing products and services. If you create products before you are sure
what people want it is very likely you may develop something they neither want,
need or are willing to pay for.
Another
benefit to conducting surveys is the results give you fodder for articles,
media releases, blog postings, tweets and videos.
Keys to Successful Surveys
Identify your objective
Determine what information you need
Develop the questions
Conduct the survey
Analyze the responses
Develop products and services based on results
Repeat
Take time upfront to know what the market demand is and your
backend efforts will be highly rewarded.
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