Will it fly or will it die?
by Andrew Shedden
One of the more dubious marketing practices is the equivalent of the infamous ready, fire, aim joke. In many companies new product or service development is seemingly based on someone within the organization stating “I just know it will sell.” This all too common practice is not restricted to small businesses.
Companies begin to gear up the marketing machine once the product or service in question is developed. Advertising and other promotional activities are devised and the product is rolled out countrywide. If the product survives from birth into infancy tremendous effort and sums of money are spent on propping it up.
The thinking seems to be that even if your product or service is a turkey if you keep throwing money at it will fly. When the product inevitably bombs and is an unmitigated disaster the never-ending rounds of blamestorming begin with their attendant attempts at justification.
You don’t have to guess
In fact, the “by guess and by golly” method of marketing research is becoming increasingly inexcusable. Many low cost or no cost resources can be easily utilized to test the validity of various marketing strategies and tactics and the responsiveness of product and service offerings to new or existing markets.
Effective marketing research follows these steps:
Define the problem you want to solve
The more specifically you define the problems that you would like to solve the higher the likelihood of success in your product offering. When defining the problem you would like to solve consider what real or perceived needs that you can satisfy. Make sure you are very open minded at this stage and remember to not allow your own personal prejudices or beliefs to cloud your judgement. Remember that we all do things for our own reasons.
Develop your research plan
The first step in developing your research plan is to determine what your objectives are. Do you want to explore new markets to see if they have potential? Do you want to see how a market would react to a higher or lower priced alternative to an existing offer? Do you want to determine how well your new product idea would be accepted by an existing market? Do you want to know how many people go to watch wrestling on ice on Thursday afternoons in Mobile Alabama versus Saturday evenings? These are all examples of objectives.
Determine your data sources
Once you have determined your objectives you need to determine the best sources and methods by which to collect your data. Data resources are usually classified as primary or secondary. Primary data resources are collected first hand for a specific project or purpose. Collecting data already in existence elsewhere forms secondary resources.
Most of the time you will start with the secondary resources, as they’re freely available. The Internet is the greatest most easily accessible source of secondary data and will often provide you with the answers you need.
If the data you seek isn’t readily available you’ll need to resort to primary resources for data collection purposes.
Personal observation, surveys, focus groups, experiments, or behavioural data all constitute methods by which this is done. Wherever possible you are best not to rely on a single method. By using multiple methods of data collection you can ascertain the truth with a much greater degree of certainty.
Certain primary data collection methods are very complex and shouldn’t be attempted by the novice. For example, you could spend three years in university and study nothing but effective survey development. If you choose to go the primary route you’d be best to get professional help.
Analyze the information
Once data has been collected you need to take your findings and meaningfully interpret them. This is to say that you need to be able to effectively separate the wheat from the chaff. Even the most carefully designed marketing research will result in producing some irrelevant information. Furthermore, you’ll find that the process of gathering information will take you down unexpected roads. Many times you will discover opportunities that you hadn’t even remotely considered.
Unless you have formal training in statistical analysis you ought to avail yourself of the services of a professional. Professionally trained marketing researchers will analyze the data utilizing a bewildering array of statistical formulae. Improper statistical analysis can lead to disastrous decisions.
Present the findings
The last step in the research process is to present the findings. These findings must be presented in a way that demonstrates their relevance to the project at hand.
My mind is made up don’t confuse me with the facts
You may not like the answers your research is giving you. Provided the research has been done objectively be sure to follow the findings. For each person who has succeeded by following his or her heart instead of the research there are hundreds who have failed. If the research indicates your idea will not be well received it’s time for you to think of a better one.
What’s it all mean Basil?
Many companies are skeptical about marketing research and have irrational fears about its cost. While there is little doubt research can be expensive the amount of money saved by not making the wrong marketing decisions far outstrips the cost.
