An entrepreneur who jumps into business without a marketing plan is like a sailboat dropped in the middle of the ocean without a sail. There is no way to tell if the business will sink or float via current to the nearest land. However, most certainly that business will not land in any specific port without a solid plan and the tools to get there.
Creating a marketing plan that is well researched and contains sound strategies is vital for the success of a new business. However, forming a marketing plan is not something you simply sit down and do in one day. Creating a marketing plan that provides vision and action plans requires effort. So let’s get started.
PART 1 – MARKET RESEARCH
New entrepreneurs and even experienced small business owners usually cringe when the term ‘market research’ is uttered. Market research is the collection, organization, and analysis of documentation collected from members of your target audience or customer profile. Data collected can be either primary or secondary.
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Primary Research Data
Primary data is information you collect through your own efforts. This type of market research is the most valuable to your marketing plan because you are in control of exactly what information you need. You ask the questions and formulate problems, then form a strategy and utilize your own resources to get the answers.
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Secondary Research Data
Secondary data is data you can use for market research purposes, but has been collected by someone else. For instance, you might use government agency reports like those provided through the census bureau. Or find trade organizations, private companies, or even journalist media that have performed studies and polls on your target groups. These reports can be helpful, but may not answer all the questions and solve all the problems you need for your business marketing plan.
Performing Primary Research
If you will be collecting data for your market research, you will likely want to collect at least some primary information. Here are a few proven methods:
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Personal Interviews – A personal interview is information collected face-to-face from a member of your target market demographic. You might conduct a live one-on-one survey with many individuals and perform an in-depth interview about their opinions, thoughts and motives about your intended product or service. However, this process is time-consuming and limits the total number of responses.
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Group Surveys– You can collect data through group surveys where you gather a group of people and engage them in discussion about your product. This is also a good way to collect data, but in larger numbers than one-on-one interviews. .
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Mail Surveys– Using this method, you simply send a blank survey to a mailing list of a targeted market group. Don’t expect a large return on this method, but you can collect good amounts of data this way. .
Using Help
Performing market research for your business marketing plan is tedious and time-consuming work. Consider hiring a company that specializes in designing surveys and conducts telephone, personal, and web surveys. They will collect the data and compact it into easy-to-read reports for your marketing plan use.
Next, read Part 2 of our Guide to Creating a Marketing Plan.
