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 Market Research - Validate your Product

To start and run a successful business you need to know all about your potential and existing customers and the marketplace you operate in.

Market research is a valuable tool for all businesses. Statistics and other market research data help you make informed decisions about the marketing of your business. Using market research, you can understand your potential customers and their needs, as well as what your competitors are doing.

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Why is market research important

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Obtaining statistics and conducting market research can give you a better understanding of your market, your customers and their needs, as well as giving you a better insight into your competitors. This greater understanding of your market can help you better focus your marketing efforts, make informed decisions about your business and make the most of available opportunities.

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How often should I do market research

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It's important to regularly assess who your competitors are, their strengths and weaknesses, who your customers are and what they want, and whether there are any gaps in the market. This can be crucial during all stages, including starting, running or growing your business. It's also helpful to understand market trends so you can make the most of your business opportunities. Look for information in market reports, government statistics, trade publications and industry association publications to find out new developments and possibilities both in your industry and in the commercial environment.

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Customer Characteristics
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  1. Who exactly are your customers and what problem are you solving for them?

  2. How will your product or service succeed in the marketplace where others may have failed?

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What is a buyer persona
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A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers.

This is the person you are creating your content, products or service for. They can’t wait for you to launch because you solve a problem they have!

Instead of focusing “target market” or something abstract, you humanise your marketing and make it real. Developing a buyer persona results in stronger and more cost effective marketing. It allows you to convey a more tailored message, minimise advertising waste and discover objections holding back customers.When you can put a name to your customers, you can hopefully meet their needs better.

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8 More Ways to Gather Buyer Persona Data

  1. Quora.com – see the most common questions for your niche.

  2. Facebook Groups – review profiles of group members.

  3. Online Marketplaces & Review Sites – Amazon, Yelp, Udemy, AppStore etc.

  4. Typeform – ask what is your biggest fear / frustration with topic x.

  5. Google Analytics – review demographic &  interest reports.

  6. Facebook Analytics – review demographic reports.

  7. YouTube Analytics – review demographic reports.

  8. Just Ask! e.g. what you you want to achieve from this course

  9. Finally, remember your buyer persona is a theory. Test this theory with the feedback and data you’ll collect about your audience as you grow.

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WHERE TO START: Defining Your Product

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  1. What is your product?

  2. What is unique about your product?

  3. What other products are on the market that are similar or the same?

  4. Is there a GAP in the market that your product can fill?

  5. Provide examples of other products that failed:

  6. Provide examples of other products that succeeded:

  7. What “Market Trends” does your product tap into?

  8. Who are your customers?

  9. Where are your customers online?

  10. What online phenomenon can your product's marketing tap into?

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Social Media Use in Australia

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Homework

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Using Analytics to Design your Product: Watch this Noah Kagan Interview Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=498&v=v47WEyeSMSA

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Watch Video Answer the following Questions:

  1. How did Tim Ferriss decide what he was going to include in his cook book?

  2. What was the main problem the Owner of the Toothbrush Company was experiencing?

  3. What were Noah and Tim’s marketing research suggestions?

  4. What was the result for the Toothbrush Company CEO when he accepted the feedback?

  5. Describe what the Scary Prank App Developer did as market research?

  6. What did Noah and Tim suggest to market his app?

  7. What is the take home message of this video for you?

Case Study

CASE STUDY: The Cat Board Game.
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Read the Case study provided on the far right document
which illustrates how a product can be investigated to see
if it is a valid product and to identify the market.
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Collecting Data:


•    Online Surveys
•    Focus Groups

 


You need to write a combination of OPEN and CLOSED questions. CLOSED questions are easy to analyse, for example: 


Q: Which product are you most interested in? 
A: a) Tee Shirts, b) wallets, c) jewelry, d) baseball caps


This questions will yield data that is measurable and as you can see in the figure above, they can can be graphed.

 


OPEN Questions yield unexpected data. They also are difficult to manipulate. These kinds of questions can be very valuable because they are often anecdotal that may give you an insight into the desires of your potential customers, for example:

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Q: What is your favourite online store and why do you like it?

             OR

Q:What online store will you never use again and why?

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There are plenty of ways you can collect data for online market research. A good start might be to use Google Forms.
How to use Google Forms: https://www.techrepublic.com/blog/google-in-the-enterprise/use-google-forms-to-create-a-survey/


Another commonly used data collection tool is Survey Monkey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/

 

Analysis
 

If you used Google Forms or TypeForm they both connect to your Google Sheets so you can download your data. You will use EXCEL to analyse your data using the following formula:

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=AVERAGE() -  To find the mean or average of a set of values

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=MAX()  - To find the maximum value in an unsorted set of values

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=MIN()  - To find the minimum value in an unsorted set of values

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=MODE() - To find the most repeated data point in a set of values

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SORT & FILTER - Allows for the data to be re-organised from A-Z or vice versa.

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VLOOKUP - allows a formula to find a data point in a look up table to return another data point in association.

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GRAPHS - a visual display of a data set to make the data easier to read and present.

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EXCEL Spreadsheet Worksheet Tasks

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In the documents below there are a range of spreadsheet formula tasks that you can employ to analyse the data you collected.

In the Formula Tutorials Spreadsheet are a series of exercises that take you through from beginner to using Look Up tables.

The "Data Analysis in Excel" document illustrates which formulas you will find useful in your efforts managing your data.

Then there is an example of using individual responses to investigate cross-over in "Counting Responses Data Analysis".

2. Business Plan - Define your business based on your Market Research.

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Regardless of the type of commercial enterprise you are undertaking, before approaching others to invest their time or money it is essential that a Business Plan is completed that focuses on a range of different relevant issues.

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The Business Plan contains:

1. A Summary Page

2. An  Outline of the Business Details

3. Product/Service Description 

4. The Operations of the business

5. Market Research Analysis

6. Overview of competitors

7.Projected Finances

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In this subject we will use the Business Plan Template provided below. Students should use the TEMPLATE provided here and replace the 'Blue" text  with their own information related to their business. Below is also a Business Plan for the Cat Board Game as an example.

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The www.business.gov.au website provides assistance in writing business plans, here.

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3. INFOGRAPHICS

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Part of the presentation of the Business Plan is to develop an Infographic which illustrates the strengths of your product from the research and data analysis that you completed. This is an important stage of presenting your data analysis findings.

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Infographics are presentations of complex data that uses graphic methods of display such as:

  • Bar charts - make comparisons such as number of students enrolled in different subjects. Examples can be seen here. 

  • Pie graphs - display proportions or percentages of a whole such as - numbers of students in this class who play rugby: Examples can be seen here.

  • Time lines - show events in chronological order: Examples can be seen here.

  • Scatter plots - show widely variant data placed between two variables to investigate a relationship between those variables: Examples can be seen here.

  • Line graphs - Show a relationship between an independent variable (often it is time) and a dependent variable. Examples can be seen here.

  • Bubble charts - provide three or more variables to be displayed in the chart. Examples here.

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Characteristics of Infographics

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  1. Use of icons that minimizes reading text. Icons are a shortcut to meaning and bring the purpose of the infographic in sharp relief for the viewer quickly and easily.

  2. Use of a limited colour palette or use of colours that are linked to the purpose or subject of the infographic

  3. Use of line to organise the layout, to separate, divide or connect ideas 

  4. Use of whitespace to keep the infographic from looking crowded

  5. Charts and Graphs depicting data

  6. Secondary data to support collected data

  7. Use of repetition - repeated font types, image sizes, colours, formats etc.

  8. Headings and labels are provocative, interesting to draw the reader in.

  9. Incorporating balance in the overall layout makes the infographic more appealing

  10. Use of a metaphor in how the data is displayed.

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There are plenty of online infographic tools that will upload your data and produce a professional looking infographic:

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And hundreds more...

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The infographic below for the Cat Board Game was made in MS Word. See if you can see all the infographic characteristics in this example.

InfographicCats the Board Game.jpg
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