Conducting Market Research

Every time I work with a new brand, my first order of business is to conduct a competitive analysis. 

One of the most underrated skills you can have as a marketer is marketing research — which is great news for this unapologetic cyber sleuth.

Finding out if a product will be successful beyond the initial curiosity is just good business. With market research, you determine whether the opportunity exists, how to position the product or service, or what consumers’ opinions are after the launch.

Starting a new company is exciting. So is gauging an industry’s profit potential or forecasting a revenue goal for your business. But as you start calculating, you must remember to root these figures in reality.

As we grow up, all humans learn about cause and effect. While it’s not quite as nuanced as causal research, the concept is something our brains begin to comprehend as young as 18 months old. That understanding continues to develop throughout our lives.

In college, I interned at a MarTech company that sold email marketing optimization software. With their software, brands could finally gain visibility into their email program’s deliverability rate or inbox placement, which most email service providers, like Constant Contact or MailChimp, can’t do.

In the marketing industry, you’ve likely heard the term “market share” from time to time, but what does it mean? Why is it necessary, and how is it calculated?

When it comes to marketing, almost nothing is more important than having high-quality data on your target audience. So it’s no surprise that data privacy changes limiting marketers’ visibility into what their customers are up to is a huge threat.

As your business grows, you face more obstacles, challenges, opportunities, and projects in general. It’s a good and natural part of scaling an organization, but how do you determine your priorities? Which initiatives should you execute on first, and which challenges should you address right away?

Have you ever been playing a game and had to look around to check out the competition?