What Is Marketing Research?
What Is Marketing Research?
Marketing is one of the most important aspects of running a successful business. Marketing refers to the act of gathering information to make an informed decision about the buying or selling of some good, service, or product. Information that is gathered in the process of marketing can be called “marketing data” and it can be gathered by many different approaches, such as surveys, market research, focus groups, and the like. Marketing is a process and therefore it involves a lot of hard work, and a marketing plan, if you have a business plan.
The process of marketing can be categorized into different types, such as traditional marketing, social marketing, electronic marketing, and technological marketing, such as e-marketing, web marketing, mobile marketing, web 2.0 marketing, and the likes. All these forms of marketing are necessary for a business’ growth and prosperity, but each has its own unique selling concepts and it is essential to be familiar with all of them, so as to be able to effectively sell a product or service to a client. However, it is important to understand that there are certain marketing concepts which apply more to certain types of businesses than others, and these marketing concepts should also be adapted to the type of business you have.
Traditional marketing refers to the process of gathering information about the selling practices of people in order to establish or gauge their buying habits and preferences. This information is collected either by conducting qualitative market research, which means gathering information from your target clients, customers, and other sources, or by using quantitative techniques, such as price surveys, panel studies, and focus group discussions. Once this information has been gathered, it is usually analyzed using sophisticated statistical methods to come up with a more accurate picture of the selling trends and patterns. Market research is a key ingredient for traditional marketing research, since it allows you to tailor your selling strategies to better meet the needs and desires of your customers. After gathering the appropriate information, this information is then used to formulate advertising and promotional campaigns that will be able to help you improve your product’s selling performance, as well as the profitability of your business. Traditional marketing research and analysis may take a while before you see any results, but this is the case no matter what type of marketing activity you undertake, whether traditional or online marketing.