Key Takeaways
Conducting Market research will empower you to make the best decisions for your business.
Learn who your customers are, their buying habits, and what drives them to your business.
Capturing data will help you determine how much business you could possibly do and how you’ll adapt to the marketplace.
Having a well-organized website with appealing visuals and quality content is your best marketing tool.
One thing is for certain: the ongoing global pandemic has brought on a tidal wave of entrepreneurialism in the United States. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, entrepreneurship grew at a record pace in 2021, with more than 4.6 million applications for new businesses filed through October 2021. That’s a 24 percent increase from 2020, and applications are showing to increase more in 2022. Whether your new business has been a planned lifelong dream, or the pandemic nudged you in that direction, congrats on taking that huge first step!
As you probably already know, starting your own business is no easy task, and it requires a lot of time and effort. Let’s look at some ideas to help you grow your small business in size and reputation.
How to do Market Research: Finding the WHY
You may be asking yourself – Why do I need to do market research? Small businesses already have a lot of day-to-day operations to handle, which doesn’t leave a lot of time to do research, especially if you need to learn how to conduct market research in the first place. But if you don’t periodically check in with your audience, you could be missing out on valuable business and revenue.
According to Salesforce, market research empowers you and helps you make the best decisions for your business. But before you dig into full research mode, you’ve got to do your homework first.
To understand the reasons why consumers will buy your product, you may want to use these questions to guide your research:
- Who are your customers? Create a buyer persona: describe them in terms of age, occupation, income, lifestyle, educational attainment, etc.
- What do they buy now? Describe their buying habits relating to your product or service.
Also, don’t forget about your competitors! Before you kick off your startup marketing campaign, look at comparable businesses in your area. If your business has two partners, look for businesses run by partners rather than a large advisory board. With all this data, you will be able to determine how much business you could possibly do and how you’ll adapt to the marketplace – and beat the competition.
“When you conduct market research, you understand your customers, competition, and industry better, and can make data-based decisions that will help you succeed.”
– Salesforce
Small Business, Big Data
Now that you understand the “why” behind market research, capturing data is pretty straightforward. Here are a few:
- Personal Data – age, gender, geographic location, etc.
- Engagement Data – how customers interact with your business’ website, mobile ads, social media pages, etc.
- Behavioral Data – purchase histories and product usage information.
- Attitudinal Data – metrics on consumer satisfaction, purchase criteria, product desirability.
If You Build It – They Will Come
Once you know who your audience is, the next priority is to build a well-organized website where customers can learn about and buy your product or services. Your website is your best startup marketing tool, and a website with appealing visuals and quality content can set you apart from your competitors. While 35% of small businesses without a website believe they are too small to have one, we think that all businesses should have a functional, easy-to-use website, no matter big or small your business may be. Here are some suggestions:
- Build an SEO friendly website
- Do extensive keyword research before creating your website content.
- Incorporate your primary keywords into all your website landing pages, titles, meta descriptions, etc.
- Take care of technical aspects like page-load speed and website design.
