The Process Of Marketing Research
Before any company or marketing agency hits the market to win customers, it should first design the marketing research process. This is a process which is undertaken in the marketing event. Before every undertaking in life, you have to prepare and so is in marketing. The marketing research process helps the marketing personnel determine which tools are to work best, which strategies are cheapest and which strategies will deliver the message home effectively. The process of marketing research therefore takes several stages as shown below.
Problem Definition
This is the first step in the marketing research process. This serves to form a clear picture of what you want to achieve at the end of the research. Actually, this is a step in every research. In this case, the marketer has to define the problem while taking into account the aim of the study.
Other considerations to make include, background information, the information needed and how it will be useful in the decision making process of the firm.
To carry out this phase of marketing research effectively, you need to consult with industry experts, decision makers, data analysts and such like focus groups. They make an important contribution in streamlining the definition.
Developing An Approach
The next phase in marketing research process is to develop a theoretical framework through which the problem is to be solved. This is best done if you first outline the objectives you need to achieve by the end of the research.
Other tolls to develop in this phase include hypothesis, research questions, analytical models and factors which might affect the research in one way or another.
To effectively carry out this phase of the marketing research process, you have to consult previous researches, experts, industrial specialists and other like sources.
Research Design
The nest thing is how to go about collecting the needed data. In many researches, it is known as the methodology. In marketing research process, this phase involves establishment of a workable blueprint which is to be used practically in the field.
The blueprint should be effective as to allow for collection of the data required and in an effective error free manner. The various tolls used in this phase of marketing research include questionnaires, interviews, observations and experiments.
Even though experiments are popular in science research, they are also applicable in marketing. This phase also includes how the data collected is to be analyzed.
After Designing The Research
With the research design ready, the nest thing is to head for the field. Using the various tolls indicated in the methodology; collect the data in effective and standard ways. To do this effectively, it might require training of the field officers.
With the data, you now proceed to the next level of marketing research process which is data analysis. This is done by experts and they apply tests on the data to qualify or nullify the hypothesis.
This phase is what now determines what decisions are made depending on the data collected. Depending on the data, they will propose which methods are best to adopt in the marketing campaign.