With COVID-19 pandemic across the world, companies across the industries are suffering with cost crunches. Its now critical for businesses to sustain in this turbulent period. In this article, lets pick market research as a topic of discussion. The global market research services is expected to decline from US$76 billion in 2019 to US$74 billion in 2020 at CAGR -2.4%. The slowdown in the economy is majorly caused due to the pandemic. Having said this, the market is expected to recover and grow at a CAGR of 4% from 2021 to reach US$82.9 billion by 2023. Lets introduce the concept of “market research” in this article.
What is market research?
Market research is a process of providing relevant data to help solve marketing challenges for businesses. If the research is done right, businesses can identify their target market and create a niche for themselves by differentiating their strategy. This process can be primarily conducted through “primary research” and “secondary research”.
What is Primary Research?
This type of research involves gathering information through observations, online surveys, focused groups and interviews. Primary research should be conducted once a concrete secondary research is complete. Its because, it enables you to determine which information is not already available and it saves you time by collecting right information.
Why Primary Research is Needed?
1. Doing your primary research will help you validate your product idea
2. Assist you in examining the problem statement for your business
3. Enable you to make wise and informed decisions about your products & services
4. Leverage your understanding about your customer pain points
What is Secondary Research?
Secondary research is compiling of existing data available for you and organizing it for your audience to consume the data. The volume of information available on the web is immense and it depends how you present it to your audience. This is also known as “desk research” as data can be retrieved from sitting in your desk. The sources can include: private research databases, government secured databases, commercial information sources and public libraries.
Why secondary research is needed?
Most information in secondary research is readily available and this route is much more cost effective. As data is extracted from authentic credible sources, the time needed to perform a task is much quicker. In addition, the curated data provides you and your company an holistic understanding on the effectiveness of your research methodologies. This in-turn enables you to make wise decisions. However, not all secondary data is trustworthy. The statistics they present can be misleading at times. So, cross checking of the data is mandatory.
The Conclusion
The success of your research will depend on the data you collect and prior quality of research you have completed in your primary research. This process is quite time consuming and demands eye detail and critical thinking to achieve your results. You can seek a market research freelancer who specializes in this activity and get your work done to perfection. Focus on your core business strategy and leave the data collection to the expert!
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