For any business to survive, particularly in the post-Covid epoch, the role of marketing has become critical, and in the 5IR, digital marketing is where it is make-or-break for any organisation. The year 2022 leads more towards the research in marketing. There are so many new inventions, ideas, associations in marketing research as well.
Businesses and their marketing change in such a way that it doesn’t matter whether the business is small, medium or large scale, they have to dig deep into marketing research to be a part of this changing world. To live and ensure sustainability, businesses have to pay their huge interest in marketing research.
Yes, you read correctly: to make your business live and proper in these commercially perilous times, marketing has to join your hands with Research.
Now, let’s discuss those words one by one. First is Marketing, which can be defined as an action, process or technique to promote or sell the product or service. Second is Research, which means “to observe”. It’s very common process. Even if you are sitting idle, you are still observing your surroundings. That shows you are researching, depending on the facts or thoughts of your mind. Basically, research is a process of investigation to establish facts and form a conclusion. So as we mindmap the process, the following diagram emerges:
The Marketing Research Process
To create a well thought out marketing plan for a business, marketing research is essential. An efficient research process requires data and analysis, otherwise you are simply wondering about in the dark. This is the primary reason why research should not be considered optional. The five steps in the Marketing Research Process are as follows:
- Problem Definition: This is the main point over which the whole research process lies. It’s the foundation of a working research plan. So, the objectives and the problem which are to be addressed should be clearly defined. Keep two questions clear in your mind: What is to be researched, and why it is to be researched?
- Specifying the research objectives: After problem identification, clarify your objectives of the research. Write them down.
- Creating the research design: Develop a research plan. In this phase, you decide what kind of research you will be doing and with which resources.
- Data Collection: There are so many data resources available online, but you do not have to restrict yourself to these. You can collect the information from surveys, interviews etc. Here you will plan about your sample size that can quantify your data collection.
- Analyse and evaluate the results: The data you have collected needs to be evaluated on the grounds of the research objectives you have created at the start of the process. There are certain tests by means of which the collected data can be analyzed.
After analysing and evaluating the data, the time has arrived for making the tough decisions.
The research objective throws the light over the problems which we are facing in marketing of our product or service. With the help of this marketing research we can develop the solutions to those problems.
Marketing research can be qualitative or quantitative. The Quantitative market research connects with statistical data and the facts, whereas Qualitative market research deals with the feelings, opinions, and attitudes of the consumers. The techniques used in quantitative market research are telephone surveys, personal interviews, web surveys and hybrid survey methods. In qualitative market research, techniques used are focus groups, depth interviews etc.
Marketing research is a service available to help a company, individual or an organisations to become better as the business grows. The more research becomes a part of marketing, the more it will move the organisation to be better equipped in the changing environment in which it is operating. Marketing research will help the organisation to strengthen its position, minimise its risk and identify the potential opportunities and threats to the concern.
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