Speaker 1: Marketing without market research is like driving with your eyes closed. Let me teach you how to become a better driver for your business. Hello and welcome back to this channel. If you're new here, my name is John Vong. I share videos related to digital marketing and starting or growing your business. Like and subscribe if you're interested in these types of topics. One of the most critical parts of starting a business is the planning process. You can't just start a business. You need to take a step back and most importantly do your market research. It can be overwhelming, but today I'm going to tell you my favorite tips and tricks to make this process a breeze. Market research is a great way to help in planning your business. It's gathering information about your industry and what your ideal needs and wants are. This is a great way to monitor the trends in the market and check your competition. By doing market research, you will be able to create a business that is a perfect fit for your target market. There are two ways to do this. The first one is primary research directly from your possible customers, people who are the target market of a business that is similar to yours. This will be more specific and you can personalize as much as you want. These are surveys, interviews, questionnaires, customer feedback, and more. This will help you dive deep and truly understand what makes your ideal customer tick. It can be a costly process, but it will give you insights many of your competitors don't have. The next and more cost effective option is to look up already existing market research. It's likely you'll be able to find it. This is called secondary research. It can be online, printed, or maybe you can ask for it or pay for it for a small fee from organizations that have taken the steps to complete it. This saves you a lot of time, energy, and resources, but it might not be a good fit for your business. It depends on your specific industry. You need to be able to pin down certain points that are specific to your business and the types of services or products that you will be offering. Using another company's market research will help as a guide, but you still need to do your own. So how do you do market research that is worth your resources and will ultimately be the most beneficial for your business? First tip is to identify your target market. Finding out your target market is the first step in doing market research. These will be your customers for years to come. You need to identify them, understand them, and prioritize them. The success of your business will hinge on how well you understand them. So this is a critical part of your market research. Figure out who they are. What are their needs? Where do they look for services like yours? How do they make decisions? This will all be the foundation of how you run and market your business. A lot of businesses will say that their clientele is a wide range of people or anyone. But you will quickly find out that this isn't realistic. If you narrow it down as much as possible in the beginning, you will save yourself a lot of headache in the long run. Think about their income level, location, gender, and age group. Maybe you can drill down deeper into employment specialty or specific needs they will have. The more specific you can get, the more targeted your marketing techniques can be. The second tip is engagement. As I mentioned earlier, personal interaction gives the best results. Once you've figured out who your target market is, you can start interacting with them. Reach out to anyone who fits your mode and talk to them. It can be friends, family, or even strangers online. But it's best to do it one-on-one if possible. Set up an environment so that they can answer your questions honestly. You can also do this over Zoom. Make sure that you are open and accepting of any answer that they give you. This will give you the best insight into the mindset of your potential customers. Ask them how they make decisions. Ask them what others in your industry are doing or are lacking. This is invaluable information, so make sure you prepare a list of questions in advance and get the most out of these conversations. Our third tip is market gaps. Is the market you're entering saturated? Don't let that deter you. What you need to do is find the gaps in the marketplace. This will help you determine your unique selling proposition and what will set you apart from your competitors. Talking to potential customers should be able to shed some light on this. There is no point in opening a business if there is no gap. You don't want to do what everyone else is doing. You have to set yourself apart. Look at your potential competitors. What could they be doing better? What are their shortcomings and see how you can fill those gaps. If there is no gap or need in your service, it might be time to pivot before you even start. Trust your business to fill the gaps and answer the needs of your potential customers. This will ensure that your new business is profitable. Our fourth tip is analyze your competition. Competition is everywhere and you'll have it once you start. You need to find out who they are, what they do, and what you can do better. Look at their reviews and their customer feedback to help you find gaps and find where you can excel. While you need to have a unique selling proposition, you don't need to reinvent the wheel. Where are your competitors marketing their business? Where do their customers reside? This will usually be the same for you. Take what they are doing and kick it up a notch. Do it better. Have they not gone digital? Offering your services online or promoting yourself online could be your leg up. You need to really understand what they do. You could even reach out and pretend to be a potential customer. Ask questions, read their website and get all the information you can and then take a step back and analyze it. Our fifth and final tip of today is to summarize everything. Once you've done all your research, put it together in an easily digestible format. It can be in a google document, powerpoint, or pdf format. Whatever works best for you. Then share that information with people you trust in your life, partners, mentors, friends, and family. It's so important to get a second set of eyes. Different people will digest this information differently and could provide a new perspective. Be open minded. Don't let any preconceived ideas or plans cloud your judgment. Use this information to help you build out your business plan. This will be the foundation of everything you do. I know that starting a business is exciting and sometimes you want to jump right into it. But don't skimp on your market research. This is an important part and you should put all your effort into it. I hope this video gave you some solid ideas on how to do the best market research. It will be a little different for everyone because businesses are different and your ideal customers are different. But just like building a house, you need to lay a solid foundation down first. Once you do that, your business will be sturdy and profitable for years to come. Thanks so much for watching. Let me know down below what your market research plan was and let's collaborate. And don't forget to like this video, subscribe, hit that notification bell, and let's grow together.