Entering a new market is an exciting opportunity to grow your business. So exciting, in fact, that the thought of doing market research is often completely disregarded because “all the details will figure themselves out anyway.” This is rarely, if ever, the case.
Especially during these exceptional times, it is even more relevant to understand how your offering is perceived, and what is the best way to keep the business running - and growing.
Market research is your map in uncharted territory. It helps you achieve your potential in the fastest and most enjoyable way - and is the most cost-effective way to mitigate the risk of market entry failure.
Here are the top 5 reasons why you need to do market research before rushing into a new market.
1. Know what make your customers tick
Businesses may have a global outlook, but the needs of customers are routed in subconscious national, regional, and socio-economic drivers. For example, the path to success for a payments company will be completely different in Germany where “Cash is King” than in France where Card has been a predominant method of payment for many decades. Not knowing this could be an expensive misstep.
Understanding what makes your potential customers tick is key for you to succeed in a new market, and you can only do so by understanding what cultural drivers exist. Studying your bespoke offering in the cultural context is the best way to avoid mistakes.
2. Understand what the demand looks like
If there is no demand, there is no market. One of the primary reasons why businesses fail is that there is no demand, or they overestimate the amount of demand there is for their product. Therefore, it behoves you to ascertain whether there are unmet needs that your product could address.
Don’t assume - get the relevant data to know whether there is demand. Market research can provide understanding on peoples’ needs and how your product will address these needs.
It enables you to test in a safe environment and maximise your potential for success.
3. Locate the hidden pots of gold:
When you dig deeper into the trends, you quickly understand that there may be much more potential areas for success than you had previously thought. Youtube, Slack, and Shopify all achieved major business success through pivoting. When entering a new market, it is even more likely that your innovative system may address a gap in the market that you had never considered before.
You might be missing out on opportunities you didn’t know existed. Market research enables you to pivot in a fail-safe environment, and actually identify the entirety of the relevant market.
4. Get the tools to cut through the noise
When entering a new market you need to “cut through the noise.” This refers specifically to making sure that your message cuts through to your potential customers, and speaks in a persuasive manner to them. However, what is the noise?
The noise is what your competitors are doing. It is incredibly likely that if you already have a presence on an existing market, someone else is doing something similar on the market that you want to enter. Understanding your competition and how you can stand out from them is therefore absolutely paramount.
5. Get market relevant intelligence
Market research gives you intelligence to make the right decisions. Once you have all of the relevant data at your fingertips you will clearly understand the direction to take, which pots of gold lie along the way, and which minefields to avoid.
It gives you clarity and excitement to embark on this journey, knowing exactly how best to move forwards towards success.
These 5 points show why it is vital to do your market research. Market research decreases the risk and increases the potential for success.
Want to know where the hidden pots of gold lie for your business? Contact us now.
George Penn is a Research Analyst of MasonBower, working closely on customer projects of all sorts.
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