Market Research Guide
Report Preparation and Format
- Report Summary
- Provide a concise summary of the research, findings, and recommendations.
- Detailed Findings
- Provide a detailed account of the research findings.
- Appendices
- Include any charts, graphs, survey questions, etc., used or mentioned in the report.
Key Questions to Answer with this Guide
- Demand: Is there a demand for your product or service?
- Market size: How big is the market and how many customers are likely to be interested in your offering?
- Economic indicators: From a macro-economic perspective is this the right time and is your target market doing well?
- Ideal Customer Profile (ICP): Who is your ICP?
- Location: Where are your customers, suppliers, and even competitors located?
- Market saturation: How many competitors are already available to your prospective customers? Can that be disrupted?
- Pricing: What are customers currently paying for alternatives to your offering?
Steps
- Introduction
- Define the Problem
- A brief overview of the issue that necessitates market research.
- Identify any specific business questions you are trying to answer.
- State your goals.
- Clearly Define your Objectives.
- What information do you hope to gain?
- Define the Problem
- Planning the Research
- Research Methods
- Define your primary and secondary research methods.
- Detail how you will conduct surveys, focus groups, polls, and interviews.
- Sample Design
- Define the target population for your research.
- Detail your sampling method and size.
- Research Methods
- Industry and Market Factors
- Market Size and Trends
- Describe the current size of the market.
- Discuss recent and projected market trends.
- Regulations
- Discuss any regulatory issues affecting the market.
- Gaps in the Market
- Identify and explain any potential market opportunities.
- Market Demographics
- Discuss key market segments and demographic trends.
- Market Size and Trends
- Ideal Customer Profile(s) (ICP)
- Demographics
- Define ICP's age, gender, race, income level, etc.
- Lifestyle Trends
- Discuss any lifestyle trends affecting ICP behavior.
- Needs and Attitudes
- Discuss ICP needs, preferences, and attitudes toward your product or industry.
- Location
- Where is your ICP located?
- Demographics
- Suppliers
- Supplier Overview
- Provide an overview of main suppliers.
- Location
- Where are your suppliers' located?
- Supplier Overview
- Competitors
- Competitor Overview
- Provide an overview of main competitors.
- Pricing Structures
- Detail competitors' pricing structures.
- Market Share
- Discuss the market share of each competitor.
- Marketing and Branding
- Discuss competitors' marketing strategies and branding efforts.
- Location
- Where are your competitors' located?
- Competitor Overview
- Data Collection
- Data Collection Methods
- Provide details on how you collected data (surveys, focus groups, polls, interviews).
- Data Sources
- Discuss the sources from where data was collected.
- Data Collection Methods
- Data Analysis
- Data Processing
- Discuss how data was processed and organized for analysis.
- Data Interpretation
- Discuss how data was interpreted and what it means in context.
- Data Processing
- Results
- Findings
- Detail the findings of the research in a clear, organized way.
- Insights
- Discuss any new insights gained from the research.
- Recommendations
- Based on the research findings, provide any recommended actions.
- Findings
Good luck with the research and please reach out if Cove can be of assistance!