Category: Market Research

Market Analysis – Industry Analysis

Conducting an industry analysis is usually easy because market reports for industries are readily available.  If you are planning to sell cheese, do a Google search on “cheese market report,” and you’ll find several documents.   Find out the industry’s size, how it is segmented, and who the big players are. An industry analysis confirms the existence of a strategic opportunity.

There are three commonly used and important methods of performing industry analysis.  The three methods are: 

Competitive Forces Model (Porter’s 5 Forces) 
Broad Factors Analysis (PEST Analysis) 
SWOT Analysis 

Competitive Forces Model (Porter’s 5 Forces)

Is there are a large number of competitors in your industry?
Are there a lot of barriers to entry in the industry?
How powerful are the suppliers?
How powerful are the customers?
Are there substitute products and services?

Broad Factors Analysis (PEST Analysis) 

How likely is this industry to be impacted by government policy and changes in legislation?
Is this industry sensitive to exchange rates, economic growth, inflation, supply, demand, or recessions?
Does this industry depend on demographics, age distribution, and social trends?
Is this industry dependent on technology and at risk if technologies change?

SWOT Analysis 
SWOT analysis is a great way to understand where you stand in terms of your competition.

What are your strengths compared with others within this industry?
What are your weaknesses when compared to others in this industry?
What opportunities do you see for yourself within the industry?
What are the possible threats to succeeding in this industry?

 

For more, consider the following link: 

https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/strategy/industry-analysis-methods/

How to Conduct Your Own Market Research

To make sound business decisions, you will need facts. To obtain facts, one tool you will use is Market Research.

What is Market Research
Market research i about gathering as much information as you can on your target market’s needs, wants, beliefs ,and behaviors. Onceyou know your target customers, you’ll know how to tailor your products, services, and marketing materials to their needs. 

Know your Target Audience
Your target audience definition will be the foundation of your marketing efforts and, possibly, your entire business.  A good target audience definition will help you determine what products and services to offer. It will help you set prices, establish what type of marketing materials you need, where to advertise, and will provide many other benefits.

Define the target markets’ demographics by specifying the age, gender, income, marital status, and educational level of targeted consumers.

Narrow down your audience by geographical location. It’s a big world out there; you can’t target all areas.

Further narrow down your audience according to interests, hobbies, activities, and behaviors.

What type of attitudes and opinions characterizes your target audience? Are they concerned by climate change? Do they look for the lowest price? Do they like to try new products?

If you want to know more about defining your target audience, click here.

Understand the Target Markets’ needs
Focus on understanding the fundamental needs. What are their goals, desires, preferences, problems, frustrations, and other pain points?

Talk to potential customers, do surveys, dig deep.

How Much do They Spend
Your customers have needs. How much will they be willing to spend towards filling the needs? Analyzing competition sites, surveys, and plain old Google searches should give you an idea of how much money is available for your products and services.

How is the Competition Filling the Needs
Analyze what the competition is doing to fill the needs. Can you find gaps between what is needed and what the competition is offering? Websites, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, Linked In, Youtube, Twitter can tell you a lot about competition. Do a few searches on the products and services you are planning to offer. It shouldn’t take long before you start receiving ads for similar products and services. Study those ads carefully. Platforms like Facebook let you see why you see the Ad by clicking the down arrow to the right. It is OK to have competition, which usually means demand for what you are offering.

Market Size and Expected Market Share
Try to determine the size of your market. Industry reports usually provide useful numbers for just about any product. Sites such as Statistics Canada often have precise data on how much consumers are spending by category. You might have to get creative with social media tools such as Facebook Audience Insight to figure the size of your market. Your market share will depend on how many competitors operate within your targeted market.

How can You Reach the Potential Customers
It would help if you determined how you are going to reach your potential customers. Where do they hang out in the physical world? Where do they hang out online? What magazines or blogs do they follow? Can they be targeted with Facebook ads? How is the competition reaching the customers? Is your competition using magnet words to reach your customers?

Interesting Market Research Link