Why small business owners need market research

1SQMRC | Service Quality Marketing Research & Communications | smallbizresearchtraining.com

Why you need marketing researchOrientation to marketing research for small business

SQMRC small biz research training

EXCELLENCE IS WORTHWHILE EVEN IF ONLY THE GODS CAN SEE IT

—Leonard L. Berry

SQMRC | Service Quality Marketing Research & Communications | smallbizresearchtraining.com 2

Who is this webinar for?

Small business owners Entrepreneurs Consultants Managers Marketers Students


About me

Carol M. Booton, Ph.D. Small business owner 10 years’ experience teaching business

courses and Microsoft computer applications to adults

Doctorate in Business Administration (specializations in Marketing and Management)

Deep desire to share my love of marketing research with others


What is this webinar for?

To answer these questions What is marketing research? What it can do for you (you are

already doing it!) What it cannot do for you How you can do your own

To show how one small business owner is using marketing research in her coaching business


What is marketing research?

FOCUS GROUPS

In-depth interviews

Online surveys

Mall intercepts

e t h n o g ra p hy

Eye-trackingMail surveys

Product testing

Segmentati on

Mystery shoppingCopy testing

Wha—?

Trends


What is marketing research?

If you think marketing research is… Mysterious Complicated Not all that essential Good for others but not for you Difficult And not that much fun

…you are not alone! Most business people don’t see

marketing research as a solution to a problem


What marketing research can do for you

What if I could show you that marketing research can Improve your productivity Increase your profitability Help you make better decisions Give you confidence

What if I could show you that you can do your own marketing research?

In fact, you already are!


How you are already using marketing research

Asking Listening Observing Counting Tracking Estimating Predicting


What marketing research cannot do

Marketing research cannot… Give you perfect certainty Always give clear answers Always lead to clear actions Guarantee your results

But it can… Provide insight Reduce uncertainty Suggest actions


Marketing research will help you answer questions like…

Who are my best target market segments? What factors drive sales? Which advertisement will be most effective? What reaction will customers have to my new product? How satisfied are my customers? How aware are consumers of my industry in general and my

company in particular? What is the appropriate price for my product/service? What problem do I solve for my customers?


Marketing research will help you be…

More effective More profitable More certain More confident


You can do your own marketing research

Identify a business problem Write some questions Design your approach Collect data Analyze the data Draw conclusions Learn from the results

13SQMRC | Service Quality Marketing Research & Communications | smallbizresearchtraining.com

CASE STUDYSmall Business Marketing Research Survey


Case study

Meet Christy Strauch, owner of Small Business Warrior.

Christy helps small business owners whose passion is their business, but who struggle with doing their business numbers, planning, and marketing.

Christy has never done any formal marketing research for her business.


Case study: Identify a business problem

Christy: I want more clients. Me: What kind of clients? Christy: I don’t know. More like

the ones I have. Me: Well, who are they? Christy: What do you mean? Me: Why do they like you? What

business problems do you solve for them? Where do they hang out?

“I want more clients.”


Case study: Write some questions

Who are my clients? What do they sell? What problems do I solve for them? What other problems do they have? Why do my clients like me? How did they find me? Where can I find them?


Case study: Design the study

Approach: Survey existing clients Use open-ended questions (they type

some text into a box) Use closed-ended questions (they

choose one or more responses from a list of choices)

Method: Online Google form Sample: Existing client list


Case study: Collect the data

Write the questionnaire Enter it into a Google form Send a link to the survey to all

existing clients Collect responses in a

spreadsheet


Case study: Analyze the data

Analyze closed-ended (quantitative) questions Calculate frequencies (count

responses) Calculate percentages and averages Create charts

Analyze open-ended (qualitative) questions Make comparisons between

respondents Create tables of responses


Case study: Summarize the findings

What do they sell? All of these clients sell services

What problems do I solve for them? I help with business plans and

financial management What other problems do

they have? Time management

Why do my clients like me? Good listener Nonjudgmental Knowledgeable

How did they find me? From my books and referrals

Where can I find them? On LinkedIn and Facebook On business-related Web sites


Case study: Recommended actions

Promote my books Write a book on the topic of time

management Expand my presence on social

media Emphasize relevant content on my

Web site My personal qualities My books Business and financial planning

Create a referral program


Take-away for Christy

“Before we did this study, I was considering advertising to find new clients. Now I know that the vast majority of my new clients are referred from current and past clients.

My marketing strategy just pivoted to focus on building relationships and designing a referral program.

I would have wasted valuable resources if I hadn’t done my research first.”


Wrap up

Starting or expanding your small business without doing research is a bit like driving blind-folded. You will end up somewhere, but it may not

be the destination you had in mind when you started.

Don’t make decisions blindly. Even a small study can help reduce

uncertainty. You can do your own research! To learn

how, click today smallbizresearchtraining.com

http://smallbizresearchtraining.com/


Next steps

Carol Booton offers training in marketing research to small business owners and others through in-person classes and webinars. Webinar topics include Who is your best customer? Identifying

your target market through demographic and psychographic data. Find out more at smallbizresearchtraining.com

Email me at [email protected] Thanks to Christy Strauch and Small Business Warrior

for providing the case study materials. Find out more about Christy at smallbusinesswarrior.com

http://smallbizresearchtraining.com/

mailto:[email protected]

http://smallbusinesswarrior.com/

Why small business owners need market research

Small Business & Entrepreneurship

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