You may be overwhelmed with the question of why people buy your product. Definitely, they have a problem that needs to be fixed. To become a successful businessman, you must know who your customers are, what their requirements are, and why they are interested in your product instead of others. These are some queries that product managers understand well. Their primary goal is to identify the demands of the consumer and then create a product that meets those needs. Research is the first step in this process, which is called “product discovery.” 

What does market research mean?

Market research simply means collecting and studying information about your competitors, customers, and market. For product managers, it assists in finding out the chances and risks for their product. Market research means studying the environment where your product lives. It is important to keep learning and watching the market to stay updated and to make your product successful. 

Most of the time, product managers do the market research, but it is important for every product team member to understand the market. As we know, different team members work on different parts to help the product do well. If you are interested in knowing about market research, then keep reading this blog. Below, we discussed what market research is and how you can begin doing it yourself. 

3 Basic components of market research

If you are planning to develop a new product, then you must study the below mentioned 3 parts of market research: the Overall market, your competitors, and your customer.  

1. Overall market

Start your research by looking at the whole market. This simply means getting to know the big trends in the industry and how customers behave. It is essential to check things like:

• How much power do buyers have over price or quality
• Who your customers are, along with their age, income, and values
• How fast the market is growing
• How much market share does each company occupy
• How many customers are there in the market, and how much money do they have
• What prices customers expect to pay
• Risks that affect your business

You can also consider using a PESTLE analysis to think about the political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental aspects of the market.

2. Competitor analysis

Keep an eye on your competitor and what they offer. You have to find out their strengths and weaknesses so you can create the best product. 

3. Customer research

Arrange short meetings with your customers to understand their needs and feelings about the product. This will assist you in developing a product that makes customers happy and solves real complications. 

These 3 components of market research help you make effective decisions, especially during the creation of the product. 

Why market research is important for product success

It is highly significant to understand the market while planning for your product. You have to determine what you want to do and how you are going to do it. Market research enables you to find out things outside of your company.

Market study is most important in ensuring your product suits what your customers need. You must understand who your customers are, where you stand in the market, and what else they can do. This is crucial if you are launching a new product, enhancing one, or moving into a new territory.

Guessing is not enough. Even when you have great ideas and experience, market research can reveal new paths to improve your product. Market research keeps your business robust as well.

You can’t dictate everything outside, but you are able to understand the market and what the customer cares about if you can deal with issues in a better way.

Teams like product managers, designers, engineers, and marketers may make wise decisions that satisfy customers with the help of market research.

How do product managers do market research?

The market research process depends on your goals. It may be simpler or complex. If you are going to launch the new product, then it is necessary to study the whole market carefully. If you only want to improve the old product, then it’s enough to quickly do the competitor analysis. Most of the time, the 4 main steps should be followed by product managers to do market research:

1. Set your goals

First and foremost, it is essential to decide what you want to learn. Make notes about complications and opportunities you want to explore. Then turn these queries into a certain goal. 

2. Plan and collect information

Now, decide where you will find the data according to your requirements. For this purpose, you can do 2 different types of research, like primary and secondary. Primary research means collecting new data through interviews, surveys, or by focusing on various groups. Secondary research means paying attention to information that already exists, such as reports, articles, or industry studies. 

3. Look at the data and share it

After you gather your data, analyze it carefully to find any patterns or important points. Then summarize your findings and share that summary with your team. You can prepare a report or presentation to discuss what you discovered.

4. Now decide the next steps

Make smarter judgments by using what you’ve learnt, whether that means deciding which features to emphasise, developing customer profiles, or formulating your product strategy.

Many people will use simple templated work to help create their research way faster. These templates simply help you outline your questions and your results clearly; you can talk about their findings more intelligently and take the right action.

This simple approach helps you develop a better understanding of your market and make better business decisions.

What are the 5 different types of market research?

Let’s study the 5 different types of market research. 

1. Exploratory research

Assuming you have a desire to start a business, you probably already know of a problem that you want to solve; however, you may not have a clear idea of what the specific problem is. Exploratory research can provide you with a better understanding of the issue and to indicate if this problem is going to be worthwhile to solve. If only a small sample of people have this issue, it would be illogical to invest a lot of time or money into creating a product to assist them. This information from exploratory research will assist you in determining whether you have a problem that is worth working on.

2. Competitive analysis

It is extremely essential to plan before you begin building something. For instance, if you are fond of listening to podcasts but not an app at all, you may feel like creating your own. However, after investing time and money, you learn that most people consume podcasts on Spotify and music. You cannot do it because you failed to see what others do. Not researching your competitors is like going to war without seeing the other party.

3. Beta testing

When you use agile methods, the first thing you provide consumers is simply an early version of your product called an MVP or beta. You may know people want your product, but the MVP helps you build it the right way.

This practice is beneficial not only for new products. You could also try out new features on existing products or different versions of your site to see which one is the most successful.

4. Segmentation

Once you know about the users who use your product, you can divide them into groups. This is called segmentation. It not only helps in marketing but also enables you to know your user better. You can group them according to their action or their age, or their living location. This makes testing easy and helps you fulfill the user’s needs. For example, users in Europe might like one feature more than users in Africa.

5. User insights

Before making a product for your customers, it is essential to know about them. Learning about the users helps you to make a product that stands out. This is not a one-time job. You must always check what users think, feel, their problems, and what they like most.

In summary, market research is an essential, ever-evolving process for product success. Recognizing how your product fits into the market is accomplished through continuous development of knowledge and skills. Enrolling in a product management training courses at the Oxford Training Centre is an effective approach to learning. At the Oxford Training Centre, you will learn from professionals, have access to resources, and use tools and other products necessary to complete effective market research, and ensure decisions are made from informed decisions.  Visit the Oxford Training Centre today to continue to enhance your product management training skills, ensuring your product lives on in a changing market.