To conduct market research for a new business, you should utilize market research tools such as Google Trends, Google Keyword Planner, Social Mention, Statista, etc.
While qualitative market research methods can provide you with the information to identify the right market for your new business or start-up, I believe that you can hit the nail on the head with data-driven decisions through quantitative research.
In 2018, I was given the responsibility of conducting market research for a client when I was working for an agency.
For the research, I was instructed to interview a focus group of local business owners about Search Engine Optimization.
Frankly, the interview didn’t provide me with much valuable information as it was inconsistent. So, the information I had in hand wasn’t actionable.
Now the times have turned, and with the rise of technology, I take a whole new ballgame when it comes to market research.
My approach is to hit the ground running with data-driven marketing because it paints a vivid picture of the market you’re about to dive into. To access data, I use many market research tools.
Alright, let’s get into the nitty-gritty details of these tools I use for market research in this blog post. You can use the same approach to gain insights for your research.
Mentionlytics (A unique type of market research tool)
Interested in staying up-to-date with the latest topics and products in your industry? Mentionlytics is a great tool to get insights into that.
The insights you gain from the tool can uncover what your target audience is interested in and their sentiments towards various topics. You can consider investing in products or services that align with the interests of your target market to get your business up and running.
I recently used Mentionlytics to determine how many social media marketers were discussing the conference on Social Media Examiner.
Using the features of the tool, we contacted some influencers and thought leaders in the social media marketing industry who could collaborate with us for a session at the conference.
Keyword Planner (Google’s FREE tool to conduct market research)
Google’s Keyword Planner is a handy market research tool that can help you find search queries that your target customers are entering in Google search.
You might be thinking ” What am I supposed to do with these queries?”
Well, you can know what your target market is interested in and even get new product ideas
For instance, let’s say your new business is a shoe store. Now you need to know what kind of shoes are in demand. To know that, all you have to do is go to Google Keyword Planner and enter the keyword “shoes”.
As you can see, Keyword Planner was able to identify some of the terms that users are typing into search engines.
Looks like the products displayed above are pretty popular and exactly what your target market is buying.
Just a heads up, if you’re looking to find products that are in high demand but not being sold as much by your competitors, you can use the competitor column to sort them in descending order.
The Keyword Planner tool is commonly used to optimize a website and attract organic traffic. However, the tool can also be a really good qualitative research tool to gain insights.
Interested in learning more about organic search traffic, here is a blog post I wrote on this topic: What is organic traffic in marketing ( is it different from direct traffic?)
Statista (Useful secondary research tool)
Statista is a unique type of market research tool that provides statistics, studies, and reports, to help businesses make better decisions.
Users find this tool unique because the data is updated on a daily basis with information coming in from leading providers such as Bloomberg Businessweek, Euromonitor International, Forbes Magazine, and many others.
This means you get access to the latest data in the industry!
Speaking of industry, Statista’s databases cover more than 100 industries from all over the world.
The tool’s user interface is fairly straightforward. You go to the site, type in any relevant topic or keyword for which you want stats, and the tool does the rest.
All of the data is presented in blue-colored data charts that are simple to understand.
You can use market research data for the purposes of developing buyer personas, creating online questionnaires, and even content marketing.
In short, Statista is the platform to use if you’re a marketer looking for reliable statistics backed up by research.
Similar Web ( Best market research for a startup)
If you are looking for information about a competitor’s website traffic, search ranking, and other website statistics, Similar Web would be the perfect market research tool.
It can provide data insights on the number of visits, the number of visitors from different countries, the percentage of visitors from search engines and referrals, as well as the bounce rate of the competitor.
I initiated my competitor research by googling the search term “Toronto shoe store”. The company Browns Shoes showed up in the first position.
This means my target market is familiar with this brand and has probably purchased some of its products.
Analyze this potential competitor on Similar Web. You’ll get to discover such similar competitors. Dwel into all their product offerings. The reviews on product listing pages should give you a general idea of their demand in the market.
Reverse engineer what they are doing and add your angle to it.
Speaking of competitor analysis, I want to talk about another great tool that lets you do more.
Ubersuggest (Third-party market research tool)
You can use Ubersuggest, an SEO tool, to spy on the in-demand products your competitors are selling.
Pop in your competitor’s website URL into the search bar of the tool. Once you do that, the tool should be able to display the pages that are getting the highest traffic.
It also displays other important KPIs such as estimated visits and social shares, that should give you the big picture of the demand for their products.
You can use the information of these KPIs to shake up your business strategy or start a new business from scratch.
Google Trends (Find products that are trending)
It’s important to consider the seasonality of a product or service when conducting market research. It can have a big impact on its success. If you want to find out what’s hot right now, Google Trends is the perfect tool for the job.
Imagine you’re a proud owner of a shoe store. As a shoe store owner, it’s pretty much a given that you’d want to up your stock of winter boots when the colder months roll around. Alright, let’s take a look at whether the logic is reflected in Google Trends data.
Just take a look at the Google Trends chart above and you’ll see that there’s a pretty high demand for winter shoes in December. We already knew about it, but the chart just confirmed what we thought.
But sometimes you just can’t assume everything. When things are unclear, just follow these steps
Step 1: Type your search term.
Step 2: Analyze the chart.
Qualitative market research tools (Also, How to find participants for the survey)
Even though I am not a huge fan of qualitative market research, most businesses still use it to get valuable insights.
Some of the commonly used tools for qualitative research are Survey Monkey, Typeform, and Google Forms.
It’s not much of a challenge to use these tools. For example, to use Typerform for market research, you can simply go to their website and sign up.
Typeform allows you to easily design a survey form. The interface is user-friendly.
The most difficult task is to distribute the survey to the right people.
It may be too difficult for you because, as a new business owner, you may not have an email list to target. To develop a list, start with low-ticket offers.
If you are unaware of low-ticket offers, I have covered this in this blog :
Can Social Media Marketing Really Help my Business (Learn the Truth)
Other than building a list, you might have to invest in a paid survey.
A paid or incentivized survey is a type of statistical survey where participants are rewarded through an incentive program, usually entry into a sweepstakes program or a small cash reward, for completing one or more surveys.
A suitable platform to host your incentive program for the survey would be Facebook or LinkedIn groups within your industry.
You’ll probably come across active prospects in these groups who are happy to provide you with insights through a survey in exchange for a small incentive. Why not give it a shot?
Conclusion
The above market research tools can help you get the information you need to start a new business. With these insights, you can decide the location, the items you are going to sell, your marketing strategy, the pain points of your target audience, and a lot more.
Hope you found this blog informational.
