Marketing Research Ideas for Small Businesses
Aug 4 2011

Following is a guest post by Taylor Laurents, a twenty something freelance writer from Lincoln, NE. She was bitten early by the entrepreneurial bug, selling Girl Scout cookies like many young girls, and hopes one day to run her own business and be her own boss.

Those of us with big business ideas operating on small budgets don’t exactly have the bankroll it takes to recruit a talented market research team to help us. But then again, we don’t necessarily have to. Do-it-yourself research and inexpensive alternatives to highly-tuned studies can provide small businesses with all the market information they need. It can be the difference between continuing to run a company with limited connectivity to the customer and establishing an enterprise with an intimate relationship with its clients.

Soak Up Secondary Sources of Information

Market research isn’t strictly a matter of drawing data directly from public opinion. It can involve getting to know the competition, reading up on the history of the industry you find yourself in, and accessing available public data in the form of demographics. Many things that can help you boost market prowess can be found by merely visiting the local library or doing Internet research. The only thing you have to worry about is making sure the source of your information is correct, which so long as you don’t navigate too far from government agencies and academic institutions, shouldn’t be a problem.

Seek Out Cost-Effective Surveys

If you offer a product or service, then direct market research involving primary sources (i.e., regular opinion) is absolutely essential. But it’s typically not cheap. With that said, there are companies online that manage paid surveys, wherein the operational costs are greatly reduced. An example of such a survey site is Survey Head, which simply entices individuals to partake in surveys in exchange for payment. Small businesses interested in knowing how their particular market feels about their particular product or service can collaborate with these sites to create surveys that will be filled by those in the relative demographics.

Satisfy Your Thirst for Data

It’s neither glamorous nor the tactics of a noble enterprise, but if you’re serious about market research and have limited funds to outsource the effort, then self-driven data mining is the smartest way to go. Software like Microsoft Access, Lotus Approach, and the popular MyDatabase offer small businesses simple ways to keep track of customer data as it flows through their websites and payment systems. These programs are benign as far as the customer’s satisfaction is concerned because the customer is unlikely to be privy to their existence.

Advanced analysis of the market isn’t just for those who’ve already experienced their capitalistic windfall. Market research is a requirement for any small business to grow, so what are you waiting for?

Note: I was compensated to review, edit and post this article.

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