Marketing research

Marketing research is "the process or set of processes that links the producers, customers, and
end users to the marketer through information information used to identify and define marketing
opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing
performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process. Marketing research specifies
the information required to address these issues, designs the method for collecting information,
manages and implements the data collection process, analyzes the results, and communicates the
findings and their implications."
It is the systematic gathering, recording, and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data about
issues relating to marketing products and services. The goal of marketing research is to identify and
assess how changing elements of the marketing mix impactscustomer behavior. The term is
commonly interchanged with market research; however, expert practitioners may wish to draw a
distinction, in that market research is concerned specifically with markets, while marketing research
is concerned specifically about marketing processes.
Marketing research is often partitioned into two sets of categorical pairs, either by target market:

Consumer marketing research, and

Business-to-business (B2B) marketing research

Or, alternatively, by methodological approach:

Qualitative marketing research, and

Quantitative marketing research

Consumer marketing research is a form of applied sociology that concentrates on understanding the
preferences, attitudes, and behaviors of consumers in a market-based economy, and it aims to
understand the effects and comparative success of marketing campaigns]. The field of consumer
marketing research as a statistical science was pioneered by Arthur Nielsen with the founding of
the ACNielsen Company in 1923.
Thus, marketing research may also be described as the systematic and objective identification,
collection, analysis, and dissemination of information for the purpose of assisting management
in decision making related to the identification and solution of problems and opportunities in
marketing.

How to Run a Successful Marketing Campaign

9SimpleStepsWillEnsureYourMarketingCampaign'sSuccess

1) Know how your marketing campaign fits into your marketing

plan.
Ideally,beforeyouplanamarketingcampaign,youhaveamarketingplanforyour
business.(Ifyoudon't,WritingtheMarketingPlanwillleadyouthroughtheprocess.)

Themarketingplanisyourmasterplanformarketingyoursmallbusiness.Itprovidesthe
fullpictureofyourmarketingobjectivesandstrategiesforinterestingyourtarget
marketinyourproductsand/orservices.Themarketingcampaign,ontheotherhand,is
onesmallpieceofyourmarketingplan,amarketingactiondesignedtoachievea
particularobjective.

Whenyouknowhowyourmarketingcampaignfitsintoyouroverallplan,youknowwho
yourtargetmarketisandhowyoumightbestcommunicatewiththem.

) Set your marketing campaign objective and parameters.

Whatdoyouwantyourcampaigntoachieve?

That'stheobjective.Youwanttobeaspecificaspossible.Notjust,"Iwantmoresales",
buthowmanyandofwhatproductorservice?

Youcanthinkofparametersasthedetailsofthemarketingobjective.Timeisthemost
commonparameterthatneedstobeincludedasmarketingcampaignslosetheir
effectivenessovertime.

(EvenTonytheTigerhadtoberetiredeventually.)

Soacommonmarketingcampaignobjectiveformulais:whatwillbeachieved+how
longwillthemarketingcampaignrun?

Forexample:Salesoffacebeautymarkswillincrease50%inthreemonths.

3) Determine how you will measure success.

Whatmetricsareyougoingtouse?Howwillyoutellifyourmarketingcampaignhas
succeededornot?Obviously,ifyouhaveamarketingobjectivesuchas"Salesofface
beautymarkswillincrease50%inthreemonths"themetricyou'regoingtouseto
measurethesuccessofyourmarketingcampaignisthenumberofsalesmadeoverthe
threemonthperiod.Butthenumberofsalesmaynotbeanappropriatemetricatallif
yourmarketingobjectiveistoincreasetheawarenessofyourbrandortoimprove
yourwebsite'ssearchenginepageranking.

Fortrackingonlinemarketingefforts,youcanuseGoogleAnalytics.

MethodsofTrackingOfflineMarketingEffortsexplainssomecommonwaystomeasure
thesuccessofyourofflinemarketingcampaign.

Don'tforgettoestablishornoteabaselineforwhatevermetricyou'vechosen;you'llneed
ittomeasureyourprogress.

4) Set your marketing campaign budget.

Howmuchmoneyyouhavetospendonyourcampaignwillgreatlyaffectthemarketing
strategiesyouchoosesoyouneedtosetthemarketingbudgetfirst.Obviously,a
SuperbowlTVadismuchmorecostlythananadonlocaltelevisionoronsocialmedia.

Don'tdependonfreeadvertisingandpromotionstrategiesforyoursmallbusiness.Thisis
oneofthebiggestmistakessmallbusinessownersmake.Thisisnottosaythatallfree
marketingstrategiesarebad.Butthereisalwaysacosttomarketing,evenifthecostis
onlytime,andyourtimemaybemuchbetterspent.

Alwaysthinkfirst;isthisthebest/mosteffective/mostconvincingwaytoreachmy
customer?Thesewaysusuallycostmoneysoresignyourselftospendingmoneyonyour
marketingcampaign.Youdon'tnecessarilyhavetospendalot,butyoudoneedtospend
some.(Worriedaboutthecost?Seethese40BudgetMarketingIdeasforYourSmall
Business.)

5) Choose your marketing strategies to communicate with the

customers.
Whatcommunicationchannelsareyougoingtouse?

Email?Directmail?Payperclickonlineadvertising?
Notethatsomecommunicationschannelsaregoingtobebettersuitedtoyourtarget
marketthanothers.Forinstance,placingradioadsmaybeacompletewasteofmoneyif
yourtargetmarketdoesn'tregularlylistentotheradio.

Thinkaboutyourtargetmarket'shauntsandhabitswhenyou'rechoosingchannelsto
reachthem.Wheredotheyspendtheirtime?Wherearetheymostlikelytoseeorhear
andpayattentiontoinformationaboutyourproductsand/orservices?Inamagazine?On
abusbench?Ontheirsmartphone?

6) Create a time line/action plan.

Writedownwhatexactlyyouregoingtodoandwhen.

Itdoesn'thavetobeelaborate,butwritingitdownwillgreatlyincreasethechancesthat
youfollowthroughandgiveyourecordstousewhenyougotoevaluatethesuccessof
yourmarketingcampaign.

Forinstance,supposeyouaresellingbicycleseatsdesignedtobemorecomfortablethan
most.Youmightcomeupwithacampaignplansuchas:

SponsorlocalSeatoSkybikeraceinSeptember($500tobecomesponsor).

Sendoutapressreleasewhenyoufirstbecomeasponsor(freeifyoudoit
yourself).SendoutanotherpreraceinlateAugust.

Placeaseriesofadsinlocalnewspaper,oneinJune,oneinJuly,twoinAugust
andoneposteventinSeptember(5x$125.00=$625).

PostsponsorinfoonyourbusinessFacebookpage.

Nowthat'saboutassimpleamarketingcampaignasyoucanhave.Mypointistheycan
besimple.Simpleisfineifitgetsresults.

Thisisalsoagreatexampleofamarketingcampaignthatitwouldbeeasytojazzup.

Suppose,forinstance,thattherewasalocalpersonwhowasgoingtobeinthebikerace
thatwaswillingtowearajerseywithyourbusinessnameandlogoonitforthecostofa
freebikeseat.

Supposeaswellthatshewaswillingtobethefaceofanonlinemarketingcampaign,
whetherfreeorforaprice,andyoucouldthensetupaFacebookpageandTwitter
accountabouthertrainingfortherace(and,ofcourse,promotingyourbikeseats).On
raceday,youcouldtweetaboutherprogress.Seehoweasy?Andallforlessthan$2000.
SeeWhyYourBusinessShouldUseTwitterandHowtoCreateaBusinessPageon
Facebook.

Youcouldalsogetmorepromotionbenefitoutofyourracesponsorshipbyadvertisingin
moreplaces,suchasbuyingbanneradsonbikerelatedwebsites,and/oradsin
appropriatemagazines.

7) Do it.
Writeyouradcopy.Firmupyourdates.Placeyourads.Searchforandapproach
someonetobethefaceofyouronlinemarketingcampaign.Whateveractions
yourcampaigninvolves,execute;do;activate.

Gobacktoyouractionplantimelineandcheckitemsoff,writinginthedatethatyou
completethem.Itwillkeepyouorganizedandyou'lllovethefeeling.

8) Measure your results.

Whenthecampaignisover,it'stimetoseehowsuccessfulitwas.Gobacktoyour
marketingobjective,measurewhatyou'vechosentomeasuretodeterminethecampaign's
successandseehowit'sdone.

Supposethatthemarketingobjectiveforyourbikeseatsmarketingcampaignwasto
increasesalesofbikeseats25%overfourmonths.Itwouldbeasimplematterafterthe
facttocompareMay,June,July,AugustandSeptembersalesfiguresanddothemath.

9) Tweak and repeat as necessary.

Onceyou'vemeasuredtheresultsofyourmarketingcampaign,you'llbeabletomake
decisionsaboutthemarketingstrategiesyou'veusedandfuturecampaigns.Supposethat
yourbikeseatmarketingcampaignincreasedbikeseatsales41%.You'ddecidetorepeat
itagainnextyearwouldn'tyou?

Andassumingyouhadthetrackinginplacetoknowwhichmarketingstrategyproduced
whichresults,youcouldtweakyourcampaignaccordingly.Ifthedatashowedthatonly
2%ofincreasedsalescamefromyourTwitterandFacebookstrategies,youmight
decidenottobotherwiththataspectofthiscampaignnextyear.Oryoumightdecideto
repeatthewholemarketingcampaignasdesignedandseeiftheresultsforthesetwo
strategiesimprove.
Ofcourse,yoursalesresultsforthemonthsinvolvedmayshownoimprovementoreven
adecline,makingthismarketingcampaignabust.Thathappenssometimes,too.
Youmighthavetogobackanddosomeseriousrevampingorevenscrapthewholebike
racesponsorshipcampaign.

Butifyou'vesetupyourmarketingcampaignproperlyandkeptrecordsofwhatyouve
beendoing,atleastyouhavedatatomakethesekindsofmarketingdecisions.

The Best Marketing Campaign

Inaway,anymarketingcampaignisbetterthannone,becauseitmeansyou'redirecting
yoursmallbusinessmarketingeffortsratherthanjustcastingblindlyhereandthere.But
thebestmarketingcampaignistheonethatgetstheresultsthatyouwantandthattakes
someplanningandacoordinatedeffort.
5 Components of a
Successful Marketing Plan
1. Market focus

I dont know the secret to success, but I do know that the secret to failure is
trying to please everybody, said Bill Cosby. Good marketing plans define
target markets narrowly. A restaurants target market might be families,
couples, baby boomers, teenagers, children, date nights, busy and rushed
working people, or some combination.

You wont find a restaurant that works for a baby boomer couples night out
also working for families with small children. Choose. Divide and conquer.

2. Product focus

Product focus matches market focus. If you want baby boomers date nights,
then serve good food. If you want families with kids, then serve food quickly,
make the menu items relatively cheap and, of course, the food has to be safe.

Sushi doesnt sell on price. Drive-through windows dont deliver fast food.

3. Concrete, measurable specifics

A good marketing plan is full of dates and details. Strategy probably drives a
good plan, but tactics, programs and details make the difference. As much as
possible, the plan has to tie results back to activities and come up with hard
numbers to measure those results.

A restaurant cannot have vague goals like having the best-tasting food. It
needs specifics that are related to marketing message, insertions,
posts, tweets, dinners served, return visits, members of the e-mail list,
reviews, stars and so forth.
The key is to take a plan and think ahead about how youll know whether it
was implemented. Will you be able to tell?

4. Responsibility and accountability

Groups and committees get little done. Assign every part of a marketing plan
to a specific person. Measure the results of every task and be sure a person is
responsible for it. Peer pressure is important: The people executing the plan
have to be accountable for measurable results. Failure has to hurt, and
achievement has to be rewarded.

An old joke: How do you see involvement vs. commitment in a bacon-and-egg

breakfast? Answer: The chicken is involved, but the pig is committed. A good
marketing plan needs commitment, not just involvement.

5. Reviews and revisions

Every successful marketing plan is actually a planning process, not just a

plan. Things change too fast for static plans. A good marketing plan is part of
a process that involves setting goals, measuring results and tracking
performance. It entails regular review and revision.

If the group running the marketing plan isnt meeting once a month to compare
the plan with actual results and make course corrections, there is no
marketing plan.