Where Marketing Goes Wrong

With the right planning, executing on an effective marketing campaign is easy. However, getting things right at the point of interaction with a prospective customer is where it all happens.

Not too long ago I was traveling and decided to run into a coffee shop. Upon entering, I noticed there weren't a lot of people there so I went right up to the cashier and ordered my coffee. She was miserable. No "hello", no "smile", nothing.

Imagine being the marketing guy (or gal) for this coffee shop. You could do everything right and then lose business because of a depressed cashier! I for one have not interest in going back to that place.

Yet this happens all the time. Prospective customers visit retailers only to have a bad experience. Or they buy products that under perform. Worse yet, they reach out for help only to speak to an unhelpful representative or call center where you can barely hear the customer service rep.

Marketing is more than running a direct mail campaign, its the whole package. If you want to take your marketing up a notch, think about the whole user experience. From first touch to repeat purchase, marketing needs to be involved with the entire purchase decision process and then some.

This week, take a closer look at your process from start to finish. It's always best to see things from a customers perspective. You may just find some opportunities for improvement!

6 Common Market Research Mistakes of Small Business

Whether expanding a new line or starting a business, market research for your small business is a necessary component for success. As any business owner learns soon enough, risks are part of business. With limited resources, entrepreneurs know risk needs to be calculated. Employing market research helps you sort out the risks involved.

The benefits of market research for small business range from finding hidden niches and preserving capital to building customer loyalty and identifying more business opportunities with existing customers.

Before you take the path to greater customer understanding by market research, it's
important to know the common pitfalls encountered by small business. Avoid these 6 common mistakes in market research for small business.

Think It's Costly: Bob Kaden, market research expert and author of "Guerrilla Marketing Research" knows too well the challenge small business owners face to afford the costs of conducting market research. Small businesses believe focus groups and surveys are unaffordable. Marketing research costs can range from a few thousand dollars to $25,000 annually.

Should you hire a professional or go it alone? "If you have the time and interest to learn what it takes to do effective research, there is no reason you can't execute the studies yourself at a fraction of the cost it would take you to use a professional," states Kaden in "Guerrilla Marketing Research." On the contrary, Kaden feels a solid market research professional is invaluable. Spend the time to learn what you don't know and need to know.

Try Secondary Research Only: Research comes in 2 forms: primary and secondary. Primary research is first hand knowledge you gain directly from the marketplace and often uses techniques as focus groups and surveys. Secondary research is usually published studies available online or from your library providing broad knowledge about your markets. Learning about your business and industry from secondary research is a good start but primary research allows you to target your efforts and understand customers' attitudes in real time.

Use Web Searching: The Internet has opened up a flood of business information that was once available to big companies or those with money. No doubt conducting secondary market research on Yahoo or Google saves time and money for small business. Search engines mine only a portion of the web and often the good info you need will be part of the deep web or on a paid search like Lexis Nexis. To save money, visit your local library, business center, or college to gain access to the quality information you need at zero cost.

Hit the Wall: Any sizable research project runs into the U-shaped curve. Your enthusiasm and motivation are high at the beginning but as the project progresses you reach a wall. As you start to take in more information, the level of complexity rises. At this point it's easy to lose motivation and cut the research efforts short. Those who persist soon realize it all comes together in the end. To best manage your cycle of motivation for the project, start your secondary market research by getting an understanding of your industry. Don't wait too long to get in the field and talk to potential customers.

Rely on Family Focus Group: A common mistake of new startups is asking those close to you for feedback on your product and service. Those who know you will want to guard your feelings. Friends and family make the worst possible selection of a focus group. You need to talk to real customers about the pros and cons of your offer and use your friends and family as support not market research.

Big Company Attitude: You spent years in your industry and understand customers... who needs market research? You carry plenty of baggage and preconceived notions of customers needs and wants. Test your assumptions on the market for real insight on customer attitudes and behavior.

All too often business owners will downplay the importance of gaining customer insight by market research. It's absurd how many businesses are launched without ever talking to a single potential customer. Avoid the common errors and use market research wisely to position your business for success.

Market Research

To successfully export your product, you should examine foreign markets through research. The purpose is to identify marketing opportunities and constraints abroad, as well as to identify prospective buyers and customers.

Market research encompasses all methods that a company can use to determine which foreign markets have the best potential for its products. Results of this research inform the firm of: the largest markets for its product, the fastest growing markets, market trends and outlook, market conditions and practices, and competitive firms and products.

Your firm may begin to export without conducting any market research if it receives unsolicited orders from abroad. Although this type of selling is valuable, the company may discover even more promising markets by conducting a systematic search. If your firm opts to export indirectly by using an intermediary such as an Export Management Company (EMC) or Export Trading Company (ETC), you may wish to select markets to enter before selecting the intermediary. Because many intermediaries such as EMCs and ETCs have strengths in certain markets, it is valuable to select the intermediary after deciding on markets to enter. You may also want to do market research if you export indirectly.

A firm may research a market by using either primary or secondary data resources. In conducting primary market research, a company collects data directly from the foreign marketplace through interviews, surveys, and other direct contact with representatives and potential buyers. Primary market research has the advantage of being tailored to the company's needs and provides answers to specific questions, but the collection of such data is time-consuming and expensive.

When conducting secondary market research, a company collects data from various sources, such as trade statistics for a country or a product. Working with secondary sources is less expensive and helps the company focus its marketing efforts. Although secondary data sources are critical to market research, they do have limitations. The most recent statistics for some countries may be more than two years old. Moreover, the data may be too broad to be of much value to a company. Statistics may also be distorted by incomplete data-gathering techniques. Finally, statistics for services are often unavailable. Yet, even with these limitations, secondary research is a valuable and relatively easy first step for a company to take. It may be the only step needed if the company decides to export indirectly, since the intermediary firm may have advanced research capabilities