Keeping Your Market Research Budget on Track
Doing business in a volatile industry leaves no room for mistakes. The more you know about the space you operate in, the bigger advantage you gain over your competition. An effective way to do that is through market research. You need to gather crucial information about your industry, the market trends and other players that enable you to make the best decisions for your company. Conducting research is generally believed to put a huge burden on marketing budgets, and many organizations get the chills when they hear about it. Knowing how easy it is to lose focus, we provide some hints to help you keep your market research budget on track.
Goal Setting
The first thing to do in order to keep your market research budget on track is to determine early on who you are going to market to. This is going to give you a clear idea of where to focus your market research. Do you want to reach out to your entire network of prospects and leads, or do you just want to address a specific segment of your audience? What social media platforms do they like using? The more you know about your goals and the tools you need to use to achieve them, the more effective and within your capabilities your marketing research is going to be.
Firsthand Data
Before you even start building your market research budget, you need to take a look at the data you already have within your staffing firm. Ask your sales and recruiting teams about the industry trends and candidate and client preferences they notice and use the information you collect as your compass to keep your market research budget on track. Don’t hesitate to reach out to your audience and ask for feedback on your marketing strategy in order to concentrate your efforts on what works and what needs to be revisited. In other words, take advantage of any free data you can gather and utilize from your own organization.
Social Media
Another way to keep your market research budget on track is by effectively using tools that you already have in your hands. Your social media platforms are a perfect example. Your company’s Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn profile pages can be used as communication channels to reach out to your audience with surveys on specific topics, questions about current trends, and feedback on marketing initiatives you plan to take. This is a great way to get answers to questions that will enable you to design your overall market research strategy without putting a stretch on your marketing budget.
Associations and Events
If you haven’t already, then make it a priority to join industry associations and forums. The reason is that these memberships give you access to valuable industry data and educate you on trends that you would otherwise have to uncover on your own. Studies, reports and surveys on the market you operate in are now available, enabling you to keep your market research budget on track. In addition, industry events offer a great opportunity to communicate face-to-face with your target audience and collect real time information of newly created needs as well as industry shifts.
Focus
Your market research strategy cannot be put on autopilot. Make this your rule and ensure that everyone on your team complies with it. In order to keep your market research budget on track you need to keep monitoring and stay engaged with the progress of your efforts. This allows you to catch setbacks as well as make sure that everyone involved follows the established plan of action. It is vital to know that your marketing research team is meeting the goals you have set and that you get a return on your investment. Use analytics to track results on a regular basis and to stay focused.
Key Takeaways for Keeping Your Market Research Budget on Track:
- Set clear goals of what your market research efforts want to achieve
- Look at the data you already have in your hands
- Take advantage of your social media accounts to perform market research
- Join associations and attend event to get a better insight of your industry
- Monitor and stay focused on the progress of your efforts
About S.J.Hemley Marketing
S.J.Hemley Marketing is a marketing and sales consulting firm focused on driving tangible results for professional services firms. Brand matters, but not without ROI. With over 20 years of sales and marketing experience within staffing and recruiting, we have helped to drive successful branding, sales training, lead generation activities as well as defining marketing strategy for top organizations.