Marketing is all about satisfying customers’ needs, you must give customers a reason to want or need the products or services you’re offering. Through marketing of your product or service you can: advertise, promote, inform or educate. These can done through processes including marketing analysis and market research.
Market Analysis
Market feasibility can best be determined by securing a professional market analysis that analyzes the sales potential. Defining your trade area through customer and member spotting techniques, analyzing demographic characteristics, assessing the competitive environment, and rating your preferred site against a number of standard criteria are all part of a market/site analysis. The primary outcome of this analysis is to project the sales level that you could achieve. It is important that you find a qualified analyst who not only has experience and an understanding of cooperatives.
Customer and member surveys are also valuable tools in assessing the needs, behavior, and specific demographics of your customers. While a customer survey can complement or enhance a market/site analysis, it does not replace such an analysis.
(Adapted from University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives.)
Market Research
Market research is used to find information concerning markets, target markets, market trends, business competitors, customer satisfaction, etc. This helps businesses learn the steps to creating a value-added product that consumers want by meeting their needs. These methods consist of primary and secondary market research. Primary is first hand information from potential consumers, such as phone surveys, focus groups and individual interviews. Secondary is information that someone else has already gathered, such as articles, government agencies, statistics or trade associations.
Market research also consists of creating a marketing plan for you business.
For more ideas and assistance on marketing for your small business, contact your local Extension Service office, or go to NDSU’s Small Business Support website atwww.ag.ndsu.edu/smallbusiness or Nebraska Extension Entrepreneurship website at http://etraining.unl.edu.