If you have a company or business, you know how important
marketing is. The best way to form a great marketing plan is
to do research. But most companies don~t conduct the proper
research. One reason why companies do not do thorough
research is because of the time that it takes. Another
reason is because of the expense.
What you may not know is that there are actually many
low-cost and effective ways of conducting research for your
company. Some of these methods may take a little more of
your time and man-power but if you are trying to cut costs,
it is well worth it. Many of the methods are actually low
time consuming as well.
Some methods may even cost you nothing! By mixing several
procedures that are all free, you can draw conclusions
without spending a cent.
Compare yourself to your opposition. What do they do? How
and where do they advertise? By looking at what they do and
considering what you would do differently, you will get a
very good idea of what your strategy should look like.
Deciding on who are your customers is fundamental to any
marketing plan. It is impossible to target your advertising
if you do not know who your customers are. Take some time
to develop an accurate profile of the type of person that
your product will appeal to.
By going online you can gather a lot of information for a
relatively little money. Many agencies, including the
government, collect data that is available for nothing or at
least only a small sum of money. Make full use of these
facilities as the work has already been done for you. Try
using emails to send out surveys. Whilst the response rate
may not be good, the costs are also very low.
Another excellent low cost way of gaining valuable
Information is to give someone your product to use. Watch
how they use the product and ask them questions to determine
what they think of your idea. This method allows you a real
chance to decide on any improvements that you would like to
make before you hit the wider market.