BABHEL

Knowing your market segment is critical: Your ads will not work if they do not appeal to what your potential customers need or want. Research and learn as much as possible about the prospective buyers you want to sell to. For instance, if you run an independent bookstall, it's easier to sell books, newspapers, and magazines to people who already read ravenously, so you have to find those people and find out as much as you can about their preferences and reading habits. If you are selling running shoes, determine who the avid athletes are in your town and how old they are, where they work out, how often they run, who they listen to for recommendation on running gear, and what they are not getting from other competing shoe stores.

Knowing your market segment is critical: Your ads will not work if they do not appeal to what your potential customers need or want. Research and learn as much as possible about the prospective buyers you want to sell to. For instance, if you run an independent bookstall, it's easier to sell books, newspapers, and magazines to people who already read ravenously, so you have to find those people and find out as much as you can about their preferences and reading habits. If you are selling running shoes, determine who the avid athletes are in your town and how old they are, where they work out, how often they run, who they listen to for recommendation on running gear, and what they are not getting from other competing shoe stores.

A marketing research can take many forms. If you supervise the advertising campaign for a new product (or you seek to go after a new kind of buyer for your product), you can begin by checking out a few basic demographic data. The best research information comes from primary sources - put differently, you should ask around for information. For example, if your company is foreign car repair, you need to find out how many imported foreign cars are in your neighborhood or town. The easiest way is to find in the Yellow Pages for dealerships that sell imported foreign cars. Call those car dealers and ask for any relevant information. Let them know that you are not interested in competition; you just want to offer a relevant service. They will likely give you the information you need and refer car owners to your service.

Of course, you need to make sure that dealers you call don't have similar services, because they are your competitors! You may also be able to find important information in auto publications, which may offer latest demographic information, trends in your industry, sales information, and other valuable consumer information. For example, a publication may show you the number of Mercedes sold in your country and in specific cities or regions.

Finally, you can get some valuable information from your potential buyers, especially those in your primary market segment - that is, the individuals you most want to use your service. Conduct an informal opinion poll by asking potential buyers what they are looking for that other companies do not provide. In the imported foreign car example, you would call people you know who have Mercedes or Jaguars and ask them what price and type of service they are interested in.

Similarly, if you are running a toy store, ask your buyers (parents) where they usually shop and why, and find out what products or price levels they wish they could get at the toy stores they shop. You want to differentiate your toy store from other competing toy stores (in a good honorable way) by targeting customer requirements and attracting sales!

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