THE ROLE OF MARKETING RESEARCH IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

What product shall the company launch to appease its consumers? Product development is a colossal task many companies deal with from time to time. Every corporation wants its latest product to be a game-changer. The word “new” attracts more customers and invokes the belief that your services are innovative. Introducing new products earns positive publicity for the company and enhances its market value. But innovation is a complicated process that requires extensive market research. You can’t please your customers without understanding their mentality. What do customers want to buy from you? That’s what we ask in marketing research to find the target audience for your product.

MARKETING RESEARCH AND ITS WORKING

Product development is a process involving time and money. You need to optimize these resources to earn maximum revenue from minimal investment. That’s why it’s essential to conduct adequate research to find the market that fits your future product. The company needs to discover its target audience and collect data regarding these people. This audience isn’t necessarily composed of consumers. This audience might be another range of products, your rivals, or even the entire market.

You’ll collect the data about your market and then try to interpret this data. What does your audience require? What compels them to spend their money on something? What sort of advertisement captivates their attention? Your entire marketing strategy will guide the process of product development. If you wish to launch a new brand in menswear, you can gather a bunch of men and ask their opinion about it. Then you can alter your product according to your audience’s suggestions. Many companies seek help from online customer reviews to enhance product performance in the market. These reviews provide raw data to improve product development.

BENEFITS OF MARKET RESEARCH

I. The secret to fruitful product development is to focus on customers’ needs. Market research helps you reach current/potential customers to keep you attentive to your audience’s demands.

II. Marketing research allows you to beat the contenders and provide a better service to your target audience. You can leverage market research findings to stay ahead of the competition.

III. Responding to emerging trends and exploiting them is the key to flourishing product development. Your research agency will let you know what’s currently “hot” in the market.

IV. The market research also allows you to spot threats to the success of your product. You can eliminate these dangers after learning about them via market research. These threats can be some flaws in the product or customer dissatisfaction with them.

V. Your investment will face a lower risk of failure thanks to market research. You can connect with your customers and understand their behavior. The 21st-century market is unpredictable, and planning is necessary for survival.

UNDERSTANDING THE MARKET CONCEPT

WHY DO COMPANIES REQUIRE MARKET RESEARCH?

The victory of your brand relies on the mood/behavior of your target audience. That’s why you need to research how your consumers feel about the product before developing it. Failure to understand the mentality of customers will drive them elsewhere to fulfill their requirements. It doesn’t mean that companies should start “guessing” what their audience wants. Market research is not as simple as your “gut feeling.” A proper research mechanism is necessary for a complete comprehension of what the market needs you to make. That’s why modern industries go for a “need-driven” product development strategy.

RESEARCH THE MARKET AND THEN DEVELOP A PRODUCT

The basis of any marketing strategy is to create a “need-driven” product. The research team finds the needs and opportunities of the market first. Then it exploits these needs in favor of the company to launch a successful primary product. This strategy acts in utter contrast to the traditional marketing theme. In this theme, after developing a product, companies seek means to promote it to the masses. We have the example of modern-day entrepreneurs who exploit their consumers’ needs and then sell a service. We can see how Elon Musk created PayPal when he felt a need in the market for an online transaction system.

BETA TESTING HELPS YOU IMPROVE YOUR PRODUCT

After you’ve launched the product, it’s time for a beta-test drive. You’ll allow some chosen individuals from the target audience to experiment with your product. This beta testing will help you realize what adjustments and improvements you need to make before mass-launching the product. You’ll understand the likes/dislikes about the product and its intended/perceived usage. Then you can decide if the product is fulfilling consumers’ needs. You can also conduct customer interviews to assess the behavior of your target audience. Market research will help you analyze how to convince people to buy from you.

CONCLUSION

There was a taboo in the old-fashioned marketing industry that the customer is a hapless layman. This stereotype limited customer inclusion in the product development strategy. Now we know that the customer is crucial to this entire process, and co-creation has become the need of the hour. Customer inclusion is essential for the creation and maintenance of a flourishing product. Market research doesn’t only play a crucial role in product development. It also helps companies understand innovative advertising strategies. Market research brings abandoned and overlooked customers back into focus. It identifies customer needs and enhances the firm’s future engagements with them.