Knowing whether or not your product is something that will sell is one of the biggest questions in marketing. You might think your new product or service is going to sweep the market away, but without having a foundation of information about your customer’s wants and needs, you can’t know if your product is going to do well.

It is estimated by the year 2016 that 191,800 multipurpose industrial robots will be shipped out worldwide. With the addition of computerized automation and other technology to the mix, it should come as no surprise that millions of people have lost their jobs in the past 30 years. Oxford researchers say that 45% of America’s occupations will be automated within the next 20 years. You also might not even need match.com in the future because bold predictions say that by 2050 humans can fall in love with and marry robots.

Whether you're launching a small start-up company or beginning a new multi-million dollar project, you must determine a budget for the required market research. However, there are so many crucial factors to consider if you want to set an appropriate budget that will meet your needs without over spending. So, after consulting with MarketResearch.com Research Specialist Robert Kaminsky, here are four tips that will help you allocate the best percentage of your budget for your market research efforts.

Market research projects can be a long and grueling task, requiring extreme dedication in order to obtain all the information you need to move your company in a positive direction. Market research allows organizations to get a better and deeper understanding of the market that surrounds their products so they can adjust their strategies accordingly. Even with the difficulties that market research can create, the hardest part isn’t until the end of the process: the market research presentation.

Some of the most successful companies in a range of different industries have made their way to the top because of their marketing strategies. The decisions these industry leaders have made based on how they market their product have led to successful growth and popularity among consumers. To successfully implement these positive marketing strategies, these companies had to create a specific market research budget to ensure they had enough information to effectively promote their product to the world.

Developing a new business idea, and then turning that idea into a reality, is one of the most exciting events in an entrepreneur’s career. However, starting a new business venture can be extremely difficult, even when it might be something you are knowledgeable and passionate about. When a company struggles with any one aspect of the business, recognizing the need for a change of direction can be referred to as pivoting. Failing to have an accurate understanding of the market for your product can lead to problems that cannot be fixed easily.  Pivoting for a company can be a dramatic or small change, with either way having the overall goal to change the business model for a product, strategy, or idea that promotes company growth.

Market Research can be separated into two basic categories: problem-identification research and problem-solving research. Problem-identification research helps marketing teams identify what types of problems they might have, while problem-solving research helps identify ways to solve those problems through marketing mix and segmentation. There are many problem identification and solving methods that can be completed through market research. Take a look at the examples below to see which methods can benefit your company.

As you might have heard, the 2014 FIFA World Cup kicked off last week with Brazil’s win over Croatia. While the outcome didn't surprise many (Brazil was a heavy favorite coming into the game as the third seed), the game itself was of great importance to the rest of the world. The first whistle signified the onset of a world event that has been in the planning process since Brazil was awarded the hosting rights in 2007. Of course, like other major events, countless hours, days, months, and years of preparation have gone into this tournament, along with the $11.7 billion put toward its production, making this years’ event in Brazil the most expensive ever. And, after that $11.7 billion went toward funding the actual games, what about the other industries?

When utilizing secondary data to help make important marketing decisions, failing to check the reliability of that data could lead to inaccurate analyses and poor business decisions.

With today’s accessibility to data via the internet, anyone can publish anything from anywhere, so not everything posted online can be trusted. In order to ensure the accuracy and validity of any external secondary data, you should follow an evaluation process.  

When you look at the top food trends that are being portrayed and even hyped in the media, it’s easy to get lost in the maze of what is and is not viable.  But, those in food research roles must be able to use their expertise and data-driven insights to vet food trends and find success (here, we are speaking not only of actual trends about food products but also culinary trends and techniques). This is because emerging food trends with great potential can be transformed into big business opportunities.