Return on investment is a tricky thing to prove sometimes. In marketing, advertising, and market research, ROI can be especially elusive, but we all know it’s there. What if a market research expenditure could not only show positive ROI but actually be a profit center for your business? Crazy, right? Not necessarily.

Imagine if you could acquire a large library of market information for a low fixed price and then “sell” off pieces of it to your clients or constituents over and over. Your library spend just became an information investment, and behold, your research tools just became a profit center. The Knowledge Center platform, which features the content of some of the most trusted names in market research—Packaged Facts, Kalorama Information, Simba Information—offers just such a possibility.

A lot of market research material will jump straight to the usual topics: competitors, customer segments, cost, and so on. However, for many modern entrepreneurs, their exact market simply doesn't exist. Like the DVR, mp3 player, and tablet, some markets are invented to disrupt older, existing ones. It can be tempting to move forward without doing comprehensive market research: after all, what is there to research if the product is entirely new?

Social media and market research are natural dance partners. Just imagine how much data you've compiled on people's favorite relationship tip of the day or random nugget of baseless knowledge over time.  After all, social media provides advanced capabilities for segmentation. Once you eliminate the white noise, there is very rich data on consumer opinion and brand equity to extract and analyze.  

Focus groups and surveys are core pieces of a strategic marketing plan and market research, particularly during the post-market phase of starting your business and taking your product to market.  Managing your product during the post-market phase is just as important as every other step in the process of starting a new business.

In our case study, a proposed launch of a consumer culinary device called the Dynamic Ingredients Dispenser (DID), we discussed the benefits of drawing upon Market Research reports and methods to help with taking a product to market.

Congratulations! You have made it over the first few hurdles in the process of taking your new product idea to the market. Now comes a big and important challenge -- raising the financing for your business. 

As outlined in earlier posts, we're highlighting the important ways that market research can inform your strategic business planning and decision-making. Knowing how to skillfully use market intelligence will provide a solid foundation for your product's success.

Coming up with an idea for a new product can be exhilarating. Figuring out the product's commercial viability, though, involves a complex collection of factors that have to fall into place before that great idea lands in front of consumers and then takes off.

Market research can be used in identifying customer needs, as well as who they are. You have to ask the right questions though. If you don’t really know your customers you will not retain them leaving you constantly chasing after new ones. Don’t just follow your instincts as many companies do. Use market research reports, focus groups and market surveys. Take the time too really get to know them. Ask the right questions; get the facts; and discover how to motivate your customers.