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Whether you want to expand your business into a new area, introduce a new product, measure client satisfaction or employee loyalty, conducting primary and secondary market research will provide valuable insight to help you shape your business decisions and prevent costly missteps.
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Secondary or Desk Research: |
If you’re considering extending your business into new markets or adding new services or product lines, it is wise to start with secondary research. This type of research is based on information and data from studies previously performed by:
- governments and their agencies (BC Stats, Export Development)
- nonprofit organizations (David Suzuki Foundation, Canadian Cancer Society)
- chambers of commerce (Surrey Board of Trade, BC Chamber of Commerce)
- trade associations (BCRFA, BCREA, BCDA)
- special interest groups (BC Federation of Labour, Fraser Institute)
- educational institutions (SFU, Harvard University)
- media outlets (CanWest, Time, The Globe and Mail, BBC)
As such, secondary research is also available to others, including your competitors. Other major pitfalls of such hand-me-down information is that it is both dated and very general.
For instance, secondary research could tell you how much was spent last year on dining out in Vancouver, but not how much was spent by 18 to 34 year old, single males, on ethnic food restaurants, living or working near the Joyce Skytrain station in Vancouver, BC. Nor will it be possible to determine from secondary research whether they prefer Asian or Mediterranean cuisine, how much money they are willing to spend per meal or what type of advertising would appeal most to them.
These are all necessary questions to answer before you start scouting out locations, design the menu, and certainly before finalizing your business plan or an application for a business loan.
Primary research is tailored to solve specific marketing dilemmas. For example, you could investigate:
Of course results of these types of studies are only available to those who commissioned it, unless they see fit to make the whole or parts of the research available as part of press release, advertising or some other marketing or PR effort.
In short, there is no substituted for primary research studies and that is what Reveal Research and other professional market research firms do 99% of the time. Delivery of invaluable insight and information about issues specific to your business that is not available to anyone else.
If you would like to find out more about how primary research can solve your particular marketing dilemmas and help you gain the competitive advantage, please contact Reveal Research for a complimentary consultation.
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