Got a great product? You may already know that industrial design services are vital for efficient manufacturing, but many assume that market research is something they can do on their own–or even something “extra” that can be ignored. Let’s take a quick look at what market research is, and why your product can benefit from it.
What Is Market Research?
Simply put, market research is to help you to get to know your customers. Without knowing where your customers live, how much they’re likely to spend, and what they care most about, you’ll be unlikely to know how to reach them with information about your product. Market research can also help you make decisions like what price point to set on your product, where to focus your advertising dollars, and how to present your product. For example, should you frame your product as “the cutting-edge product for college students” or “the helpful product for young moms”? If you know via market research that young moms are significantly more likely to be interested in your product than college students, that helps you make good decisions.
Market Research Helps Your Product Stay Relevant
A great product is resilient, which helps promote its longevity. Market research can help ensure that your product design meets the needs of your customers. After all, if you’re an inventor, your customers are the only “boss” you typically have. Market research can help you avoid the trial-and-error method of manufacturing different colors versions of a product only to have some of them sell poorly.
Advertise Smart
We alluded to this a bit above: you don’t want to advertise your product to customers that aren’t interested in it, or ignore customers who are. The only way to know for sure who wants what you’re selling? Ask them! A big part of advertising is helping people to realize that they’ve got a need, and then showing them how your product can meet that need. The simplest way to ensure that your advertising is seen by the people who need your product is to avoid the scattershot approach, and invest in targeted advertising that is facilitated by–you guessed it–excellent market research.
Know The Competition
While it’s easy to believe that nobody has ever come up with an idea quite as good as yours, unfortunately most products have competition. It’s always good to understand why the customer chooses your product over the competitor’s, and vice-versa. This valuable information can often be used to inform design decisions, which can lead to your product capturing more market share.
Market research is just one of the many services we offer. If you’re curious, why not contact us today and let us explain how it can work for you?
Sources:
Five Reasons Why Market Research Matters – www.marketingprofs.com
Improving Competitive Advantage Through Industrial Design – www.mddionline.com