Test Marketing - Researching Product Demand
Test Marketing - Researching Product Demand.
As webmasters we sometimes forget even the most basic of business rules and one of the commonly forgotten rules for any business is that research is needed before jumping in with both feet. This article will look at just that, how to research whether your product or service has a demand.
Product Research - The Basics.
In an ideal world you would have already written a business plan to assist you in the launch of your new product and, this is going to be where the majority of your research has already been done however, that being said, there are also forms of research that you need to undertake before moving forward 'en mass' with your new business venture. For the most part, this research will include testing of various design styles, price points and, most importantly, marketing approaches.
Price Point Research.
So just how do you start your research on what the cost of your product or service should be once it is launched? Well the easiest way to get started with this part of the research process is to look around and see what same or similar products or services or a same or similar quality currently sell for. By looking at what is presently in the market you are looking to break into you can often see not only which are the most popular prices but, you can also find ideas for marketing and also product improvements. Once you have figured out what the current market trends for your product are you can then move on to the next stage, putting some various price points live. The easiest way to do this is to go to an auction site such as eBay.com and adding a listing for your product. This will enable you to get several types of statistics the least important of which is going to be the price to sell your product at.
In fact, by using auction sites properly you are able to find out a wide reach of research data which will become invaluable to you when it finally does become time to set a 'solid' price point on your new product or service.
Gathering The Data You Need.
So lets say you have set up several auctions for your product and service all using several marketing techniques to target a specific demographic that you would like your product or service to appeal to, now comes the time to sit back and collect the data you are able to see.
The most important thing you need to recognize is the demand for your product or service, if you are getting to few bids on your item then either the demand is low or, the marketing approach you took didn't work. However, if you are receiving many bids on your item then the demand for such a product is high or, your marketing of that product is ideal.
Look at how the product works across several test marketing campaigns initially and then, once you have recorded the marketing information from those auctions run several more and change the way that you did things originally and again, sit and collect the data you gleam from this process.
Market Research - The Easy Way.
What you have just done by placing several items for sale on the auction site is one of the simplest forms of market research you can do at a very low cost. In fact, this is pretty much the same information you would be given had you spent several thousands of dollars on having a professional market research company do the work for you. Now you need to look at the data you have accumulated, decide if your product or service has the right amount of demand and then, work on a pricing structure.
Pricing Goods + services.
This is one of the hardest parts of a new product launch, as you have already done some background research though it should become slightly easier for you after all, you know what price your competitor is charging and, more importantly, you know what price your potential customers are willing to pay.
Of course your primary goal in setting up the pricing structure is going to be how much profit YOU make on each item sold usually a good profit margin is between 15-30% per item of course this is totally up to you.
Market Research - Roundup.
As you have hopefully seen from the information above, by taking a short time to fully research even one aspect such as the price for any products or services you wish to offer you can gain much more information than you need and in fact, when you start to research all of the individual aspects of your product or service you are going to much more informed than some of your competitors ho have perhaps been around for longer than you.
Article written by Lee.
http://www.webmasterconsultants.com
