Marketing Research Feb 8, 2012 WHY MARKETING RESEARCH? MARKETING RESEARCH Build your business on facts; not gut-feel BCIT School of Business Applied Research Liaison Office BCIT IDEAS Workshop Feb 8, 2012 Avoid wasting time & money Avoid costly mistakes Document the market Take it to the bank KAREN PLESNER karen_plesner@bcit.ca © 2012 K. Plesner © 2012 K. Plesner 2 WHERE DO I START? SECONDARY RESEARCH Secondary Research Primary Research Qualitative Quantitative © 2012 K. Plesner Know your Market Know your Customer Know your Competition 3 SECONDARY RESEARCH © 2012 K. Plesner 4 ADVANCED GOOGLE SEARCH Cheap, fast, efficient … … but watch out for: The credibility of the source The relevance of the data The date of the source © 2012 K. Plesner Karen Plesner 5 © 2012 K. Plesner 6 1 Marketing Research Feb 8, 2012 BCIT LIBRARY EXAMPLES OF SECONDARY SOURCES Industry Canada Datamonitor 360 Small Business BC Industry Associations Know your MARKET Know your CUSTOMERS Prizm PCensus Stats Canada (Access via BCIT Library) Business Directories Know your COMPETITION Industry Directories Company Websites Article Search © 2012 K. Plesner 7 YOGA Photo Credit: Microsoft Clip Art © 2012 K. Plesner 8 © 2011 K. Plesner PRIZM KITSILANO 9 © 2012 K. Plesner Photo Credit: BCIT Library 10 INTERNET SECURITY PRIZM KITSILANO In-home Computer Service: Network security for families. Managing personal data. Safe surfing for kids. © 2012 K. Plesner Karen Plesner 11 Photo Microsoft ClipArt © 2012 K. Plesner 12 2 Marketing Research Feb 8, 2012 PCENSUS BURNABY TARGETING Postal Codes: Household income $60,000+ 1+ children Photo Credit: BCIT Library © 2012 K. Plesner 13 14 © 2012 K. Plesner Photo Credit: BCIT Library SNOWBOARDING ANYONE? PRIMARY RESEARCH Qualitative – Words Quantitative – Numbers © 2012 K. Plesner 15 Photo Credit: broadbandsports.com 16 © 2012 K. Plesner QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Purpose: to provide an indepth view of motivations and why people think and act the way they do. Analyze the data with words. Focus Group In-Depth Interview Observation Research QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Photo Microsoft ClipArt Karen Plesner © 2012 K. Plesner Professional Fee: $3,500-$5,000 per group 17 Photo Credit: HartSki epicski.com © 2012 K. Plesner 18 3 Marketing Research Feb 8, 2012 QUANTITATIVE – SURVEY Critical Decisions in Survey Design: Purpose: to test the previous findings with a larger audience – statistical analysis of the data. How do I reach the right people and what is the best way to communicate with them? How many should I interview? How do I design the questionnaire? QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH How do I analyze the data? © 2012 K. Plesner Photo Microsoft ClipArt 19 QUANTITATIVE – SURVEY 20 OTHER OPTIONS What are your options? Do it yourself Free survey tools, but… You need the skills … BCIT Part Time Studies. Hire professional research help COST for full research: $10,000-15,000 Interviews, data analysis, report. Sample 500, 7-8 min. w. general population. © 2012 K. Plesner © 2012 K. Plesner Panel Supplier Omnibus Qs $15-20/survey $225-775/question • 7-8 min. • General population. • You do your own data analysis. • Questions on a shared-cost survey. • Offered by major marketing research companies. Or… hire a BCIT Marketing grad 21 © 2012 K. Plesner CONCLUSION THANK YOU Marketing Research is a big task There is a lot you can do yourself Acquire the necessary skills KAREN PLESNER For the rest hire help karen_plesner@bcit.ca Research companies Hire a BCIT Marketing grad Student Consulting projects © 2012 K. Plesner Karen Plesner 23 © 2012 K. Plesner 24 4