Marketing and Advertising Designs
Ask most small business owners the best way to improve sales of their products or services, and you will probably hear a wide range of responses: "Reduce the prices," "Increase your advertising," "Improve service" and so on. One unlikely reply, however, would be: "Conduct some marketing research." While marketing research has been a driving force in large companies for years, small businesses have been reluctant to use it. Marketing research can be the key to future success for many small businesses if the buyer or user of the research understands its parameters, strengths and limitations. Failure to conduct and use marketing research correctly result in catastrophe.
What Is Marketing Research?
Businesses of all sizes are constantly seeking information about their customers, their competitors and the market environment in which they operate. Marketing research is basically the gathering of this data. However, all "gathering of information" does not qualify as marketing research. The American Marketing Association defines marketing research as the "systematic and objective approach to gathering marketing information which - when processed, analyzed and interpreted - will help identify problems and opportunities that allow for better-informed, lower-risk decisions." The key to this definition is that the information is gathered, processed, analyzed and interpreted in a systematic and objective fashion. Marketing research stresses how the information is obtained and evaluated as much as what is actually gathered.
At first thought, it might not seem too difficult to obtain marketing information. For example, the owner of a video store might ask some customers whether they would rent more movies if the price were reduced by one dollar. Using this feedback, the owner might decide to reduce the price, thereby increasing the number of rentals and, overall, making more money. Unfortunately, the people queried may not be typical of all customers. Even if the owner were lucky enough to talk to a representative sample, how does s/he know that the customers are telling the truth or that they will, in fact, rent more movies? This instance of collecting marketing information lacks the objectivity and uniformity necessary to be classified as marketing research. The owner in this case may actually lose money by acting upon it.
Kurt Mortensen’s trademark is Magnetic Persuasion; rather than convincing others, he teaches that you should attract them, just like a magnet attracts metal filings. He teaches that sales have changed and the consumer has become exponentially more skeptical and cynical within the last five years. Most persuaders are using only 2 or 3 persuasion techniques when there are actually 120 available! His message and program has helped thousands and will help you achieve unprecedented success in both your business and personal life.
