Marketing Research – The Groundwork for Effective Marketing

“Research can determine the most persuasive promise. … Advertising which promises no benefit to the consumer does not sell, yet the majority of [advertising] campaigns contain no promise whatever.”

Often neglected by smaller businesses, marketing research is a standard in the marketing mix for larger companies.

First of all, what does marketing research consist of?

The first step is usually secondary, or desktop, research. Here the market researcher looks into what is going in the market. He gathers statistics, looks at trends and will do analyses such as competitive studies, sales analyses and keyword research. He’ll learn more about the target audience.

his step helps the dentist in a few ways: he can get a good picture of his target audience (for example women 35-55) for a specific product (e.g. cosmetic dentistry), and how to reach this audience.

A competitive analysis will give the dentist a good idea of what his competition is doing in his local area. How good are their websites, what sort of special offers they have, what sort of services they offer. This gives the marketer information on how to best market the dentist so can stand above competition.

Good marketing research also includes surveys.

In dental marketing, you find out directly from the target audience what they are looking for in their dentist and dental work; what they are trying to achieve with their teeth and smile; what is important to them in choosing a dentist; why they chose the dentist they did, etc. If the dentist wants to market specific procedures, like dental implants, you find out more about that.

If 85% of the people surveyed say they want the dentist to be gentle, then that would be a “hot button” that can be used in marketing to illicit interest in visiting that dentist.

Good marketing relies on marketing research to provide the intelligence needed to create a sound strategy for marketing and to create marketing that is going to really work.

If you’d like to know more, give me us a call at [phone].