Finding Market Trends

finding market trends

Finding Market Trends: What Are Market Research Trends?finding market trends

Any company that is unaware of the direction their industry is going will have difficulty adjusting to changes or challenges within the industry. Finding market trends and making market predictions is one way to ensure your business does not fall behind.

Market or industry research targets a specific industry and looks at commonalities between the businesses within that industry, as well as the needs of customers that participate in that industry. But the difficulty lies in how to know the trend of the market.

Marketing trends can be found in a variety of ways; they are a vital aspect of business and marketing intelligence. Knowing where the industry is headed can aid business owners in making important decisions concerning their business and marketing strategies.

How to Find Marketing Trends

Finding marketing trends online is an important skill for any business to have in their repertoire. Here is a list of basic steps on how to find the right information and how to determine market trends from that information:

1. Determine the market. Establishing very clearly the boundary lines on what qualifies as part of your industry and what does not is very important for the success of your research. It also helps you figure out what kind of information you should look for.

2. Define a strategy for research. Figuring out what sources you should draw from in order to get the information you need is another important step. This requires thinking ahead in terms of what you will find, which can be difficult. However, it can save you the wasted effort of looking for information where you’re less likely to find it. If you need consumer information, it’s best to use sites like FedStats or Census Bureau information. If you need B2B information, it’s often better to perform your own surveys and market research.

3. Perform research. Mine whatever sources you have for the information about your industry. You may need to conduct your own surveys. This can be done through:

    • Focus groups
    • Social media surveys

 

As you perform this research, keep the limitations of each method in mind. The success of a survey largely depends on how well you formulate your questions.

4. Run data through analytics. After the research is complete, you should have large amounts of raw data. In this stage, it’s difficult to analyze marketing trends. Analytics will help you look for patterns and create an accurate market forecast.

5. Spot trends. Analytics will make the raw data palatable for you, but it’s up to you to really put the information to good use. Look at the results and try to draw further conclusions that will help you in your strategy process. If your business is online, look for online marketing trends. If you’re looking to go mobile, be sure to identify mobile marketing trends.

Market Research: Adjusting to the Times

As technology increases, there are new opportunities to find out information that simply just wasn’t available before. Social media alone has untapped potential, especially when identifying current marketing trends. Some of these research methods could help you while finding marketing predictions:

  • Psychological profiling – Businesses need to be able to identify somewhat with their clientele on a psychological level. Understanding how a Chief Technology Officer may function differently than a Chief Executive Officer is important to targeting your particular audience.
  • Hybrid research – This kind of research mixes qualitative and quantitative research so that the results are a mixture of numerical values and qualitative information. Both kinds of information are important when looking at marketing trends online. Combining them into one study removes the hassle of conducting two separate studies.
  • Actionable research – This may be less of a method than an important aspect of research, but it’s important to compile research based on items that require an action. For example, looking at research results, you may realize that your industry has a low presence in the mobile marketing realm. This is actionable, because you can create a plan for your own company to create a mobile app and get ahead of the industry while doing so.
  • Big Data research – Big data is one of the more recent Internet marketing trends that has really taken off. It requires using data sets that are so huge that it can become difficult to store and analyze such a large collection of information. Because the amount of information is so vast, the resulting marketing forecast is much more accurate and comprehensive.

 

How Big Data Contributes to Market Trend Analysis

It can be difficult to know how to find online market trends with big data, especially without the right tools. Advanced analytical tools, as well as faster and larger computers, help to break down these large chunks of data. Big data can help with identifying the most promising leads for a company or industry. Big data also shows patterns for pricing and finding market forecast trends, so that you’re aware of the demand for certain types of products.

Not every company is going to have the wherewithal to be able to use big data, but outsourcing to a company that performs market research is always a possibility. For some industries, big data may not yet be very available. Fortunately, there are many ways to gain reliable and relevant research.

Get Your Own Free Leads Analysis to See How Sprint Marketing Can Help You with Finding Market Trends Today

Sprint Marketing provides accurate market research and Internet marketing analytics to help you in your marketing campaign. In addition to finding market trends, Sprint Marketing can also help you with marketing intelligence, campaign management, and identifying the right business intelligence tools for your company.

Contact us for free leads analysis today.