Everything you need to know when conducting a marketing analysis

Whatever the size of your business and market, conducting a marketing analysis at regular intervals should be incorporated by all businesses. This will provide an understanding of the needs of the customers for a product/service the business is offering to the public. But the question arises how do you conduct marketing analysis?

While conducting a marketing analysis, you can include both qualitative and quantitative research methods because it will determine product-market fit, market trends, customer satisfaction and retention data.

Marketing analysis is an ongoing process and as a business owner, you need to conduct market research on a timely basis to be successful. The market situation changes from time to time so we need to revisit the previous strategies on a timely basis to stay relevant to the customers.

Now, let’s discuss what marketing analysis is, its importance and the key elements for conducting a marketing analysis.

What is marketing analysis?

Marketing analysis is the process of monitoring and analysing market trends. Overall, the process of conducting a marketing analysis refers to understanding why there is a need to introduce a new product/service or redesign an existing product/service to meet the needs of the consumers within a specified market. It also helps in determining market trends within the market. Marketing analysis also helps in determining the pattern of buying activities of consumers.

Marketing analysis vs market analysis: How do these two terms differ from each other?

When we talk about the word ‘market’ and ‘marketing’ a layman would state that both words mean the same. Well, marketing analysis is a subset of market analysis. Both are two different terminologies. There may be a little bit of confusion because of the closeness in meaning. After all, it’s all about collecting information within the target market.

However, the type of data collected depends on the nature of the analysis. Market analysis means analysing the market condition as a whole, whereas marketing analysis emphasises only the marketing part. The segment or the scope of the analysis depends on the industry or business being studied.

The difference between the terms is illustrated in the figure below. (reference image)

Read this article to learn more about market analysis. (Hyperlink the article)

Benefits or importance of conducting a marketing analysis

Marketing analysis helps in reducing risk, identifying emerging trends and helping project revenue. It is important because it provides the ability to uncover opportunities within the market, know what consumers think of the products and improve communication and messaging platforms with the consumers.

Marketing analysis is all about understanding the factors affecting marketing strategies and improving customer satisfaction.

• The benefits of conducting a marketing analysis are:
• To understand the market and customers
• To understand the needs of the consumer for the company’s product and price setting
• To understand the value proposition of the product being offered
• To know the channel of distribution
• To know the message or promotional ad to be used
• To know what opportunities exist in the market
• To know about the profits that can be expected allowing you to adjust your budget and business plan accordingly
• To know your business’s past mistakes or industry anomalies

Key elements for conducting a marketing analysis

With the growth in economic diversity and changing attitudes of customers, it’s important to have an in-depth knowledge of how your market operates. Conducting a marketing analysis is not difficult, but you need the right approach to acquire the best marketing information and stay ahead of the competitors.

Given below are some important key elements for conducting a marketing analysis.

1. Analysis of the target customers and market – Marketing analysis can be narrowed down to specific targets which mean analysis has to be focused. Analysis should be conducted on specific markets and customers who will become the target of your promotional ads and messages.
2. Product Analysis – This key element deals with the viability of the product in the new market or the improvement of the product in an existing market. Marketing analysis can be used to determine what customers think of the product, evaluate the data and find improvement solutions.
3. Price Analysis – The price of the product should be set according to the buying capabilities of the target customers. For marketing analysis, you need to determine the prices while keeping several elements in mind.
4. Sales Analysis – The sales analysis will assist in uncovering valuable information about the prices either by offering discounts or adjusting them. This would lead to a complete elimination of products that are not generating any revenue.
5. Advertising Analysis – Advertising is a process of creating awareness of the product, services or business through online or offline methods. Effective promotional ads encourage customers to take action. For marketing analysis, you need to determine the number of responses from people offline and how the ads are performing online.
6. Distribution channel – For the success of your business, you need to plan how to locate and connect with the target customers. This key element helps to determine what channels should be used for the distribution of products/services to potential customers. Distribution can be done directly from the store/warehouse or through a middleman.
7. Promotion Analysis – This analysis is used to evaluate the performance of promotional offers. However, promotion is seasonal and lasts for a short period. Promotion analysis provides an understanding of past promotions which will help improve the performance of future promotions. It also determines the attitude of customers towards reduced prices and the impact of promotion on sales.

The final verdict

Marketing analysis is a systematic manner of collecting information for the business development of your company’s products/services in the marketing area. Effective marketing analysis will help overcome the problem and avoid mistakes in a company’s marketing strategies.

Ready to act on your research goals?