Market research data is information about economic trends, company performance and customer behavior that businesses can use to develop and execute on go-to-market and growth strategies.
Research data helps businesses better understand their markets and competitors. The goal should be to collect and analyze multiple data sets and feed those findings into multiple areas of the business plan.
For entrepreneurs, a business plan is everything. But planning takes preparation, and preparation requires research. Market research data can be a major factor in:
- pinpointing and preparing for industry and economic shifts;
- identifying growth opportunities and areas to increase profits;
- identifying and keeping watch over competition; and
- mitigating risk in business decisions and practices.
How to Use Market Research Data
As a founder or operator, a deep understanding of market and competitive intelligence should be at the foundation of everything you do. You can only do that by using the right market research data to ask and answer the following questions:
- Where are the smartest, most innovative investors and organizations placing their bets and why?
- What’s happening in the market so I can build digitally innovative strategies and business models that drive growth and scale?
Asking and answering these questions at the start of your business planning will help you take a market-in approach — building a differentiated product and bringing it to market in a way that the market wants. If you have that clear picture of the broader market and competitive landscape, it will show you authentic differentiators and brand opportunity.
The best business strategists continuously track, follow, study and immerse themselves in every high-level trend and understated market move. They look at the companies that are just starting out like they are, operating with similar budgets and without brand notoriety. They then use what they see to drive comprehensive strategies and they are always thinking about what’s coming next with the hope that it will help them outperform their closest rivals.
Benefits of Market Research Data
When you learn about a company, its product and its market, you also begin to understand its go-to-market capabilities. The more you have access to public or private company data, the greater the competitive advantage — one that not only gives instant credibility but prepares you to cultivate meaningful conversations with prospects.
Whether you’re looking for financial performance metrics, valuation modeling or risk assessments, or you’re curious about funding rounds, marketing activities and more, putting energy toward this upfront analysis is vital for keeping tabs on current market leaders and rising newcomers.
Challenges of Market Research
Often, the biggest challenge of utilizing market research data is finding it. Sure, public company data is easy to come by, but everybody has access to that same information, which makes it difficult to use to your advantage.
Private company data is typically more helpful, but it’s only available in bits and pieces from various sources, if at all. (Many small, private companies don’t disclose any data that they’re not required to.) Collecting and analyzing this data, especially funding information, can be a time-consuming task — and time is the one thing that most startup founders and operators simply don’t have enough of.
To address this problem, York IE Fuel offers the most comprehensive market research data, with hundreds of data points on over 1 million companies — all available in an easy-to-use SaaS platform. Sign up for Fuel today.
