B2B market research provides companies with the vital data that allows them to grow and succeed. Today, as many companies struggle to pick up the pieces left after Covid-19 shattered workplace and economic norms, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Good market research is more important than ever.
Here are five of the most important business cases B2B market research can help companies accomplish.
1: Identifying targeted markets with B2B market research
Market research makes it easier for companies to identify specific markets for their products and services. As a result, it can provide useful data to back up funding decisions. If a company can identify which markets their products or services are likely to be successful in, they can avoid wasting money on trying to sell their offerings to customers who aren’t interested anyway.
No company has the time and money to waste on, for example, advertising campaigns that don’t reach the right customers. By identifying target markets, companies can invest in expanding their operations in those specific markets in which they are likely to succeed.
2: Understanding customers
One of the most obvious benefits of B2B market research — or indeed any kind of market research — is that it allows companies to better understand their customers. Surveys aimed at current customers let companies gauge what about their offerings their customers like and what they’d like to see done differently. Understanding customers’ wants and needs is crucial to retaining existing customers and attracting new ones.
If a product or service isn’t selling well, customers can provide insight in to why that is. Market research can gauge how customers would react to different changes made to it, as well as how they perceive its price, performance level etc. Such information will help determine whether it’s worth investing further resources into improving that product.
3: Risk assessment and product-market fit
B2B market research can provide companies with an accurate estimation of risks involved with launching a new product or targeting a new segment for existing products or services by taking into account the state of the current market along with factors expected to influence it in the future. The outcome will provide realistic measures regarding the potential risks involved with decisions.
For example, imagine a company decides to enter a new market without conducting any research first. There’s a high probability that its presence in the market will have no positive effect on the company’s profit margins. They won’t know how to react to different situations being experienced by companies already working in that space. B2B research can put a company in touch with professionals in the field. They’re the only ones who can provide the industry-specific information they need to make good decisions and minimize risk
4: Using B2B market research to gather competitive intelligence
B2B market research companies can let companies gather insight about their competitors. This can come from current or former employees of their competitors, or from analysts who specialize in their industry. It’s possible to learn a great deal from one’s competition without asking someone to reveal confidential information. This research can help the company understand what business decisions they could make to imitate their competitor’s successes. Conversely, if the competitor isn’t successful, market research can provide insight into why that is and what can be done to avoid it.
However, for B2B research purposes, competitive intelligence can and must go deeper. It isn’t enough to just understand how well your competitors are doing. Talking to the right professionals can help a company uncover gaps in their competitors’ business plans and offerings. As a result, companies can make their own decisions with confidence. B2B market research helps companies take advantage of competitors’ weaknesses and differentiating themselves in the market.
5: Understanding brand perception and brand reputation through B2B market research
Offering good products or services isn’t enough to be successful. The quality of your branding is just as important. There are a host of things outside of your actual offerings that can impact brand perception. These can include everything, from your logo’s aesthetic to how you present your company and its values through advertising. People are often more likely to buy from a company they associate with integrity than one they associate with unscrupulous business practices. This can be true even if the latter is offering a better product.
B2B market research is the best source of data about brand perception. More recently, companies are opting to establish a brand tracker. A brand tracker is a survey that is fielded across key stakeholder groups multiple times per year in order to measure how the brand is perceived. Whether using a brand tracker or an individual survey, having a skilled market research partner who can find the right people and ask them the right questions lets a company know whether their branding is contributing to their success or limiting it.
About NewtonX
Just as important as doing good market research at all is finding the best partner to help you do it. NewtonX is the world’s leading B2B research company. We use a proprietary, AI-driven search that scans 1.1 billion professionals across 140 industries to find the exact person to answer any kind of question.
