The Nonprofit FAQ
| Are marketing research and market research the same thing? |
| Market Research can be thought of as the narrower of the two, primarily because it is just one part of doing Marketing Research. Market Research is the effort of looking closely at a particular market - i.e., that market's "size" (how many potential customers are there?), its "structure" (does it have single or multiple sellers? Are there substitutes for the product? Are there barriers to enter this market?) and the way it is divided among competitors. Marketing research, on the other hand, is a broad concept and refers to an ongoing and systematic collection, interpretation and reporting of data -- data that is used by marketers to deal with specific problems, evaluate the success or failure of a project, or to discover and take advantage of new opportunities. By continuously doing research -- asking questions -- the organization is better positioned to understand its market and its environment. This research enables an agency to choose among alternative marketing choices. For you, this may mean something as simple as talking to your constituents or as complicated as quantitative research. One of the most commonly used marketing research techniques is called the focus group. In such a procedure, 8 to 12 respondents sit around a table and respond to questions or ideas brought out by a highly trained moderator. The comments of the group are carefully evaluated to arrive at a qualitative understanding of how people react to your product or service. Normally they are done by professionals but you can derive some of the same benefits simply by holding some meetings with randomly selected members of your "customer pool" and asking people what they want from your agency. Ask them what they think of you. As long as you "play dumb", i.e. don't put words in their mouths, you are likely to learn something useful from the session. Other marketing research methods include surveys, questionnaires, and telephone polls. The San-Jose based consulting firm GB3 offers the following suggestions as on-line resources for marketing research:
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