Question

Topic: Strategy

Questions About Starting A Market Research Company

Posted by Anonymous on 5/19/2016 at 7:19 PM ET 125 Points
Hello all,

I am interested in starting a market research firm primarily focusing on youth ages 6 - 12. I have a pretty good formula for acquiring my research subjects and have a background in research and questionnaire development.

I'd like to target media production companies. My initial thinking is maybe they can use my service to determine whether future shows have any market interest. I am also open to marketing to toy companies if there is a big enough market for that.

My question is: How can I reach these companies and market my 'market research company?'

Is cold calling each place the most feasible marketing strategy? Is there a person/title I should be looking for in particular? In other words, who am I looking to pitch to?

Also, any ideas on a formula to price my services?

I know my questions are pretty broad. However, any insight will help tremendously.

Thank you.
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted on 5/19/2016 at 8:13 PM Accepted
    Many thoughts. First let's deal with your specific questions.

    First, how to approach potential clients: The list of prospects isn't so long that you can't approach each one with a custom introduction. You need to do your research for each one you approach, then call, write or email the VP-Marketing or CMO to let him/her why you are the best qualified person to do whatever it is you learn (through your research) is most important for them. (No cookie-cutter templates.)

    Before you do that, though, you'll want to be sure you have a solid website, a good LinkedIn profile and a very clear Positioning.

    As for pricing, I'd recommend pricing to reflect the value you intend to deliver to the client. After all, the price you charge is a reflection of what you think your deliverable is worth. You will have to understand exactly what the client expects and how they will use the result, of course, and you will need to be clear on your work plan. There is no one-size-fits-all "formula."

    Finally, I'd observe that a lot of [small and medium-size] companies think they can do their own market research using Survey Monkey (et al.). They completely devalue the contribution of a market research professional. Perhaps your proprietary recruitment approach will give you an edge here. You'll want to distinguish between researching kids versus parents, as I suspect the companies think of parents as their primary target audience.

    Hope this helps.

  • Posted on 5/19/2016 at 10:09 PM Author
    Hey Mgoodman,

    Thanks for your response. Dialogue on this matter really helps me out.
    So based on your observation of small/medium sized companies not
    appreciating the work of a market research firm. Would it be wise for me to
    pursue large companies with a market research budget? Or would it be better
    to model my business as one that would appeal to small and medium sized
    companies by lowering the cost, offering a unique service that they wont be able
    to mimic.

    The cons for big business pursuit would be the level of competition - i'm assuming.

    The cons for small/medium would be their lack of a market research budget.

    Seems like i am in a debacle.
  • Posted by Mike Steffes on 5/20/2016 at 7:53 AM Member
    A dilemma.
    [Just trying to help]
  • Posted on 5/20/2016 at 8:15 AM Accepted
    You definitely have a challenge. One piece of advice: Don't fall into the trap of thinking low price is a positioning/benefit -- even for small and medium-size companies without a market research budget. Promote the thing that makes you unique. If you do a good job of that, they'll find the money. If you don't, they won't hire you regardless of the cost.

    Another thought: Maybe become a sub-contractor for other market research firms that don't have an affordable approach for children's products.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 5/20/2016 at 8:33 AM Accepted
    A few different thoughts:

    1) Use pay per click advertising to test the waters. If people are searching for "youth market research" (for example), have them find you easier. This requires you to create a professional website/landing page to back up any of your claims.

    2) Contact companies that are your competition to see if they're hiring/growing and learn from their positioning strategy.

    3) Related to #2, look at the client list of your competition, and contact the clients directly. These are organizations that value (and are willing to pay for) information.
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(Strategy)