Marketing Research 101 - An Introduction

By Natalie Hunte

At school,  Mathematics was never my favorite subject. I do not consider myself an “expert” in the field of Marketing Research, however,  I love Marketing! I remember that I was sold since my first Marketing class – “Marketing 101”. I knew immediately that Marketing was to be my career path, and I have been a “practitioner” ever since. Whether it was my day job, or just offering free advice to anyone who needed it, or would listen, Marketing is my passion.

This blog will not be one that bores you with unusable data that is not related to your needs, and there definitely will not be any reference to advanced levels of Math or Statistics that are associated with Research. Rather I will offer a basic introduction and approach to you as an entrepreneur. I will attempt to guide you towards incorporating easy Marketing Research tools that if properly used, will enhance the probability of success in your business.

At my company CANOPY Solutions we offer support and advice similar to that which you will learn about in this blog. All of my conclusions are firmly rooted with sound Marketing Research principles. After all, how can my clients accomplish great success with their brands/products if I do not have scientific methods as the foundation to a conclusion?  Good Marketing, and Marketing Research is really the basis of any product’s success, and this is the premise on which I approach each client and each project.  

As one of my professors simply put it – “Marketing is satisfying a need that exists, or creating a need and then satisfying it”.   Marketing is about the general buying and selling i.e. getting the good/service from the producer/store into the hands of the customer or consumer. However, in Marketing Research one must get their ‘hands dirty’ as you probe into finding out what makes your customers (prospective/current) purchase/not purchase your product or service.  Marketing Research gives the you the upper hand by providing the data needed, for the purpose of making changes or to fine-tune your product. The ultimate goal is to make your customers happy, buy more products and inform others who will also buy products. ($$$)

So let us begin. What is Marketing Research? 

Natalie Hunte is an Independent Consultant specializing in Basic Marketing Research. 

She manages a small consultancy – CANOPY Solutions where the aim is to assist clients with strategic decisions through the Art of Marketing Research. 

Tel: 826-1018

canopysolutions@gmail.com