The internet in today’s day and age makes it easier for us to actually start up a business and have it running fast and hard with a given knowledge that we will experience success. The reason this is so is because we now have tools on the internet that allow us to experience success. As you continue to read this article you will discover the free tools I use to analyze a market and see if there are even people interested in a product or service.
The first thing I like to do when researching a market is first figuring out what exactly I am trying to sell and give to the market place, because if I don’t already have an idea in place then why should I even start? The idea here is to be perfectly clear about what you are trying to offer, and then after that you move to the next step.
I then go ahead and find my niche online by doing a quick Google search to see if there are any sites that are already up and running with consistent traffic. I know this because prior to doing a Google search I make sure to use the keyword planner to find relevant keywords to my market. This can range from anything to stuffed teddy bears all the way to expensive golf clubs.
After I find and compile a list of relevant keywords I quickly go ahead and search for the top ten websites on Google related to “teddy bears” and “expensive golf clubs”. The reason for this is because I quickly go after and use websites like Quantcast and Alexa to determine the amount of traffic each site gets on a daily to monthly basis. The best part about this is that if sites have allowed Quantcast to analyze their website then you will get exact demographics from age range, to buying habits, to even locations.
Now I have an idea of whom my ideal market is, but this alone isn’t enough. I usually visit the original site that I went to to see what type of advertisement is laid out. If I see consistent ads related to the niche, I go to the ads website to see what is being offered to get more ideas of what I can do to actually provide a product and service that will be useful to my market.
I know that if I see repeat ads that it is selling well and converting well in that audience. All I have to do now is create an offer that is better than my competitors, such as “200% return if 100% customer satisfaction is not achieved.” Of course, this is just an example and you want to analyze and brainstorm what it is that you want to do for your business.
Finally, after discovering the top websites that are ranking, discovering the ads that are consistently being shown, and coming up with an offer I also make sure to just provide content towards that target market to build a list and a following that I can continuously connect with and interact with in an engaging way. That’s all there is to doing market research in a free way and spying on the competition to ensure you produce similar results!