Top Methods to Analyse Your Industry Insight

More often than not, the difference between a successful business and an unsuccessful one is that the latter got its numbers wrong. That’s even truer in the current digital landscape in which we operate. We live in a fast-changing world where trends appear and disappear in just a matter of days. Blink and you might just be left behind!

There is only one way for businesses to cope with constantly fluid trends and ferocious competition – and that is industry insight. By accessing real-time data on consumers and identifying market trends, you’ll be able to tweak your products and services to cater to the needs of your target audience.

Let’s take a look at how to do it.

Focus groups

A focus group is a research technique where data is gathered after observing a group’s interaction with a certain product or idea. Focus groups can shed light on how your target audience thinks and, most importantly, what they want from your business. But remember, this isn’t some friends getting together and talking over each other. To get the right answers, you’ll need to ask the right questions.

Usually, a focus group will be presented with a new product and asked what they like and what they don’t about it. This will give you a clear insight of what you’re doing well and what you need to improve. There is only one caveat. Sometimes, participants with more imposing personalities will take over the discussion and effectively dictate what the group thinks. To stop peer pressure from contaminating data, it is recommended to make individual, anonymous polls before the group discussion takes place. That way, everyone’s thoughts will be accurately reflected.

Trend analysis

Relying solely on focus groups can lead to inaccurate data purely due to small sample size limitations. You need to look at the bigger picture, and there’s only one way to do it – data.

By accessing customer data, you will be able to identify customer trends and adapt your business to improve its chances of success. It will also give you a clearer idea of the demographics of your target audience. This will help you define which groups of people you should target, making your marketing more focused and cost-effective.

Forecasting

A crucial aspect of building a successful business is to figure out what future trends will be. If you think of some of the biggest companies in the world, you’ll notice a certain pattern. From Apple to McDonald’s, all of them were ahead of the curve at one point when it came to identifying market trends.

Forecasting is the process of guessing future trends by looking at past and current data. However, this isn’t a matter of luck. It’s all about playing the numbers game – and playing it right. If you want your industry insight to give you an edge over your competitors, you’ll need to rely on genuine data collated by experts.

Be ahead of the curve with your industry insight

With our strategic approach to industry insight, you’ll never be left in the dark. We’ll start off by digging deep into your company culture and outlining your values and personality. Then, our industry insight experts in Manchester will use your customer data to create a roadmap that takes you through the necessary steps to help your business grow. If you want to cruise past your competitors, give us a shout today and we’ll figure it out together.