Market research is a critical step in helping you meet the needs of your community. To meet a client’s needs, you must first understand their expectations and perceptions. Read 8 Figure Firm’s blog to learn more.
What is market research?
Market research is the process of gathering information about your target audience with the intent to meet their needs better. Through this process, you can better understand your ideal client, the perception of your firm, your competitors, and your existing audience.
Benefits of using market research
Conducting this type of research is crucial in not only learning about your audience but in developing marketing strategies, generating leads, competing with other firms, improving your brand perception, and refining your customer journey.
Learn about your audience
First and foremost, market research is critical in helping you learn about your audience. When you study your demographics, you can focus your resources on the groups that are most likely to become a client.
Develop marketing strategies
Your firm needs marketing, but developing your marketing plan can be complex. With market research, you can craft strategies that make sense for your firm. This process can help you define your buyer persona, segment your audience, and target potential clients.
Generate leads
Market research and lead generation are closely related. Lead generation starts with learning about your target audience and their thoughts, which is information you can find out through research. Once you have the knowledge, you can start generating more leads.
Compete with other firms
You don’t have to stick with researching your own firm – you can examine your competitors as well! Asking questions about other law firms is simple and can help you understand your standing in the market.
Improve brand perception
Improving brand perception is challenging when you don’t know how people perceive your firm. With market research, you can learn what people think about your business and adjust accordingly.
Refine customer journey
Finally, market research can help you refine your customer journey. It’s critical to understand a client’s expectations, and by conducting research, you can start to create a satisfactory experience. An effective customer journey will improve client retention.
How to conduct market research
You can conduct market research through your existing infrastructure or by outsourcing the work to another company. Let’s take a look at how you can perform this type of research on your own.
Set goals
To be successful in your research, you must first set a goal. What do you hope to achieve? Do you want to compete with other law firms, generate more leads, learn about your audience, or improve your marketing? Setting a tangible goal will help you effectively conduct your research.
Determine your budget
Depending on your goals and analytics, you will likely have to set a budget. If you plan on interviewing clients or holding focus groups, you will need to pay someone to conduct the study. You may also have to pay someone to collect data for you or existing datasets.
Choose parameters
For effective results, you must narrow your focus by choosing parameters. Your goals will directly inform your parameters. To do this, consider who you want to target and the type of information you wish to collect.
Deciding who to target will depend on your buyer persona. Consider your ideal client! Here are some characteristics to include:
- Age
- Gender
- Location
- Job title
- Income
- Family size
- Pain points
When it comes to the information you want to collect, you must first decide whether you want qualitative or quantitative data. Qualitative data revolves around thoughts and opinions, while quantitative data focuses more on data.
Select research method
There are two research methods to choose from: primary and secondary. Primary research is more intensive and refers to first-hand information you get directly from your audience. Secondary research is more accessible and involves public records and third-party data.
Primary research methods can include:
- Interviews
- Focus groups
- Questionnaires
- Surveys
- Visits to competitors
Secondary research methods look like this:
- Government census data
- Results from research institutions
- News reports
- Business directories
- Online articles
Collect data
Once you’ve completed the previous steps, collecting data is a relatively straightforward process. Ensure you have somewhere to put the data and remain vigilant of statistical errors or sampling bias.
Remember to be patient. It will likely take a few months to get precise results, and rushing the process could skew the information. The return on your investment will be worth the time it takes to finish conducting research.
Analyze results
The last step involves analyzing the results of your research! What did you find out? What are the changes you need to make? Once you’ve come to a conclusion, you’re ready to start developing effective strategies.
Speak to the experts
For many reasons, market research is a crucial part of growing your firm. This type of research enables you to learn about your audience, develop marketing strategies, generate leads, compete with other firms, improve brand perception, and refine your customer journey.
While it’s a necessary process, conducting market research can quickly become challenging. We can help you guide your firm to exponential growth. Learn how to perform this type of research by joining ONE.Coach Premier.
If you’re ready to take your law firm to the next level, register for ONE.Coach Premier today. We’ll help you turn your law firm into a law business.
