5 Budget Friendly Ways To Research Your Market

It is always a good idea to get to know your clients. Fortunately, this can be done without requiring you to break your marketing budget. Below are five great ways for you to research your local market.

Look at the Demographic Information

Most cities in the United States have some form of demographic information available. Looking up this information – usually through a real estate search – can yield a bounty of information about your customers. Whether you are interested in the average age of your customers or you want to know how effective attempts would be when marketing towards a particular group, this free information can be quite helpful.

Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

If you live in a city that has a Chamber of Commerce, become a member and make use of their research. A good Chamber will have a great deal of data on the people who live in its city, and simply taking the time to talk with some of your fellow business owners should give you an idea of how the local area works.

Social Surveys

Always take advantage of social media when you can. Sites like Facebook already have tools available to allow you to take surveys from your customers, so make the most of these opportunities. Offering your customers a small discount for filling out surveys is a great way to get a larger sample size, and it can help you to gather your information at a much lower cost than conducting a traditional survey with a marketing company.

Hit the Events

If your city has major fairs or events, make sure that you can bring some kind of booth to the location. Taking your business on the road might not always be ideal, but it gives you the ability to see a quick cross-section of your locale without requiring you to hunt down your constituency on your own. Not only will you get a great chance to view the people of your city in a relaxed environment, you will also be able to drum up a bit of new business at the same time.

Mailers

The classic mailer is still a good way to get to know your community. For example, a veterinarian could send vet postcards by PetMarketing.net to people living in that vet’s community. Any postcard marketing company can be a good way for any business owner to contact a wide sample of customers while still keeping the business operating within its budget. While using such a technique might seem old fashioned, there is a reason why these simple actions have never gone out of style.