A Blueprint for Rapid Market Understanding & Goal Setting
When launching a new company, you need to understand your market quickly and be able to set your goals. Markets change fast due to consumer behaviour, technology, and the economy. Companies that quickly adapt to these changes are more likely to stay ahead.
So, how can you undertake quick and accurate market research, make informed decisions, and minimise risks whilst setting goals? We asked Fiona Wylie, founder of Brand Champions, a SOS Marketing Consultancy specialising in tackling companies marketing problems or supporting campaigns, for her take on rapidly understanding your new company’s market and goals. She outlined some need-to-knows as someone known for her ability to perform on a tight deadline.
Startup strategy
,A company’s market and goals come within a strategy. So, start there.
You need to consider your purpose, mission and business model. What are your products or services? What is your market? This comes from research! Market research is essential. You can do this rapidly by creating simple personas, doing observational research, a small survey of personas within your market, and collaborating the data. Always collect data!
Now, think about your products or services. How do they serve your target audience? What problems are you solving for them? How are you improving on the current offerings? This will help you understand your market.
Your next stop is competitors. What are they doing to serve your market? How are they winning the market over? What are their key tactics and tools? What are they focusing on? You can use social listening platforms for real-time insights to help. Continuous monitoring ensures you stay in line or ahead of the market. Quick understanding or staying ahead leads to informed decisions that propel your company forward.
Collect data from similar companies. Utilising existing data efficiently is crucial for quickly understanding your company’s market. To begin with, analyse historical data to establish a benchmark for your market position and customer behaviours. This step is fundamental in identifying trends and opportunities for growth.
Implement tools that provide real-time data. Real-time insights enable you to see the immediate impacts of market changes or new strategies, helping you adapt your goals as required. Want an easy way to speed up everything? Implement advanced analytics and AI tools from the beginning. It will help you identify trends in your market, forecast market movements, and optimise decision-making processes.
You can use tools to speed up any process within your new company. For example, customer relationship management (CRM) systems gather customer interactions in one place, providing a comprehensive view of customer behaviours and preferences. This helps to tailor and change goals effectively according to market changes.
You can also use technology to monitor your goals and keep you on track to succeed. Lastly, ensure you can analyse this data quickly and understand what it tells you. Swift data analysis supports faster decision-making, enabling your company to remain agile and responsive, which is essential for new businesses.
Fiona emphasises that data is your best friend. When working rapidly, make sure you act on insights, not guesswork; it’s a quick way to fail if you don’t.
Additionally, research the average turnover this market has yielded previously. This will help you set your goals.
Set clear objectives, quickly
Finally, we’re onto goals. You would’ve heard 100 times that you need to set goals. And not just any goals, specific ones. A study in the Psychological Bulletin revealed that “90% of the time, setting specific and challenging goals leads to higher performance than easy goals.”
So, how can you rapidly understand, research, and set your goals? Start by establishing clarity with your team. Whether there’s one or ten of you, to quickly understand and develop goals, you need to all be on the same page. This is where your market and competitor research will come in, particularly where we mentioned yield. Knowing the potential turnover for your market will help you set goals.
Prioritise goals using tools like the SMART criteria. This method cuts down on ambiguity and streamlines the planning process. The faster you establish and agree on objectives, the quicker you can act. Then, remember to assign who is doing what; ambiguity slows down everything. If it’s just you, have a strategic plan for how you will reach each goal and a plan to delegate eventually.
Remember, goals aren’t only aligned with revenue. A new company needs goals for everything from profit and productivity to employee growth.
Adapting to change
At this point, you know your market and goals, so how do you keep on top of this and adapt when needed?
Fiona told us that to remain competitive, we should monitor key performance indicators regularly and detect any shift or decline early to take immediate action. If a strategy isn’t working, gather feedback from customer surveys or direct input and adjust it accordingly.
Empower your team to make quick decisions with a change process in place. Reserve a budget for unforeseen adjustments to pivot without financial strain. Your team is crucial to being able to adapt rapidly!
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for rapidly understanding your company’s market and goals. Sticking to the basics, building your foundation, utilising data and feedback, quickly adapting, and ensuring you have a solid team is best.
Be prepared to make mistakes and fail quickly to reach your goals!
About Fiona Wylie, Founder of Brand Champions
With over two decades of professional experience, Fiona has cultivated a wealth of expertise collaborating with renowned household brands such as British Airways, Nestle and Pfizer. Recognised as a ‘Rising Star’ by Marketing Week early in her career, Fiona has been honoured with multiple innovation awards.
In 2018 Fiona identified a unique opportunity to leverage her skills and knowledge to establish an agency that could seamlessly support both agencies and clients. This vision materialised into Brand Champions, a dynamic business specialising in Strategy, SOS and Skills. Brand Champions is dedicated to assisting clients with significant strategic initiatives, addressing short-term resource challenges, and fostering in-house learning and development. In her current role, Fiona is committed to helping others to build champion brands through the comprehensive services offered by Brand Champions.
