GE-ELECTIVE 5

Market Analysis & Customer Understanding

 e n d a
Ag 1. Conducting market research
and competitor analysis
2. Defining target audience
and customer personas
3. Using empathy to design
products/services that
meet needs
 Market Analysis: The Big Picture
Market analysis takes a broader view. It examines the overall
market in which your business operates. Here’s why market
analysis is indispensable:

1. Industry Insights: Market analysis provides a comprehensive

view of your industry, including trends, growth potential, and
competitive forces. This knowledge helps you identify emerging
opportunities and threats.

2. Market Segmentation: It allows you to segment your market

into distinct groups based on characteristics like demographics,
psychographics, and behavior. This segmentation aids in
targeting different customer segments effectively.
3. Competitive Landscape: Market analysis helps you understand
your competition. By analyzing competitors’ strengths, weaknesses,
and market positioning, you can develop strategies to stand out.

4. Market Sizing: You can estimate the total addressable market

(TAM) and serviceable addressable market (SAM) through market
analysis. This informs your business strategy and potential for
growth.

5. Risk Mitigation: Understanding market dynamics can help you

identify potential risks and challenges. This allows you to create
contingency plans and adapt your strategy accordingly.
Customer Analysis: Getting Personal
Customer analysis is an in-depth examination of your
existing and potential customers. It delves into the
behaviors, preferences, needs, and demographics of
individuals or groups that interact with your products
or services. Here’s why customer analysis is invaluable:

1. Personalization: Customer analysis allows you to

tailor your offerings to individual preferences. When
you know your customers’ likes and dislikes, you can
create personalized marketing campaigns, product
recommendations, and customer experiences.
2. Retention: By understanding your customers on a personal level, you can identify
opportunities to increase customer loyalty. This might involve addressing pain points,
enhancing support, or offering loyalty programs.

3. Innovation: Customer feedback and preferences gleaned from analysis can drive
product or service improvements and innovations. This keeps your offerings relevant
and competitive.

4. Targeted Marketing: Effective marketing begins with knowing your audience.

Customer analysis enables you to target your advertising efforts precisely, optimizing
your marketing budget.

5. Feedback Loop: Customer analysis creates a feedback loop that fosters continuous
improvement. It’s a vital tool for maintaining and enhancing customer satisfaction.
Conducting a Market Analysis
1. Research your industry.
Here are questions to get you started:
What statistical information can you gather about your industry
from sources like the Philippines Labor and Statistics, BMI Research,
and professional associations?
How many businesses are in this industry?
What’s the market size in terms of the number of potential
customers?
How much revenue does the industry generate?
What are the industry standards by which companies and consumers
operate?
What external factors affect how businesses in this industry
operate, including laws and regulations, new technologies, world
events, and economic and social change?
Where do you spot opportunities to innovate within the industry?
2. Investigate the competitive landscape.
Here are questions to guide your process:
What brands are the most well-known in your industry? Who sets the trends and
captures the attention of customers?
What are these brands’ offers, price points, and value propositions?
What sales tactics, technologies, and platforms do these brands use to create a customer
journey?
How do these brands use content to educate and engage an audience?
What can you learn from customer reviews of these brands?

3. Identify market gaps.

Here are some questions to help you identify market gaps:
Looking back at your industry research findings, what will external factors like social
change and new laws mean for developing products and services?
Ask consumers directly: “What do you want or need that you currently can’t find?”
How specifically do competitors’ products and services fall short?
In what ways would you be able to create better products and services, given your
strengths and expertise?
4. Define your target market.
Define your target market according to the characteristics that make individual consumers more likely to purchase products and
services from you:
Of the potential customers in your industry, which specific market segment can you target effectively?
How can you describe this segment according to their demographics (age, ethnicity, income, location, etc.) and
psychographics (beliefs, values, aspirations, lifestyle, etc.)?
What are their daily lives like?
What problems and challenges do they experience?
What words, phrases, ideas, and concepts do consumers in your target market use to describe these problems when posting
on social media or engaging with your competitors?
What are the features and benefits of your offers, and how will these provide solutions to your target market’s needs?
What marketing messaging can you use to appeal to this target market and exhibit empathy and understanding?

5. Identify barriers to entry.

Here are some questions to make barriers to entry more visible:
What are the startup costs of building your business, including product development, technology, suppliers, patents, and
certifications?
What legal requirements will you need to fulfill before launching?
What political, economic, and social factors might affect customers' behavior and their likelihood of purchasing your
offerings?
How much do your top competitors spend on their advertising to earn customers' loyalty?
What will you need to do to present your offerings as better alternatives in terms of value, price, and ease of purchase?
6. Create a sales forecast.
To generate a sales forecast, answer these questions:
What products and services do you intend to sell?
How many units do you expect to sell during each increment of time, based on your market size and the behaviors of your target market?
What prices will you assign to each product or service?
What is the cost of producing and advertising each offering?

Your market analysis checklist

Use this checklist and the steps above to guide your market analysis process.

1. Research your industry.

Gain a holistic understanding of everything happening in your industry and prepare to navigate it.

2. Investigate competitors.
Know who the big players are and how you can differentiate your brand.

3. Identify market gaps.

Find unsolved problems and unmet desires in your market.

4. Define your target market.

Know your customers’ unique characteristics and tailor your offers and marketing accordingly.

5. Identify barriers to entry.

Know what stands in your way and address challenges head-on.

6. Create a sales forecast.

Estimate future sales and make confident business decisions.
Competitive Analysis
Identifying Your Competitors
When you know how to conduct a competitor analysis, you can form a clearer picture of your market and make more informed
decisions that deliver better business outcomes. But who are your competitors?

1. Direct Competitors
These are businesses that are similar to yours, and thus, the ones that you likely worry about the most. They offer the same
types of products or services as you, and they compete directly for the same target audiences. They likely have a presence in the
same geographical areas as you, too.

2. Indirect Competitors
Indirect competitors are businesses with similar offerings to your business that could potentially replace your products or
services, but which target a different audience or market segment.

3. Replacement Competitors
Replacement competitors offer a different product or service that could replace or substitute what you offer to your target
audiences. Consider YouTube and Comcast.

4. Collaborative Competitors
These are businesses that offer products or services that are complementary to the products and services you provide.
Potentially, they could collaborate with your business to create a mutually beneficial relationship.
Conducting a Competitive Analysis
1. Find out who your competitors are.
2. Analyze your competitors and their business structures.
How large is the company, in terms of the number of leaders and employees?
How many years has the company been in operation?
What job openings do these companies list on Glassdoor, Indeed, or LinkedIn? What are their areas of expansion?

3. Evaluate your competitors and their value propositions.

What problems and pain points do competitors’ products solve?
What desires do the products fulfill?
What benefits or outcomes does the product deliver for customers?
What data do they cite to support their claims about products’ benefits?
What pricing structure do competitors use?

4. Evaluate your competitors’ marketing efforts.

For each competitor, answer these questions:
What social media influencers does this company partner with to leverage their authority, authentic content, and personal connections to
target customers?
What affiliate marketing or brand ambassador programs does this company offer to leverage the recommendations of satisfied customers?
What kind of digital or traditional paid advertising presence does this company have?
On what marketing channels do competitors publish organic content, including websites, landing pages, social media platforms, and email?
What type of content do you see, including articles, videos, ebooks, reports, commercials, and digital ads?
6. Follow each competitor’s customer journey.
As you experience the customer journey for each competitor, gather information on the following:
What are the different touchpoints along this company’s customer journey?
What elements make it easy to keep moving along the customer journey?
What calls to action and instructions are there to make it clear how to proceed?
What kinds of content educate and entertain you at each touchpoint?
What elements create friction or make it difficult to advance to the next step?
What do you experience after subscribing or making a purchase? Do you find customer support, upsells, and access to a community?

7. Examine audience engagement.

For each competitor, explore the following:
How do followers and subscribers interact with this company’s public content?
What is the general public sentiment regarding this company, based on mentions, product reviews, and social media likes and comments?
Include praise as well as complaints.
What experiences do employees have, based on reviews on job sites like Glassdoor and Indeed?

8. Conduct a SWOT analysis of your competition.

What strengths do you see in competitors’ branding, marketing, customer journeys, and products?
What weaknesses do you see in competitors’ branding, marketing, customer journeys, and products?
What opportunities do you see for your business to capitalize on?
What is your competition doing that might pose a threat to your business?
What is a Target Audience?
A target audience is the group of people you
want to purchase your products or services.
Very few companies will ever have a target
Defining
Target
audience of “everyone”—trying to sell to
everyone will often result in selling to no one.
Instead, your target audience will be made up of
people who will benefit the most from your

Audiences
products. This group is defined by certain
demographics and behaviors, which can be
segmented into specific personas. These
personas give you a mock individual who
represents the average person in a specific
target audience.
 Purchase Intention
Demographics Customer journey lengths differ across
products and services. A target audience
defined by purchase intention highlights this
This is likely the target audience type fact, helping you understand where
you’re already familiar with. You can create customers are on a purchase timeline.
target audiences based on things like age,
location, marital status and gender
identity.

Types of Subculture

Psychographics target A subculture is a group of people who share

a common interest. There are likely several

audiences
of these groups among your broader
audience, and they will shift in popularity
Psychographics are used to group a target over time, such as Star Trek’s “Trekkies” or
audience by belief systems, values, interests Taylor Swift’s “Swifties.
and more. Often, these characteristics are
what defines your customers’ motivations,
challenges and needs. If your brand offers
an alternative health remedy, your
audience’s beliefs and values likely reflect
an openness to natural medicine and a Lifestyle
priority on wellness.
A target audience defined by lifestyle
characteristics includes things like income,
spending habits, travel, likes and dislikes. It’s also
useful to understand what your customers’
discretionary income is like, especially if your
product requires a large investment.
What is Customer Personas?

A customer persona is a semi-fictional

archetype that depicts a particular segment of
your audience and gives you a holistic view of
Defining
Customer
your consumers based on the commonalities
they share.
These similarities can be in terms of their goals,
pain points, motivations, frustrations, and
expectations.
Personas
 Key Demographics
(the who)
components
of an ideal A detailed persona will give you
customer demographic information like age range,
gender, income level, location,
persona education, and family status.

Behavior (the what)

Customer journey lengths differ

across products and services. A
Psychographics target audience defined by
purchase intention highlights this
Psychographics focus on the fact, helping you understand
emotional aspect of your buyer, where customers are on a
such as their passions, interests, purchase timeline.
pain points, challenges,
motivations, values, and
communication preferences.
4 types of Customer Personas everyone should have
I. Competitive personas
To put it simply, they want the best that money can buy. These buyers are driven by
a desire to find the best solution in a sea of competitors. If you want them, you will
have to tell them exactly why you are better than the rest.

II. Spontaneous personas

They prioritize speed, efficiency, and simplicity. Spontaneous personas don't want to
be overwhelmed by unnecessary information, numbers, and statistics.

III. Humanistic personas

Humanistic personas are empathetic and value the human side of your business. They
want to know the story behind your brand.

IV. Methodical personas

Customers who rely on hard evidence. Methodical personas delve into customer
testimonials and conduct in-depth searches to learn how your product solves their
problems.
They are logical, deliberate, and will obsess over the most miniscule of details.
Empathy to design Products/Services that meet needs
Empathy, when it comes to business and marketing, is not a word you often
hear. However, when used correctly empathy can be an incredibly effective
concept in today’s competitive business and marketing landscape, where brand
building and product innovation is a key competitive advantage.
Leveraging empathy as a core strategy can help you better understand your
current and future customers, leading to more innovative products and services.

So, What is Empathy?

It involves putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and seeing things from their
perspective. It goes beyond sympathy or understanding; it requires you to experience an
emotional connection with others. When it comes to product innovation strategies,
empathy can be a powerful tool for understanding what your customers need and how
you can best meet those needs.
There are a number of ways these empathetic connections
can be achieved, but here are a few thought starters.

Get Personal
Nothing speaks louder than personalization. Taking the time to personally get
to know each customer can help build solid and lasting relationships. By
tailoring messages and other core communications specifically for each
customer, you’ll show them that your business truly values them.

Social Media Engagement

Social media platforms have become a powerful tool for connecting with
customers on a more personal level. Take advantage of this by engaging
directly with users on platforms. These are not one-directional marketing
channels; ask questions about what customers want from your
product/service and address any issues they may have quickly and efficiently.
Content Creation
The key is creating content that provides value, encouraging them to keep
coming back for more information, insights, and advice related to your product
or service offerings. Use the analytics you gain from these outputs to better
inform you on what resonates, works, and does not work with your customers.

Host Events
Hosting local events is another excellent way to connect directly with
customers on a personal, one-to-one level. Whether it’s a local meet-up where
like-minded individuals can get together, a workshop that provides valuable
information related to your products, or a pop-up store, hosting live events
allows customers to meet you directly and become more familiar with your
company.
Creating Meaningful Connections
Once you have an intimate understanding of your customer base on an individual
level, it will be easier for you to create meaningful connections with them
through your product or brand marketing strategies. Additionally, knowing your
customer so intimately will allow you to develop more innovative products and
services that fulfil their needs in ways not possible before.

Improved Customer Experience

Empathy-driven product strategies can also lead to improved customer experiences overall. By
truly understanding what motivates each customer — through extensive research, continuous
dialogue, and feedback — you can make sure every touchpoint along the customer journey is
tailored specifically for them to meet their needs in the most effective way possible.
 CON C L U S I O N S

CONCLUSION 1 CONCLUSION 2 CONCLUSION 3

onducting a competitor analysis is a crucial Gone are the days when you could rely on In Conclusion, empathy should be at the
step in developing your business. It can help gut feelings to create campaigns that heart of any brand or product innovation
you differentiate your brand and present worked. The present era calls for data- strategy. Empathy allows businesses to
your products and services as the best on driven efforts, where leveraging personas understand their target audience on a
the market. becomes crucial for a successful business deeper level than ever before — enabling
strategy. them to create superior solutions that truly
meet customer needs while also increasing
customer loyalty.
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