Qualitative Research To Build More Effective, Targeted Marketing Programs Business demands for accountability require marketing professionals to provide quantitative data to validate market opportunity (e.g. size of the market, acceptance, growth), substantiate product requirements, legitimize continued marketing activities and verify results for continued budgeting. There has been such an emphasis on quantitative research -on delivering the numbers- that perhaps we need to review the focus and benefits of qualitative research, which adds value, depth and insight to your marketing program. "Qualitative" pertains to quality. Qualitative research taps into that subjective vein of attitudes and behaviors that shape the buying habits of your customers and define your market. The results of qualitative research go beyond the numbers to provide you with the characteristics or attributes of your market. While the quantitative approach has its role, the qualitative approach provides a depth to market research that is not available through typical quantitative analysis. Qualitative research is conducted primarily through exploratory in-depth interviews with critical influencer and market groups, including customers, company executives, employers, partners, resellers, analysts, etc. Qualitative research engages interviewees in an interactive dialogue to delve into their opinions and truly understand the dynamics of the market. Through this direct dialogue, customers reveal their issues, needs, and wants. Other industry observers identify other critical market factors. As a result, through qualitative research, vendors are able to pinpoint strategic issues, identify trends before they happen and establish factors critical to successful product launches -all essential marketing considerations not addressed by quantitative methods. Qualitative research can be used for many important components of an effective marketing plan, including: Buying Influences Market Segmentation Customer Analysis Positioning Evaluation Industry Structural Identification Product Comparisons Influencer Identification Product Requirements Assessment Market Analysis Trends Identification The following will discuss how qualitative research adds Depth, Insight, and Value to your marketing programs and plans. Depth Customers, prospects, competitors and influencers all provide a broad base of feedback and depth that serves as a solid foundation for building effective marketing programs. The better marketing understands its market and customers, the more effectively it can design and focus its efforts to meet the needs of that market. This is especially true when developing a new product or entering a new market segment. Qualitative research helps clients answer the following questions: Who are your existing and potential customers? Who in the organization uses or could benefit from using your product? How can your product solve their business problems? How can you best communicate these benefits to them? What trends or strategic business issues influence customers' buying decisions? To what message will customers favorably respond? What is going to motivate them to change the way they currently do business? Where do customers go for information about technology and issues that effect their business? What type of marketing vehicles are going to work to reach them? Insight Qualitative research provides insights into the market, customers and future trends not gained through other means. These insights help technology companies develop strong strategic partnerships with key influencers that reach their target customers. They help technology companies identify market opportunities, understand new applications for their technology, as well as, identify trends, influencers and changes in behavior. It can also help your company better understand which market segments should be the highest priority. Market influencers contribute significantly to the insight gained by qualitative research. As experts in their field, influencers know the needs and requirements of the people in that market, and therefore represent the perspective of many others. Because they talk with others in the market on a regular basis, influencers can also help build brand awareness and generate qualified leads. For example, Qualitative Marketing® conducted a qualitative research project for a start-up company in 1998. The only objective was to identify the ideal segment to target for an Enterprise-wide Java Tool. The results went way beyond this single objective because Qualitative Marketing's research gained additional insight and identified: One market segment and several job titles that would benefit from this tool. Five applications for future development specific to the needs of this target segment. Thirty-one different problems the product could solve, documented in 10 descriptive pages. Seven influencer organizations that reach this target segment to reduce the cost of marketing. Value The value of qualitative research is in providing a deeper understanding of the situation and/or issues than typical quantitative surveys allow. Qualitative information allows companies to create messages and positions that are more meaningful to their customers and better reflect their customers' needs. For example, Qualitative Marketing® conducted a segmentation analysis for a data warehousing tools vendor in 1997, interviewing 92 customers, prospects and influencers in data warehousing. The objective of the project was to identify market opportunities with the greatest potential. The company had been targeting CIOs of large corporations, believing them to be the decision maker. But the vendor wasn't closing deals, and didn't know why. Through qualitative research, Qualitative Marketing® identified the market this company should target. Qualitative Marketing® discovered that their market was not CIOs. Corporate CIOs no longer cared about data warehousing as a strategic issue -other things had taken higher priority for them, and data warehousing decisions had been pushed down the corporate chain. This vendor needed to target mid-level IT managers, which now had the responsibility for data warehouse purchase decisions. Qualitative Marketing® was able to identify and prioritize the top three market segments for this vendor, the solutions they required, the language they spoke, and the people influencing their buying decisions. The research also revealed customers' buying priorities for technology, and their objections to buying and using data warehousing solutions. The vendor had been wasting a lot of money and effort pursuing a market that was no longer appropriate to its product. Qualitative Marketing's research disclosed critical market information unbeknownst to the vendor, allowing them to rectify the problem and redirect their marketing plan more effectively. Qualitative Marketing® recommended effective marketing programs to appeal to the identified market, overcome customer objections and successfully establish long-term relationships to sell product. These insights and recommendations for a successful marketing program were based on information that could only be derived from the qualitative research approach -information that would not have come to light from a typical quantitative survey. Conclusion To be effective, a marketing program must be based on accurate information about the market and potential customers. Comprehensive market research helps companies achieve maximum results from product development efforts and marketing activities, but many technology companies do not have the resources to efficiently gather reliable data. Qualitative research is a cost-effective method of obtaining the information necessary upon which to base an effective, targeted marketing effort. Background Qualitative Marketing® conducts qualitative research programs for technology companies, and provides market analysis and segmentation plans used to improve marketing and sales programs. Over the past 14 years, Qualitative Marketing® has implemented successful qualitative research programs for start-ups and large corporations, such as Adaptivity, Adobe, Compaq, Dell Computer, Dimension Data Systems, Informix, Intel, Microsoft, Motorola, NetObjects, Philips Speech Processing, and Symantec.