Market Research

Overview

The Market Research skill enables marketers to gather, analyze, and synthesize data about markets, competitors, customers, and trends. It provides frameworks for understanding market opportunity, competitive positioning, and customer needs to inform strategy.

When to Use This Skill

• Evaluating new market or product opportunity
• Developing customer personas and segments
• Understanding competitive landscape
• Sizing market opportunity
• Validating customer assumptions
• Planning product positioning and messaging
• Understanding industry trends and shifts

Competitive Analysis Framework

Competitive Landscape Mapping

Step 1: Identify Competitors

Direct Competitors (Same product, same market)

• Head-to-head competition
• Similar feature sets and pricing
• Fighting for same customers
• Example: "Slack vs. Microsoft Teams"

Indirect Competitors (Different product, same need)

• Alternative solutions to same problem
• Different approach or technology
• Broader competitive threat
• Example: "Slack vs. email"

Emerging Competitors (New/growing threats)

• Recently funded startups
• Companies entering your space
• Potential disruption risk
• Example: "AI-powered alternatives"

Substitutes (Workarounds)

• DIY solutions
• Generic tools repurposed
• Lower-cost alternatives
• Example: "Slack vs. WhatsApp groups"

Competitive Positioning Matrix

Competitor	Price	Features	Ease of Use	Customer Support	Market Position
[Competitor 1]	$$$$	★★★★	★★	★★★	Premium
[Competitor 2]	$$	★★★	★★★★	★★	Value
[Competitor 3]	$	★★	★★★	★★★★	Budget
Our Product	$$$	★★★★★	★★★★	★★★★	[Target]

Detailed Competitor Analysis Template

Competitor Name: [Company]

Company Overview:

• Founded: [Year]
• Headquarters: [Location]
• Funding: [Total raised, stage]
• Team size: [Number]
• Website traffic: [Estimate]

Product/Service:

• Core offering: [Description]
• Key features: [Top 5-7 features]
• Pricing model: [Free/freemium/paid/enterprise]
• Price point: [Base to premium tier]
• Target customer: [Persona/segment]

Market Position:

• Market share: [Estimated percentage]
• Key customers: [Notable customers/logos]
• Strengths: [Top 3-4 competitive advantages]
• Weaknesses: [Areas of vulnerability]
• Growth signals: [Recent hires, funding, product launches]

Go-to-Market Strategy:

• Sales model: [Direct, self-serve, partnership]
• Marketing channels: [Primary acquisition channels]
• Messaging: [Core positioning]
• Brand voice: [Tone and personality]

Strategic Implications for Us:

• Opportunities to differentiate: [Specific areas]
• Threats to monitor: [What could impact us]
• Positioning recommendations: [How we should position against them]

Customer Persona Development

Persona Research Methodology

Step 1: Gather Data (Combine multiple sources)

• Customer interviews (8-12 depth interviews)
• Surveys (50-100 responses minimum)
• Sales team insights (actual customer interactions)
• Support tickets (pain points revealed)
• Analytics data (behavior patterns)
• Market research reports (industry standards)

Step 2: Identify Patterns

• Job titles and roles across customers
• Common challenges and objectives
• Buying decision criteria
• Success metrics they care about
• Information sources and preferences

Step 3: Create Personas

• Develop 3-5 primary personas
• Make them realistic and specific
• Include quantitative and qualitative data
• Create narrative to make them memorable

Detailed Persona Template

Persona Name: [Memorable name reflecting archetype] Title/Role: [Specific job title, potential alt titles] Organization: [Company size, industry, revenue]

Demographics:

• Age: [Range, typical]
• Gender: [If relevant]
• Geographic location: [If relevant]
• Education: [Degree, field]
• Experience level: [Years in role]

Responsibilities:

• Primary job duties: [Main activities]
• Team/reporting: [Who they manage, who they report to]
• Budget authority: [Annual budget, approval authority]
• Cross-functional dependencies: [Who they work with]

Goals (Professional):

• Primary goal 1: [What they want to achieve]
• Primary goal 2: [Next priority]
• Success metrics: [How they measure success]
• Success criteria: [Qualitative and quantitative]

Pain Points (Challenges):

• Pain 1: [Specific problem]
  • Frequency: [How often]
  • Impact: [Business consequence]
• Pain 2: [Second major problem]
• Pain 3: [Third frustration]

Barriers to Adoption:

• Technical: [Systems integration, learning curve]
• Organizational: [Change management, budget approval]
• Personal: [Risk aversion, job security concerns]

Information Preferences:

• Primary sources: [Where they get information]
• Content types: [Articles, videos, webinars, podcasts]
• Engagement style: [Self-serve vs. direct contact]
• Decision-making: [Data-driven, peer influence, expert opinion]

Key Quote (From actual interviews): "[Representative quote that captures their perspective]"

Example Persona - Persona A: Enterprise Sophia

Title: VP of Marketing, B2B SaaS Company Organization: 200-1000 person tech company Age: 35-45

Goals:

• Increase lead generation by 30% YoY
• Reduce customer acquisition cost
• Improve marketing team efficiency
• Demonstrate marketing ROI to C-suite

Pain Points:

• Scattered data across 12+ marketing tools
• Manual reporting taking 40 hours/month
• Team frustrated with tool complexity
• Missing attribution data for budget decisions

Barriers:

• 6-month vendor evaluation cycle
• IT security requirements
• Multiple budget approvers
• Fear of team learning curve

Market Sizing (TAM/SAM/SOM)

TAM (Total Addressable Market)

Definition: Total possible revenue in ideal scenario with 100% market penetration

Calculation Methods:

Bottom-up approach:

Identified target segment size × Average selling price = TAM
Example:
- 100,000 potential companies × $10,000 avg contract value = $1B TAM

Top-down approach:

Global market size × Relevant percentage = TAM
Example:
- $500B enterprise software market × 20% applicable = $100B TAM

Value-based approach:

Estimated annual value created × potential penetration = TAM
Example:
- Annual time saved (2,000 hours) × labor cost ($50/hr) × 100K companies = $10B TAM

SAM (Serviceable Addressable Market)

Definition: Market segment you can realistically target and serve

Considerations:

• Geographic limitations (US only, specific regions)
• Company size focus (SMB vs. enterprise)
• Industry vertical focus (Finance, healthcare, tech)
• Language and regulatory requirements
• Sales and support delivery model

Example:

• TAM: $1B global market
• Geographic limitation: US only (50% of market)
• Company size: Mid-market focus only (30% of US market)
• SAM: $1B × 50% × 30% = $150M

SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market)

Definition: Realistic market share you can capture in 5-year period

Realistic targets by stage:

• Seed stage: 0.5-1% of SAM
• Series A: 1-2% of SAM
• Series B+: 2-5% of SAM
• Mature company: 5-10% of SAM

Example:

• SAM: $150M
• Target year-5 market share: 3% (aggressive but realistic)
• SOM: $150M × 3% = $4.5M annual revenue

Market Size Table Template:

Market Segment	Company Count	Avg Contract Value	TAM	Penetration Target	SOM Year 5
Enterprise (1000+)	1,000	$50,000	$50M	2%	$1M
Mid-market (250-1000)	5,000	$20,000	$100M	3%	$3M
SMB (50-250)	15,000	$5,000	$75M	1%	$0.75M
TOTAL	21,000		$225M		$4.75M

Survey Design and Analysis

Survey Objectives and Design

Survey Goals (Choose 1-2 primary):

• Validate customer assumptions
• Understand feature priorities
• Test messaging or positioning
• Assess competitive alternatives
• Gather pricing sensitivity
• Measure satisfaction/NPS

Survey Structure:

Section 1: Qualification (3-5 questions)

• Confirm they're target audience
• Assess job role and company size
• Determine decision-making authority
• Gate to ensure quality responses

Section 2: Problem Validation (4-6 questions)

• Current pain points (multi-select)
• Problem severity/frequency
• Current solution approach
• Budget allocated to solving

Section 3: Solution Exploration (4-6 questions)

• Feature importance ranking
• Pricing sensitivity
• Competitive alternatives awareness
• Must-have vs. nice-to-have features

Section 4: Messaging Testing (3-5 questions)

• Message resonance rating
• Message clarity assessment
• Preferred benefit focus
• Brand perception

Section 5: Demographics (4-5 questions)

• Company size and industry
• Job title and department
• Time in role
• Budget authority level

Survey Question Templates

Open-ended Problem Question: "What is your biggest challenge with [current solution area]?"

Ranked Priority Question: "Rank these features by importance to you:

1. Feature A
2. Feature B
3. Feature C"

Pricing Sensitivity Question: "What price point would be too expensive? $ __ What price would be too cheap? $ __ What would be fair price? $ __"

Messaging Test Question: "Which message resonates most with you? A) [Value proposition 1] B) [Value proposition 2] C) [Value proposition 3]"

NPS (Net Promoter Score) Question: "How likely are you to recommend [solution] to a colleague? 0 (Not likely) --- 10 (Extremely likely)"

Trend Analysis Framework

Industry Trend Research

Sources:

• Industry analyst reports (Gartner, Forrester, IDC)
• Trade publications and newsletters
• Startup funding data (Crunchbase, PitchBook)
• Patent filings and research papers
• Social listening and mentions
• Conference keynotes and panels

Trend Evaluation Matrix

Trend	Hype Level	Market Impact	Adoption Timeline	Opportunity	Risk
AI/ML integration	Very High	High	1-2 years	High	Medium
Remote work tools	Medium	Medium	Established	Medium	Low
Zero-trust security	High	Very High	2-3 years	Very High	Medium
Automation	High	High	1-2 years	High	Low

Emerging Trend Assessment

Trend Name: [What trend are we evaluating] Current Hype Level: [Nascent, mainstream, mature] Market Maturity: [Early adopters, early majority, mainstream]

Why it matters:

• Customer expectations shifting: [How expectations changing]
• Competitive pressure: [How competitors responding]
• New use cases enabled: [Possibilities created]
• Regulatory implications: [Compliance considerations]

How to respond:

• Timing: [Wait, monitor, start experimenting, commit]
• Investment required: [Low, medium, high]
• Resource allocation: [% of R&D budget]
• Success metric: [How we'll know if right]

Research Output and Recommendations

Synthesis Process

1. Gather all research - Consolidate findings from all sources
2. Identify patterns - Look for themes across interviews, surveys, data
3. Validate findings - Cross-reference insights across multiple sources
4. Develop implications - What do these insights mean for strategy?
5. Create recommendations - Specific actions based on learnings

Research Deliverables

• Competitive Analysis Report - Market landscape and positioning recommendations
• Customer Personas - 3-5 detailed personas with supporting data
• Market Sizing Analysis - TAM/SAM/SOM with justification
• Survey Report - Findings, visualizations, conclusions
• Trend Analysis - Implications and recommended responses
• Strategic Recommendations - Specific actions based on research
• Data Visualizations - Charts, heat maps, positioning matrices
• Detailed Source Document - Bibliography and data sources

Market Research Checklist

• Competitive landscape identified and analyzed
• 3-5 customer personas developed with research support
• Customer interviews completed (8-12 minimum)
• Survey designed and distributed (50+ responses)
• TAM/SAM/SOM calculated with methodology documented
• Industry trends identified and evaluated
• Key findings synthesized and validated
• Strategic recommendations developed
• All data sources documented
• Visual deliverables created (matrices, charts)
• Stakeholder presentation prepared
• Research archived for future reference

Output Deliverables

1. Competitive Analysis Report - Landscape, positioning, opportunities
2. Customer Personas Document - 3-5 detailed personas with data
3. Market Sizing Analysis - TAM/SAM/SOM calculations
4. Survey Report - Methodology, findings, conclusions
5. Trend Analysis - Emerging trends and implications
6. Strategic Recommendations - Action items by priority
7. Data Visualization Deck - Charts and matrices
8. Research Database - All raw data and source materials