Explain the product-market screening criteria that can be used to evaluate opportunities
Successful new product development (NPD) starts with identifying good product ideas and using reliable criteria to decide which ideas to pursue. Show
You should take the following steps before you allocate funds to new product development. Idea generationWrite a customer needs list based on the information you gather from the sources identified below. You should try to identify existing weaknesses in your products, gaps in your product range and areas for product improvement. Brainstorm product issuesWork with your existing team members to brainstorm product issues. Your sales and service staff speak to your customers daily, hearing feedback about your products and the customers' needs. Capture the feedback, product observations and ideas from your team. Make sure you recognise their ideas and promote a shared culture of innovation. Use your research and development (R&D) processesUse your business's existing R&D processes. Identify modifications you could make to existing products, or adaptations for new products, consistent with feedback from your market and customers. Review your quality assurance (QA) processesNote any issues in your products and identify potential ideas for addressing gaps in quality. Review your customer complaint recordsIdentify common weaknesses in your existing product range, and look for areas where improvement is most needed. Learn about managing customer complaints. Review your researchReview your customer research and market research, and plan further market and customer surveys if you identify research gaps. What are your customers telling you they're looking for? What do they find frustrating or limiting about your products? How do they use your products most? Talk to your suppliers and other business partnersTalk to manufacturers, retailers and sales reps to capture their knowledge of your products and thoughts for improving them. Research and understand your competitionTry to understand your competition. Review your competitors' product range and consider how the market is responding to them. Do any of their products seem to be meeting needs that yours aren't? Study catalogues and product informationMake sure you have a comprehensive understanding of existing products available in your market. Idea screeningWith your list of potential new product ideas, you now need to decide which ideas to pursue and which to discard. Consider your competition, your existing products, their shortcomings, and the needs of your market. Draw on the customer needs list you have developed, and the areas for product improvement you have identified. Develop a set of criteria to evaluate your ideas against. Your criteria might include:
SWOT analysisA SWOT analysis can help you to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each idea. Innovation supportYour innovative approach and your steps to foster innovation in your team will help you realise your new product goals. Find out about innovation advice, grants and support. Read more about becoming an innovative business. Also consider...
Understanding your customer base is one of the first key steps to success in business. Without knowing who your customers are, what they want, and how they want to get it from you, your business could struggle to come up with an effective marketing strategy. This is where a market analysis comes in. A market analysis can be a time-intensive process, but it is straightforward and easy to do on your own in seven steps. What is a market analysis?A market analysis is a thorough assessment of a market within a specific industry. You will study the dynamics of your market, such as volume and value, potential customer segments, buying patterns, competition, and other important factors. A thorough marketing analysis should answer the following questions:
What are the benefits of running a marketing analysis?A marketing analysis can reduce risk, identify emerging trends, and help project revenue. You can use a marketing analysis at several stages of your business, and it can even be beneficial to conduct one every year to keep up to date with any major changes in the market. A detailed market analysis will usually be part of your business plan, since it gives you a greater understanding of your audience and competition. This will help you build a more targeted marketing strategy. These are some other major benefits of conducting a market analysis:
What are the drawbacks of running a marketing analysis?The below drawbacks of running a market analysis pertain less to the method itself than the resources it requires.
Market analysis vs. conjoint analysis vs. sentiment analysisWhere market analysis is broad and comprehensive, conjoint analysis focuses on how customers value what you offer. Surveys are often the backbone of conjoint analysis – they’re a great way for customers to share what drives their purchases. Product testing is an especially common application of conjoint analysis. This method can yield insights into pricing and product features and configurations. Sentiment analysis goes beyond number-driven market and conjoint analysis to identify how customers qualitatively feel about your offerings. It can show you what customers are happy and unhappy about with your offerings or buying process. You can also wade into deeper emotional territory such as anger, urgency and intention, or you can dig up descriptive feedback. It’s a great tool to use alongside market analysis, whereas conjoint analysis is all but included in market analysis. How to conduct a market analysisWhile conducting a marketing analysis is not a complicated process, it does take a lot of dedicated research, so be prepared to devote significant time to the process. These are the seven steps of conducting a market analysis: 1. Determine your purpose.There are many reasons you may be conducting a market analysis, such as to gauge your competition or to understand a new market. Whatever your reason, it’s important to define it right away to keep you on track throughout the process. Start by deciding whether your purpose is internal – like improving your cash flow or business operations – or external, like seeking a business loan. Your purpose will dictate the type and amount of research you will do. Tip: Use our guide to choosing a business loan to make the right decision after conducting a market analysis. Visit our business loan reviews page to find options and learn all about easy-approval options.2. Research the state of the industry.Map a detailed outline of the current state of your industry. Include where the industry seems to be heading, using metrics such as size, trends and projected growth, with plenty of data to support your findings. You can also conduct a comparative market analysis to help you find your competitive advantage within your specific market. 3. Identify your target customer.Not everyone in the world will be your customer, and it would be a waste of your time to try to get everyone interested in your product. Instead, use a target market analysis to decide who is most likely to want your product and focus your efforts there. You want to understand your market size, who your customers are, where they come from, and what might influence their buying decisions. To do so, look at demographic factors like these:
During your research, you might consider creating a customer profile or persona that reflects your ideal customer to serve as a model for your marketing efforts. 4. Understand your competition.To be successful, you need a good understanding of your competitors, including their market saturation, what they do differently than you, and their strengths, weaknesses and advantages in the market. Start by listing all your main competitors, then go through that list and conduct a SWOT analysis of each competitor. What does that business have that you don’t? What would lead a customer to choose that business over yours? Put yourself in the customer’s shoes. Then, rank your list of competitors from most to least threatening, and decide on a timeline to conduct regular SWOT analyses on your most threatening competitors. 5. Gather additional data.When conducting marketing analyses, information is your friend – you can never have too much data. It is important that the data you use is credible and factual, so be cautious of where you get your numbers. These are some reputable business data resources:
6. Analyze your data.After you collect all the information you can and verify that it is accurate, you need to analyze the data to make it useful to you. Organize your research into sections that make sense to you, but try to include ones for your purpose, target market and competition. These are the main elements your research should include:
7. Put your analysis to work.Once you’ve created a market analysis, it’s time to actually make it work for you. Internally, look for where you can use your research and findings to improve your business. Have you seen other businesses doing things that you’d like to implement in your own organization? Are there ways to make your marketing strategies more effective? If you conducted your analysis for external purposes, organize your research and data into an easily readable and digestible document to make it easier to share with lenders. Retain all of your information and research for your next analysis, and consider making a calendar reminder each year so that you stay on top of your market. Making market analysis easyIf you have the time to conduct a market analysis yourself, go for it – this guide will help. If you don’t have the time, hiring an in-house expert or outsourcing your analysis is often worth the cost. Your analysis will help you figure out who to target and how – and that’s a huge part of business success. How do you evaluate market opportunity?How To Conduct a Market Opportunity Assessment. Identify potential opportunities. Your first step is to lay out the potential opportunities you want to investigate. ... . Understand the customer. ... . Research competitors. ... . Consider external factors. ... . Be aware of internal forces.. What is market screening?1. A process used to evaluate markets according to its compatibility with overall competencies and business objectives of the company.
What is the first step in evaluating marketing opportunities?1. Research your customers and competition. Use market research to analyze your customers and competitors on multiple levels. This will help you evaluate whether the demand for a product/service is real, and whether expanding into a potential new market is worthwhile for your company.
What is the role or important of product screening?Idea screening is a core part of any new product development process. It helps you to vet and evaluate potential ideas using set criteria, data (such as market research) or scoring models. For example, with new ideas you may want to assess them against relevance, constraints, budgets, value, risks, and/or feasibility.
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