Before developing marketing strategies and tactics it is essential to conduct market research to identify and verify the most promising market opportunities. Spending time on market research minimises risk and will improve your chances of success.

Consider:

• who your customer is
• how they perceive your product/service
• benefits to customers
• features most valued by customers
• lifecycle of the product/service and the risk of substitution.

Then consider the impact on the business of:

• location of the main market
• size of the market (is it growing or shrinking?)
• characteristics of the market (gender, aspirations, propensity to spend)
• changing social trends and attitudes
• technology developments and emergence of substitutes.