Data form the foundation for decision making and strategy development. Data come from two main sources: that which already exists, say, in a database or warehouse (referred to as secondary data); and that which is collected to address specific questions as with a focus group or survey (often referred to as primary data).
Your default approach to data should be to extract as much information as possible from existing sources. Collecting primary data should only be done when secondary data are unable to provide sufficient confidence in the decisions that need to be made.
Your marketing strategy provides a basis for believing that the goals of a marketing plan will be met. It illustrates how your goals will be met by identifying who your customers are and what it will take to get them to want to do business with us. Thus the four main processes used to create a marketing strategy are described as follows:
Step 1: Defining
Define the potential users by the type of want or "need satisfaction" that you plan to offer. With Business Source Premier you can search broadly for market surveys and conditions. Here you can find "canned" SWOT analyses from Data Monitor on large and mid-size companies. Use LexisNexis Markets and Industry News to search on topics related to groups of industries. Use IBISWorldIndustry Market Research to find industry overviews.
Business Source Premier supplies access to thousands of regional, national, and international scholarly business journals, business periodicals, and industry publications, on topics such as management, economics, finance, accounting, international business and much more. There is full text coverage for a high percentage of the titles. Includes embedded full page images for many of the full text journals. Also has country economic reports from the Economist Intelligence Unit, WEFA, CountryWatch and the Icon Group.
IBIS World Industry Research Reports provides current reports on U.S. industries. Each report consists of 30 to 40 pages of key statistics and analysis on market characteristics, operating conditions, current and forecast performance, major industry participants and more. The Library subscribes only to this section of IBISWorld.
Step 2: Segmenting
Indicate how you might segment this market (state the variables and levels of the variables; keep it simple, 2 variables with 2 levels). Use Business Decision Academic,SRDS Nielsen Segmentation & Market Solutions, or Passport to begin your market segmentation research. Explain your choices and how you expect each segment's perceptions, attitudes or behaviors to differ. It's often important to know the applied technology or scientific elements behind even a consumer product. You can use any of the so-called "science" databases for this. Databases that cut across science, social science, techology, business and medicine are Science Direct, Wiley Interscience, IEEE, and Sage Journals Online.
A search engine for media opportunities and marketing information, that offers rates and contact data for national and/or international magazines, digital media, newspapers, television, radio, direct marketing, and out-of-home businesses; as well as demographic and lifestyle information for counties and metropolitan areas in the U.S.(through Claritas 360).
Euromonitor's online market research tool, formerly called GMID or Global Market Information Database, monitors economic trends and gives strategic analysis, market size, and market share for numerous products across key countries. Passport includes demographic, psychographic, economic and marketing reports, and statistics, which are comparable across countries. It provides country profiles that include economic news and emerging sectors, and integrated data sets that provide historical trends and forecasting numbers. Datasets may be downloaded to Excel.
Provides access to thousands of full-text journal articles and e-books related to science, technology, engineering, medicine, social social sciences, fine arts and humanities.
Virtually all topic areas are included in this large journal and book collection. Full-text is supplied for many titles. This database does not provide a "full text only" search therefore you will sometimes reach books and journals of which you cannot access the entire content. To find the full text, or a way to obtain the resource through the Auraria Library, please search for your book or journal in the Journal List or, for books, the Library catalog, Skyline.
Full text access to hundreds of Sage journals in Business, Humanities, Social Sciences, and Science, Technology and Medicine.
Step 3: Targeting
Identify one segment to target (e.g., those who prefer to drink “real” orange juice as a pick-me-up when out doing fun things). Explain why this segment is important and justify this choice in terms of target’s market attractiveness and the firm’s competitive abilities. Go back to SRDS Nielsen Segmentation & Market Solutions for market segments keyed to major metro, state and city. For very local markets by State, County and City, try Reference USA (Use a Business Custom Search) If your product has a national or international market, start with Passport Global Market Information Database (GMID). A word of caution: GMID won't work for market segments that are smaller than a national level.
If you need statistical support for your decisions, start with the Auraria Library Statistics Guide; then go local, national or international with Colorado By the Numbers, the PEW Research Center or Census and Eurostat. For raw data in aggregate markets useICPSRor Data.gov (Federal Government data).
A search engine for media opportunities and marketing information, that offers rates and contact data for national and/or international magazines, digital media, newspapers, television, radio, direct marketing, and out-of-home businesses; as well as demographic and lifestyle information for counties and metropolitan areas in the U.S.(through Claritas 360).
Euromonitor's online market research tool, formerly called GMID or Global Market Information Database, monitors economic trends and gives strategic analysis, market size, and market share for numerous products across key countries. Passport includes demographic, psychographic, economic and marketing reports, and statistics, which are comparable across countries. It provides country profiles that include economic news and emerging sectors, and integrated data sets that provide historical trends and forecasting numbers. Datasets may be downloaded to Excel.
A "fact tank" that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It does not take positions on policy issues.
European Commission data and forecasts on the European Union as a whole or on separate countries within the Union. Eurostat relies on each country to send in their data, so it is sometimes incomplete. The site includes the Eurostat Yearbook.
The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) maintains and provides access to an archive of social science data for research and instruction, and offers training in quantitative methods to facilitate effective data use. Auraria campus users (faculty, staff, students) must register for a personal ICPSR account from an on-campus, networked computer (or a VPN connection) to be able to download data.
Data.gov increases the ability of the public to easily find, download, and use datasets that are generated and held by the Federal Government.
Step 4: Positioning
Define your intended position, that is, how you want those in the targeted market segment to think about your offering relative to those of your competitors. Use Business Decision Academic, or IBISWorld Market Industry Research or Social Explorer Professional. With IBISWorld search industries by keyword, company or NAICS Code. With Social Explorer Professional research your market demographics based on the 2010 US Federal Census.
Identify the attributes of the product category and state which are the determinant attributes for this market segment. To fully understand the attributes of your product, you may need to go back again to the applied technology, engineering or science behind your product. For this try ACM Digital Library, IEEEXplore, Science Direct, Engineering Village. which cover not only the technology but the human factors engineering for many products.
IBIS World Industry Research Reports provides current reports on U.S. industries. Each report consists of 30 to 40 pages of key statistics and analysis on market characteristics, operating conditions, current and forecast performance, major industry participants and more. The Library subscribes only to this section of IBISWorld.
Create and save demographic maps and reports down to the U.S. neighborhood and street level using U.S. census data, the American Community Survey, and the Religious Congregations and Membership Study. Visually analyze and understand demography and social change throughout U.S. history. Also useful in developing an understanding of the census data is an e-book on the history of the census, Measuring America : the decennial censuses from 1790 to 2000.Tip: Start with the maps and tables.
Provides access to bibliographic information, abstracts, reviews, and full text articles published in ACM journals, transactions and conference proceedings since the founding of ACM in 1947, together with selected works published by affiliated organizations.
Computer Info Systems and Computer Science, Physics and Astronomy, Hardware, Computer systems organization, Networks, Mathematics of computing, Information systems, Human-centered computing, Computing methodologies, Applied computing, math, Accessibility and Computing, Ada Programming Language, Algorithms & Computation Theory, Applied Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Computer Architecture, Computer Graphics, Computer Science Education, Computer-Human Interaction, Computers and Society
Business Source Premier supplies access to thousands of regional, national, and international scholarly business journals, business periodicals, and industry publications, on topics such as management, economics, finance, accounting, international business and much more. There is full text coverage for a high percentage of the titles. Includes embedded full page images for many of the full text journals. Also has country economic reports from the Economist Intelligence Unit, WEFA, CountryWatch and the Icon Group.
Provides access to thousands of full-text journal articles and e-books related to science, technology, engineering, medicine, social social sciences, fine arts and humanities.
