Gathering strategic market information can be similar to planning a major journey. Not only is it useful to have an idea of your ideal destination and direction of travel, but it also helps to know which station you are starting out from. Then, regularly checking that you are on schedule along the way, with everything that you require to reach your ultimate goal.   

In more challenging industrial and business to business environments, detailed market information may be hard to come by and companies often lack internal resources to do this themselves. There may be many, or indeed few companies/competitors, with data and facts not widely published, or this may be hidden in numerous reports, accounts and articles, both globally and locally.

There can therefore be a real benefit in working with specialist research expertise to fill gaps in knowledge. This requires interrogation of multiple sources, cross-checking to see if information correlates or contradicts and there may still be some information gaps, requiring a different perspective and creative approach.

Assumptions may have to be challenged and that may also involve 'stopping off' at unexpected places to investigate points of interest, all of which can add value. Providing feedback on findings at key stages also ensures all client team members are on board and enables further directional checking along the way.

The term ‘desk research’ is often penned for this initial process of gathering secondary resources. However, that term can sometimes be misleading, as it doesn't highlight the full detail of what really goes on behind the scenes. Our approach involves a robust iterative process, inevitably requiring targeted discussions with industry experts to sense-check and signpost. That includes product users, suppliers and distribution outlets. These first-hand, memorable conversations, enrich the research and can also spark new ideas and identify new directions.   

With nearly 30 years' experience of gathering, analysing & interpreting market information and presenting it in the form of a customised strategic market report, we would love to discuss how our approach can help to enrich your business & marketing planning. This can really make a difference to your future strategy.

Please feel free to contact us for a no-obligation initial discussion. 

Or, if you want more background, check out the infographic in the resource section of our website, which outlines the process we usually employ for gathering strategic market information.