Market research is one of the most powerful tools in your tool box. Rather like the hammer of the online world, market research allows you to wedge apart the obstacles in the way to your sales efforts and hammer home the truth about what your customers really want. Without tons of market research, your best bet will be to simply shotgun out a generic sales letter and hope that it reaches enough people to keep your doors open.

When you first start to think about your market research, keep one idea in mind. You do not speak to everyone in the same way. Seriously, would you speak to a three-year-old child in the same way you’d speak to your spouse? Unless you have a very peculiar way, the answer would likely be no. So when you break out the online surveys and begin to ask “the people” what they want, you’d better be prepared for a shock. Sometimes you’ll be absolutely bent on conducting an entire campaign with one set of assumptions in place and then you’ll find out how ridiculous those assumptions really are when applied to the nature of who you want to market to.

Marketing is a lot like fishing. While you might like marshmallows or steaks, fish generally aren’t interested in those kinds of foods. While worms might be good, most humans aren’t into testing that theory. The good fishermen just trust that the fish like them, and reel in what their bait attracts. While worms might not be the best marketing fodder, you do need to figure out what your target customers will bite onto, and give it to them.