Market Research Skill

Purpose

Conduct thorough market research to identify opportunities, understand competition, and inform business decisions.

When to Use

• Evaluating a new market or niche
• Researching competitors
• Identifying customer pain points
• Validating a business idea
• Preparing for sales outreach

How It Works

Step 1: Define Research Questions

What do you need to know?

• Market size and growth rate
• Key competitors and their positioning
• Customer demographics and pain points
• Pricing benchmarks
• Trends and opportunities

Step 2: Gather Data

Sources to check:

1. Industry reports: IBISWorld, Statista, Gartner
2. Competitor websites: Products, pricing, positioning
3. Reviews: G2, Trustpilot, Reddit, forums
4. Social media: LinkedIn, Twitter, industry groups
5. Job postings: Indeed, LinkedIn (reveals company priorities)
6. Financial data: Crunchbase, SEC filings, press releases

Step 3: Analyze and Synthesize

Create a structured report:

1. Market overview: Size, growth, trends
2. Competitive landscape: Key players, positioning, strengths/weaknesses
3. Customer profile: Demographics, pain points, buying behavior
4. Opportunity assessment: Gaps, underserved segments, trends
5. Recommendations: Actionable next steps

Output Format

# Market Research Report: [Industry/Niche]

## Executive Summary
[2-3 sentence overview of key findings]

## Market Overview
- **Size**: $[X]B
- **Growth**: [X]% CAGR
- **Trends**: [Key trends]

## Competitive Landscape
| Competitor | Positioning | Strengths | Weaknesses | Price Range |
|------------|-------------|-----------|------------|-------------|
| [Name] | [Description] | [List] | [List] | $[X-$Y] |

## Customer Profile
- **Demographics**: [Age, location, income]
- **Pain points**: [List]
- **Buying behavior**: [Description]

## Opportunities
1. [Opportunity 1]
2. [Opportunity 2]
3. [Opportunity 3]

## Recommendations
1. [Actionable recommendation]
2. [Actionable recommendation]

Tips

• Start with Google searches for "[industry] market size 2026"
• Check Reddit for unfiltered customer opinions
• Look at job postings to understand company priorities
• Use the "similar sites" tool to find competitors
• Check review sites for common complaints (opportunities)