Test Market Focus Groups and Depth Interviews – Learn Before You Launch

Learn from a test market.

Customers, or lack of them, decide your product success or failure in the market.

Before you launch a new product or service in the commercial market, you need to understand customer behaviors and attitudes towards your new product.

In a test market, or market test, you study people who use products and services. You study product users. How they use it, why the use it, and problems with use.

A market test is a roll-out of a product in a limited number of markets. What it reveals is how people use your new product and what they think about it. In short, a market test reveals consumer behavior and attitudes, producing valuable insights.

You use consumer insights to refine your new product, advertising, and marketing programs.

Effective Qualitative Marketing Research

Market test focus groups or depth interviews are some of the most effective marketing research tools available.

A market test examines reality. It is as close to reality as you can get, before a commercial launch of a new product. A market test highlights correct and faulty product and marketing assumptions.

Often, practical insights come from people who use products at home, work, or play.

It is powerful information. Product interviews find out how and why people use products. And, they examine users’ satisfaction and problems with products.

Product users are experts about products they use, regardless of economic, social, or educational status.

Learn from Mistakes

The marketing gurus tell us 9 of 10 new consumer products eventually fail in the market. So, you want to learn as much as you can in a test. You learn and improve from mistakes.

The sooner you fail, the sooner you’ll be successful…as long as you learn from mistakes.

Use focus groups and depth interviews in market tests. It’s valuable research.

Accept mistakes, learn from mistakes, improve, and then succeed.

Here are some tips to study product users.



Return to Product Development from test market
Return to Home Page

Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape