Free Marketing Research Plan Essay Sample

Problem definition

Liberty Tax Service® has been experiencing a decrease in the sales and market share for its services. The services offered by the company to individual customers and businesses have been on the decline with a representation of 5% each year. The marketing strategies that a company uses determine if it will gain advantage over other firms in the same industry. The dream of every company is to retain its market share even if there are new entrants in the industry. Marketing strategies are used by any firm to ensure that it attracts more prospective customers. The objective of this plan is to help Liberty Tax Services retains attracts customers back into the firm and eliminate the 5% annual drop in market share. The decrease in the market share can be due to new firms that have been a source of competition.

Information needs

Information is an important asset that can be used by a firm in making of crucial decisions that would ensure the success of a firm. The company market share has been on the decrease due to the reduction of the customers and business firms who come to the firm for consultation purposes. The service that the company offers is on the issues of tax consultation. The taxes that the business and individuals pay to the relevant authority needs to be determined, and that is the goal of the firm. The primary customers that the company targets are all business and individuals based in New York, who need to file their returns with the tax authority. The identification of the target customer will help in selecting the necessary marketing strategies that would ensure that the firm achieves its target.

Research objectives

The purpose of this plan is to help the firm to develop marketing strategies that will help the company to retain and attract the customers. The customer relationship marketing, marketing mix, and marketing strategies should focus on the issues currently facing the firm. When a firm needs to succeed in the current dynamic business world, it must be able to understand its customers and the prospective customers who are vital to the success of the firm. Attracting the customers into a business is the hardest task that a firm can have but losing them is an easy thing. The objective of this plan is to develop a plan that will ensure that the customers of the firm are loyal as well as attracting more prospective customers to the business.

Type of study

The study will concentrate on how to segment the market such that it will be easy for the firm to market its services. The target of the company is customers, which require its services, and they range from individuals to businesses, and that is the area of study that the plan will concentrate on. The value and expectations of the customers in terms of pricing of services will be of importance in this study. The setting of effective strategies will only be possible if the firm is aware of the expectations of the customers. The study will be done on customers who are clients of the firm as well as other customers who will be free to take part in filling the questionnaires.

Test instrument

The marketing department intends to roll-out a sample test of the plan a month before the actual program is implemented. The research plan will help identify the loopholes with the plan that can be rectified before the actual roll out of the master plan. The master plan will consist of the changes done due to information received from the sample program. The idea of having the sample is to ensure that we analyze the information derived from it and decide if it will exactly help the firm in achieving its desired goals. Evaluation of the results arrived at will help in determining if the methods used by the company will achieve the marketing goals desired. Testing the plan is essential in determining what to include and what not to include in the final plan.

Analysis plan

The analysis of the data will make use of the SWOT analysis. The results arrived at by use of this analysis will be used in determining the measures to be taken to ensure the firm achieves its goals. The analysis will also include the factors that are micro and macro within the business that have led to the low performance of the com. When the two methods of analysis are implemented, the firm will be on an upper hand not only to attract customers but ensure they retain them within the firm.

Data collection

The collection of data will be through interviews, questionnaires, and observation. The interviews will be conducted in all the market segments where the firm will request the customers to offer an appointment. The appointment will provide a chance for researchers to get the necessary information from the clients. The questionnaires will mostly target the individual customers who do not have the time to undertake an interview. The businesses can also be provided with questionnaires but on extreme conditions where they have refused to cooperate with the interview process. Observation will act as a source of data since the company will have to observe how its best competitors are undertaking their services. This source of information is essential since it will help the firm in developing better service delivery mechanism to its customers. The secondary source of data will include peer-reviewed articles, books and journal that will help in understanding the best practices in the service industry when it comes to customer relationship marketing.

Analysis

The data received from the data collection methods will be analyzed and evaluated by use of data visualization or even business intelligence. The methods will help in discovering the essential information that can be utilized to the best advantage of the company. The method should be able to provide the information or knowledge that can be used by the firm to set the necessary marketing strategies. Since each market segment is different, the data received will be analyzed differently to ensure that a solution is arrived at for each of the segments that have been identified. Each segment will constitute its strategies due to the nature of the clients in consideration.

Conclusion

The primary aim of a market plan is to ensure that a firm achieves it desired goals in a stipulated period. The business will only succeed if it develops the necessary marketing strategies that will ensure that its market share is maintained or improved on. When setting strategies, a firm has to consider the appropriate situations to ensure that it sets the necessary strategies that will propel the company to achieving its goals. The information on the situation can only be acquired through market research that includes the collection of data.

Reporting

The information gained from the research on each market segment will not be useful unless it is implemented by the necessary authority. The authority will only receive actions or strategies from the top management who have the obligation to set strategies. The report will be presented to the top management for the necessary actions to be taken. The management will consider the requirements of the report and the required resources and determine the appropriate actions to be taken by the various respective managers.

References

Hutt, M. D., & Speh, T. W. (2013). Business marketing management: B2B. Australia: South-Western, Cengage Learning.
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2012). Marketing management. Harlow: Pearson Education.
Winer, R. S. & Dhar, R. (2011). Marketing Management (4th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.