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:

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

Step 3: Analyze and Synthesize

Create a structured report:

Market overview: Size, growth, trends
Competitive landscape: Key players, positioning, strengths/weaknesses
Customer profile: Demographics, pain points, buying behavior
Opportunity assessment: Gaps, underserved segments, trends
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)