When a company brings a new product or service to the market, before it is put up for sale, a market test is carried out, also called a market test. It involves a series of tests with which they assess whether the product is really suitable at that moment.
But What does a market test really involve? What is it for? How reliable is it? All this is what we are going to talk to you about below. Shall we start?
What is a market test
As we have told you before, a market test, or market test, is a marketing tool that helps companies, or rather the specific sectors focused on the creation of that product, to knowing if the product or service is viable and if it will really have an audience to target, if they will buy it, etc.
To carry it out it is necessary to have a group of people who will represent the market segment of that product. For example, in the case of an anti-dandruff shampoo, the market group could be men and women who are concerned about the health of their hair, who have dandruff and have tried other products, etc.
The market test It is usually always carried out before launching the product or service because data is obtained that can help improve the product even before it comes out. But it may also be the case that the market test is carried out after the product reaches the stores. When this is done, the objective is to obtain feedback on the product with more realistic data since people can already touch and try that product and this results in more reliable data.
Characteristics of a market test
When carrying out a market test there are a series of characteristics that make up this test. They are between them:
- The ability to identify consumer needs. From the group you have to find out what needs they have based on that product or service that is presented to them.
- The campaign budget. More indirectly, the group's questions and answers can help them know if they should allocate more or less budget in the campaign for the article.
- Marketing channels. That is, where that product or service is going to be sold.
- The correct price of the product. It is one of the common questions asked of this group because it helps a lot to know how much they might be willing to pay for that product itself. This will also help you know what the sales will be.
In some cases, These groups are allowed to try the product before anyone else so that they can give their feedback. and so you can know if something needs to be improved before it finally reaches the market.
For example, Amazon, at the time, chose a small group of people in Spain to test the Alexa device. For a few months these people had access to what this tool was, being able to communicate with it, collecting accents, forms of expression, etc. In other words, helping her understand. Of course, they had to give feedback and also warn of possible errors that the device made. Thus, in the end the product that was launched on the market was not the same as the one they had, because it was improved (an update eliminated the problem) and they were able to keep those products that would be the first edition of the devices.
Market test vs product test
We must stop for a moment because Sometimes two terms are confused: market testing and product testing. The latter is used to test a product, to see if it satisfies customers, if they will like it, etc.
On the other hand, the market test goes further, because what it evaluates is not whether the product or service is liked, but how consumers will behave.
In the example we have given you, the Alexa product test would be a product test; But the behavior that this group of people had when using the product was a market test since it told Amazon if the product was really going to satisfy the customer, not in terms of practicality or usefulness, but how they would feel having a « “smart machine” at your side.
How a market test is carried out
A market test does not have defined and fixed phases. Depending on the company, the product or service, the need, group, budget... the phases are created in a personalized way.
But as a guide, we can tell you that there are several points to take into account that are almost always present in all tests. These are:
- Establishment of objectives. To know the reason for carrying out this market test. For example, wanting to know if a product will be accepted, identifying problems...
- Group election. It is necessary to determine the type of test group that will face this test. To do this, you have to know the target audience of that product to make a diverse group but related to the characteristics and what the company wants to measure.
- Implement the test. The test is normally carried out by subjecting the group to different tests, among which are the tests of the products, their comparison with others... A final evaluation will be obtained from this.
- Analyze the information. The last phase would be the analysis of all the information obtained from the group's data collection techniques. This can be used to improve the product, to launch it definitively or, also, to discard it because it is not going to be something that works.
Now you know more about market testing and this tool can help you know if what you want to put up for sale is going to work or not. Not all companies carry it out because it represents an expense that, sometimes, cannot be covered. But very valuable information is obtained to put something on the market that has a greater probability of success.