Marketing strategies should be designed based on the profile of your target market. Specifically, you need to know your market's demographics, characteristics, income and spending ability, in addition to the size of your projected target. Market research will help you learn more about your target before you spend time or money developing strategies that might or might not work. The information you gather from your research should be written into a report that you will use for future reference, as will potential funding sources. Whether you conduct the research or hire a consultant to do so, the resulting report can be a useful source of information in developing your full marketing plan.

Step 1

Gather the data you have culled from market research efforts. Compile survey results, review data pulled from available sources for demographics and examine the statistics that will tell you the size of your target market. Analyze the information to determine the profile of your target market.

Step 2

Write the front matter of your report, which will include a summary of the market research process and the results you have analyzed. Prepare an introduction that provides a brief overview of your business and the reason you conducted the market research. For example, you might have been gauging the feasibility of a new business idea or gathering data to aid you in developing your marketing strategies.

Step 3

List your research methods in the next section of your report. If you conducted surveys, specify the number of surveys, the percentage of responses, the method used to conduct the survey, the types of people or businesses surveyed and the questions included in the survey. Identify the resources for demographic information, such as census data.

Step 4

Create tables, graphs or matrices showing the results of the research. Include this information in the next section of your report, accompanied by a narrative explanation of the tabulated data. Detail the conclusions you have reached based on this data. The high-level summary of these conclusions will be included in your front matter.

Step 5

Conclude your report with a section that lists recommendations based on the research results. For example, you might have found that your target market prefers virtual communication methods, which might lead you to determine that your marketing should be primarily conducted via digital technology methods, such as social media and other online sites. Your research can also help you slant your marketing message to match certain characteristics of your target. For example, your potential customers might value quality over price, in which case, you would stress your product or service's high level of quality.