Market Research (YODA)
There are five main points inside our YODA (Your Own Data) process.
Five Main Points:
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Broad Marketplace
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Competition
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Distance
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Your Advantage
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Rinse & Repeat (YODA)
Broad Marketplace
While there are many efficient tools that can help you gather data, we recommend Google Ads. This is both accurate and very accessible, making it a great place to start. You can get started by:
Set up a Google Ads account
Select Keyword Research
Select Discover New Keywords
First, begin typing in the keywords and phrases you believe would be successful for your product or service. You may then find prompts you may find helpful, which is like taking free advice from a smart friend.
This will also help you identify how much competition you may have in your space, competing for the same customers and dollars.
Competition
A common mistake is overlooking or ignoring your competition. Some feel intimidated and don’t want to be overwhelmed by actually knowing what they’re up against. In reality, this is an enormous opportunity to identify potential weaknesses or places you can excel as you create and position your products and services.
We recommend doing a search using the keywords you have just gathered and add your specific location to the end of your search.
For example, instead of just searching “24-hour residential plumbers” try searching “24 hour plumbers in Dallas, TX”.
This will produce a list of 24-hour residential plumbing services in the Dallas, TX area and gives you insight on the landscape of your competition.
Ask yourself: What are they doing that makes them successful? What advantages might I have over them? How can I stand apart from these other options?
Maps
Where do you sit geographically in comparison to your competition? What factors could give you an advantage? Is there a bridge or body of water that funnels traffic a certain way? Are there areas of the city to avoid for safety reasons? Is there central or strategic places that could pay off from a location perspective? What are your weaknesses? What could be your advantage?
Shopping
Is your product visual? How does your product compare to how your competition is representing the same (or similar) products? What can you learn? What can you do better than your competition is doing now?
Video
What is your competition doing with product video? How are they displaying them? Where are they displaying them? What are they being hosted? What are they doing well that can be replicated, and what can you do better that will bring you an advantage?
Distance
Once you have researched your competition’s keywords and how they are representing their products and services you’re ready to plan out a distance or territory you hope to compete or dominate in. We recommend going into the mapping feature and create a radius around your store. This can always be retracted if you find the distance and competitors has diluted you, and also can be expanded as you begin to see success in your area. You will only know once you start, and there’s no time like the present so let’s go!
Your Advantage
By now you have probably noticed you are not the first to market your product or service. You may not be the most well-known or the cheapest but finding an advantage you can tie back to your products could be the difference in really setting yourself apart or getting forgotten in a sea of mediocrity. Things to consider where you can gain an advantage should include asking yourself:
What is unique about my product or service? Is your pricing structure a strategy for an advantage? Will it be in your customer service? Do you have events?
Make a list of your advantages and potential weaknesses compared to your competitors—and be brutally honest. You can only learn, and eventually win if you know and then capitalize on what you learn.
Remember, you only need one advantage to successfully compete and maybe even dominate in your space. Data doesn’t lie, and even when it hurts it provides an opportunity to learn so you can adjust and progress. One step at a time until you are dominating your marketplace.
Rinse & Repeat YODA Process
Luck isn’t a strategy, a process with continual improvement is. Visit your process and plan often and ask yourself,
How did my plan perform? Where were my assumptions right? Where were my assumptions wrong? Remember, the process is never complete. Trust the process, and press forward being eager to test, identify and the capitalize on the things you learn about your product and service in your area. This is crucial because most others won’t do this, but those who do will have one more advantage in the game. Make it a game, implement new, updated strategies along the way and you’ll greatly increase the odds you will win the game!
