The Essential Writer"s Market Research - Part One - What Is It?
'Market research'.
The first time I heard the phrase, I couldn't see how it had anything to do with writing.
It sounded more of a retailers' tool than something a writer could use.
Note: While this article deals more with non-fiction articles, it can be applied to other forms of writing.
Look up the phrase online, and you'll get an enormous list of hits.
The briefest definition I found is: 'Market research is any organized effort to gather information about target markets or customers.
' (Thanks Wikipedia).
Amuch more thorough explanation, which can be adapted to writing, is from 'Entrepreneur': Definition: The process of gathering, analyzing and interpreting information about a market, about a product or service to be offered for sale in that market, and about the past, present and potential customers for the product or service; research into the characteristics, spending habits, location and needs of your business's target market, the industry as a whole, and the particular competitors you face.
However, although thorough, it still doesn't show the distinctive market research writers need to do.
First of all - This is my quick summary of market research for writers: 'Study a potential publication to determine its individual characteristics.
' The point of doing this research is to help you decide if your ideas and style will be a good fit for those of the publisher.
This is a very important point, because it points to the whole reason why you would target this particular market.
I'll now adapt Entrepreneur's definition to create my own, using bullet points to break it down more clearly.
Market research is the process of studying a publication to find out: ·What is it about? You can obviously determine its general subject area by looking at the cover - but, without study, you are less unlikely to notice how it may specialize within that subject area.
·What makes this publication unique? This may be a particular product or service offered, a combination of subjects (such as gardening and cooking), or a definite slant on issues.
·What readership is this publication directed toward? This includes obvious things like locality, gender and age, and particular interests.
·What level of reading ability is this publication aiming at? ·How does this publication sell itself? How is it presented, in order to appeal to buyers? Is it gaudy? Does it rely on trite titles? What is the quality of the photographs? How much advertising does it use, and which customers is the advertising mostly directed towards? ·Does it appear to be open to freelance writing, or more likely to be written entirely by its own staff? If you know why you need to do market research, your efforts are more likely to be on target and useful.
The first time I heard the phrase, I couldn't see how it had anything to do with writing.
It sounded more of a retailers' tool than something a writer could use.
Note: While this article deals more with non-fiction articles, it can be applied to other forms of writing.
Look up the phrase online, and you'll get an enormous list of hits.
The briefest definition I found is: 'Market research is any organized effort to gather information about target markets or customers.
' (Thanks Wikipedia).
Amuch more thorough explanation, which can be adapted to writing, is from 'Entrepreneur': Definition: The process of gathering, analyzing and interpreting information about a market, about a product or service to be offered for sale in that market, and about the past, present and potential customers for the product or service; research into the characteristics, spending habits, location and needs of your business's target market, the industry as a whole, and the particular competitors you face.
However, although thorough, it still doesn't show the distinctive market research writers need to do.
First of all - This is my quick summary of market research for writers: 'Study a potential publication to determine its individual characteristics.
' The point of doing this research is to help you decide if your ideas and style will be a good fit for those of the publisher.
This is a very important point, because it points to the whole reason why you would target this particular market.
I'll now adapt Entrepreneur's definition to create my own, using bullet points to break it down more clearly.
Market research is the process of studying a publication to find out: ·What is it about? You can obviously determine its general subject area by looking at the cover - but, without study, you are less unlikely to notice how it may specialize within that subject area.
·What makes this publication unique? This may be a particular product or service offered, a combination of subjects (such as gardening and cooking), or a definite slant on issues.
·What readership is this publication directed toward? This includes obvious things like locality, gender and age, and particular interests.
·What level of reading ability is this publication aiming at? ·How does this publication sell itself? How is it presented, in order to appeal to buyers? Is it gaudy? Does it rely on trite titles? What is the quality of the photographs? How much advertising does it use, and which customers is the advertising mostly directed towards? ·Does it appear to be open to freelance writing, or more likely to be written entirely by its own staff? If you know why you need to do market research, your efforts are more likely to be on target and useful.
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