Often, businesses spend a huge sum of money on marketing. It is only logical to find out if the outcome is worth all the spending. The endpoint of any marketing effort and investment is to attract prospects and eventually convert those prospects to customers and clients. The starting point of creating a marketing report should be an evaluation of marketing efforts.

Think of the Reason for Market Research

Consider the information you really need. Also, ask yourself what you will use the report for. You need to invest time and money into this exercise. Therefore, be sure of the need you have for the marketing report before you start investing in it. So, in carrying out your market research, you should determine whether or not your marketing efforts attracted the interest and attention of prospects. Also, find out if a reasonable number of those prospects are converting to customers.

Find Out Who Your Actual Customers are

You cannot identify the problem or need of your customers without first finding out who these customers are. This audience comprises of those who have a need for your product and/or service – they are the ones you are trying to reach with your marketing message and campaigns. These people are the most likely to patronize your business and may be of a certain age, gender, interest group, or profession.

Assess Your Customers’ Needs or Problems

Consumers are drawn to certain products because they have a need or problem they want to address with the product or service. You can engage your industry knowledge and customer surveys to find out what the need and problems of your target audience are.

For instance, a survey may show that prospects find their tablets and smartphones useless when the batteries are dead and they can’t assess a source of power at the moment. In this case, if you offer power storage devices, you can find a way of making the device accessible at locations where people are not likely to find any source of power. So, the need and problem of the prospects in this scenario is being able to keep their devices’ batteries alive so that they can take photos, work, or do other things with their electronic devices.

Provide Details on the Solution You Have for a Customer’s Problem

Sit back and ponder on the route you adopted to respond to the need or problems of your customers. Why did you think of that approach to the solution? Why did you view the problem the way you did? What are the features and specific functions of your product/solution?

Also, you should find out to what extent your product provided a solution to the customer’s problem. Is it a partial or complete solution? Was the customer very satisfied? If there are no meaningful repeat patronages, it could be that your product or service did not fully address the customer’s problem. So, the report should also proffer the way out of this dilemma.

Finally, while evaluating your marketing efforts in preparation for a market report, you should also determine your competitive advantages.

Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee. The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, Beyond Marketing Live! Inspires entrepreneurs to build & grow their business with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyle of their dreams.