Technology Marketing Research in Business - Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The TechnologyOn Marketing Research In Business? Answer: Introduction Marketing research style has been changed drastically in last few decades. In the early 80s, marketing research used to be done by visiting to customers homes. Sales agents in those days had used basic phones to interact with the target customers. However, the system of marketing research and the maintenance of database have drastically changed over the last few years. This has happened because of various factors of which technology has played its major role in bringing advancement in the style of market research. Of all such technologies, various social media platforms, ERP and CRM are the most popular (Babin and Zikmund 2015). Social media platforms have redefined the marketing research strategies, which the different firms have used to their perfection to take benefits of the opportunities (De Vries, Gensler and Leeflang 2012). However, some technologies are very costlier, which makes this unaffordable for Small and Medium sized companies across the globe. The main purpose of this assignment is to encourage the ResMarket Pty for purchasing the technology, which is preventing them from getting competitive advantage in the market. Traditional market research style The traditional market research style was limited only to visiting to the customers house, calling them from basic phones, advertising on newspapers etc. It was very difficult in those days to maintain the database of customers as sales agents had no such technology, which could securely store all the data. Searching the valuable data of customers during such times was a time consuming for the sales agents (Laurent, Lilien and Pras 2012). Importance of technology in marketing research Technology has redefined the marketing research in nowadays. The growing use of various social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn etc. have made things comparatively easier for the marketing personnel (Khang, Ki and Ye 2012). They can now understand the market competition and the current market trend for a particular and a target market segment with just a use of various mentioned social media platforms. This helps them reduce error in identifying the potential customers. This has also enabled different firms across the globe to maintain a database of their interacted customers. This is very useful in preparing the future strategies to enhance the sales performance of a firm (Sigala, Christou and Gretzel 2012). Apart from social media platforms, different technologies are also there that helps a lot while conducting a marketing research. Such technologies are CRM, ERP etc. However, these software are very expensive, which is why these software are not feasib le to the budget capacity of a firm. The use of technology in tracking the sales performance has made things very handful for the sales team because they can now automate various tasks related to sales such as contact management and sales forecast (Liu, Liu and Xu 2013). Few types of technologies used in contemporary research Some technologies are in huge demand for maintaining the database by the sales department. These technologies are ERP and CRM. However, these technologies are extremely expensive and not feasible to many smaller firms. These technologies are best suited to multinational or reputed companies. ERP is such software that has solutions to many requirements of firms. It can provide solutions to various requirements such as CRM, e-Commerce, Sales, Human Resource, Accounting etc. It is very much feasible to such organisations those which can invest much on purchasing such software. CRM software has enhanced the marketing research capabilities of marketing team. Apart from ERP, various other software offer CRM service such as Salesforce, Insightly, Zoho CRM and HubSpot (Bloom et al. 2014). Suggested technology for ResMarket Pty Salesforce would be the highly recommended software for the ResMarket Pty Company. This is expensive as well; however, it is also available in affordable prices. The cheaper version of Salesforce is suitable to smaller firms. This is recommended for the chosen company because it offers a robust solution for various sales and marketing related activities. This is indeed very important for conducting an efficient and time saving research on the market. It has various features such as lead generation, sales forecasting, contact management, workflow computerization. Lead generation would help the company in prioritising the leads based on previous interactions. This would communicate the potentiality of customers, which is very important to know because companies prioritise thins for their potential clients. Contact management is another very important application of the Salesforce software, which would help to manage different contacts of clients. This is very important to serve the bes t services to the premium clients of the company. Sales forecasting is probably one of the most influencing use of the Salesforce, which lets the sales team know the future potentiality of the company. The previous track of sales would help to make a sales forecast, which is useful while introducing a new product in the market. Workflow computerisation is another asset, which indicates an automated workflow. This is indeed very important while planning a marketing research work. This helps to guide the process, which is needed to follow while conducting a marketing research (Goodey 2015). Conclusion ResMarket Pty Company should invest a little amount in purchasing the recommended Salesforce software, which is designed for smaller companies. This would enhance their competitiveness in the market. They are research firms that conduct market research. They have also identified the potentialities of different technologies and social media platforms for enhancing the competitiveness of the firm. However, they have not so far considered the implementation of technologies, which could have bettered their existing searching capabilities. The learner has suggested the use of Salesforce of smaller firm version. The suggestion was made because Salesforce has varied components in it, which is necessary to conduct marketing research activities and to reduce its error. Salesforce makes forecasting of sales, which is very handful in planning the sales plan for future product. Apart from sales forecasting, the suggested technology would also establish a robust coordination between the sales tea m and the firm. The stored data in the Salesforce would help the company get more information that is explicit in their future marketing research. References Babin, B.J. and Zikmund, W.G., 2015.Exploring marketing research. Cengage Learning. Bloom, N., Garicano, L., Sadun, R. and Van Reenen, J., 2014. The distinct effects of information technology management and communication technology on firm organization.Management Science,60(12), pp.2859-2885. De Vries, L., Gensler, S. and Leeflang, P.S., 2012. Popularity of brand posts on brand fan pages: An investigation of the effects of social media marketing.Journal of interactive marketing,26(2), pp.83-91. Goodey, P., 2015.Salesforce CRMThe Definitive Admin Handbook. Packt Publishing Ltd. Khang, H., Ki, E.J. and Ye, L., 2012. Social media research in advertising, communication, marketing, and public relations, 19972010.Journalism Mass Communication Quarterly,89(2), pp.279-298. Laurent, G., Lilien, G.L. and Pras, B. eds., 2012.Research traditions inAccounting (Vol. 5). Springer Science Business Media. Liu, A.Z., Liu, H. and Xu, S.X., 2013. How do competitive environments moderate CRM value?.Decision Support Systems,56, pp.462-473. Sigala, M., Christou, E. and Gretzel, U. eds., 2012.Social media in travel, tourism and hospitality: Theory, practice and cases. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd..