OCTOBER 11, 2016

Every business has a goal. It could be short-term like increasing awareness on the launch of its new products or long-term like capturing the top spot in a given market. This requires careful strategic planning, which is aimed at creating a comprehensive plan for a fixed goal.

Once you have the strategic plan, you can start building tactics to achieve these. For instance, if your strategy is to increase your overall sales, your tactic may be to offer special discounts. But this requires relevant data. Tactical research is aimed at providing just that.

Tactical research

In simple layman terms, tactical research is the research into specific tactics. This is information on market, users, competitors and the other elements that influences every business plan. If tactics are the building blocks of a successful campaign, then Tactical Research is the legwork that gives us the in-depth knowledge of our plans.

But, why do you need it? Why not just go with the plan and plunge headlong? The obvious answer is that it would be foolish to do so.

Comparing tactics: A good planner will have a best option and a number of alternatives lined up. But what makes one plan better than the other? Research is the only means of comparing the pros and cons of each tactic, its likelihood of success and acceptance in the market.

Knowing your market: Tactical research helps you to understand the basics of implementing a strategy — which marketing channels to use, the consumer psyche, the competition and so on. In the process it gives us a deeper understanding of the market.

Improving on faults: Most of the time Tactical Research is undertaken to run tests on different tactics. The main aim is to find faults, hidden tripping points in the plan. This will eventually help us to improve and hone the strategy.