For any business understanding its target audience is critical, especially for the Small and Medium Enterprises. Traditionally market research has been the manner by which businesses have learnt about their customers and may strategic business calls have been made.
Internet has changed all of it: the customer is online and is empowered
For any business Internet is an imperative today. Every business, large OR small needs to be online. With Social Networking and Web 2.0, Internet has changed the way customers consume products. Buying decisions of consumers are affected by the information which is consumed online. Many companies hence are keeping a close tab on the content that represents them online. Companies are making an informed and updated effort of maintaining a positioned online presence, which is giving a lot of emphasis to content.
So how do I go about it: is there any tool: Google Trends
Google Trends simply is an online tool provided by one of the largest search engine's globally: Google. What it simply does is helps you compare the interest of the target audience to a particular product/ brand online. Lets say if you are a CRM product, you will be able to see how many people globally are searching for "CRM" as a term; which geographies of the world are they from and what languages do they speak.
How powerful an information would it be for your brand if you were able to know how frequently your topics have appeared in Google News stories, and in which geographic regions people have searched for them most. Google Trends helps you do just that and that too in no time!
Okay, how do I find Google Trends?
No need to roam around, either Google it, or click this link: http://www.google.com/trends
Now the actual stuff: How does it work for my business?
Before we explain it, lets understand that the information which Google trends provides, is the information which Google as a search engine is maintaining globally.
Google Trends analyzes a portion of Google web searches to compute how many searches have been done for the terms you enter, relative to the total number of searches done on Google over time.
Internet has changed all of it: the customer is online and is empowered
For any business Internet is an imperative today. Every business, large OR small needs to be online. With Social Networking and Web 2.0, Internet has changed the way customers consume products. Buying decisions of consumers are affected by the information which is consumed online. Many companies hence are keeping a close tab on the content that represents them online. Companies are making an informed and updated effort of maintaining a positioned online presence, which is giving a lot of emphasis to content.
So how do I go about it: is there any tool: Google Trends
Google Trends simply is an online tool provided by one of the largest search engine's globally: Google. What it simply does is helps you compare the interest of the target audience to a particular product/ brand online. Lets say if you are a CRM product, you will be able to see how many people globally are searching for "CRM" as a term; which geographies of the world are they from and what languages do they speak.
How powerful an information would it be for your brand if you were able to know how frequently your topics have appeared in Google News stories, and in which geographic regions people have searched for them most. Google Trends helps you do just that and that too in no time!
Okay, how do I find Google Trends?
No need to roam around, either Google it, or click this link: http://www.google.com/trends
Now the actual stuff: How does it work for my business?
Before we explain it, lets understand that the information which Google trends provides, is the information which Google as a search engine is maintaining globally.
Google Trends analyzes a portion of Google web searches to compute how many searches have been done for the terms you enter, relative to the total number of searches done on Google over time.
The Usage:
Just the way you have been using Google search, Google Trends appears as a simple version of the search only, with a major difference, which is it asks you to enter multiple search keywords which you would want to compare in terms of their trends globally or in your region.
Simply type in the keywords which you would want to compare separated by a Comma on the Trends box and press Search and Google will show you a comparison chart (graph) which consists of Global information by default. You can further categorize this information, with respect to your region.
And how accurate is the information?
Who better than Google to answer this question: "The data Trends produces may contain inaccuracies for a number of reasons, including data-sampling issues and a variety of approximations that are used to compute results. We hope you find this service interesting and entertaining, but you probably wouldn’t want to write your Ph.D. dissertation based on the information provided by Trends.
The information provided by Trends is updated daily, and Hot Searches is updated hourly."
Great, and can I export this data on my computer?
Yes! You can, as a .csv file. All you need to do for the same is: Click Export this page to a CSV file at the bottom of the page.
Lets get setting with an example: two of the similar products, rival brands as such: Pepsi and Coca Cola. A simple Google Trends search will provide global information which can help decide in terms of information from the relevant target audience.
How does it help SMEs?
For SMEs, Google Trends is a powerful online tool. Market research is one area where not many SMEs will have allocated budgets for and as consumerism is shifting online, understanding the online trends and behaviors of the relevant target audience is critical. With such powerful information provided by Google and that too at no cost, Google Trends enables the SMEs with critical information about customer trends.
Great, I need some more information, who do I contact?
Drop in a comment to this post and experts from the IndiaMART Knowledge Services team will get in touch with you.
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