Market Research Tools

For the Google Online Marketing Challenge, it is crucial to be able to conduct research. Some useful tools that Google itself provides are Global Market Finder, Think with Google and Google Trends. I had never heard of these tools before this assignment, so trying to find out what they are, and what I could use them for, was a bit of a challenge. However, I did manage to discover a few things that hopefully will be useful for the GOMC.

The Global Market Finder proved to be the most difficult to grasp at first, maybe because it is the most advanced form of research, at least for me. The Finder lets the user type in keywords for an AdWord campaign and see where in the world they would create the best opportunities. It uses a combination of Google's other services to create an Opportunity Score for each market, which helps the user to identify which market & country would be ideal for their business.

While the Global Market Finder is better for more advanced businesses, Think with Google and Google Trends are more helpful for aspiring entrepreneurs and new businesses. Think with Google helps you to get advertisement, consumer surveys and other platforms to expand your business, and Google Trends is a great way to find out what the world is talking about right now. It can show you potential competitors and issues that interest consumers, like (for example) the picture below illustrates the most popular searches of 2014 in the United States.

Retrieved from Google Trends

What I learned from these research tools is that there is so much more to Google than just google.com. It is truly fascinating how much information one can find if they just look at different sources and think creatively. Overall, I believe that these tools will become handy in the GOMC, when we become more involved in actually making the AdWord ads for clients.