MARKET RESEARCH/ SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Vidvision
For the Fall 2017 term, I was assigned by Michigan Advertising and Marketing (MAM) to consult the Boston-based startup Vidvision. Vidvision strives to drive ROI and track performance on YouTube videos by allowing businesses to add email capture forms on video content. I worked with four other undergraduate students to discover Vidvision’s next target market and to improve online word-of-mouth through social media marketing. Our work was compiled into a final report that was given to Vidvision’s CEO and co-founder. Feel free to view the copy here or scroll down for an interactive summary.
Abstract
As a marketing analyst for Vidvision’s team, I utilized market research methods to create a thorough analysis of the company’s competitors, as well as conducting a SWOT analysis to understand Vidvision’s places for improvement. The completed market research provided suggestions for growth, including spreading the target audience to YouTube bloggers and consumers. Our team focused on giving feedback for the startup’s social media campaigns, a complete rebranding of the website and logo, and designing a “relaunch” event based on the work we completed.
The Beginning: Finding the Problem
Our goals during the first team meeting were centered around finding customer’s pains and gains by utilizing Vidvision’s email capture forms and discovering how similar companies approached businesses with the same services. By understanding Vidvision’s competition, we were interpreting the startup’s own strengths and weaknesses and defining core problems that our team could solve. We compiled a list of observations we found in the marketing process and prioritized problems in terms of severity and length of time needed to fix the problem. Here were the problems we focused on solving during the Fall 2017 term:
WEAK AND ISOLATED ONLINE PRESENCE TO POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS
There was an increased need to improve and expand Vidvision's online presence and brand awareness because it was a small startup that did not focus on its social media marketing.
COMPETITORS PROVIDED MORE VALUE TO SIMILAR PRODUCTS
While Vidvision had the cheapest price from its competitors, the startup needed to harness more on its value because other startups were able to market a bigger "bang for its buck".
TARGET MARKET WAS TOO SPECIFIC TO SELL THE PRODUCT
Vidvision's target market was originally small B2B startups that used YouTube videos for marketing efforts. Our team believed that Vidvision could spread its platform to vloggers and influencers.
Methods of Market Research
To tackle our goals, we decided to compile a market research report. Our report indicated Vidvision’s advantages and flaws and advised for where Vidvision should continue its efforts. Listed below are the different market/social media research methods our team utilized:
- SWOT Analysis
- Competitor Analysis
- Website Analysis
- Social Media Analysis
SWOT Analysis
We began our research by understanding the startup’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. While its service is the cheapest, the startup had an unclear future and small reputation. While there are opportunities to increase marketing collateral, there is a lot of ground needed to catch up to its competitors.
Competitor Analysis
After assessing the company’s SWOT, we researched the company’s competitor to serve as reference points for Vidvision. Our assessment criteria included pricing, product capability, target audience, and social media statistics. While Vidvision is the cheapest, other companies have a lot more to offer to its customers.
Social Media Analysis
In assessing Vidvision’s competition, we recognized that the startup’s social media presence is not at par with its competitors. Content should be published more frequently and should be diverse in structure and content.
Website Analysis
Similar to our social media analysis, our research on Vidvision’s website suggested that its content is not to the professional standard as its competitors. We analyzed competitor websites and provided takeaways for Vidvision based on our findings.
