Understanding your customer base is one of the first key steps to success in business. Without knowing who your customers are, what they want, and how they want to get it from you, your business could struggle to come up with an effective marketing strategy. This is where a market analysis comes in. A market analysis can be a time-intensive process, but it is straightforward and easy to do on your own in three steps.商业成功的第一个关键步骤之一是了解你的客户群体。如果你不知道你的客户是哪些人、客户有什么需求、以及客户想如何从你那里满足需求，你的公司可能会很难提出一个有效的营销策略。这就是市场分析的意义所在。市场分析可能是一个时间密集的过程，但它简单明了，遵循三个步骤就很容易独立完成。What is a market analysis?A market analysis is a thorough assessment of a market within a specific industry. You will study the dynamics of your market, such as volume and value, potential customer segments, buying patterns, competition, and other important factors.市场分析是对某一特定行业内的市场的全面评估。涉及研究市场动态，如数量和价值、潜在客户群体、消费模式、竞争和其他重要因素。What are the benefits of running a marketing analysis?A marketing analysis can reduce risk, identify emerging trends, and help project revenue. You can use a marketing analysis at several stages of your business, and it can even be beneficial to conduct one every year to keep up to date with any major changes in the market.市场分析可以减少风险，确定新出现的趋势，并帮助预测收入。你可以在你的业务的几个阶段进行市场分析，甚至每年进行一次，以紧跟市场的任何重大变化，这些都是有益方法。A detailed market analysis will usually be part of your business plan, since it gives you a greater understanding of your audience and competition. This will help you build a more targeted marketing strategy.详细的市场分析通常是你的商业计划的一部分，因为市场分析能让你对你的受众和竞争有更多的了解，这将帮助你建立一个更有针对性的营销策略。How to conduct a market analysisWhile conducting a marketing analysis is not a complicated process, it does take a lot of dedicated research, so be prepared to devote significant time to the process.虽然市场分析的过程不复杂，但确实需要大量的细致研究，所以要准备好在这个过程中投入大量的时间。These are the three steps of conducting a market analysis:1.Determine your purpose.There are many reasons you may be conducting a market analysis, such as to gauge your competition or to understand a new market. Whatever your reason, it’s important to define it right away to keep you on track throughout the process. Start by deciding whether your purpose is internal – like improving your cash flow or business operations – or external, like seeking a business loan. Your purpose will dictate the type and amount of research you will do.进行市场分析的因素诸多，如评估竞争或了解一个新市场。无论何种原因，重要的是立即确定进行市场分析的原因，以便在整个过程中保持你的方向。首先决定你的目的是内部的还是外部的，内部因素例如改善你的现金流或业务运作，外部因素例如寻求商业贷款。你的目的将决定你要做的研究类型和数量。2. Research the state of the industry.Map a detailed outline of the current state of your industry. Include where the industry seems to be heading, using metrics such as size, trends and projected growth, with plenty of data to support your findings. You can also conduct a comparative market analysis to help you find your competitive advantage within your specific market.为你的行业现状绘制一个详细的轮廓，包括行业的发展方向、规模、趋势和预计增长等指标，并有大量数据支持你的结论。你也可以进行市场比较分析，以帮助你找到你在特定市场中的竞争优势。3. Identify your target customer.Not everyone in the world will be your customer, and it would be a waste of your time to try to get everyone interested in your product. Instead, use a target market analysis to decide who is most likely to want your product and focus your efforts there. You want to understand your market size, who your customers are, where they come from, and what might influence their buying decisions.世界上不是人人都会成为你的客户，如果试图让每个人都对你的产品感兴趣，那将是在浪费你的时间。相反，使用目标市场分析来决定谁最有可能需要你的产品，并将你的努力投入在那里。你要了解你的市场规模，你的客户是谁，他们来自哪里，以及可能影响他们的购买意愿的因素。
- time-intensive ：时间密集的，费时的
- straightforward [ˌstreɪtˈfɔːrwərd]：简单明了的; 坦率的
- dynamics [daɪˈnæmɪks]：相互作用; 动态
- dedicated [ˈdedɪkeɪtɪd]：专注的，投入的; 献身的; 专用的
翻译：Shaw Henry
