Market Opportunity: Definition, Examples, and Analysis Strategies

Companies that place and prehend marketplace opportunities person the imaginable to bask exceptional growth.

But however bash you find those opportunities? 

In this post, we’ll specify “market opportunity” and database examples to springiness you a amended knowing of what it entails. We’ll past screen strategical steps for discovering marketplace opportunities that tin assistance you maximize your business’s potential. 

What Is a Market Opportunity?

A marketplace accidental is simply a request oregon privation for a product, service, oregon diagnostic that is either not being met oregon is underserved. 

Identifying a marketplace accidental enables you to motorboat caller offerings oregon amended existing ones. If successful, these whitethorn boost your income and profits. 

Market Opportunity Examples

Some marketplace opportunities are created done innovation. Others are the effect of regulatory changes. 

Let’s screen immoderate of the astir important types of marketplace opportunities below. 

Untapped oregon Underserved Audience

Identifying and targeting an assemblage that’s not adequately served by existent marketplace offerings tin beryllium a important opportunity. This whitethorn impact catering to niche markets oregon circumstantial demographics. 

Take Chinese tech juggernaut Alibaba. Jack Ma founded the radical successful 1999 to assistance underserved Western companies successful hunt of an easier, integer mode to link with Chinese exporters. 

Alibaba profited from facilitating these relations. Growing into a monolithic B2B and B2C marketplace, and aboriginal connected diversifying into dozens of sectors.

Technological Innovations

Technological advancements tin unfastened up caller markets and alteration existing ones. Companies tin past physique caller products and services to prehend these marketplace opportunities. 

The emergence of generative AI is simply a lawsuit successful point. The exertion makes it imaginable to make caller contented done the usage of prompts. 

Numerous startups were speedy to commercialize it, including OpenAI, Copy.ai, Jasper, and others. The VC steadfast Antler’s visualization of the generative AI scenery shows conscionable however galore raced to exploit this marketplace opportunity.

Societal Changes

Shifts successful societal attitudes, values, and behaviors alteration the mode radical execute definite processes. There’s past a accidental that existing products and services go obsolete, creating a marketplace spread that companies unreserved to fill. 

For example, much and much radical are looking for plant-based nutrient alternatives. 

The US startup Impossible Foods launched successful 2016 to prehend this opportunity. The institution has grown considerably implicit the past 12 years, raising astir $2 billion. 

Many different startup competitors, specified arsenic Beyond Meat and Perfect Day, were besides speedy to make plant-based options to conscionable this increasing demand. 

Regulatory Interventions 

Changes successful laws and regulations tin make opportunities for businesses. They see deregulation successful definite sectors, caller compliance rules that request innovative solutions, and authorities incentives for peculiar concern activities.

Let’s instrumentality the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) arsenic an example. The model introduced stricter information privateness rules successful 2018. 

Traditional tools similar Google Analytics faced challenges nether GDPR due to the fact that of their extended information postulation practices. This opened up a marketplace accidental for new, privacy-focused and GDPR-compliant tools similar Plausible Analytics. 

Various analytics startups often presumption themselves arsenic privacy-friendly and compliant with the likes of GDPR, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and Privacy and the Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). 

Further reading: 15 Best Google Analytics Alternatives for 2023

How to Conduct a Winning Market Opportunity Analysis

Market accidental investigation is the process of researching and discovering possibilities for increasing your gross and acquiring much customers. This benignant of investigation helps brands to:

• Identify caller markets with unmet oregon underserved needs
• Better recognize lawsuit preferences
• Differentiate themselves from the competition
• Allocate resources for maximum instrumentality connected concern (ROI)

Market accidental investigation is not to beryllium confused with market research. The second is simply a broader process focused connected gathering information astir your customers and people market. 

But owed to its wide scope, marketplace accidental investigation does impact elements of marketplace research. Since you person to cod accusation connected your people assemblage and markets to place gross opportunities. 

Market accidental investigation entails respective strategical steps that we’ll spell done below. 

Here’s however you bash it:

Analyze the Market

Collect and analyse accusation connected the dynamics, size, market trends, and wide request of your people market. To uncover unmet needs and untapped niches you could research next. 

Aim to larn things like:

• How large is the market?
• Is the marketplace increasing oregon shrinking? 
• How galore imaginable customers are there?
• How beardown is the competition? 
• Are determination alternate products oregon services astir to participate the market?

Answering these questions whitethorn constituent retired absorbing marketplace opportunities. 

For instance, you larn that a circumstantial niche grew rapidly successful the past 12 months. You past further analyse this insight. And, eventually, determine you should participate that niche and motorboat applicable products.

There are antithetic market probe tools you tin usage to transportation retired your analysis—like Semrush’s Market Explorer. 

Open the instrumentality and click the “Analyze Category” tab.

Choose your people location, prime your concern class from the drop-down menu, and click “Research a market.”

Once connected the main dashboard, you’ll spot utile marketplace insights:

• Market Domains: An penetration into the fig of domains you’ll vie against wrong your chosen market. Helping you find however casual oregon hard it mightiness beryllium to penetrate the market.
• Market Consolidation: This indicates the part of marketplace stock among antithetic players. A debased level of consolidation means you look galore smaller competitors—increasing your marketplace entree potential.
• Market Traffic: The full postulation of each domains successful your marketplace implicit a fixed period. The higher this number, the amended your chances are of attracting your just stock of this traffic. Market Traffic Cost further estimates full costs for integrated keyword ranking.
• Market Size: The full fig of imaginable buyers your marketplace covers. The higher this number, the amended your income opportunities volition be. 

Let’s accidental the Market Consolidation information constituent shows that your people marketplace is highly fragmented. This whitethorn mean you could predominate smaller competitors with a coagulated merchandise and astute selling investments.

Scroll down further to spot the marketplace stock trends of idiosyncratic countries. 

This accusation tin assistance you determine which geographical markets successful peculiar are worthy your attention.

Lastly, navigate to the “All Domains” tab to find the main marketplace players. 

The tab lists visitant information for each domain crossed antithetic postulation sources, helping you place which competitors are becoming much popular. You tin past proceed to analyse their sites, analyse what they’re doing right, and amended connected their strategy. 

Understand Your Target Audience

Create a elaborate illustration of the consumers you purpose to reach. Identify their behaviors, preferences, and challenges. You’ll recognize your people assemblage amended and place immoderate unmet needs. 

Aim to reply questions like: 

• Where, when, and wherefore bash radical bargain definite products oregon services?
• How bash they pay?
• What devices bash they usage most?
• What is their profession?
• Why bash they deliberation your competitors are amended than you?
• How did they perceive astir your brand?
• What circumstantial features of your merchandise oregon work bash they peculiarly like?

The accusation you get whitethorn uncover marketplace opportunities for your concern oregon product. 

Let’s accidental you larn that your customers are low-income and similar to store online.

With that insight, you mightiness spouse with integer buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) providers to connection short-term financing to your online store visitors. Which tin boost your income potential, arsenic online outgo supplier Klarna’s stats reveal:

You person a prime of tools to assistance you larn astir your people audience. 

Among these, Google Trends lets you show the popularity of hunt presumption wrong your manufacture oregon niche. 

In the illustration below, the Google Trends graph shows however searchers’ involvement successful interior plan remained accordant implicit the past 5 years. 

You tin besides tally Semrush’s One2Target to probe your audience. 

In the tool, participate the URLs of up to 5 competitors and click “Analyze.” 

You’ll get elaborate accusation astir your people market, including assemblage demographics. 

These information points whitethorn uncover actionable insights.

For instance, you whitethorn find retired that females aged 35-44 marque up the bulk of your audience. Based connected that information, you tin set your selling messaging and visuals to people those circumstantial customers. 

Hit the “Socioeconomics” tab to larn astir the household size, income level, acquisition level, and employment presumption of your people audience.

You mightiness observe that your assemblage is affluent and lives successful ample households. Then, make a abstracted offering tailored to big, affluent families. 

You tin besides observe which devices and societal media platforms your assemblage prefers by clicking the “Behavior” tab.

Compare your selling efforts against these information points. To guarantee you absorption connected the channels wherever your imaginable customers walk a batch of clip online. 

Research Your Direct and Indirect Competitors

Discover and probe some your nonstop and indirect competitors. Proper investigation volition assistance you place marketplace gaps, larn from the successes and failures of others, and refine your unsocial selling proposition (USP). 

Ask the following: 

• Who are your nonstop and indirect competitors?
• Which competitors are increasing and why?
• What competitory vantage bash they have?
• How are competitors selling their products oregon services? 
• What bash reviews accidental astir your competitors’ offerings?
• What bash competitors connection that you don’t?

Knowing which nonstop and indirect competitors are increasing helps you recognize changes successful user preferences.

For instance, cablegram TV companies are good alert of the expanding popularity of video streaming services. And cognize it’s worthy considering however to elevate cablegram TV offerings with akin on-demand entertainment. 

Semrush’s Market Explorer helps you observe who your competitors are. 

Select the “Find Competitors” tab successful the tool. Specify your people location, participate your domain, and click “Research a market.” 

Once connected the main dashboard, caput to the “All Domains” tab. You’ll find a database of the main players competing successful your market. 

From here, you tin cheque their postulation stats, maturation trends, and different utile data. 

Is a peculiar rival increasing rapidly? Go to its website to analyse pricing, positioning, merchandise features, and different cardinal details to pass your strategy. 

Next, tally Traffic Analytics to analyse that circumstantial rival further. 

Open the instrumentality and prime the “Check Competitors” tab. Add successful your competitor’s domain and click “Analyze.” 

Then, navigate to the “Traffic Journey” tab for details connected your competitor’s biggest postulation sources. 

Say you observe that your rival has precocious organic hunt traffic. You tin transportation retired an SEO rival analysis to amended recognize the competitory scenery successful search. 

Or, you recognize your rival is getting galore nonstop visits. Which whitethorn good bespeak an concern successful brand awareness campaigns. Consider focusing connected marque awareness-building efforts, too.

Analyze External Factors

Identify outer political, economic, socio-cultural, and technological factors applicable to your business. They tin person a important interaction connected your growth.

Analyzing these 4 factors is besides referred to arsenic PEST analysis. 

Consider these scenarios arsenic examples of PEST factors: 

A authorities introduces caller taxation breaks that payment your institution (political). An economical downturn strips your people assemblage of its spending powerfulness (economic). Low commencement rates pb to terrible workforce shortages you can’t flooded (socio-cultural). 

Here are immoderate matters you should look into erstwhile analyzing outer factors:

• What are the existent home authorities policies that could interaction your business?
• Is the state wherever you run maintaining unchangeable economical relations with different states?
• How bash economical conditions, similar ostentation rates oregon economical growth, impact your market?
• What societal trends, specified arsenic demographic shifts oregon manner changes, could bring astir changes successful your market?
• How bash technological advancements power your industry?
• What are the applicable regulations, compliance rules, and ineligible challenges successful your sector?
• How bash clime alteration effects and biology policies interaction your business? 

Answering these questions tin assistance your institution oregon concern unlock caller marketplace opportunities. 

Electric car shaper Tesla is simply a lawsuit successful point. 

Led by entrepreneur Elon Musk, the institution benefits from the increasing popularity of electrical vehicles (technological factors) brought astir by biology concerns (socio-cultural) and authorities subsidies (political). Which translates into ongoing gross growth.

Uber is different large example. 

Founded successful 2009, the institution harnessed the popularity of smartphones (technological) to motorboat its ride-hailing app. But it besides had to navigate taxi regulations and labour laws (political) successful assorted countries. Analyzing outer factors was truthful cardinal to Uber’s planetary success. 

Analyze Internal Factors

Dive into your company’s capabilities. Assess your workforce, skills, finances, and different interior factors that tin springiness you a competitory edge. 

Maybe your company’s currency reserves alteration you to get a promising tech startup— denying different marketplace players the usage of its technology. And letting you enactment up of the curve. 

Look inward to question answers to questions like:

• What are your halfway technological strengths and unsocial capabilities? 
• How effectual are your existent operations and processes?
• Which skills bash your employees lack?
• Which unsocial skills bash your employees have?
• What’s your institution civilization and worker engagement like?
• How cash-rich are you compared to the competition?

Introspection helps uncover marketplace opportunities you tin prehend to grow your concern and offerings. 

For instance, Facebook acquired Instagram successful 2012 and WhatsApp successful 2014. Leveraging interior strengths, specified arsenic Facebook’s tech prowess and fiscal resources, made this determination possible. 

Both acquired apps person grown tremendously since then. See however they predominate the marketplace for societal networks and messaging services:

Another attack you tin instrumentality present is to measure interior institution processes. 

Think: Can a circumstantial accumulation process beryllium faster? Can a antithetic transportation work trim shipping costs? Can you summation nett margins by cutting definite costs? 

Encourage your squad to look beyond established processes. So you observe marketplace and gross opportunities that beryllium wrong the concern itself. 

Explore Strategic Partnerships and Investments

Consider entering into strategical partnerships that tin heighten your company’s marketplace position. Doing truthful whitethorn summation you entree to caller markets, technologies, and opportunities. 

Finding strategical partners and investors whitethorn instrumentality time. We supply immoderate useful questions to inquire erstwhile looking for and evaluating imaginable partnerships:

• Who could beryllium bully partners to heighten your beardown points oregon amended your anemic areas?
• What are the aims and advantages of imaginable partnerships oregon investments?
• How tin moving with different partners oregon investors assistance you scope caller markets oregon get caller technology?
• What are the apt antagonistic aspects of these partnerships?
• What are the presumption and conditions of imaginable partnerships oregon investments?
• How bash these partnerships oregon investments align with your plans for the aboriginal of your business?

Strategic partnerships tin beryllium a crippled changer. 

For example, OpenAI’s tie-up with Microsoft since 2019 has fixed the startup entree to Microsoft’s immense Azure unreality computing infrastructure. OpenAI would different find it hard to standard and prehend the ever-growing marketplace that is generative AI. Just look astatine the projections for the adjacent 10 years:

Consider Geographical Expansion

Think astir the anticipation of expanding to antithetic regions oregon countries if your home marketplace is saturated. It’ll assistance you pat marketplace opportunities with a broader scope. 

Perhaps your merchandise is excessively costly for your section market. Selling to customers successful a high-income metropolis oregon state could spot you merchantability much products, faster. 

When exploring geographical expansion, effort and find out:

• Which geographies are astir charismatic for your business? 
• What’s the size of the imaginable market?
• Who volition you vie against successful that area?
• What’s the purchasing powerfulness of the people audience?
• Are determination immoderate ineligible oregon regulatory obstacles you mightiness face?
• How does section taste and user behaviour disagree from your existent market?

Be alert that antithetic regions person their ain culture, tastes, and habits. What works successful your home marketplace whitethorn not enactment successful different settings. 

Plus, you’ll apt brushwood galore caller ideas and inspiring practices successful antithetic locations. Assess which are the champion ones to instrumentality successful circumstantial markets. 

To springiness an example, Starbucks excels astatine adapting to section tastes. 

In Japan, the coffeehouse concatenation introduced matcha lattes that enjoyed instant section appeal. While successful Mexico, it offers beverages inspired by the accepted Mexican spiced coffee, Café de Olla.

Starbucks’ geographical enlargement implicit the years apt fueled its accordant gross growth, arsenic shown by Statista.

Get Started connected Your Market Opportunity Analysis 

Now that you cognize the value of marketplace accidental investigation and however to transportation it out, it’s clip to bash it yourself. 

It’s casual to observe and probe marketplace opportunities erstwhile you person the close tools astatine hand. 

Semrush’s marketplace investigation bundle tin assistance you cod captious information points astir your manufacture and people audience. You tin past enactment connected immoderate identified marketplace opportunities to assistance you conscionable lawsuit needs and turn your concern effectively.