What is the best way to research a particular market that your in. My target market revolves primarily around gamers. When I go to a bunch of gaming forums to ask for feedback on ideas and services that they would like to see offered, the post is criticized as being an advertisement, I don’t get the answers I’m looking for, or people simply do not respond.

I figured the best research into the market would be to ask the potential customers themselves about the services that I offer and what I could do to improve them and offer better packages. However that never appears to go over well.

So my question is how exactly do I perform the research into my target markets without having to go through this?

Well, if you're accused of shilling for your company, just remove your signature from the post (if you have one) and edit your profile to remove any references to your company. Then when you ask it probably won't be such a big deal. If somebody asks who you are or why you want the info, then just post a link to your website. Just a link, nothing else about your company.

Aside from online you could always drop by a local gaming cafe (if such things exist in your area) and listen to the chatter that goes on there. Or ask people directly over a donut or cup of coffee :)

I did'nt state this in my previous post so my apologies. I in fact made the forum posts and placed them in the correct forums. This would be the General, Spam, and Talk about anything that does'nt have a topic attached to it, Forums. Therefor I was'nt posting where I should'nt be.

The only real reference to my company was my name which was TCHQ-0wn4g3 but how would they know that it stand for my company name if I have no other information presented that states I am apart of a company. For all they know they should think TCHQ is my clan handle lol. Maybe I really should start providing incentives for feedback...

Create an online questionnaire with an incentive to fill it in such as some prizes.

The questionnaire can be completely unbranded and therefore not an advertisement.

Moved to Running a Web Hosting Business.

Lois

Yes, like what UH-Matt has mentioned, i believe survey is an important part. You can also do one-on-one interview or focus groups.

Yep, collect responses, analyze results and implement changes and also benchmark your site with top gamer site.