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2020 Top 50 U.S. Market Research and Data Analytics Companies

Diane Bowers

A full ranking of the top market research and data analytics companies in the U.S. for 2020

The “2020 Top 50 U.S. Report”—formerly known as “The Gold Report”—is developed by Diane Bowers and produced in partnership with the Insights Association and Michigan State University . The report is also sponsored by the AMA, ESOMAR and the Global Research Business Network . The report includes a ranking of the top 50 companies, a breakdown of trends by Bowers , and an analysis of the market research and analytics industry  by Michael Brereton, Melanie Courtright and Reg Baker.

50. RTi Research

Founded: 1979 2019 U.S. revenue: $12.9 million Percent change from 2018: -3% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: — Percent from outside U.S.: — 2019 worldwide revenue: $12.9 million U.S. employees: 45

In a world awash in data, the challenge is to turn data into something meaningful, something that can be communicated simply and acted upon effectively. RTi Research meets that challenge head-on, turning data into meaning through smart research design, flawless execution and innovative storytelling. Everything the company does is aimed at helping its clients move their ideas and insights through their organizations to influence change. 

RTi has conducted research in just about every category in the U.S. and globally. Informed by 40 years of experience across categories and cultures, RTi knows what works and what doesn’t, when to leverage new technology and methods, and when traditional approaches are best.

49. Hypothesis

Founded: 2000 2019 U.S. revenue: $18.3 million Percent change from 2018: -4.7% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: — Percent from outside U.S.: — 2019 worldwide revenue: $18.3 million U.S. employees: 61

Hypothesis uses insights, strategy and design to help important brands do amazing things. The company specializes in tough questions that take creative, multidimensional approaches, thoughtful strategy and a broad business perspective. Hypothesis’ approach combines inventive consumer-centric qualitative research, advanced analytics, strategic thinking and data visualization. Its award-winning design team translates complex information into compelling, easy-to-understand deliverables to socialize learnings and engage teams. 

In 2018, Hypothesis added important new capabilities with the launch of Momentum, a strategy that turns insight into application with downstream marketing and implementation planning. The Momentum team has worked alongside Hypothesis consultants on strategic engagements with clients focused on brand strategy, product development, and led dozens of workshops with senior and C-level executives to socialize insights and ideate on next steps. 

In 2019, Hypothesis’ focus on growth continued with its expansion to the Midwest and establishment of its Chicago office. From this office, the company will be able to service new and current clients in the Midwest and on the East Coast.

48. Bellomy Research

Founded: 1976 2019 U.S. revenue: $21 million Percent change from 2018: 1.4% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: — Percent from outside U.S.: — 2019 worldwide revenue: $21 million U.S. employees: 116

Bellomy is a privately held, family-owned, full-service market intelligence company. Bellomy focuses on driving successful business outcomes through the design and delivery of solutions that yield deeper customer understanding. The company surrounds its clients’ business challenges with an unparalleled mix of knowledge and experience, marketing science and proprietary research technology. 

Bellomy’s work involves both B2C and B2B environments—with qualitative and quantitative insight solutions spanning market segmentation, customer experience and journeys (including digital user experiences), brand equity, product innovation, shopper insights, marketing optimization, social research platforms and research technology. Bellomy works with clients across a broad range of categories and industries including consumer packaged goods, financial services, automotive, retail, restaurant and hospitality, telecommunications and technology, apparel and textiles, utilities, healthcare, insurance and home improvement.

Bellomy serves as an extension of its clients’ marketing research and customer experience departments by integrating a broad set of capabilities and areas of expertise, including segmentation, customer (and digital experience), shopper insights, social research platforms, brand equity, product innovation and marketing optimization. In addition, Bellomy clients leverage SmartIDEAS, the firm’s enterprise consumer knowledge and insight platform. 

47. Edelman Intelligence

Founded: 1999 2019 U.S. revenue: $21 million Percent change from 2018: 12.9% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $11.5 million Percent from outside U.S.: 35.4% 2019 worldwide revenue: $32.5 million U.S. employees: 131

Edelman Intelligence (EI) is the global research and analytics consultancy of Edelman, the world’s largest global communications firm. Based in New York, with employees in 18 offices internationally, EI houses more than 200 consultants, strategists, researchers, data scientists, data visualization specialists and analysts worldwide. Its specialists are method-agnostic and leverage the best of primary and secondary research, advanced analytics and business science to solve business and communications issues for its clients. EI’s offering spans the full spectrum of client needs, from mapping the current environment and targeting key audiences, to optimizing content and measuring business impact. 

EI partners with early-stage start-ups and Fortune 100 companies alike, providing strategic research, analytics, and insights-based marketing and communications counsel for a broad range of stakeholders and scopes, including government and public affairs, corporate reputation and risk strategy, crisis and issues management, employee experience and talent advisory, executive positioning, strategic communications and public relations, marketing and branding strategy, customer experience and insights, mergers, acquisitions and market entry strategy and more.

Key accomplishments in 2019 included advancement of its Edelman Trust Management (ETM) capabilities, including an evolution of its offering focused specifically on providing guidance for measuring and building trust in brands. Developed building from its 20-plus years studying trust through the Edelman Trust Barometer and the initial iteration of ETM (which explores corporate trust), this proprietary model for brand trust measurement was created in partnership with renowned academics from Harvard Business School and INSEAD, Edelman Brand experts and external marketing thought leaders. In recent months, this model has been engineered to consider fundamental transformations to consumer/brand relationship dynamics that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated.

46. KS&R

Founded: 1983 2019 U.S. revenue: $21.7 million Percent change from 2018: -1.4% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $3.6 million Percent from outside U.S.: 14.2% 2019 worldwide revenue: $25.3 million U.S. employees: 100

KS&R is a privately held strategic consultancy and full-service marketing research company. For nine consecutive years, KS&R has received the highest Gold Index composite score of any provider in the Prevision/Inside Research survey of marketing research buyers. This is a testament to the company’s passion for excellence and client-first business philosophy—wherein KS&R empowers its clients with timely, fact-based insights so they can make smarter decisions and be confident in their actions.

KS&R creates and executes global custom market research solutions for some of the best-known corporations in the world in more than 100 countries and 50 languages. It has extensive and diverse industry experience with particular strength in healthcare (pharma and device), technology, entercom, transportation, professional services, and retail and e-commerce. Team members often include business strategists with client-side experience and deep industry knowledge.

In 2019, KS&R leveraged its expansive network of pharmacy panels to build world-class capabilities for pharma inventory measurement and healthcare insights. Its marketing scientists have driven marked advances in pricing decision support, which have now been validated by positive in-market results. KS&R expanded its portfolio to include insights fusion across multiple channels of content (primary research, social media, web-based information, etc.). And finally, it introduced its KS&R Win-Loss program that provides actionable insights for how organizations can improve their value proposition and sales performance to close more deals.

Founded: 1911 2019 U.S. revenue: $22.7 million Percent change from 2018: 12.9% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: — Percent from outside U.S.: — 2019 worldwide revenue: $22.7 million U.S. employees: 78

NAXION guides strategic business decisions globally in healthcare, information technology, financial services, energy, heavy equipment and other B2B markets, drawing on depth of marketing experience in key verticals and skilled application of sophisticated and inventive methodologies. The firm’s NAscence Group helps life science innovators develop commercialization strategy through clinical trials design and selection of target indications, forecasting, brand planning and other research-based consulting services.

Engagements routinely include market segmentation, opportunity assessment and innovation, demand forecasting and pricing, positioning, brand health, market monitoring and lifecycle management. The firm deploys multiple data streams including primary research (qualitative and quantitative), secondary data, customer databases and other complex datasets to develop an integrative perspective on business problems. The firm also builds custom panels for B2B markets.

Project leaders with sector experience and research proficiency are supported by in-house methodologists and a wide portfolio of advanced analytic tools, including proprietary modeling services and software, all of them highly customized. The firm continues to invest significant resources in intellectual capital to enhance enterprise decision support with cutting-edge methods, including specialized “small data” choice models, new predictive techniques using big data and brand-customized text analytics. Its Farsight suite supports the building of highly dynamic models capable of producing forecasts for complex market scenarios, including paradigm-shift technologies, and gives market monitoring programs a forward-looking perspective that guides timely market interventions. Other services include litigation and regulatory support, often involving expert testimony in cases involving trademark confusion, deceptive advertising and brand equity. NAXION’s strong commitment to operational excellence is reflected in ISO certification and in-house operations capabilities to deliver exceptional levels of quality control. 

Founded: 1991 2019 U.S. revenue: $24.2 million Percent change from 2018: -3.6% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $1.2 million Percent from outside U.S.: 4.7% 2019 worldwide revenue: $25.4 million U.S. employees: 144

Gongos is a consultative agency that places customers at the heart of business strategy. Partnering with insights, analytics, marketing, strategy and customer experience groups, Gongos operationalizes customer centricity by helping companies both understand their customer needs and deliver on them better than anyone else.

From product innovation to portfolio management, customer experience to consumer journeys, pricing strategies to marketing optimization, and trend analysis to predictive modeling, Gongos provides both outside-in and inside-out approaches across organizations to drive greater customer attraction, retention and lifetime value.

Gongos further serves as a translator to help cross-functional teams fuel the competency to gain and apply consumer wisdom, transform decisions into action and navigate organizational change. Coalescing enterprise data with primary research and curating insights for multiple audiences further empowers stakeholders to achieve greater ROI by ensuring information is designed to influence actions and behaviors from executives to the frontline. 

Gongos’ consultative tools stem from change management principles that help organizations navigate the transformation often necessary to create a more outside-in perspective as they reorient around the customer. Gongos’ approaches to engage multiple audiences include communication strategies and tactics grounded in frameworks such as its adoption-to-advocacy model and human-centered design.

43. Maru/Matchbox **

Founded: 2016 2019 U.S. revenue: $28 million Percent change from 2018: 3.7% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $14 million Percent from outside U.S.: 33.3% 2019 worldwide revenue: $42 million U.S. employees: 150

Maru/Matchbox began disrupting the market research industry in 2000. Powered by proprietary technology, its expert teams are deeply invested in key sectors of the economy, including consumer goods and services, financial services, retail, technology, healthcare, public services, and media and entertainment. Maru/Marchbox provides organizations with the tools and insights to connect with the people that matter most, so they can build and maintain a competitive advantage. 

In 2019, Maru/Matchbox released a series of innovative research solutions. 

• Digital Media Measurement is a campaign evaluation approach that enables clients to better understand how content, channels and brands interact to deliver effective communication. 
• Creative Insight measures people’s implicit and explicit responses to advertising, giving clients a complete picture of how their ad is working. It is designed to evaluate any type of ad or brand communication, across all channels, with best-in-class benchmarks.
• Lissted analyzes how members of communities relevant to clients react to content, tweets and even websites. 
• Brand Emotion utilizes visual semiotics to identify and leverage the emotional profile of a brand. 

Maru/Matchbox continues to demonstrate innovation and thought leadership through relentless publication of articles and whitepapers.

42. Chadwick Martin Bailey (CMB)

Founded: 1984 2019 U.S. revenue: $28.7 million Percent change from 2018: 20.6% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: — Percent from outside U.S.: — 2019 worldwide revenue: $28.7 million U.S. employees: 90

CMB is a research and strategy firm, helping the world’s leading brands engage, innovate and grow amid deep disruption. The company leverages the best of advanced analytics, consumer psychology and market strategy to tackle critical business initiatives, including market identification, segmentation, brand health, loyalty and advocacy, and product and service development.

For more than 35 years, CMB has helped the most successful brands and their executives give voice to their market through a relentless business decision focus, creative problem-solving and storytelling, deeply consultative approach and flawless execution. With dedicated financial services, media and entertainment, tech and telecom, retail and healthcare practices, CMB’s expert teams understand the complex and evolving technological, social, cultural and economic forces that drive disruption and create opportunity.

In 2020, CMB continued its growth trajectory, including building expertise in gaming and digital platforms and expanding its qualitative and advanced analytics teams. A thought leader in the application of consumer psychology to real world business issues, CMB conducted self-funded research among tens of thousands of consumers to capture the four core benefits that motivate decision-making—identity, emotion, social and functional—providing an in-depth look at more than 80 global brands. Further self-funded research explored the accelerating journey and path to purchase of today’s gamers.

41. Screen Engine/ASI

Founded: 2010 2019 U.S. revenue: $33 million Percent change from 2018: 10% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $1.9 million Percent from outside U.S.: 5.4% 2019 worldwide revenue: $34.9 million U.S. employees: 132

Screen Engine/ASI is a research-based consumer insights firm that stands for delivering its entertainment and media clients actionable insights and recommendations, not simply data. SE/ASI strives to help clients mitigate risk and maximize the potential for success. Through its Motion Picture and TV Groups, SE/ASI works across all distribution platforms for both domestic and internationally produced content. 

The company is centered on assessing the “abilities” of content as it migrates from the earliest stages of development through multi-channel distribution. The Motion Picture Group is the leader in traditional and digital in theater and online recruited audience screenings. Offerings also include PostTrak, a syndicated domestic and international in-theater exit poll, and ScreenExperts, an early assessment of critical response, creative ad testing, positioning and brand studies, custom work, and location-based and online focus group research. A cross-platform team within this group works with home entertainment, over-the-top and gaming clients. 

The TV group is the leader in location-based ViewTrac dial testing of pilots, programs and ongoing series and conducts online dial testing as well. Other offerings include location-based and online focus groups, promo testing, positioning and brand studies, and a variety of custom studies including custom trackers. SE/ASI syndicates Tracktion trackers including a TV tracker, a theatrical movie tracker, a home entertainment tracker and a premium video-on-demand tracker. All groups work in the company’s media lab equipped for biometric and new technology research. When appropriate, SE/ASI engages in advanced analytics techniques including, but not limited to, segmentation, conjoint, maxdiff and TURF analysis. 

40. MarketVision Research

Founded: 1983 2019 U.S. revenue: $33.2 million Percent change from 2018: 2.5% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: — Percent from outside U.S.: — 2019 worldwide revenue: $33.2 million U.S. employees: 140

MarketVision Research is a full-service marketing research firm, providing clients with actionable insights about their markets, customers, brands and products. Research areas of focus include product and portfolio development, pricing, branding, segmentation and customer experience. The company offers a full suite of quantitative and qualitative research capabilities and works across industry groups. These include:

• Optimization and discrete choice modeling as it applies to product and service development, branding, packaging and pricing.
• Online communities that are managed and developed entirely in-house with a focus on improving participant engagement and with additional support for mobile participation.
• Hybrid research, which uses 20 in-house moderators, along with marketing science professionals and global project managers, to facilitate qualitative and quantitative research seamlessly.

39. The Link Group

Founded: 1994 2019 U.S. revenue: $34.2 million Percent change from 2018: 23.9% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $0.3 million Percent from outside U.S.: 0.9% 2019 worldwide revenue: $34.5 million U.S. employees: 85

The Link Group executes research for Fortune 500 firms in the healthcare, retail, CPG and finance industries across both qualitative and quantitative methodologies and around the globe. TLG attributes its success to its core business philosophy: smarter research and better service. Its commitment to smarter research has allowed the company to take a creative, custom approach to its clients’ business needs that results in actionable and insightful reports. TLG delivers better service by maintaining a consistent research team across projects, allowing the team to anticipate and respond to client needs. This business philosophy has resulted in 99% of revenue coming from repeat clients.

This past year, TLG has continued to hone its research approaches to help elevate traditional research methods. For its messaging and positioning work, TLG developed a framework that triangulates quantitative survey data to determine how well messaging concepts will activate, communicate and engage the customer. In its segmentation studies, TLG blends science and art to create models that align with the client’s brand strategic vision by creating differences that are meaningful and actionable from a marketing perspective. TLG has leveraged its knowledge of behavioral economics to develop a validated, proprietary quantitative methodology—LinkEQ—that allows the company to reveal latent emotional associations.

Founded: 1983 2019 U.S. revenue: $34.3 million Percent change from 2018: -1.2% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $1.2 million Percent from outside U.S.: 3.4% 2019 worldwide revenue: $35.5 million U.S. employees: 233

SSRS is a full-service market and survey research firm led by a core of dedicated professionals with advanced degrees in the social sciences. 

SSRS surveys support numerous media and academic partners looking to report on public attitudes and beliefs about a wide range of salient issues such as elections and public policy. SSRS is the polling partner for CNN, and conducts public opinion polling for ABC News, The Washington Post, Politico and CBS News. 

Beyond national polls, SSRS regularly conducts research at a state level, and among subpopulations such as Latinos and political partisans, and specializes in reaching hard-to-reach and low-incidence populations. SSRS has extensive experience in public policy, public affairs and health policy research. Since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, SSRS has completed numerous studies surrounding its implementation and assessing Americans’ attitudes and experiences with the law. 

Since 2016, SSRS conducts the monthly Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll. SSRS is well-known for its weekly telephone Omnibus poll. The firm also offers the SSRS Opinion Panel, which allows clients to conduct probabilistic surveys quickly at low cost. The SSRS/Luker on Trends Sports Poll is the first and longest-running tracking study focusing on sports in the U.S. 

37. BVA Group **

Founded: 1970 2019 U.S. revenue: $36 million Percent change from 2018: 2.6% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $147 million Percent from outside U.S.: 80.3% 2019 worldwide revenue: $183 million U.S. employees: 120

BVA Group is a fast-growing research and consulting firm, an expert in behavioral science, ranked in the top 20 worldwide agencies. BVA brings data to life and converts deep understanding of customers and citizens into behavior change strategies. BVA operates both for public and private clients with methodologies fueled by data science and behavioral science. 

Its FMCG specialist—PRS IN VIVO—is a global leader in packaging and shopper research. PRS IN VIVO helps consumer marketers to succeed through: 

• In-store and online studies to better understand shopper behavior, in both physical and e-commerce shopping contexts.
• Qualitative studies to develop, screen and refine new product, packaging and merchandising concepts.
• Quantitative studies to pre-test and quantify new packaging, merchandising and display systems (for physical stores and e-commerce).
• Volume forecasting and product testing for both innovations and brand restages.
• “Nudge” initiatives to facilitate behavioral change, create new consumer habits and drive category growth. 

BVA Group is a European leader in customer experience research. More than 100 leading brands use BVA’s behavioral insights to provide seamless shopper journeys and design successful new products and services, including solutions from its multi-awarded Global Nudge-Unit.

36. radius | illumination

Founded: 1960 2019 U.S. revenue: $42 million Percent change from 2018: — 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $1 million Percent from outside U.S.: 2.3% 2019 worldwide revenue: $43 million U.S. employees: 127

Radius│illumination is the product of a merger between Radius Global Market Research and Illumination Research in 2018. Together, it’s one of the largest independent custom insights providers in the world. Its focus is on guiding brands at critical points along their growth journey, tackling issues such as identifying compelling innovations, creating relevant customer segmentations and developing strategies for deeper loyalty and engagement.

Radius | illumination partners with Fortune 500 leaders as well as challenger, disruptor and emerging brands in the U.S., Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Its top sectors include financial services, personal care, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, technology, home improvement and durables, media and entertainment, packaged foods, beverage, retail and transportation.

Its 2020 initiatives to fuel brand growth for its clients include:

• Provide agile and robust solutions such as InnovationSprint to accelerate new product and service development.
• Increase its information design capabilities so clients can easily take action on the results.
• Focus on driving deeper insights by combining its advanced analytics strength with immersive customer understanding in its designs.
• Expand solutions through the integration of new technologies and behavioral approaches.

35. Market Force **

Founded: 2005 2019 U.S. revenue: $50 million Percent change from 2018: 2% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $7 million Percent from outside U.S.: 12.3% 2019 worldwide revenue: $57 million U.S. employees: 375

Market Force Information provides location-level customer experience management solutions to protect clients’ brand reputation, delight their customers and make them more money. 

Market Force operates at scale across the globe. Each month, the company:

• Completes more than 100,000 mystery shops.
• Collects, processes and analyzes millions of employee and customer experience surveys.
• Manages more than 100,000 inbound calls to its contact center.
• Hosts more than 1 million user logins on its KnowledgeForce reporting platform.

Market Force’s multi-location solutions provide a robust framework for measuring and improving operational excellence, customer experience and financial KPIs. Measurement channels include mystery shopping, customer experience surveys, contact center calls, social media and employee engagement surveys via the KnowledgeForce technology platform and Eyes:On mobile app. Market Force employs predictive analytics to determine what matters most and the ROI for investing in improvements. The firm takes a dual-headed approach to market research services (e.g., customer segmentation, attitude trial and usage studies and custom research projects) and strategic advisory services to design and implement effective measurement systems and improve performance.

Founded: 1991 2019 U.S. revenue: $52 million Percent change from 2018: 4% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $6 million Percent from outside U.S.: 10.3% 2019 worldwide revenue: $58 million U.S. employees: 400

As a leading customer experience management firm, SMG helps clients get smarter about their customers and employees to drive changes that boost customer loyalty and improve business performance. SMG combines technology and services to collect, analyze and share feedback and behavioral data, so it’s easier for clients to deliver and activate customer insights across their enterprise.

SMG partners with more than 350 brands around the globe to create better customer and employee experiences, which drive loyalty and performance. SMG uniquely combines technology and insights to help clients listen better, act faster and outperform competitors. SMG is a technology-enabled research firm with a global footprint—evaluating more than 150 million surveys annually, in 50 languages across 125 countries. 

Strategic solutions include omniCXTM, Brand Research and Employee Engagement. SMG’s omniCX solution uses multiple research methodologies in capturing solicited and unsolicited consumer feedback across in-store, online, contact center and social channels. Results are aggregated and reported via smg360TM—a real-time, role-based reporting platform providing access to all customer and related data. 

SMG’s research professionals partner with clients to derive business-changing insights. Within Brand Research, SMG offers traditional brand tracking as well as access to dynamic customer and competitor data through market intelligence tool BrandGeek. Fueled by SurveyMini—SMG’s location-based mobile research app—BrandGeek contains consumer feedback and behavioral data relating to more than 4,500 brands across more than 500,000 locations.

33. Hanover Research

Founded: 2003 2019 U.S. revenue: $52.7 million Percent change from 2018: 14.1% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $2.6 million Percent from outside U.S.: 4.7% 2019 worldwide revenue: $55.3 million U.S. employees: 358

Hanover Research is a brain trust designed to level the information playing field. Hanover is made up of hundreds of researchers who support thousands of organizational decisions every year. One of the industry’s fastest-growing companies, Hanover attributes this market success to its unique positioning as the only firm that provides tailored research through an annual, fixed-fee model. 

Hanover serves more than 1,000 organizations and companies worldwide from established global organizations, to emerging companies to educational institutions. Hanover’s research informs decisions at any level and across any department capitalizing on the exposure to myriad industries and challenges. 

Founded in 2003, Hanover operates on an annual fixed-fee model, and partnership provides its clients with access to a team of high-caliber researchers, survey experts, analysts and statisticians with diverse skills in market research, information services and analytics. There is no limit on the type of challenge that can be asked for on the quantitative and qualitative approaches Hanover uses to deliver solutions—most of which are very difficult to replicate internally.

Hanover’s custom research services include:

• Secondary research: market segmentation and evaluation; labor and demographic trends and forecasts; vendor and product reviews; best practices reports. 
• Survey: survey design, administration and analysis; open-ended response coding. 
• Qualitative primary research: focus group design and administration; in-depth interview design, outreach, administration and analysis. 
• Data analysis: data segmentation and mining; conjoint analysis; linear regression; descriptive and predictive analytics; data forecasting and modeling. 

32. Directions Research

Founded: 1988 2019 U.S. revenue: $54.2 million Percent change from 2018: 17.8% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: — Percent from outside U.S.: — 2019 worldwide revenue: $54.2 million U.S. employees: 181

Independently recognized as one of the leading business decision insight firms in the nation, Directions Research combines a highly experienced staff with a unique mix of innovative and proven approaches to answer pressing business issues. Directions and SEEK routinely combine primary and connected data from multiple sources to create holistic and actionable analytic stories for their clients. Through digital dashboards, infographics, written reports and other unique visualizations, the firm communicates its knowledge in a manner that is right for today’s leaders. 

Directions and SEEK excel in innovation, optimization, customer and brand experience, brand strategy, strategic business intelligence and visualization across a wide range of industries. The firm offers B2C and B2B services globally, surveying audiences using a broad selection of data collection techniques and combining those insights with existing client knowledge. Directions’ and SEEK’s staff have an excellent mix of client- and supplier-side experience. The organization allows senior researchers to work with clients on a day-to-day basis.

SEEK (acquired in 2018) is a qualitative insight and innovation consultancy, operating as an independent but connected division of Directions. SEEK empathically connects brands with the humans they serve, transforming the brand-to-consumer relationship into a human-to-human one. The SEEK approach builds brand advocacy for clients with the human-centric approach to innovation, activating empathy as an innate problem-solving capability.

31. Fors Marsh Group (FMG) *

Founded: 2002 2019 U.S. revenue: $57.5 million Percent change from 2018: 22.1% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: — Percent from outside U.S.: — 2019 worldwide revenue: $57.5 million U.S. employees: 263

FMG applies behavioral and data science to improve organizational processes, business solutions and customer experiences. This work is conducted within seven core U.S. markets: health, defense, technology, finance, homeland security, policy and consumer. 

FMG’s work for its clients wins industry and federal awards. FMG has been named as a top market research company by GreenBook and the American Advertising Federation and has been named to the American Marketing Association’s list of top market research companies in the U.S. for five consecutive years. FMG was also a finalist for the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council’s Igniting Innovation 2018 award for creating an innovative e-learning program that improved program awareness and usability for the General Services Administration’s Center for Acquisition Professional Excellence. 

For 2019 and beyond, FMG is focused on continuing this momentum and expanding in important areas. In its human capital practice, FMG is furthering its work in the cybersecurity industry to help the Department of Defense attract top cyber talent and to protect the nation’s infrastructure. FMG is also expanding its efforts in public service recruiting through new partnerships with the U.S. Army, U.S. National Guard and AmeriCorps. The company is proud that its partnership with these institutions will help shape the future of the U.S. For its health division, FMG is leveraging its deep experience in health communications to fight the opioid crisis by reducing stigma and removing barriers that victims face in receiving help—potentially one of the biggest challenges facing America today. 

30. National Research Group (NRG) **

Founded: 1978 2019 U.S. revenue: $59 million Percent change from 2018: 1.7% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $4 million Percent from outside U.S.: 6.3% 2019 worldwide revenue: $63 million U.S. employees: 200

National Research Group, acquired by Stagwell Media from Nielsen in 2015, is a leading global insights and strategy firm at the intersection of entertainment and technology. Rooted in four decades of industry expertise, the world’s leading marketers turn to NRG for insights into growth and strategy for any content, anywhere, on any device. Working at the confluence of content, culture and technology, NRG offers bold insights for storytellers everywhere. 

Some agencies specialize in qual, others focus on quant—but NRG connects the two disciplines with hybrid teams expert in both modalities. The company is a one-stop, custom consultancy that tailors its approach to solve clients’ biggest challenges. 

The foundation of NRG’s qualitative work is a team of passionate, subject matter experts who connect deeply with consumers in any environment. NRG uses qual to discover the subconscious drivers that fuel our quantitative truths. Its quantitative work is anchored in sophisticated techniques with a focus on agility, creativity and rigor. NRG is method-agnostic and works collaboratively with its clients to solve complex problems in a simple way.

29. Cello Health * **

Founded: 2004 2019 U.S. revenue: $64.5 million Percent change from 2018: 23.3% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $58.5 million Percent from outside U.S.: 47.6% 2019 worldwide revenue: $123 million U.S. employees: 260

Cello Health consists of four global capabilities that enable the company to offer best-in-class services and an integrated partnership approach to its clients. This unique mix of capabilities, combined with its collaborative approach, results in a unique fusion of expertise, providing powerful advisory and implementation solutions.

• Cello Health Insight is a global marketing research company, providing business intelligence to the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors. Cello Health Insight specializes in getting to the heart of its clients’ questions, using a large pool of creative and academic resources and providing design of materials and deliverables through a hand-picked project team—selected to best meet the needs of each individual project.
• Cello Health Consulting is the strategic consulting arm of Cello Health, focused on delivering business results by unlocking the potential within organizations, people, assets and brands. Cello Health Consulting works alongside clients to create practical solutions that ensure buy-in and build relationships. 
• Cello Health Communications combines science, strategy and creativity to unlock the potential of brands and assets. Its services underpin differentiated positioning and deliver brand optimization, focusing on multiple areas of development and launch, through commercial maturity.
• Cello Signal is a full-service digital capability bringing impactful messages alive in communications campaigns, content and film.

28. Macromill Group **

Founded: 2000 2019 U.S. revenue: $68.5 million Percent change from 2018: 2.2% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $260 million Percent from outside U.S.: 79.1% 2019 worldwide revenue: $328.5 million U.S. employees: 275

Macromill Group is a rapidly growing global market research and digital marketing solutions provider bringing together the collective power of its specialist companies to provide innovative data and insights that drive clients’ smarter decisions. Macromill’s industry-leading digital research solutions deliver rapid and cost-effective solutions to the challenges businesses face today. 

The group’s leading business units are Macromill and MetrixLab. Macromill stands at the forefront of innovation, delivering unique marketing solutions. It offers exclusive access to the highest-quality online panels with more than 2 million members. Using its self-developed platform AIRs, Macromill provides full-service online research including automated survey creation and completion, data tabulation and analysis. Today, its business portfolio includes services such as offline quantitative research, mobile research, point-of-service database research (QPR), digital marketing (Accessmill), a DIY survey platform (Questant) and more. 

Metrixlab turns data from online surveys, social media, mobile devices and enterprise systems into valuable business information and actionable consumer insights. This helps leading companies drive product innovation, brand engagement and customer value. Owned and group panels provide expansive access to global respondents in mature and emerging markets. Its teams deliver strategic and tactical decision support by pushing the boundaries of data analysis innovation, combining cutting-edge technology with data science and proven marketing research methodologies. Clients across the globe rely on the company’s hyper-efficient data and insights ecosystem to deliver fast and affordable results.

27. C Space **

Founded: 1999 2019 U.S. revenue: $70 million Percent change from 2018: 2.9% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $18 million Percent from outside U.S.: 20.5% 2019 worldwide revenue: $88 million U.S. employees: 354

C Space, part of the Interbrand Group, is a global customer agency that marries art and science to create rapid customer insight and business change. 

C Space works with some of the world’s best-known brands—such as Walmart, Samsung, IKEA and more—to build customers into the ways companies work and deliver on customer-inspired growth. By building real, ongoing relationships with customers—online and in-person—brands can stay relevant, deliver superior experiences, launch successful products and build loyalty. Through its “customer as a service” approach of research, consulting and communications, C Space helps businesses minimize risk and maximize growth.

The company integrates customers into the ways its clients work. By bringing stakeholders together around the customer, C Space’s clients create greater clarity and alignment in the actions that will most effectively drive customer growth.

C Space’s customized programs are tailored based on specific business needs and include private online communities, immersive storytelling, data and analytics, activation events, innovation projects and business consulting. C Space continues to invest in its people, existing capabilities like data and analytics, as well as new initiatives.

26. Engine Insights**

Founded: 2004 2019 U.S. revenue: $71 million Percent change from 2018: 4.4% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $44 million Percent from outside U.S.: 38.3% 2019 worldwide revenue: $115 million U.S. employees: 240

Engine is a new kind of data-driven marketing solutions company. Powered by data, driven by results and guided by people, Engine helps its clients make connections that count—leading to bottom-line growth, an inspired workplace and business transformation. 

Engine Insights (formerly ORC International) connects traditional market research with cutting-edge products to deliver clients a 360-degree view of their customers, employees and markets. Engine’s extended suite of solutions and products are designed to support business growth, from helping clients understand and outperform the competition to operationalizing both survey and behavioral data to identify, attract, engage and retain their audiences.

Engine Insights’ client services and products include custom research and omnibus surveys; customer experience, customer retention and brand engagement studies; and data management and data analytics. 

These services help clients:

• Think beyond products and services to drive business revenue.
• Use insights to inform more relevant messaging and creative.
• Get a complete 360-degree view of their customers.
• Segment audiences for better targeting.
• Develop the perfect product and take it to market.
• Create unique experiences that engage their customers and keep them loyal for a lifetime.
• Build an internal culture that attracts, retains and engages the best talent.

Founded: 1931 2019 U.S. revenue: $71.1 million Percent change from 2018: 9% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $6.9 million Percent from outside U.S.: 8.8% 2019 worldwide revenue: $78 million U.S. employees: 253

Since 1931, Burke has consistently redefined expectations in the marketing research industry. From segmentation to customer engagement programs, product innovation and brand tracking, Burke prides itself on designing and executing objectives-driven quantitative and qualitative research. Working across a variety of industries, Burke helps its clients gain actionable perspective on their most critical business challenges, providing a range of solutions from agile to integrated strategic decision support.

Today, Burke continues to push the boundaries of what marketing research can be, seamlessly uniting research, strategy and education. Backed by Seed Strategy—its strategic consulting subsidiary—Burke has the capabilities to support its clients throughout every phase of the product or service life cycle, with expertise in strategy, innovation, branding and marketing. In addition, Burke provides comprehensive training on research fundamentals and best practices through the Burke Institute—its dedicated education division and the industry’s leader in research and insights training. Wherever its clients find themselves on the path to success, Burke is uniquely equipped to help them move forward with clarity, confidence and purpose.

Continuing its long tradition of research innovation, Burke recently unveiled two new offerings: Geode|AI, an integrated insights system that analyzes multiple data sources to uncover patterns, relationships and critical insights that are often hidden; and Quantiment, a robust machine-learning solution that jointly extracts richer insights from structured and unstructured data.

24. YouGov *

Founded: 2000 2019 U.S. revenue: $76.8 million Percent change from 2018: 11.8% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $107.5 million Percent from outside U.S.: 58.3% 2019 worldwide revenue: $184.3 million U.S. employees: 212

YouGov is a global provider of analysis and data generated by consumer panels in 42 markets. Its core offering of opinion data is derived from the proprietary YouGov Global Panel of more than 9 million people. The YouGov Global Panel provides the company with thousands of data points on consumer attitudes, opinions and behavior. YouGov captures these streams of data in the YouGov Cube, its unique connected data library that holds more than 10 years of historic single-source data. In 2019, YouGov panelists completed more than 25 million surveys.

YouGov’s data-led offering supports and improves a wide spectrum of marketing activities of a customer base, including media owners, brands and media agencies. YouGov works with some of the world’s most recognized brands.

Its syndicated data products include the daily brand perception tracker, YouGov BrandIndex and the media planning and segmentation tool YouGov Profiles. Its market-leading YouGov RealTime service provides a fast and cost-effective solution for reaching nationally representative and specialist samples. YouGov’s Custom Research division offers a wide range of quantitative and qualitative research, tailored by sector specialist teams to meet users’ specific requirements. YouGov data is delivered through Crunch, the most advanced analytics tool for research data, combining fast processing with drag-and-drop simplicity. YouGov has a strong record for data accuracy and innovation. 

23. Phoenix Marketing International

Founded: 1999 2019 U.S. revenue: $77 million Percent change from 2018: -3.8% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $4.5 million Percent from outside U.S.: 5.5% 2019 worldwide revenue: $81.5 million U.S. employees: 343

Global advertising and brand specialist Phoenix Marketing International operates in all major industries, utilizing modern technology, innovative research techniques and customized approaches to help clients elevate their brand, refine their communications and optimize their customer experience. 

With the launch of Phoenix’s AdPi Brand Effect Platform, clients now have access to continuous advertising measurement and performance improvement insights through a single platform, providing the ability to analyze their campaigns at any stage in the advertising life cycle, and the flexibility to draw upon each piece as needed. Through more than 20 years of experience and testing thousands of ads per month, Phoenix developed 19 category-specific ad measurement models that uncover the drivers and creative attributes that explain the “whys” behind an ad’s creative performance, with forward-looking estimates for ad memorability and brand linkage.

Phoenix continues to evolve its CX solution, launching Competitive Customer Experience, a measurement of how consumers perceive their overall experience with a brand, including key touchpoints along the journey. Grounding recent experiences with a client’s brand, competitor brands and non-categorical benchmarking, Phoenix is able to evaluate brand opinion, understand what drives great CX outside of the category, focus on emotional drivers of brand CX, and provide an external view of culture, consistency and brand promises.

22. Concentrix **

Founded: 1983 2019 U.S. revenue: $95 million Percent change from 2018: 11.8% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $130 million Percent from outside U.S.: 57.8% 2019 worldwide revenue: $225 million U.S. employees: 253

Concentrix is a wholly owned subsidiary of SYNNEX Corp., specializing in technology-enabled customer engagement and improving business performance for clients around the world. With more than 225,000 staff in more than 40 countries, Concentrix provides services to clients in 10 industry verticals: automotive, banking and financial services, insurance, healthcare, technology, consumer electronics, media and communications, retail and e-commerce, travel and transportation, energy and the public sector. 

The Concentrix Voice of the Customer solution combines technology with experience management services provided by its in-house team of hundreds of CX professionals. 

Powered by analytic tools and artificial intelligence, its customer feedback platform ConcentrixCX helps companies listen, analyze and act on omnichannel customer feedback at any point in the customer journey, at scale. Features include data capture and integration, real-time reporting and analytics, and coaching and employee engagement tools. Concentrix continues to invest in enhanced platform functionality—for example, multi-source data expansion of its proprietary text analytics engine, including structured and unstructured customer feedback sources such as surveys, social, messaging, complaints and email. New digital data collection capabilities include a conversational feedback bot and embedded micro-journey surveys. 

Concentrix experience management services range from program management to strategic advisory services and are custom tailored to free clients’ internal teams to focus on transformational impact. Its CX experts specialize in quantitative and qualitative techniques, delivering data-driven insights through solutions such as survey design, relational loyalty research, CX journey analytics, digital channel optimization, customer segmentation, customer effort assessment and integrated CX analytics.

21. Escalent

Founded: 1975 2019 U.S. revenue: $97.1 million Percent change from 2018: -3.4% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $5.5 million Percent from outside U.S.: 5.4% 2019 worldwide revenue: $102.6 million U.S. employees: 352

Escalent is a human behavior and analytics firm specializing in industries facing disruption. The company transforms data and insights into an understanding of what drives human behavior, and it helps businesses turn those drivers into actions that build brands, enhance customer experiences and inspire product innovation. 

Escalent specializes in automotive and mobility, consumer and retail, energy, financial services, health, technology and telecommunications. Focusing on select industries allows Escalent to function as a trusted business partner who knows the challenges its clients face and understands how to engage their most valuable audiences. 

Escalent has three centers of excellence: Qualitative Research combines emerging technologies, anthropology and ethnography to tap into human insights that reveal real needs and potential; Marketing & Data Sciences combine survey, behavioral, transactional and third-party data to solve tough research challenges; and Insight Communities provides private, online platforms for brands to engage with groups of stakeholders to quickly and easily draw insights.

20. dunnhumby **

Founded: 2001 2019 U.S. revenue: $100 million Percent change from 2018: -3.8% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $335 million Percent from outside U.S.: 77% 2019 worldwide revenue: $435 million U.S. employees: 230

Dunnhumby is a customer science company that analyzes data and applies insights for almost 1 billion shoppers across the globe to create personalized customer experiences in digital, mobile and retail environments. Its strategic process, proprietary insights and multichannel media capabilities build loyalty with customers to drive competitive advantage and sustained growth for clients. Dunnhumby uses data and science to understand customers, then applies that insight to create personalized experiences that build lasting emotional connections with retailers and brands. It’s a strategy that demonstrates when companies know and treat their customers better than the competition, they earn more than their loyalty—they earn a competitive advantage.

Dunnhumby was established in the U.S. to help retailers and manufacturers put the customer at the heart of their business decisions. Analyzing data from millions of customers across the country, dunnhumby enables clients to use this insight to deliver a better shopping experiences and more relevant marketing to their customers.

By putting best customers at the center of every decision, dunnhumby’s approach delivers measurable value, competitive edge and even more customer data to fuel ongoing optimization, setting clients up for long-term success.

Dunnhumby serves a prestigious list of retailers and manufacturers in grocery, consumer goods, health, beauty, personal care, food service, apparel and advertising, among others. Clients include Tesco, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Macy’s and PepsiCo.

19. Informa Financial Intelligence**

Founded: 2016 2019 U.S. revenue: $107 million Percent change from 2018: 1.9% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $36 million Percent from outside U.S.: 25.2% 2019 worldwide revenue: $143 million U.S. employees: 500

Informa Financial Intelligence is a leading provider of business intelligence, market research and expert analysis to the financial industry. The world’s top global financial institutions and banks look to Informa Financial Intelligence for its authority, precision and forward-focused analysis. 

Informa Financial Intelligence consists of key research, analysis and industry experts, such as Informa Research Services, EPFR Global, Informa Global Markets, iMoneyNet, Informa Investment Solutions, eBenchmarkers and Mapa Research.

Informa Financial Intelligence provides fund and wealth managers, traders, insurers, analysts, and investment and retail bankers with the intelligent advantage to make informed decisions, understand past trends, forecast future performance, drive profitability and increase returns.

Because of their strong background in the financial industry, the research teams of Informa Financial Intelligence are highly qualified to help financial institutions with their market research needs. Informa’s researchers are experts in benchmarking studies, competitive intelligence, new product development and usability testing, customer and member satisfaction and loyalty research, brand and advertising awareness research, and mystery shopping services for sales and service quality evaluation, legal and match pair testing, compliance, discrimination and misleading sales practices testing. Informa is considered a leader in the use of market research to limit the risk associated with allegations of discrimination, UDAAP (unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices), predatory lending and misleading sales practices.

18. NRC Health

Founded: 1991 2019 U.S. revenue: $113 million Percent change from 2018: 10.8% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $3.6 million Percent from outside U.S.: 3.1% 2019 worldwide revenue: $128 million U.S. employees: 448

NRC Health (formerly National Research Corp.) has helped healthcare organizations illuminate and improve the moments that matter to patients, residents, physicians, nurses and staff for more than 38 years. The company offers performance measurement and improvement services to hospitals, healthcare systems, physicians, health plans, senior care organizations, home health agencies and other healthcare organizations. 

NRC Health solutions help organizations stay at the forefront of healthcare by understanding the totality of healthcare consumer and staff experiences. Primary solutions include: 

• Experience solutions capture personal experiences, while delivering insights to power a new benchmark: n=1. Developing a longitudinal profile of customers’ healthcare wants and needs allows for organizational improvement, increased provider and staff engagement, loyal relationships and personal well-being. 
• The Loyalty Index, composed of seven aspects that combine to provide a 360-degree view of healthcare consumer loyalty—a single, trackable metric to identify emerging trends in consumer behavior and benchmark against peers. 
• Market Insights is a large U.S. consumer database that gives partners access to the opinions of 310,000 healthcare consumers in 300 markets, and access to resources to better understand target audiences and gauge consumer response to communications.
• The Transparency solution calculates star ratings from existing patient, resident and family survey data, and publishes those ratings to organizations’ websites. 
• The Governance Institute supports the efforts of healthcare boards across the nation—to lead stronger organizations and build healthier communities. NRC Health partners with organizations to improve governance efficiency and effective decision-making by providing trusted, independent information, tools and resources to board members, executives and physician leaders. 

17. MaritzCX **

Founded: 1973 2019 U.S. revenue: $118 million Percent change from 2018: — 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $44 million Percent from outside U.S.: 27.2% 2019 worldwide revenue: $162 million U.S. employees: 600

MaritzCX is a software and research company that focuses on customer experience management for big business. The company offers a unique combination of award-winning CX software, industry-leading data and research science, deep vertical market expertise and managed program services. MaritzCX provides a full-service professional CX approach designed to continuously improve the customer experience across an enterprise’s customers, employees, prospects and partners. 

MaritzCX’s research insights include its leading CXStandards competitive benchmarking research that delivers quarterly benchmarks for 55 CX categories across 16 industries. Its CXEvolution study of more than 10,000 practitioners’ feedback informed large enterprises of their CX gaps. 

The company’s focus is to leverage the MaritzCX platform, its industry-leading studies and research services to drive more meaningful experiences between its clients and their customers by adding product and research services and continued thought leadership in the CX market. In addition, MaritzCX has received CMS-certification for HCAHPS surveys, becoming the industry’s first CX platform company to offer an inclusive CX-based patient experience platform.

MaritzCX specializes in solutions for key industries, including automotive, financial services, retail, technology, B2B and more. Its global reach includes more than 900 full-time employees and 800-plus part-time or contract employees in 19 offices around the world. MaritzCX provides solutions to more than 500 clients and 1.6 million users who speak 72 languages in 100 countries. MaritzCX is committed to being its clients’ customer experience research partners.

In March 2020, InMoment acquired MaritzCX.

16. DRG (Decision Resources Group) **

Founded: 1990 2019 U.S. revenue: $140 million Percent change from 2018: 2.2% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $53 million Percent from outside U.S.: 27.5% 2019 worldwide revenue: $193 million U.S. employees: 399

DRG, the Health Science & Analytics Division of Piramal Enterprises, is a global information and technology services company that provides proprietary data and solutions to the healthcare industry. DRG has brought together best-in-class companies to provide end-to-end solutions to complex challenges in healthcare. DRG reframes these challenges, enabling its customers to see the opportunities. Pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical technology and managed care companies rely on this analysis and data to make informed decisions critical to their success.

Framing the current status and future trends in target healthcare markets using data, primary research and secondary research is a core competency of DRG. Product offerings include high‐value analytics, syndicated research, proprietary databases, decision support tools and advisory services.

DRG has a number of key specialties, including syndicated research focused on new therapeutic opportunities; portfolio planning, changing industry dynamics and global treatment patterns; insights and data on physician and consumer healthcare e‐marketing; and proprietary databases and analytics covering more than 90% of the U.S. managed care markets. 

15. Wood Mackenzie **

Founded: 1973 2019 U.S. revenue: $150 million Percent change from 2018: 3.4% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $335 million Percent from outside U.S.: 69.1% 2019 worldwide revenue: $485 million U.S. employees: 337

Wood Mackenzie, a Verisk business, is a leading research and consultancy business for the global energy, chemicals, metals and mining industries. Wood Mackenzie launched in 1923 as a small, relatively unknown, Edinburgh, Scotland-based stockbroker. By the 1970s, it had become one of the top three stockbrokers in the UK, renowned for the quality of its equity research. 

Its success has always been underpinned by the clear and simple principle of providing trusted research and advice that would make a difference to clients. This was true when the first oil report was published by its equity analysts in 1973 and remains just as relevant to it today. So much so that, over the past four decades, Wood Mackenzie has drawn upon its heritage to create a global research and consultancy business that has grown alongside the needs of its clients. 

Having cultivated deep expertise in upstream oil and gas, Wood Mackenzie has carefully broadened its focus to deliver the same level of detailed insight for every interconnected sector of the energy, chemicals, metals and mining industries it now serves around the world. But heritage is more than just history. Its expert analysts and consultants have connected the company to some of the most significant events of our time—creating insight for governments, boards and CEOs who have helped shape the future direction of the world’s natural resources industries and their impact on society. 

14. Material *

Founded: 1973 2019 U.S. revenue: $166.7 million Percent change from 2018: 0.3% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $57.9 million Percent from outside U.S.: 25.8% 2019 worldwide revenue: $224.6 million U.S. employees: 1,038

In 2019, Material (under the name LRW Group) acquired five companies: Killer Visual Strategies, an award-winning visual communication agency based in Seattle; Greenberg Strategy, a Bay Area research and strategy consultancy with a strong presence in the tech community; Karma Agency, a strategic communications firm based in Philadelphia; Salt Branding, a Bay Area consultancy; and T3, an Austin, Texas-based digital marketing agency. This year, Material is taking steps to unify these companies under one brand, integrating their services and building a collaboration that will provide seamless, end-to-end marketing solutions for clients. This year, LRW Group rebranded as Material, formally integrating 10 companies into one modern, unified offering.

Material is a radical collaboration of the top research and analytics firms seamlessly paired with the most creative and strategic marketing agencies, all with the shared mission of igniting growth for the world’s top B2B and B2C brands, from Fortune 500 companies to disruptive start-ups. Material offers a full range of marketing services—from data analytics and insights, to consulting and strategy development, to customer experience programs and creative executions. Material employs a roster of 1,200 strategists, creators, technologists, designers, researchers and storytellers that work side-by-side with clients to solve modern-day problems, build customer loyalty and make an impact on the world around us.

Founded: 1969 2019 U.S. revenue: $173.7 million Percent change from 2018: 0.5% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $52.6 million Percent from outside U.S.: 23.2% 2019 worldwide revenue: $226.3 million U.S. employees: 5,311

ICF is a global consulting services provider with more than 7,000 professionals focused on making big things possible for its commercial and government clients in the U.S., Europe and Asia. 

Clients work with ICF on issues that matter profoundly to their success, whether it’s a product or program that matters to the business or a social issue or policy that matters to the world. ICF offers comprehensive survey research services that empower clients to gain valuable and actionable insights on issues that matter. 

For more than 40 years, ICF has demonstrated design, methodological and statistical knowledge through the implementation of large and complex survey research projects. Its clients consist of U.S. federal, state and local agencies, universities, nonprofits and commercial organizations. 

Its survey research services include: 

• Analyzing, reporting and presenting findings.
• Conducting surveys through a variety of data collection methods. 
• Designing samples, data collection protocols and instruments.
• Protecting all processes and data through quality assurance and system security.

ICF recently completed the installation of a state-of-the-art, fully integrated and security-enhanced data collection system, allowing the company to securely and most efficiently collect survey research data across all modes. ICF continues to be dedicated to solving the world’s most complex challenges and tackle problems with ingenuity on issues that matter profoundly to its clients.

12. J.D. Power **

Founded: 1968 2019 U.S. revenue: $217 million Percent change from 2018: 3.3% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $113 million Percent from outside U.S.: 34.2% 2019 worldwide revenue: $330 million U.S. employees: 744

J.D. Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services and data and analytics. Those capabilities enable J.D. Power to help its clients drive customer satisfaction, growth and profitability. J.D. Power offers market research, forecasting, consulting, training and consumer surveys of product and service quality, customer satisfaction and buyer behavior. The company’s independent industry benchmark studies, innovative data and analytics products, and customized advisory services provide insights and help companies improve quality, engagement and business performance.

Annual syndicated studies are based on survey responses from millions of consumers and business customers worldwide. The firm does not review, judge or test products and services for its syndicated studies. It relies on the opinions and perspectives of consumers who have used the products and services being rated. 

J.D. Power is most often recognized for its work in the automotive industry, where its metrics have become the industry standard for measuring product quality and customer satisfaction. A team of associates worldwide conducts quality and customer satisfaction research across industries including automotive, financial services, insurance, telecommunications, travel, healthcare utilities and consumer electronics. 

11. Forrester Research Services **

Founded: 1983 2019 U.S. revenue: $233.7 million Percent change from 2018: 32.9% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $65 million Percent from outside U.S.: 21.8% 2019 worldwide revenue: $298.7 million U.S. employees: 525

Forrester Research Services is the research component of Forrester, one of the most influential research and advisory firms in the world. Forrester works with business and technology leaders to develop customer-obsessed strategies that drive growth. Its unique insights are grounded in annual surveys of more than 675,000 consumers and business leaders worldwide, rigorous and objective methodologies, and the shared wisdom of its most innovative clients. 

Forrester’s research offerings consist of a library of cross-linked documents that interconnect its playbooks, reports, data, product rankings, best practices, evaluation tools and research archives. Research access is provided through role-based websites that facilitate client access to research and tools that are most relevant to their professional roles, including community tools that allow interaction between and among clients and analysts.

Forrester’s research and decision tools enable clients to better anticipate and capitalize on the disruptive forces affecting their businesses and organizations, providing insights and frameworks to drive growth in a complex and dynamic market. 

Founded: 1934 2019 U.S. revenue: $320 million Percent change from 2018: 3.2% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $1,280 million Percent from outside U.S.: 80% 2019 worldwide revenue: $1,600 million U.S. employees: 860

GfK connects data and science. Innovative research solutions provide answers for key business questions around consumers, markets, brands and media—now and in the future. As a research and analytics partner, GfK promises its clients all over the world “Growth from knowledge.” 

The increasing speed of product innovation, the rise of new channels and emerging customer needs are all part of business today. GfK’s clients are businesses around the globe. To make the best possible business decisions every day, they need more than purely descriptive data—they require actionable recommendations based on advanced analytics and powered by leading-edge technology. GfK is in the unique position to leverage proprietary and third-party data to create indispensable predictive market and consumer insights and recommendations.

GfK’s industry focus provides its market researchers with a thorough understanding of business issues and questions specific to their concerns. Industries covered include automotive, consumer goods, fashion and lifestyle, media and entertainment, retail, technology, and travel and hospitality.

9. comScore * **

Founded: 1999 2019 U.S. revenue: $336.1 million Percent change from 2018: -6.5% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $52.5 million Percent from outside U.S.: 13.5% 2019 worldwide revenue: $388.6 million U.S. employees: 870

ComScore is a global information and analytics company that measures advertising, content and the consumer audiences of each across media platforms. ComScore creates its products using a global data platform that combines information on digital platforms (smartphones, tablets and computers), television and movie screens with demographics and other descriptive information. 

ComScore has developed proprietary data science that enables measurement of person-level and household-level audiences, removing duplicated viewing across devices and over time. This combination of data and methods enables a common standard for buyers and sellers to transact on advertising. This helps companies across the media ecosystem better understand and monetize their audiences and develop marketing plans and products to more efficiently and effectively reach those audiences. ComScore’s ability to unify behavioral and other descriptive data enables it to provide audience ratings, advertising verification and granular consumer segments that describe hundreds of millions of consumers. 

ComScore offers several solutions to help advertisers maximize cross-platform marketing effectiveness—be it measuring brand impact, viewability or ad and audience delivery validation—as well as power cross-platform advertising for better targeting and stronger advertising ROI. ComScore Advanced Audience segments go beyond age and gender to help advertisers better target consumers based on lifestyles, behaviors, demographics and interests. ComScore pioneered this concept in digital, local and national TV. 

8. The NPD Group

Founded: 1966 2019 U.S. revenue: $339.5 million Percent change from 2018: 8.6% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $104.5 million Percent from outside U.S.: 23.5% 2019 worldwide revenue: $444 million U.S. employees: 1,185

NPD’s global information and advisory services help the world’s leading brands achieve data-driven growth. NPD combines data, industry expertise and prescriptive analytics across more than 20 industries to help its clients measure markets, predict trends and improve performance.

NPD syndicated services include retail tracking, distributor tracking and consumer tracking. NPD offers weekly data, store-level enabled data for looking at geographies or custom store groupings and account-level information for participating retailers. Point-of-sale data is collected from more than 600,000 doors worldwide, plus e-commerce and mobile platforms. Consumer information is collected via online surveys and NPD’s Checkout service, which uses receipt harvesting to track and analyze purchasing and behavior. Prescriptive analytics include market forecasting, new product forecasting, pricing and promotion evaluation and segmentation. 

With deep expertise in more than 20 industries, NPD provides thought leadership to the C-suites of many of the world’s leading brands. Senior industry advisors are available for strategy sessions to guide long-range planning or address specific needs, such as preparing for earnings calls. Topics include industry and category performance, the state of retail and winning strategies of best-in-class companies.

7. Westat **

Founded: 1963 2019 U.S. revenue: $590 million Percent change from 2018: 3.5% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $7 million Percent from outside U.S.: 1.2% 2019 worldwide revenue: $597 million U.S. employees: 1,900

Westat is a 100% employee-owned research and professional services company. Westat provides extensive survey design and operations capabilities in support of modern data collection from households, institutions, businesses and individuals. Westat applies multiple modes of data collection and survey management to achieve maximum response rates.

The company’s focus areas and capabilities include: 

• Statistical analysis and methodological research in survey design, experiments and testing, data science and analytics, statistical disclosure control and qualitative research.
• Program, process and outcome evaluation using diverse methodologies from design to implementation to guide each program to success.
• Health research, including behavioral and mental health, clinical studies and clinical trials, public and international health, healthcare delivery, patient safety and health communications campaigns.
• Social policy research and technical assistance for implementing innovative evaluation, quality improvement and service delivery systems.
• Education programs for supporting teachers, conducting evaluations and providing technical assistance.
• Transportation studies of travel behaviors, safety and human factors using advanced technologies such as instrumented vehicles and simulators, field observational studies, and online and mobile device-based surveys.

To support its research projects, Westat designs tailor-made approaches for clients as well as invests in many general and specialized IT technologies and products. Westat also provides licensing, training and support for Blaise, a major data collection software system produced by Statistics Netherlands and used internationally. 

Founded: 1975 2019 U.S. revenue: $682 million Percent change from 2018: 16.2% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $1,685 million Percent from outside U.S.: 71.2% 2019 worldwide revenue: $2,367 million U.S. employees: 2,025

Ipsos, through its subsidiaries, engages in collecting, processing and delivering survey data for brands, companies and institutions primarily in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas and Asia Pacific. It explores market potential and market trends, tests products and advertising, helps clients build long-term relationships with customers, studies audiences and their perceptions of various media and measures public opinion trends. Ipsos offers advertising research services, including advertising tracking and brand equity evaluation services that help advertisers in the development, evaluation and improvement of their advertising efforts.

It also provides marketing research services that help clients to identify business opportunities and innovation platforms, develop strategies at point of sale, generate insights and ideas, develop and optimize their mix, and model and forecast sales volumes, as well as offers custom innovative products and solutions to address stakeholder experience and brand-building business goals.

In this unique year, Ipsos has remained strong and reaffirmed its ambition and sense of purpose to deliver reliable information for a true understanding of society, markets and people. Ipsos activates this vision for more than 5,000 customers through its presence in 90 markets both globally and locally. Ipsos covers the whole information production and analysis chain, from the collection of raw data to the activation of the insights. It has a solid tradition of innovation expressed by new methodological developments and continuously renewed product range.

5. Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) **

Founded: 1979 2019 U.S. revenue: $815 million Percent change from 2018: 1.9% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $510 million Percent from outside U.S.: 38.5% 2019 worldwide revenue: $1,325 million U.S. employees: 3,639

IRI is a leading provider of big data, predictive analytics and forward-looking insights that help consumer packaged goods, over-the-counter healthcare organizations, retailers, financial services and media companies grow their businesses. A confluence of major external events—a change in consumer buying habits, big data coming into its own, advanced analytics and personalized consumer activation—is leading to a seismic shift in drivers of success in all industries. With the largest repository of purchase, media, social, causal and loyalty data, all integrated on an on-demand, cloud-based technology platform, IRI is empowering the personalization revolution, helping to guide its more than 5,000 clients around the world in their quest to remain relentlessly relevant, capture market share, connect with consumers, collaborate with key constituents and deliver market-leading growth.

In 2019, IRI announced the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning into its leading suite of analytics solutions, retained 100% of its major CPG clients and welcomed new strategic partnerships with top retailers in the U.S. IRI added several innovators to its leadership team while continuing to invest in its employees by providing ongoing training. 

4. Kantar **

Founded: 1993 2019 U.S. revenue: $950 million Percent change from 2018: 2.7% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $2,900 million Percent from outside U.S.: 75.3% 2019 worldwide revenue: $3,850 million U.S. employees: 3,585

Kantar is one of the world’s largest data, insights and consulting companies, bringing together some of the world’s leading research, data and insights expertise. Kantar’s offer covers the breadth of techniques and technologies, from purchase and media data to predicting long-term trends; from neuroscience to exit polls; from large-scale quantitative studies to qualitative research, incorporating ethnography and semiotics. 

In April 2019, all services and offerings of the various Kantar companies were combined under the Kantar brand name. This operational change enables Kantar to build platforms and offers on a global scale and to remove barriers to collaboration and co-creation within the organization to better meet clients’ needs. 

As part of this branding strategy, Kantar launched several initiatives:

• Kantar Marketplace, a global on-demand research and insights store.
• Kantar’s new Brand Guidance System that intelligently integrates validated survey measures with social, search, sales media and behavioral data to provide actionable insights to optimize brand or campaign performance.
• Integration of big data, artificial intelligence and analytical capabilities from across the company into one resource that unlocks deeper insights to fuel growth.

3. Gartner Research **

Founded: 1972 2019 U.S. revenue: $1,800 million Percent change from 2018: 4.7% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $1,474.5 million Percent from outside U.S.: 45% 2019 worldwide revenue: $3,274.5 million U.S. employees: 4,500

Gartner Research delivers independent, objective advice to leaders across an enterprise through subscription services that include on-demand access to published research content, data and benchmarks, and direct access to a network of approximately 2,300 research experts located around the globe. Gartner Research is the fundamental building block for all Gartner products and services. It combines its proprietary research methodologies with extensive industry and academic relationships to create Gartner products and services that address each role across an enterprise. Gartner’s research agenda is defined by clients’ needs, focusing on the critical issues, opportunities and challenges they face every day. Its proprietary research content, presented in the form of reports, briefings, updates and related tools, is delivered directly to the client’s desktop via its website or product-specific portals.

Within the research segment, Global Technology Sales sells products and services to users and providers of technology, while Global Business Sales sells products and services to all other functional leaders, such as supply chain, marketing, human resources, finance, legal and sales. 

2. IQVIA * **

Founded: 2016 2019 U.S. revenue: $2,220 million Percent change from 2018: 8.6% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $2,166 million Percent from outside U.S.: 49.4% 2019 worldwide revenue: $4,386 million U.S. employees: 6,000

IQVIA is a global provider of information, innovative technology solutions and contract research services focused on helping healthcare clients find better solutions for patients. Formed through the 2016 merger of Quintiles and IMS Health, IQVIA applies human data science—leveraging the analytic rigor and clarity of data science to the ever-expanding scope of human science—to enable companies to reimagine and develop new approaches to clinical development and commercialization, speed innovation and accelerate improvements in healthcare outcomes. 

IQVIA has three operating segments: Technology & Analytics Solutions, Research & Development Solutions and Contract Sales & Medical Solutions. Powered by the IQVIA CORE, IQVIA delivers unique and actionable insights at the intersection of large-scale analytics, transformative technology and extensive domain expertise, as well as execution capabilities to help biotech, medical device and pharmaceutical companies, medical researchers, government agencies, payers and other healthcare stakeholders tap into a deeper understanding of diseases, human behaviors and scientific advances, in an effort to advance their path toward cures.

IQVIA has one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of healthcare information in the world, which includes more than 800 million comprehensive, longitudinal, non-identified patient records spanning sales, prescription and promotional data, medical claims, electronic medical records, genomics and social media. Its scaled and growing information set contains more than 35 petabytes of proprietary data sourced from more than 150,000 data suppliers and covering more than 1 million data feeds globally. Based on this data, IQVIA delivers information and insights on more than 85% of the world’s pharmaceuticals, helping its clients run their organizations more efficiently and make better decisions to improve their clinical, commercial and financial performance. 

1. Nielsen **

Founded: 1923 2019 U.S. revenue: $3,875 million Percent change from 2018: 1.6% 2019 non-U.S. revenue: $2,623 million Percent from outside U.S.: 40.4% 2019 worldwide revenue: $6,498 million U.S. employees: 10,300

Nielsen is a global measurement and data analytics company that provides a complete and trusted view of consumers and markets worldwide. Nielsen is divided into two business units: Nielsen Global Media and Nielsen Global Connect. 

Nielsen Global Media provides media and advertising clients with unbiased and reliable metrics that create the shared understanding of the industry required for markets to function, enabling its clients to grow and succeed across the $600 billion global advertising market. Nielsen Global Media helps clients define exactly who they want to reach and optimize the outcomes they can achieve. The company’s cross-platform measurement strategy brings together the best of TV and digital measurement to ensure a more functional marketplace for the industry.

Nielsen Global Connect provides consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers with accurate, actionable information and a complete picture of the complex and changing marketplace that brands need to innovate and grow their businesses. Nielsen Global Connect provides data and builds tools that use predictive models to turn observations in the marketplace into business decisions and winning solutions. The business’ data and insights, combined with its open, cloud-native measurement and analytics platform that democratizes the power of data, continue to provide an essential foundation that makes markets possible in the rapidly evolving world of commerce. With Nielsen Global Connect’s set of guiding truths, businesses have the tools to create new opportunities.

* ‘% change’ calculation reflects adjustment of previously reported 2018 U.S. research revenue due to acquisition or divestiture activity or other business change during 2019.

** Some or all figures are not made available by this company so instead are based on research and estimation by the report author.

Diane Bowers is a consultant to research and data analytics businesses and industry associations in the U.S. and internationally. She previously served as the president of CASRO, board chair of the Global Research Business Network, a board member of the Americas Research Industry Alliance and a board member of The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at Cornell University. She is also a past president of the Market Research Council and the Research Industry Coalition, and a long-time member of American Association for Public Opinion Research, AMA and ESOMAR.

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How to Do Market Research: The Complete Guide

Learn how to do market research with this step-by-step guide, complete with templates, tools and real-world examples.

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What are your customers’ needs? How does your product compare to the competition? What are the emerging trends and opportunities in your industry? If these questions keep you up at night, it’s time to conduct market research.

Market research plays a pivotal role in your ability to stay competitive and relevant, helping you anticipate shifts in consumer behavior and industry dynamics. It involves gathering these insights using a wide range of techniques, from surveys and interviews to data analysis and observational studies.

In this guide, we’ll explore why market research is crucial, the various types of market research, the methods used in data collection, and how to effectively conduct market research to drive informed decision-making and success.

What is market research?

Market research is the systematic process of gathering, analyzing and interpreting information about a specific market or industry. The purpose of market research is to offer valuable insight into the preferences and behaviors of your target audience, and anticipate shifts in market trends and the competitive landscape. This information helps you make data-driven decisions, develop effective strategies for your business, and maximize your chances of long-term growth.

Why is market research important? 

By understanding the significance of market research, you can make sure you’re asking the right questions and using the process to your advantage. Some of the benefits of market research include:

• Informed decision-making: Market research provides you with the data and insights you need to make smart decisions for your business. It helps you identify opportunities, assess risks and tailor your strategies to meet the demands of the market. Without market research, decisions are often based on assumptions or guesswork, leading to costly mistakes.
• Customer-centric approach: A cornerstone of market research involves developing a deep understanding of customer needs and preferences. This gives you valuable insights into your target audience, helping you develop products, services and marketing campaigns that resonate with your customers.
• Competitive advantage: By conducting market research, you’ll gain a competitive edge. You’ll be able to identify gaps in the market, analyze competitor strengths and weaknesses, and position your business strategically. This enables you to create unique value propositions, differentiate yourself from competitors, and seize opportunities that others may overlook.
• Risk mitigation: Market research helps you anticipate market shifts and potential challenges. By identifying threats early, you can proactively adjust their strategies to mitigate risks and respond effectively to changing circumstances. This proactive approach is particularly valuable in volatile industries.
• Resource optimization: Conducting market research allows organizations to allocate their time, money and resources more efficiently. It ensures that investments are made in areas with the highest potential return on investment, reducing wasted resources and improving overall business performance.
• Adaptation to market trends: Markets evolve rapidly, driven by technological advancements, cultural shifts and changing consumer attitudes. Market research ensures that you stay ahead of these trends and adapt your offerings accordingly so you can avoid becoming obsolete. 

As you can see, market research empowers businesses to make data-driven decisions, cater to customer needs, outperform competitors, mitigate risks, optimize resources and stay agile in a dynamic marketplace. These benefits make it a huge industry; the global market research services market is expected to grow from $76.37 billion in 2021 to $108.57 billion in 2026 . Now, let’s dig into the different types of market research that can help you achieve these benefits.

Types of market research 

• Qualitative research
• Quantitative research
• Exploratory research
• Descriptive research
• Causal research
• Cross-sectional research
• Longitudinal research

Despite its advantages, 23% of organizations don’t have a clear market research strategy. Part of developing a strategy involves choosing the right type of market research for your business goals. The most commonly used approaches include:

1. Qualitative research

Qualitative research focuses on understanding the underlying motivations, attitudes and perceptions of individuals or groups. It is typically conducted through techniques like in-depth interviews, focus groups and content analysis — methods we’ll discuss further in the sections below. Qualitative research provides rich, nuanced insights that can inform product development, marketing strategies and brand positioning.

2. Quantitative research

Quantitative research, in contrast to qualitative research, involves the collection and analysis of numerical data, often through surveys, experiments and structured questionnaires. This approach allows for statistical analysis and the measurement of trends, making it suitable for large-scale market studies and hypothesis testing. While it’s worthwhile using a mix of qualitative and quantitative research, most businesses prioritize the latter because it is scientific, measurable and easily replicated across different experiments.

3. Exploratory research

Whether you’re conducting qualitative or quantitative research or a mix of both, exploratory research is often the first step. Its primary goal is to help you understand a market or problem so you can gain insights and identify potential issues or opportunities. This type of market research is less structured and is typically conducted through open-ended interviews, focus groups or secondary data analysis. Exploratory research is valuable when entering new markets or exploring new product ideas.

4. Descriptive research

As its name implies, descriptive research seeks to describe a market, population or phenomenon in detail. It involves collecting and summarizing data to answer questions about audience demographics and behaviors, market size, and current trends. Surveys, observational studies and content analysis are common methods used in descriptive research. 

5. Causal research

Causal research aims to establish cause-and-effect relationships between variables. It investigates whether changes in one variable result in changes in another. Experimental designs, A/B testing and regression analysis are common causal research methods. This sheds light on how specific marketing strategies or product changes impact consumer behavior.

6. Cross-sectional research

Cross-sectional market research involves collecting data from a sample of the population at a single point in time. It is used to analyze differences, relationships or trends among various groups within a population. Cross-sectional studies are helpful for market segmentation, identifying target audiences and assessing market trends at a specific moment.

7. Longitudinal research

Longitudinal research, in contrast to cross-sectional research, collects data from the same subjects over an extended period. This allows for the analysis of trends, changes and developments over time. Longitudinal studies are useful for tracking long-term developments in consumer preferences, brand loyalty and market dynamics.

Each type of market research has its strengths and weaknesses, and the method you choose depends on your specific research goals and the depth of understanding you’re aiming to achieve. In the following sections, we’ll delve into primary and secondary research approaches and specific research methods.

Primary vs. secondary market research

Market research of all types can be broadly categorized into two main approaches: primary research and secondary research. By understanding the differences between these approaches, you can better determine the most appropriate research method for your specific goals.

Primary market research 

Primary research involves the collection of original data straight from the source. Typically, this involves communicating directly with your target audience — through surveys, interviews, focus groups and more — to gather information. Here are some key attributes of primary market research:

• Customized data: Primary research provides data that is tailored to your research needs. You design a custom research study and gather information specific to your goals.
• Up-to-date insights: Because primary research involves communicating with customers, the data you collect reflects the most current market conditions and consumer behaviors.
• Time-consuming and resource-intensive: Despite its advantages, primary research can be labor-intensive and costly, especially when dealing with large sample sizes or complex study designs. Whether you hire a market research consultant, agency or use an in-house team, primary research studies consume a large amount of resources and time.

Secondary market research 

Secondary research, on the other hand, involves analyzing data that has already been compiled by third-party sources, such as online research tools, databases, news sites, industry reports and academic studies.

Here are the main characteristics of secondary market research:

• Cost-effective: Secondary research is generally more cost-effective than primary research since it doesn’t require building a research plan from scratch. You and your team can look at databases, websites and publications on an ongoing basis, without needing to design a custom experiment or hire a consultant. 
• Leverages multiple sources: Data tools and software extract data from multiple places across the web, and then consolidate that information within a single platform. This means you’ll get a greater amount of data and a wider scope from secondary research.
• Quick to access: You can access a wide range of information rapidly — often in seconds — if you’re using online research tools and databases. Because of this, you can act on insights sooner, rather than taking the time to develop an experiment. 

So, when should you use primary vs. secondary research? In practice, many market research projects incorporate both primary and secondary research to take advantage of the strengths of each approach.

One rule of thumb is to focus on secondary research to obtain background information, market trends or industry benchmarks. It is especially valuable for conducting preliminary research, competitor analysis, or when time and budget constraints are tight. Then, if you still have knowledge gaps or need to answer specific questions unique to your business model, use primary research to create a custom experiment. 

Market research methods

• Surveys and questionnaires
• Focus groups
• Observational research
• Online research tools
• Experiments
• Content analysis
• Ethnographic research

How do primary and secondary research approaches translate into specific research methods? Let’s take a look at the different ways you can gather data: 

1. Surveys and questionnaires

Surveys and questionnaires are popular methods for collecting structured data from a large number of respondents. They involve a set of predetermined questions that participants answer. Surveys can be conducted through various channels, including online tools, telephone interviews and in-person or online questionnaires. They are useful for gathering quantitative data and assessing customer demographics, opinions, preferences and needs. On average, customer surveys have a 33% response rate , so keep that in mind as you consider your sample size.

2. Interviews

Interviews are in-depth conversations with individuals or groups to gather qualitative insights. They can be structured (with predefined questions) or unstructured (with open-ended discussions). Interviews are valuable for exploring complex topics, uncovering motivations and obtaining detailed feedback. 

3. Focus groups

The most common primary research methods are in-depth webcam interviews and focus groups. Focus groups are a small gathering of participants who discuss a specific topic or product under the guidance of a moderator. These discussions are valuable for primary market research because they reveal insights into consumer attitudes, perceptions and emotions. Focus groups are especially useful for idea generation, concept testing and understanding group dynamics within your target audience.

4. Observational research

Observational research involves observing and recording participant behavior in a natural setting. This method is particularly valuable when studying consumer behavior in physical spaces, such as retail stores or public places. In some types of observational research, participants are aware you’re watching them; in other cases, you discreetly watch consumers without their knowledge, as they use your product. Either way, observational research provides firsthand insights into how people interact with products or environments.

5. Online research tools

You and your team can do your own secondary market research using online tools. These tools include data prospecting platforms and databases, as well as online surveys, social media listening, web analytics and sentiment analysis platforms. They help you gather data from online sources, monitor industry trends, track competitors, understand consumer preferences and keep tabs on online behavior. We’ll talk more about choosing the right market research tools in the sections that follow.

6. Experiments

Market research experiments are controlled tests of variables to determine causal relationships. While experiments are often associated with scientific research, they are also used in market research to assess the impact of specific marketing strategies, product features, or pricing and packaging changes.

7. Content analysis

Content analysis involves the systematic examination of textual, visual or audio content to identify patterns, themes and trends. It’s commonly applied to customer reviews, social media posts and other forms of online content to analyze consumer opinions and sentiments.

8. Ethnographic research

Ethnographic research immerses researchers into the daily lives of consumers to understand their behavior and culture. This method is particularly valuable when studying niche markets or exploring the cultural context of consumer choices.

How to do market research

• Set clear objectives
• Identify your target audience
• Choose your research methods
• Use the right market research tools
• Collect data
• Analyze data 
• Interpret your findings
• Identify opportunities and challenges
• Make informed business decisions
• Monitor and adapt

Now that you have gained insights into the various market research methods at your disposal, let’s delve into the practical aspects of how to conduct market research effectively. Here’s a quick step-by-step overview, from defining objectives to monitoring market shifts.

1. Set clear objectives

When you set clear and specific goals, you’re essentially creating a compass to guide your research questions and methodology. Start by precisely defining what you want to achieve. Are you launching a new product and want to understand its viability in the market? Are you evaluating customer satisfaction with a product redesign? 

Start by creating SMART goals — objectives that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Not only will this clarify your research focus from the outset, but it will also help you track progress and benchmark your success throughout the process. 

You should also consult with key stakeholders and team members to ensure alignment on your research objectives before diving into data collecting. This will help you gain diverse perspectives and insights that will shape your research approach.

2. Identify your target audience

Next, you’ll need to pinpoint your target audience to determine who should be included in your research. Begin by creating detailed buyer personas or stakeholder profiles. Consider demographic factors like age, gender, income and location, but also delve into psychographics, such as interests, values and pain points.

The more specific your target audience, the more accurate and actionable your research will be. Additionally, segment your audience if your research objectives involve studying different groups, such as current customers and potential leads.

If you already have existing customers, you can also hold conversations with them to better understand your target market. From there, you can refine your buyer personas and tailor your research methods accordingly.

3. Choose your research methods

Selecting the right research methods is crucial for gathering high-quality data. Start by considering the nature of your research objectives. If you’re exploring consumer preferences, surveys and interviews can provide valuable insights. For in-depth understanding, focus groups or observational research might be suitable. Consider using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods to gain a well-rounded perspective. 

You’ll also need to consider your budget. Think about what you can realistically achieve using the time and resources available to you. If you have a fairly generous budget, you may want to try a mix of primary and secondary research approaches. If you’re doing market research for a startup , on the other hand, chances are your budget is somewhat limited. If that’s the case, try addressing your goals with secondary research tools before investing time and effort in a primary research study. 

4. Use the right market research tools

Whether you’re conducting primary or secondary research, you’ll need to choose the right tools. These can help you do anything from sending surveys to customers to monitoring trends and analyzing data. Here are some examples of popular market research tools:

• Market research software: Crunchbase is a platform that provides best-in-class company data, making it valuable for market research on growing companies and industries. You can use Crunchbase to access trusted, first-party funding data, revenue data, news and firmographics, enabling you to monitor industry trends and understand customer needs.

• Survey and questionnaire tools: SurveyMonkey is a widely used online survey platform that allows you to create, distribute and analyze surveys. Google Forms is a free tool that lets you create surveys and collect responses through Google Drive.
• Data analysis software: Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets are useful for conducting statistical analyses. SPSS is a powerful statistical analysis software used for data processing, analysis and reporting.
• Social listening tools: Brandwatch is a social listening and analytics platform that helps you monitor social media conversations, track sentiment and analyze trends. Mention is a media monitoring tool that allows you to track mentions of your brand, competitors and keywords across various online sources.
• Data visualization platforms: Tableau is a data visualization tool that helps you create interactive and shareable dashboards and reports. Power BI by Microsoft is a business analytics tool for creating interactive visualizations and reports.

5. Collect data

There’s an infinite amount of data you could be collecting using these tools, so you’ll need to be intentional about going after the data that aligns with your research goals. Implement your chosen research methods, whether it’s distributing surveys, conducting interviews or pulling from secondary research platforms. Pay close attention to data quality and accuracy, and stick to a standardized process to streamline data capture and reduce errors. 

6. Analyze data

Once data is collected, you’ll need to analyze it systematically. Use statistical software or analysis tools to identify patterns, trends and correlations. For qualitative data, employ thematic analysis to extract common themes and insights. Visualize your findings with charts, graphs and tables to make complex data more understandable.

If you’re not proficient in data analysis, consider outsourcing or collaborating with a data analyst who can assist in processing and interpreting your data accurately.

7. Interpret your findings

Interpreting your market research findings involves understanding what the data means in the context of your objectives. Are there significant trends that uncover the answers to your initial research questions? Consider the implications of your findings on your business strategy. It’s essential to move beyond raw data and extract actionable insights that inform decision-making.

Hold a cross-functional meeting or workshop with relevant team members to collectively interpret the findings. Different perspectives can lead to more comprehensive insights and innovative solutions.

8. Identify opportunities and challenges

Use your research findings to identify potential growth opportunities and challenges within your market. What segments of your audience are underserved or overlooked? Are there emerging trends you can capitalize on? Conversely, what obstacles or competitors could hinder your progress?

Lay out this information in a clear and organized way by conducting a SWOT analysis, which stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Jot down notes for each of these areas to provide a structured overview of gaps and hurdles in the market.

9. Make informed business decisions

Market research is only valuable if it leads to informed decisions for your company. Based on your insights, devise actionable strategies and initiatives that align with your research objectives. Whether it’s refining your product, targeting new customer segments or adjusting pricing, ensure your decisions are rooted in the data.

At this point, it’s also crucial to keep your team aligned and accountable. Create an action plan that outlines specific steps, responsibilities and timelines for implementing the recommendations derived from your research. 

10. Monitor and adapt

Market research isn’t a one-time activity; it’s an ongoing process. Continuously monitor market conditions, customer behaviors and industry trends. Set up mechanisms to collect real-time data and feedback. As you gather new information, be prepared to adapt your strategies and tactics accordingly. Regularly revisiting your research ensures your business remains agile and reflects changing market dynamics and consumer preferences.

Online market research sources

As you go through the steps above, you’ll want to turn to trusted, reputable sources to gather your data. Here’s a list to get you started:

• Crunchbase: As mentioned above, Crunchbase is an online platform with an extensive dataset, allowing you to access in-depth insights on market trends, consumer behavior and competitive analysis. You can also customize your search options to tailor your research to specific industries, geographic regions or customer personas.

• Academic databases: Academic databases, such as ProQuest and JSTOR , are treasure troves of scholarly research papers, studies and academic journals. They offer in-depth analyses of various subjects, including market trends, consumer preferences and industry-specific insights. Researchers can access a wealth of peer-reviewed publications to gain a deeper understanding of their research topics.
• Government and NGO databases: Government agencies, nongovernmental organizations and other institutions frequently maintain databases containing valuable economic, demographic and industry-related data. These sources offer credible statistics and reports on a wide range of topics, making them essential for market researchers. Examples include the U.S. Census Bureau , the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Pew Research Center .
• Industry reports: Industry reports and market studies are comprehensive documents prepared by research firms, industry associations and consulting companies. They provide in-depth insights into specific markets, including market size, trends, competitive analysis and consumer behavior. You can find this information by looking at relevant industry association databases; examples include the American Marketing Association and the National Retail Federation .
• Social media and online communities: Social media platforms like LinkedIn or Twitter (X) , forums such as Reddit and Quora , and review platforms such as G2 can provide real-time insights into consumer sentiment, opinions and trends. 

Market research examples

At this point, you have market research tools and data sources — but how do you act on the data you gather? Let’s go over some real-world examples that illustrate the practical application of market research across various industries. These examples showcase how market research can lead to smart decision-making and successful business decisions.

Example 1: Apple’s iPhone launch

Apple ’s iconic iPhone launch in 2007 serves as a prime example of market research driving product innovation in tech. Before the iPhone’s release, Apple conducted extensive market research to understand consumer preferences, pain points and unmet needs in the mobile phone industry. This research led to the development of a touchscreen smartphone with a user-friendly interface, addressing consumer demands for a more intuitive and versatile device. The result was a revolutionary product that disrupted the market and redefined the smartphone industry.

Example 2: McDonald’s global expansion

McDonald’s successful global expansion strategy demonstrates the importance of market research when expanding into new territories. Before entering a new market, McDonald’s conducts thorough research to understand local tastes, preferences and cultural nuances. This research informs menu customization, marketing strategies and store design. For instance, in India, McDonald’s offers a menu tailored to local preferences, including vegetarian options. This market-specific approach has enabled McDonald’s to adapt and thrive in diverse global markets.

Example 3: Organic and sustainable farming

The shift toward organic and sustainable farming practices in the food industry is driven by market research that indicates increased consumer demand for healthier and environmentally friendly food options. As a result, food producers and retailers invest in sustainable sourcing and organic product lines — such as with these sustainable seafood startups — to align with this shift in consumer values. 

The bottom line? Market research has multiple use cases and is a critical practice for any industry. Whether it’s launching groundbreaking products, entering new markets or responding to changing consumer preferences, you can use market research to shape successful strategies and outcomes.

Market research templates

You finally have a strong understanding of how to do market research and apply it in the real world. Before we wrap up, here are some market research templates that you can use as a starting point for your projects:

• Smartsheet competitive analysis templates : These spreadsheets can serve as a framework for gathering information about the competitive landscape and obtaining valuable lessons to apply to your business strategy.
• SurveyMonkey product survey template : Customize the questions on this survey based on what you want to learn from your target customers.
• HubSpot templates : HubSpot offers a wide range of free templates you can use for market research, business planning and more.
• SCORE templates : SCORE is a nonprofit organization that provides templates for business plans, market analysis and financial projections.
• SBA.gov : The U.S. Small Business Administration offers templates for every aspect of your business, including market research, and is particularly valuable for new startups. 

Strengthen your business with market research

When conducted effectively, market research is like a guiding star. Equipped with the right tools and techniques, you can uncover valuable insights, stay competitive, foster innovation and navigate the complexities of your industry.

Throughout this guide, we’ve discussed the definition of market research, different research methods, and how to conduct it effectively. We’ve also explored various types of market research and shared practical insights and templates for getting started. 

Now, it’s time to start the research process. Trust in data, listen to the market and make informed decisions that guide your company toward lasting success.

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What Is Market Research?

• How It Works
• Primary vs. Secondary
• How to Conduct Research

The Bottom Line

• Marketing Essentials

How to Do Market Research, Types, and Example

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Joules Garcia / Investopedia

Market research examines consumer behavior and trends in the economy to help a business develop and fine-tune its business idea and strategy. It helps a business understand its target market by gathering and analyzing data.

Market research is the process of evaluating the viability of a new service or product through research conducted directly with potential customers. It allows a company to define its target market and get opinions and other feedback from consumers about their interest in a product or service.

Research may be conducted in-house or by a third party that specializes in market research. It can be done through surveys and focus groups, among other ways. Test subjects are usually compensated with product samples or a small stipend for their time.

Key Takeaways

• Companies conduct market research before introducing new products to determine their appeal to potential customers.
• Tools include focus groups, telephone interviews, and questionnaires.
• The results of market research inform the final design of the product and determine how it will be positioned in the marketplace.
• Market research usually combines primary information, gathered directly from consumers, and secondary information, which is data available from external sources.

Market Research

How market research works.

Market research is used to determine the viability of a new product or service. The results may be used to revise the product design and fine-tune the strategy for introducing it to the public. This can include information gathered for the purpose of determining market segmentation . It also informs product differentiation , which is used to tailor advertising.

A business engages in various tasks to complete the market research process. It gathers information based on the market sector being targeted by the product. This information is then analyzed and relevant data points are interpreted to draw conclusions about how the product may be optimally designed and marketed to the market segment for which it is intended.

It is a critical component in the research and development (R&D) phase of a new product or service introduction. Market research can be conducted in many different ways, including surveys, product testing, interviews, and focus groups.

Market research is a critical tool that companies use to understand what consumers want, develop products that those consumers will use, and maintain a competitive advantage over other companies in their industry.

Primary Market Research vs. Secondary Market Research

Market research usually consists of a combination of:

• Primary research, gathered by the company or by an outside company that it hires
• Secondary research, which draws on external sources of data

Primary Market Research

Primary research generally falls into two categories: exploratory and specific research.

• Exploratory research is less structured and functions via open-ended questions. The questions may be posed in a focus group setting, telephone interviews, or questionnaires. It results in questions or issues that the company needs to address about a product that it has under development.
• Specific research delves more deeply into the problems or issues identified in exploratory research.

Secondary Market Research

All market research is informed by the findings of other researchers about the needs and wants of consumers. Today, much of this research can be found online.

Secondary research can include population information from government census data , trade association research reports , polling results, and research from other businesses operating in the same market sector.

History of Market Research

Formal market research began in Germany during the 1920s. In the United States, it soon took off with the advent of the Golden Age of Radio.

Companies that created advertisements for this new entertainment medium began to look at the demographics of the audiences who listened to each of the radio plays, music programs, and comedy skits that were presented.

They had once tried to reach the widest possible audience by placing their messages on billboards or in the most popular magazines. With radio programming, they had the chance to target rural or urban consumers, teenagers or families, and judge the results by the sales numbers that followed.

Types of Market Research

Face-to-face interviews.

From their earliest days, market research companies would interview people on the street about the newspapers and magazines that they read regularly and ask whether they recalled any of the ads or brands that were published in them. Data collected from these interviews were compared to the circulation of the publication to determine the effectiveness of those ads.

Market research and surveys were adapted from these early techniques.

To get a strong understanding of your market, it’s essential to understand demand, market size, economic indicators, location, market saturation, and pricing.

Focus Groups

A focus group is a small number of representative consumers chosen to try a product or watch an advertisement.

Afterward, the group is asked for feedback on their perceptions of the product, the company’s brand, or competing products. The company then takes that information and makes decisions about what to do with the product or service, whether that's releasing it, making changes, or abandoning it altogether.

Phone Research

The man-on-the-street interview technique soon gave way to the telephone interview. A telephone interviewer could collect information in a more efficient and cost-effective fashion.

Telephone research was a preferred tactic of market researchers for many years. It has become much more difficult in recent years as landline phone service dwindles and is replaced by less accessible mobile phones.

Survey Research

As an alternative to focus groups, surveys represent a cost-effective way to determine consumer attitudes without having to interview anyone in person. Consumers are sent surveys in the mail, usually with a coupon or voucher to incentivize participation. These surveys help determine how consumers feel about the product, brand, and price point.

Online Market Research

With people spending more time online, market research activities have shifted online as well. Data collection still uses a survey-style form. But instead of companies actively seeking participants by finding them on the street or cold calling them on the phone, people can choose to sign up, take surveys, and offer opinions when they have time.

This makes the process far less intrusive and less rushed, since people can participate on their own time and of their own volition.

How to Conduct Market Research

The first step to effective market research is to determine the goals of the study. Each study should seek to answer a clear, well-defined problem. For example, a company might seek to identify consumer preferences, brand recognition, or the comparative effectiveness of different types of ad campaigns.

After that, the next step is to determine who will be included in the research. Market research is an expensive process, and a company cannot waste resources collecting unnecessary data. The firm should decide in advance which types of consumers will be included in the research, and how the data will be collected. They should also account for the probability of statistical errors or sampling bias .

The next step is to collect the data and analyze the results. If the two previous steps have been completed accurately, this should be straightforward. The researchers will collect the results of their study, keeping track of the ages, gender, and other relevant data of each respondent. This is then analyzed in a marketing report that explains the results of their research.

The last step is for company executives to use their market research to make business decisions. Depending on the results of their research, they may choose to target a different group of consumers, or they may change their price point or some product features.

The results of these changes may eventually be measured in further market research, and the process will begin all over again.

Benefits of Market Research

Market research is essential for developing brand loyalty and customer satisfaction. Since it is unlikely for a product to appeal equally to every consumer, a strong market research program can help identify the key demographics and market segments that are most likely to use a given product.

Market research is also important for developing a company’s advertising efforts. For example, if a company’s market research determines that its consumers are more likely to use Facebook than X (formerly Twitter), it can then target its advertisements to one platform instead of another. Or, if they determine that their target market is value-sensitive rather than price-sensitive, they can work on improving the product rather than reducing their prices.

Market research only works when subjects are honest and open to participating.

Example of Market Research

Many companies use market research to test new products or get information from consumers about what kinds of products or services they need and don’t currently have.

For example, a company that’s considering starting a business might conduct market research to test the viability of its product or service. If the market research confirms consumer interest, the business can proceed confidently with its business plan . If not, the company can use the results of the market research to make adjustments to the product to bring it in line with customer desires.

What Are the Main Types of Market Research?

The main types of market research are primary research and secondary research. Primary research includes focus groups, polls, and surveys. Secondary research includes academic articles, infographics, and white papers.

Qualitative research gives insights into how customers feel and think. Quantitative research uses data and statistics such as website views, social media engagement, and subscriber numbers.

What Is Online Market Research?

Online market research uses the same strategies and techniques as traditional primary and secondary market research, but it is conducted on the Internet. Potential customers may be asked to participate in a survey or give feedback on a product. The responses may help the researchers create a profile of the likely customer for a new product.

What Are Paid Market Research Surveys?

Paid market research involves rewarding individuals who agree to participate in a study. They may be offered a small payment for their time or a discount coupon in return for filling out a questionnaire or participating in a focus group.

What Is a Market Study?

A market study is an analysis of consumer demand for a product or service. It looks at all of the factors that influence demand for a product or service. These include the product’s price, location, competition, and substitutes as well as general economic factors that could influence the new product’s adoption, for better or worse.

Market research is a key component of a company’s research and development (R&D) stage. It helps companies understand in advance the viability of a new product that they have in development and to see how it might perform in the real world.

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How to do market research: The complete guide for your brand

Written by by Jacqueline Zote

Published on  April 13, 2023

Reading time  10 minutes

Blindly putting out content or products and hoping for the best is a thing of the past. Not only is it a waste of time and energy, but you’re wasting valuable marketing dollars in the process. Now you have a wealth of tools and data at your disposal, allowing you to develop data-driven marketing strategies . That’s where market research comes in, allowing you to uncover valuable insights to inform your business decisions.

Conducting market research not only helps you better understand how to sell to customers but also stand out from your competition. In this guide, we break down everything you need to know about market research and how doing your homework can help you grow your business.

Table of contents:

What is market research?

Why is market research important, types of market research, where to conduct market research.

• Steps for conducting market research
• Tools to use for market research

Market research is the process of gathering information surrounding your business opportunities. It identifies key information to better understand your audience. This includes insights related to customer personas and even trends shaping your industry.

Taking time out of your schedule to conduct research is crucial for your brand health. Here are some of the key benefits of market research:

Understand your customers’ motivations and pain points

Most marketers are out of touch with what their customers want. Moreover, these marketers are missing key information on what products their audience wants to buy.

Simply put, you can’t run a business if you don’t know what motivates your customers.

And spoiler alert: Your customers’ wants and needs change. Your customers’ behaviors today might be night and day from what they were a few years ago.

Market research holds the key to understanding your customers better. It helps you uncover their key pain points and motivations and understand how they shape their interests and behavior.

Figure out how to position your brand

Positioning is becoming increasingly important as more and more brands enter the marketplace. Market research enables you to spot opportunities to define yourself against your competitors.

Maybe you’re able to emphasize a lower price point. Perhaps your product has a feature that’s one of a kind. Finding those opportunities goes hand in hand with researching your market.

Maintain a strong pulse on your industry at large

Today’s marketing world evolves at a rate that’s difficult to keep up with.

Fresh products. Up-and-coming brands. New marketing tools. Consumers get bombarded with sales messages from all angles. This can be confusing and overwhelming.

By monitoring market trends, you can figure out the best tactics for reaching your target audience.

Not everyone conducts market research for the same reason. While some may want to understand their audience better, others may want to see how their competitors are doing. As such, there are different types of market research you can conduct depending on your goal.

Interview-based market research allows for one-on-one interactions. This helps the conversation to flow naturally, making it easier to add context. Whether this takes place in person or virtually, it enables you to gather more in-depth qualitative data.

Buyer persona research

Buyer persona research lets you take a closer look at the people who make up your target audience. You can discover the needs, challenges and pain points of each buyer persona to understand what they need from your business. This will then allow you to craft products or campaigns to resonate better with each persona.

Pricing research

In this type of research, brands compare similar products or services with a particular focus on pricing. They look at how much those products or services typically sell for so they can get more competitive with their pricing strategy.

Competitive analysis research

Competitor analysis gives you a realistic understanding of where you stand in the market and how your competitors are doing. You can use this analysis to find out what’s working in your industry and which competitors to watch out for. It even gives you an idea of how well those competitors are meeting consumer needs.

Depending on the competitor analysis tool you use, you can get as granular as you need with your research. For instance, Sprout Social lets you analyze your competitors’ social strategies. You can see what types of content they’re posting and even benchmark your growth against theirs.

Brand awareness research

Conducting brand awareness research allows you to assess your brand’s standing in the market. It tells you how well-known your brand is among your target audience and what they associate with it. This can help you gauge people’s sentiments toward your brand and whether you need to rebrand or reposition.

If you don’t know where to start with your research, you’re in the right place.

There’s no shortage of market research methods out there. In this section, we’ve highlighted research channels for small and big businesses alike.

Considering that Google sees a staggering 8.5 billion searches each day, there’s perhaps no better place to start.

A quick Google search is a potential goldmine for all sorts of questions to kick off your market research. Who’s ranking for keywords related to your industry? Which products and pieces of content are the hottest right now? Who’s running ads related to your business?

For example, Google Product Listing Ads can help highlight all of the above for B2C brands.

The same applies to B2B brands looking to keep tabs on who’s running industry-related ads and ranking for keyword terms too.

There’s no denying that email represents both an aggressive and effective marketing channel for marketers today. Case in point, 44% of online shoppers consider email as the most influential channel in their buying decisions.

Looking through industry and competitor emails is a brilliant way to learn more about your market. For example, what types of offers and deals are your competitors running? How often are they sending emails?

Email is also invaluable for gathering information directly from your customers. This survey message from Asana is a great example of how to pick your customers’ brains to figure out how you can improve your quality of service.

Industry journals, reports and blogs

Don’t neglect the importance of big-picture market research when it comes to tactics and marketing channels to explore. Look to marketing resources such as reports and blogs as well as industry journals

Keeping your ear to the ground on new trends and technologies is a smart move for any business. Sites such as Statista, Marketing Charts, AdWeek and Emarketer are treasure troves of up-to-date data and news for marketers.

And of course, there’s the  Sprout Insights blog . And invaluable resources like The Sprout Social Index™  can keep you updated on the latest social trends.

Social media

If you want to learn more about your target market, look no further than social media. Social offers a place to discover what your customers want to see in future products or which brands are killin’ it. In fact, social media is become more important for businesses than ever with the level of data available.

It represents a massive repository of real-time data and insights that are instantly accessible. Brand monitoring and social listening are effective ways to conduct social media research . You can even be more direct with your approach. Ask questions directly or even poll your audience to understand their needs and preferences.

The 5 steps for how to do market research

Now that we’ve covered the why and where, it’s time to get into the practical aspects of market research. Here are five essential steps on how to do market research effectively.

Step 1: Identify your research topic

First off, what are you researching about? What do you want to find out? Narrow down on a specific research topic so you can start with a clear idea of what to look for.

For example, you may want to learn more about how well your product features are satisfying the needs of existing users. This might potentially lead to feature updates and improvements. Or it might even result in new feature introductions.

Similarly, your research topic may be related to your product or service launch or customer experience. Or you may want to conduct research for an upcoming marketing campaign.

Step 2: Choose a buyer persona to engage

If you’re planning to focus your research on a specific type of audience, decide which buyer persona you want to engage. This persona group will serve as a representative sample of your target audience.

Engaging a specific group of audience lets you streamline your research efforts. As such, it can be a much more effective and organized approach than researching thousands (if not millions) of individuals.

You may be directing your research toward existing users of your product. To get even more granular, you may want to focus on users who have been familiar with the product for at least a year, for example.

Step 3: Start collecting data

The next step is one of the most critical as it involves collecting the data you need for your research. Before you begin, make sure you’ve chosen the right research methods that will uncover the type of data you need. This largely depends on your research topic and goals.

Remember that you don’t necessarily have to stick to one research method. You may use a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches. So for example, you could use interviews to supplement the data from your surveys. Or you may stick to insights from your social listening efforts.

To keep things consistent, let’s look at this in the context of the example from earlier. Perhaps you can send out a survey to your existing users asking them a bunch of questions. This might include questions like which features they use the most and how often they use them. You can get them to choose an answer from one to five and collect quantitative data.

Plus, for qualitative insights, you could even include a few open-ended questions with the option to write their answers. For instance, you might ask them if there’s any improvement they wish to see in your product.

Step 4: Analyze results

Once you have all the data you need, it’s time to analyze it keeping your research topic in mind. This involves trying to interpret the data to look for a wider meaning, particularly in relation to your research goal.

So let’s say a large percentage of responses were four or five in the satisfaction rating. This means your existing users are mostly satisfied with your current product features. On the other hand, if the responses were mostly ones and twos, you may look for opportunities to improve. The responses to your open-ended questions can give you further context as to why people are disappointed.

Step 5: Make decisions for your business

Now it’s time to take your findings and turn them into actionable insights for your business. In this final step, you need to decide how you want to move forward with your new market insight.

What did you find in your research that would require action? How can you put those findings to good use?

The market research tools you should be using

To wrap things up, let’s talk about the various tools available to conduct speedy, in-depth market research. These tools are essential for conducting market research faster and more efficiently.

Social listening and analytics

Social analytics tools like Sprout can help you keep track of engagement across social media. This goes beyond your own engagement data but also includes that of your competitors. Considering how quickly social media moves, using a third-party analytics tool is ideal. It allows you to make sense of your social data at a glance and ensure that you’re never missing out on important trends.

Email marketing research tools

Keeping track of brand emails is a good idea for any brand looking to stand out in its audience’s inbox.

Tools such as MailCharts ,  Really Good Emails  and  Milled  can show you how different brands run their email campaigns.

Meanwhile, tools like  Owletter  allow you to monitor metrics such as frequency and send-timing. These metrics can help you understand email marketing strategies among competing brands.

Content marketing research

If you’re looking to conduct research on content marketing, tools such as  BuzzSumo  can be of great help. This tool shows you the top-performing industry content based on keywords. Here you can see relevant industry sites and influencers as well as which brands in your industry are scoring the most buzz. It shows you exactly which pieces of content are ranking well in terms of engagements and shares and on which social networks.

SEO and keyword tracking

Monitoring industry keywords is a great way to uncover competitors. It can also help you discover opportunities to advertise your products via organic search. Tools such as  Ahrefs  provide a comprehensive keyword report to help you see how your search efforts stack up against the competition.

Competitor comparison template

For the sake of organizing your market research, consider creating a competitive matrix. The idea is to highlight how you stack up side-by-side against others in your market. Use a  social media competitive analysis template  to track your competitors’ social presence. That way, you can easily compare tactics, messaging and performance. Once you understand your strengths and weaknesses next to your competitors, you’ll find opportunities as well.

Customer persona creator

Finally, customer personas represent a place where all of your market research comes together. You’d need to create a profile of your ideal customer that you can easily refer to. Tools like  Xtensio  can help in outlining your customer motivations and demographics as you zero in on your target market.

Build a solid market research strategy

Having a deeper understanding of the market gives you leverage in a sea of competitors. Use the steps and market research tools we shared above to build an effective market research strategy.

But keep in mind that the accuracy of your research findings depends on the quality of data collected. Turn to Sprout’s social media analytics tools to uncover heaps of high-quality data across social networks.

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13 Top Market Research Companies in 2024

Your choice of market research firms — from traditional firms like Ipsos and Kantar to innovative platforms like StartUs Insights — can significantly influence strategic decision-making and product development. Ensuring that your selected partner offers the specific industry insights and data depth required is crucial for receiving accurate information that can drive your business strategy and innovation forward.

Market research companies play a pivotal role in simplifying the complexities of today’s business environment, blending traditional and innovative methodologies for exhaustive market insights.

Traditional market intelligence companies have evolved, while non-traditional entities are transforming the sector through the early identification of startups, scaleups, emerging companies, future trends, and technologies to provide a 360° view of opportunities.

13 Top Market Research Companies:

• Frost & Sullivan
• StartUs Insights
• Zion Market Research
• MarketsandMarkets
• Forrester Research
• Kantar Group
• Kline & Company
• MarketResearch

Credit: Ipsos

Ipsos connects businesses with online communities, offering insights across multiple industries including retail, healthcare, transportation, politics, and automotive. With Ipsos, companies can:

• Assemble custom panels of consumers
• Conduct brand, packaging, and product testing
• Develop studies on healthcare quality and patient satisfaction
• Engage in public opinion polling

Ipsos’ customizable services and global reach provide businesses with the insights required to make informed decisions.

2. Frost & Sullivan

Credit: Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan is renowned for its extensive industry research and strategy solutions, focusing on innovation opportunities, market trends, and disruptive technologies. Collaborating with Frost & Sullivan offers businesses:

• Detailed market research and analysis
• Growth strategy consulting

Frost & Sullivan’s strategic insights enable companies to identify growth opportunities and navigate market challenges.

3. StartUs Insights

Credit: StartUs Insights

StartUs Insights is a non-traditional market research company that specializes in identifying startups, scaleups, and emerging technologies early on. With access to data on over 4.7 million startups, scaleups, and tech companies, as well as 20 000 trends & technologies, we leverage both AI and human expertise to deliver tailored market reports and custom research services. This unique approach enables businesses to proactively engage with the latest innovations and market shifts across more than 20 industries, including automotive, pharmaceuticals, logistics, mobility, biotechnology, manufacturing, and energy. Services offered by StartUs Insights include:

• Customized market research reports plus competitive intelligence
• Tailored startup and technology scouting
• Innovation scouting and technology tracking
• Detailed analysis of industry trends

Collaborating with StartUs Insights allows you to make informed, confident decisions that not only future-proof your business but also foster strategic growth. To explore how StartUs Insights can transform your market research approach, get in touch for a free consultation.

4. Zion Market Research

Credit: Zion Market Research

Zion Market Research provides comprehensive market research reports, offering insights into global and regional markets across various industry sectors such as healthcare, technology, chemicals, and consumer goods. Working with Zion Market Research, businesses benefit from:

• Extensive market analysis and forecasting
• Sector-specific research reports
• In-depth studies on consumer behavior and market trends
• Custom research services tailored to specific business needs

Zion Market Research’s deep industry knowledge enables companies to navigate market dynamics effectively, ensuring strategic decision-making.

5. MarketsandMarkets

Credit: MarketsandMarkets

MarketsandMarkets is known for its focus on identifying high-growth emerging markets and the technologies driving these sectors. Its market research reports and custom research services are designed to provide:

• Comprehensive market analysis and forecasts
• Insights into technological advancements and innovations
• Custom research tailored to client-specific requirements

By partnering with MarketsandMarkets, organizations gain access to actionable insights that support strategic planning.

6. TrendFeedr

Credit: TrendFeedr

TrendFeedr is an innovative market research platform designed to keep businesses ahead of the curve by identifying and analyzing over 20 000 trends in real-time. TrendFeedr.com specializes in sifting through data from industry reports, company websites, news outlets, social media, and more to deliver actionable insights directly relevant to your market. Services provided by TrendFeedr.com include:

• Real-time trend tracking and analysis
• Competitive intelligence gathering
• Customizable alerts for emerging trends and technologies

With TrendFeedr.com, companies can rapidly adapt to market changes, identify new opportunities, and stay competitive in their respective industries. Moreover, the platform’s focus on emerging trends makes it an invaluable tool for businesses looking to innovate and grow.

7. Forrester Research

Credit: Forrester Research

Forrester Research offers detailed market analysis with a focus on the impact of technology on businesses and consumers. Companies working with Forrester can access:

• Strategic market research reports
• Consumer and business technology insights
• Custom advisory services

Forrester’s forward-looking research assists businesses in anticipating customer needs and technological shifts, enabling them to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving market.

Credit: Mintel

Mintel provides comprehensive market analysis, insights, and forecasts across a range of sectors, including consumer goods, finance, and automotive. Mintel’s services allow businesses to:

• Understand market trends and consumer behavior
• Test and develop new products
• Conduct brand and packaging research

Mintel’s global presence and in-depth industry knowledge empower companies to make strategic decisions.

9. Kantar Group

Credit: Kantar Group

Kantar Group delivers services that cover brand guidance, media effectiveness, creative excellence, and retail & shopper insights. Kantar enables businesses to:

• Understand and leverage brand equity
• Optimize media planning and effectiveness
• Enhance creative development and execution
• Gain insights into shopper behavior and retail strategies

Kantar’s comprehensive approach to market research enables companies to achieve brand and business growth.

10. Gartner

Credit: Gartner

Gartner provides technology-related insights through its research and advisory services that inform business decisions in IT, marketing, and supply chain management. Gartner allows organizations to:

• Navigate IT investments and strategies
• Develop marketing plans and customer engagement
• Optimize supply chain operations and management

Gartner’s expert analysis and advice support businesses in leveraging technology for strategic advantage.

Credit: IQVIA

Specializing in health information technology and clinical research, IQVIA offers:

• Data analytics and research services to the healthcare industry
• Insights into patient care, drug development, and market dynamics
• Custom solutions for healthcare organizations

IQVIA’s expertise in healthcare data and analytics enables businesses to improve patient outcomes and operational efficiency.

12. Kline & Company

Credit: Kline & Company

Kline & Company provides market research and management consulting services focusing on the chemicals, materials, energy, life sciences, and consumer products sectors. Kline offers:

• Market analysis and strategic planning
• Competitive intelligence and benchmarking
• Custom research and consulting services

Kline’s industry knowledge and strategic insights assist companies in navigating market complexities and identifying growth opportunities.

13. MarketResearch.com

Credit: MarketResearch.com

MarketResearch.com is a comprehensive source for market research reports and services, offering data from hundreds of research firms across a range of industries. Services include:

• Access to an extensive collection of market research reports
• Insights into industry trends, forecasts, and market analysis

MarketResearch.com’s vast resources and expertise allow businesses to make data-driven decisions.

Which Company’s Best Suited for Your Needs?

For tailored research insights that align closely with your specific business needs, consider partnering with specialized companies such as StartUs Insights , Zion Market Research, or MarketsandMarkets. These firms offer the expertise and depth of data necessary to dive deeper into emerging technologies and market trends.

If you’re leaning towards more autonomous or flexible market exploration, platforms like TrendFeedr.com may serve your needs more effectively, offering real-time trend analysis.

Ultimately, the selection of a market research partner should be informed by the relevance of their industry focus and the richness of their data sources. This ensures that the insights you receive are both precise and actionable, driving forward your strategy, product development, and broader business objectives.

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Top 17 market research companies in the United States (US) 

5. pollfish, 6. ascendant consulting firm, 8. ready to launch research, 9. antedote, 10. b2b international, 13. nielsen, 15.  forrester research services, 16. momentive, 17. veridata insights.

Your company can’t navigate the constantly changing marketplace without understanding business landscapes, consumer needs, or buying habits. Market analysis is key to how you find and capitalize on market trends before your competitors do. You can start by outlining research goals and needs. But let’s be real, making data-driven decisions is a whole lot easier with top market research firms by your side. 

The right market research agencies, platforms and companies do more than just surveys to offer actionable insights so you can make smarter decisions for business growth. They make consumer research easy with strategic zero-party data collection, comprehensive data analysis, and intelligent insights. 

If you’re tired of searching through market research companies in the United States, this article leads you straight to the best ones out there.

Here’s a quick rundown of the top US market research companies:

Looking to dive deep into the minds of your target audience? Sign up for a demo to see how Attest makes it effortless to gain consumer insights from 125 million consumers across the globe. 

Attest is one of the top market research companies in the US. This consumer research platform lets you collect data from 125 million diverse respondents in 59 countries. You can use Attest to do market research for branding , consumer profiling, market analysis, and much more! 

Every Attest customer has access to expert research advice from their in-house Customer Research Team. Whether you’re new to research and need some guidance, or a research pro looking for a second pair of eyes on your market research project, Attest’s Customer Research Team is here for you.

Besides speedy surveys and quick responses, this platform features an intuitive results dashboard that turns data into mesmerizing stories. You can also send surveys on a recurring basis to spot changes in responses or compare data from two groups. Plus, expert advice is only a click away when you aren’t sure about choosing market research tools or reaching market research goals.

Attest has been really instrumental in driving home the reality of the consumer need, and surfacing that it is much harder to get a younger demographic to engage with pensions. Georgie Burks , Head of Brand Marketing, Penfold

Trustpilot relied on the Attest market analysis solution to research consumer attitudes among marketers and engage them in eight key markets. Here’s what they think about the value Attest brings.

We were thinking about how businesses could look within their reviews and understand what was important to their consumers, but we didn’t actually know what the most important things consumers cared about were. So we decided the best way to find out was just to ask consumers themselves. Gillian Harris , Global Marketing Program Manager, Trustpilot

Location: London

Founded: 2015

Pricing: Pricing on request

Best for: 

• Market analysis: unlocks new market opportunities
• Brand tracking: measures brand health and performance
• Creative testing: validates the creative impact of ad campaigns
• Consumer profiling: dives deep into existing and future customers
• New product development: tests product ideas or marketing messages with your target market

Get reliable consumer insights fast with Attest

With Attest you get high-speed insights, so you can make informed decisions when they matter. And you get designated research advice from the experts in the Customer Research Team—they’re with you at every step of your research journey!

Bixa is a market research studio specializing in mobile youth research and custom UX research services. Their qualitative and qualitative research offerings are best for those trying to validate new markets, gather product feedback, or understand the target audience better. 

They make marketing research a breeze by completing the entire cycle of participant recruitment to report delivery in three to four weeks. Besides conducting customer surveys, user testing, and mobile ethnography, Bixa also offers market research consulting for companies looking to jumpstart their product and marketing research.

Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Founded: 2012

Pricing: Available on request

• In-depth interviews
• Product research
• Hyper-profitable targeting
• Customer surveys
• Usability testing
• Website and app review
• Team coaching

Suzy is a leading qualitative market research software with iterative research capabilities. Its end-to-end consumer insights platform offers qualitative insights into complex research questions. The best part is that you can get real-time data from Suzy’s proprietary audience of one million consumers. On the other hand, Attest offers a larger audience in more countries, making it ideal for those with market research campaigns spanning the globe. In addition, Attest provides designated advice from experienced researchers for all customers.

Suzy offers qualitative research solutions such as product development, advertising, shopper and behavioral insights, and tracking and measurement. Industries ranging from finance to media use Suzy to improve business performance through qualitative studies.

Location: New York

Founded: 2017

• Concept testing
• Competitive analysis
• Consumer profiling
• Positioning strategy
• Shopper and category insights
• Tracking research services
• UX design research

Remesh is one of the top market research firms in New York City. They offer artificial intelligence-driven research solutions to companies looking to streamline qualitative and quantitative insight discovery. This marketing research firm makes it easy for companies or governments to speak to thousands of customers or citizens at the same time. Then it analyzes interactions and opinions to offer key insights. 

Market researchers use Remesh to get actionable feedback on product ideas, messaging, and packaging from online focus groups. You can also use their online surveys to improve employee listening and boost corporate reputation. 

Founded: 2013

• Packaging testing
• Civic engagement
• Consumer insights
• Collective intelligence
• Employee engagement
• Shelf placement testing
• Product issue identification
• Employee experience and engagement

Pollfish is a modern survey research platform that uses artificial intelligence to help you create surveys in seconds. This DIY market research company helps you gain real-time insights from over 250 million consumers worldwide. The platform also comes loaded with cutting-edge technology capabilities for dynamic sampling and random device engagement.

Attest is a great alternative to Pollfish for conducting primary market research. Attest’s platform detects bad-quality responses that contain non-relevant, incomplete, and conflicting answers. Additionally, Attest is much easier to use and provides advice from experienced researchers.

Pricing: Starts at $95

• Brand awareness
• Brand perceptions
• Advertising testing
• Logo testing
• Brand diagnostics
• Product concept testing

Ascendant Consulting Firm is one of the best in the marketing research industry. They specialize in competitive intelligence, consumer insights, and market feasibility services. With 95+ years of collective experience in market research analysis, they help you make data-driven business decisions for business expansion, market entry, and assessments. 

The team at Ascendant is also adept at advanced quantitative analytics suitable for financial and strategic marketing analyses. Other key capabilities include full service market research, survey design, and secondary data research. 

Location: Miami

Founded: 2010

• White label research
• Product market research
• Market opportunity evaluation
• Survey reporting and analysis
• Employee experience and satisfaction research
• Consumer attitude, usage, and trends research

Isurus offers bespoke market research services to B2B and technology companies. This market research company leverages multiple statistical analysis tools to help you gain a 360° understanding of markets and decision-makers. Moreover, they also make it effortless for you to evaluate competitors for competitive advantage or validate market opportunities. 

Business software, manufacturing, and financial services companies rely on Isurus to keep a pulse on what customers want and find the right pricing strategies. The team at Isurus can also help you with brand tracking and creative performance testing. They specialize in quantitative, qualitative, international, and secondary research.

Location: Burlington

Founded: 2000

• Persona analysis
• Competitor profiling 
• Pricing strategy research
• Brand perception research
• Market segmentation research
• Customer satisfaction analysis
• Market assessment and planning
• Brand audit, tracking, and management

Ready to Launch Research is a California-based market research agency that serves a wide variety of industries with qualitative, quantitative, and digital research strategies. Whether you want to quantify consumer behavior or get qualitative consumer journey insights, they have the expertise to handle all your needs.

They leverage the following research methods to get you the insights you need.

• Creative testing
• Online discussions
• Home use test (HUT)
• Focus group moderation

Ready to Launch Research serves many dynamic industries ranging from pet to education to consumer electronics. Once you reach out to them with research requirements, they’ll get in touch to know more details and design the research process.  

Location: Los Angeles

Founded: 2014

• Ethnography
• Focus group discussions
• Advertising research
• Online communities research services

Antedote is an innovation consultancy that delivers strategic market research insights by combining data science, in-depth research, and next-generation digital tools. What makes them different is their ability to use different qualitative and quantitative research tools instead of relying on a one-size-fits-all approach. 

The team at Antedote helps you uncover insights in various areas such as user research, cultural research, and scenario planning. You can also partner with them for creating innovation roadmaps or concept development and visualization. Antedote’s plug-and-play approach means you have an agile and collaborative team that makes problem-solving easy with guidelines and blueprints. 

Location: San Francisco

• Brand positioning
• Concept crafting
• Demand space segmentation
• Internal engagement programs
• Price and proposition optimization
• Product and portfolio development
• Workshop design and facilitation

B2B International by Merkle is one the largest market research agencies in London , with several locations in the United States. This market research company serves B2B companies looking to gather business insights and intelligence. They can help you with customer loyalty testing, pricing effectiveness, and market size analysis. 

B2B International also specializes in delivering research services for go-to-market strategy, customer journey mapping, and voice-of-customer surveys. Their experience of working across different industries ranging from chemicals to media to logistics makes them uniquely qualified for B2B market research. 

Location: London (with offices in Boston, Chicago and New York)

Founded: 1998

• Market sizing research
• Customer journey research
• Thought leadership research
• Product and proposition research
• Customer research and segmentation

Ipsos is one of the top market research companies trusted by top brands and companies across the Americas, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. Besides market strategy and innovation services, Ipsos also offers marketing management analytics, brand health tracking, and advisory services. 

With tailored market research solutions for every need, Ipsos helps you optimize brand positioning, discover shopper journeys, and understand consumers. The team can also help you with product testing, package research, and creative idea assessment. Other services include brand health tracking, employee engagement research, and channel performance optimization. 

Location: Paris (with locations in New York)

Founded: 1975

• Mystery shopping
• Brand health research
• User experience study
• Innovation and forecasting
• Social intelligence analysis 
• Creative development and assessment

Dynata is a first-party data platform that helps you gather and analyze business intelligence for efficient decision-making. Their platform streamlines the entire research workflow so you can focus more on insights. Dynata lets you ask questions to their proprietary 67 million consumers and visualize those responses effortlessly. 

The Dynata insights platform lets you build surveys for concept testing, creative testing, and ad-hoc market research. Other research services include market segmentation, brand health monitoring, campaign measurement, and voice of the customer surveys. With real-time dashboards and research reports, Dynata makes it easy for you to gain useful data insights. 

Location: Plano, Texas

Founded: 1940

• Survey authoring
• Digital ethnography
• Online research panel
• Online qualitative research
• Data analytics and reporting
• Brand performance tracking

Nielsen is a global data, analytics, and audience measurement company that offers bespoke research solutions to help you discover audience intelligence across channels and platforms. This market research company divides its services into four core categories:

• Media planning
• Content metadata
• Marketing optimization
• Audience measurement

Audience measurement is all about using quantitative and qualitative research to discover shifting habits of audiences. Media planning, on the other hand, offers a comprehensive understanding of competitive intelligence, audience segmentation, and scenario planning. Marketing optimization research services help you analyze and boost campaign performance. Finally, content metadata improves customer experience with easy audio and video content discovery.

Founded: 1923

• Scenario planning
• Competitive intelligence
• Audience segmentation
• Cross-platform audience measurement
• Marketing campaign performance analysis

Westat is a 100% employee-owned market research company that delivers superior quantitative and qualitative research services in transportation, health, social policy, and education. They specialize in survey research, statistical sciences, and providing technical assistance. 

Westat’s expertise in integrated data collection strategies helps them create focus groups, run web surveys, and create questionnaires for finding the right data. Plus, they use a research-driven communications framework to engage audiences effortlessly. They also use machine learning and artificial intelligence-assisted interviewing systems to solve your research challenges. 

Location: Rockville

Founded: 1963

• Custom research
• Clinical trials
• Survey and analytical needs
• Biomedical science research
• Behavioral health and health policy research

Forrester Research Services is the market research wing of the global research and advisory firm Forrester. Their customer-obsessed approach helps companies turn their strategic research needs into reality. They currently offer market research services to companies in technology, sales, B2B marketing, product, B2C marketing, customer experience, and digital business space. 

Forrester offers research services in the following domains:

• Sales operations optimization
• Marketing strategy formulation
• Competitive market intelligence
• Product lifecycle process research
• Corporate communications strategy
• Integrated campaign strategy planning
• Business change management strategy
• Customer insights collection and analysis
• Customer acquisition and retention research
• Route-to-market configuration and optimization
• Account-based marketing and demand generation research 

Location: Cambridge

Founded: 1983

• Public sector research
• Sales and product management 
• Customer experience analysis
• Digital business transformation
• B2B and B2C marketing research

Momentive is an artificial intelligence-powered market research platform that helps you gather on-demand customer and market feedback for actionable insights. This market research company is known for its agile experience management solution that lets you better understand markets, competitors, or even internal teams.

Their purpose-built market insights solutions offer you actionable insights from consumer panels. You can also decode buyer attitudes, understand consumer segments, and monitor buyer preferences. Mometive’s AI solutions also make it easy for you to conduct customer experience research, track product experience, and transform employee engagement. 

Location: San Mateo

Founded: 1999

• Market sizing
• Idea screening
• Industry tracking
• Shopper insights
• Customer effort score
• Mobile app experience 
• Customer segmentation
• Post-purchase experience
• Product and price optimization
• Custom market research services
• Employee engagement and retention

Veridata Insights is another top-rated market research company with recruitment capabilities to serve 100+ countries. Whether you want to analyze complex data with quantitative methodologies or need qualitative insights, they can help you with it all. 

The team at Veridata Insights strives to deliver stress-free, budget-friendly, and timely research services that keep you ahead of the competition. Apart from their proprietary technology and global reach, they’re known for data quality and panel strength. They can also help you gather business intelligence with data processing and easy-to-understand dashboards. 

Location: Dallas

Founded: 2019

• Consumer research
• Online data collection
• Survey programming
• B2B audience research
• Dashboards and analytics

Break into your US target market with Attest

Choosing the right agency isn’t easy, especially with so many players in the market research industry. Businesses often struggle with finding one that delivers accurate and valuable insights while simplifying their findings. Plus, the biggest challenge is targeting the right audience that matters to your business. 

Attest solves all these problems by letting you handpick the target audience you want to reach. You can use filters and quotas to filter the most appropriate audience from 125 million people in 59 countries. Moreover, the platform empowers you to run surveys that bring in results in days instead of weeks. With hybrid research and a three-layer data quality check, you’ll never have any nonsense answers. And you also get to interact with the data, thanks to the interactive dashboard. 

Ready to transform your business with easy-to-access consumer insights? Sign up for a dem o to see how Attest can be your ally in conducting market research effortlessly.

Make decisions based on reliable consumer insighs

Insights with Attest are triple-checked for data quality, so you know that you’re making smart decisions based on data you can trust.

Nikos Nikolaidis

Senior Customer Research Manager 

Nikos joined Attest in 2019, with a strong background in psychology and market research. As part of Customer Research Team, Nikos focuses on helping brands uncover insights to achieve their objectives and open new opportunities for growth.

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18 US market research companies for leading consumer insights

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When it comes to understanding modern American consumers, guesswork just won’t cut it. With transformative changes affecting the way we shop, behave, and consume media, it’s no secret that in-depth consumer research should be at the heart of every strategic marketing, product, or business decision you make. 

There are a myriad of US market research companies out there armed with customer insight platforms, smart research tools, and AI-powered features that give you the answers you need. But which is best for reaching your US target audiences? Whose data can you trust? With so much choice, it can be tough to figure out which market research company is the right fit for your business needs. 

To help you make that decision (‘cause we’re nice like that), we’ve put together a no-nonsense rundown of the best market research companies for US consumer insights right now, outlining the specialist areas and key use cases you might consider them for. Grab a hot drink and settle in. 

Oh – and if you’re interested in the best market research companies in the UK , we’ve got a shortlist of those worth skimming through too. 

How to choose the right US market research company

It sounds obvious, but every US market research company is different. The type of consumer data they collect, and how they deliver it to you really varies. So before you commit to a research partner, think carefully about the kind of support you need – and crucially, how quickly you need it. Start by asking these six questions:

• Do they know about your audience? 
• Do they have expertise in your industry/category, with a proven track record of success?
• Do they conduct the right kind of research to answer your questions, with a sound and trusted methodology? 
• Are they transparent about how they collect and analyze data to ensure quality?
• Do they have the capacity to provide fast results, with regular client communication?
• Most importantly, will they understand your long-term goals and add value to your business?

If you can answer “yes” to each of these questions, you’re on the right track to finding the perfect partner. But if you want more guidance on how to drive research forward, here’s our list of the leading US market research companies worth considering, in no particular order. Well, except for us – obviously.

Top 18 US market research companies worth considering

It would be crazy if we put together a comparison piece on US market research companies and didn’t mention our very own AI-enhanced, on-demand consumer research platform . So let’s start there.

GWI is modernized consumer research, with an intuitive platform that instantly puts high-impact US consumer research at your fingertips.

Location: New York, USA (with additional offices in the UK, Greece, Czech Republic, and Singapore)

Specialisms: Every business has questions about its audiences; GWI has the answers. Get a window into your target audience’s world, on demand, with our easy-to-use consumer research platform. Our GWI USA data set covers an 80K+ annual sample, representing the views, behaviors, and interests of 250 million US consumers in all 50 States. Need to go beyond the US? Delve into our global flagship survey representing nearly 3 billion consumers in 50+ markets worldwide.

Understand today’s diverse Americans in seconds, with deep psychographic consumer insight spanning key topics like social media, mental health, DE&I, and attitudes toward brands. And if you need fast answers on something really specific? Ask your US audiences any question you like with our custom research solutions.

Use cases include: 

• Marketing strategy ( ad targeting , brand health tracking, content marketing, and media planning)
• Revenue growth (media ad sales, winning pitches and retaining key clients)
• Product development (product expansion, improvements, and partnership and collaboration opportunities)
• Competitive advantage (market differentiation, market sizing/expansion, and sponsorship opportunities)

If time’s of the essence, why not try our free interactive demo right now?

2. MRI-Simmons

A long-standing provider of US consumer insights, collected through address-based probabilistic sampling, and online and in-person interviews.

Location: New York, USA

Specialisms: MRI-Simmons offers a complete view of the American consumer – providing consumer research via a national study, print studies into magazine ad readership, and focus studies for deeper insight into emerging tech and cultural trends. Data is based on a representative sample of over 50K+ US consumers in 48 states (excluding Alaska and Hawaii), with surveys conducted twice a year. 

Use cases include:

• Audience profiling
• Market sizing
• Media planning

An integrated, AI-driven enterprise platform combining “quant, qual, and high quality audiences” into a connected research cloud.

Specialisms: Using AI to drive research, Suzy has three main product offerings – Suzy Insights, Suzy Live, and Suzy Audiences – and offers real-time customer insights delivered with “agency-quality rigor”. Pulling data from an active, engaged community (via surveys, interviews, and focus groups), its platform helps teams understand US consumers, explore purchase journeys, validate ideas, optimize marketing assets, and more.

Use cases include:  

• Concept testing
• Product development

AI-powered market intelligence that solves critical questions in the decision-making process, and helps drive sustainable growth.

Location: Nuremberg, Germany (with additional global offices)

Specialisms : GfK “drives growth from knowledge” by providing a holistic view of US consumers’ buying behavior and the dynamics impacting markets, brands, and media trends. With particular expertise in consumer and shopper intelligence, Gfk’s research methods include surveys, point-of-sale data analysis, and wider market monitoring. It also offers strategic consultancy to help businesses make great decisions.

• Competitive advantage
• Market segmentation

A global media leader specializing in TV, video, and radio audience and data analytics.

Location: New York, USA (with additional global offices)

Specialisms: Nielsen is a powerhouse of market intelligence, “connecting clients to audiences, growth and new opportunities”. It explores nuanced consumer behavior, preferences, and market dynamics to give media brands an edge. You may be familiar with Nielsen ratings – its renowned audience measurement system for TV viewership – which have been a deciding factor in many shows being renewed or canceled over the years.

And in case you didn’t know – GWI has an ongoing Fusion partnership with Nielsen that delivers advanced media insights and analytics to our customers. A pretty solid choice of market research partner, if you ask us.

• Ad targeting
• Media planning 

A business intelligence and market research company that helps clients “drive data-backed business decisions that enhance customers’ lives.”

Location: Virginia, USA

Specialisms: Bixa gives businesses a springboard to sustainable growth by helping them “build meaningful connections” with customers. It shares targeted business intelligence for a deeper understanding of US audiences, market dynamics, and emerging trends. Ultimately, it helps businesses with strategic decision-making. Data derives from diverse sources including surveys, consumer feedback, and in-depth industry analysis. 

• Brand health tracking
• Market expansion

7. Morning Consult

A real-time “decision intelligence” and custom research tool, powered by consumer opinion polling.

Location: Washington, D.C., USA

Specialisms: Morning Consult provides timely consumer opinions and market insights, alongside current economic data and political trends.  Daily surveys and insights give businesses the agility they need to pivot strategies quickly and effectively. Analyzing niche audiences and underserved buyers in 100+ countries (including the US), it’s also useful for identifying new market opportunities.

• Political risk analysis

Equipping clients with market intelligence tools to help them make “smarter decisions, faster and more consistently across markets”.

Specialisms: Ipsos is a global market research company that sources consumer data from surveys, behavioral analysis, and social listening. With specialist insight into the lifestyles, media habits, and purchase behavior of financially-successful Americans (via its Affluent Survey), it also pays particular attention to public opinion. This helps brands tune in to changing market trends and benchmark how well they’re received by consumers.

• Digital marketing strategy
• Sentiment tracking

An AI-driven “knowledge management” tool that helps enterprises keep pace and make fast decisions through predictive analytics.

Location: Minnesota, USA

Specialisms: Putting AI at the heart of market research, Lucy “exists to amaze, delight, and empower people with knowledge”. Generating US insights via machine learning algorithms, it rapidly analyzes a blend of large data sets, social media interactions, and consumer behaviors. Lucy is trusted by 18+ Fortune 1000 companies to deliver advanced analysis at speed – saving time while boosting organizational productivity. 

• Trend forecasting

10. Comscore

Leading digital audience insights and media performance analysis, that helps businesses generate more ROI from their advertising.

Location: Virginia, USA (with additional global offices)

Specialisms: Sharing real-time US consumer insights on media consumption, Comscore provides effective digital marketing and advertising solutions across several veins (including TV and advertising). Using its robust, reliable suite of tools, clients can explore demographics to understand American audiences, then optimize ad targeting and wider marketing strategies for better engagement and return on investment.

11. Kantar Marketplace

A market research company offering relevant, robust data about global and local audiences in an increasingly connected world.

Locations: New York, USA (with additional global offices)

Specialisms: Kantar serves industry-leading consumer insights across TV, radio, print, and digital – all unpacked in its Target Group Index (TGI) survey. Based on a representative 700K+ sample across 50 markets, data is collected online and through offline consumer panels. Analyzing attitudes, behaviors, media consumption, and brand/product use, Kantar promises “decision-quality insights in as little as a few hours.” 

12. 1+1 Research

A full-service fieldwork company supplying tailored market research solutions to companies across the globe.

Specialisms:   1+1 Research provides bespoke market research services for its clients, such as consumer opinion mining and sentiment analysis. Depending on a company’s needs, US consumer data can be collected through focus groups, online surveys, industry analysis, and CATI (computer-assisted phone interviews) among other methodologies – ideal for those with unique industry requirements who need a bit more flexibility.

• Brand strategy
• Custom research

13. Gartner

Expert market research company that delivers practical solutions for fast, informed decision-making and measurable impact.

Location: Connecticut, USA (with additional global offices)

Specialisms : Gartner is a global name in market research for good reason. Its on-demand diagnostics, insights, frameworks, rankings, and benchmarking tools help businesses work smarter, not harder to get ahead of modern Americans in the digital world. Valuable insights are sourced from a mix of market analysis, surveys, and expert consultations, and outline the impact of new technology on US businesses and consumers alike. 

Use cases: 

• Customer experience

A real-time consumer intelligence platform that helps clients figure out what matters to their online audiences, fast.

Specialisms: Subscription-based Toluna Start offers automated solutions that put market research into its clients’ hands. Collating US survey data from a global community of engaged consumers, its platform users get a dynamic view of digital preferences and behaviors to help them validate their strategies and implement feedback in a real-world environment.

• Marketing strategy

15. Statista

A global data and business intelligence platform aggregating statistics, market research reports, and key insights on over 80,000 topics.

Specialisms: Statista is a household name for timely US market and consumer insights, designed to “empower people with data” on key topics such as the economy, military, and population. Solutions include analysis of behavior and media usage (via Consumer Insights) and trend forecasting (via Market Insights). Data coverage also extends globally, with a representative 1.7M+ sample across 56 countries.

• Content marketing
• Winning pitches and retaining clients

16. SIS International Research

A full-service consulting firm supplying market intelligence and consumer research solutions to businesses worldwide.

Specialisms: SIS is a US market research company with specialist experience across various industries, including B2B, supply chain, and healthcare market research. It sources data and strategic insights from a global network of field researchers, alongside consumer surveys and interviews. SIS helps businesses benchmark against competitors and create tailored strategies for success – even as market dynamics change.

17.  Forrester Research

A US market research company that helps global organizations excel with technology and deliver on consumers’ changing demands.

Location: Massachusetts, USA

Specialisms: Combining traditional, in-house market research with a modern, tech-driven mindset, Forrester Research offers deep consumer insights along with recommendations for tech adoption strategies. It takes data from consumer surveys and expert market assessments, with findings analyzed by its team of experts. Clients benefit from clear results and a deeper understanding of nuanced consumer behavior in their industry.

• Market differentiation

18. Resonate

US market research and consumer intelligence experts, offering AI-powered consumer data and predictive insights. 

Specialisms: Resonate operates through “rAI”, its unique AI consumer intelligence model that gives clients a holistic view of their US audiences. Blending online behavioral data with surveys, psychographics, and real-time consumer interactions, it takes an in-depth look at what makes Americans unique, and the “why” behind what they do. Ideal for crafting highly targeted, effective marketing strategies backed by granular insight.

[H2] Those are our top market research recommendations, now it’s over to you

Nineteen US market research companies, with nineteen different ways to tackle US consumer research. Hopefully you’ve come away from this blog with a clearer idea of exactly what you need from a research partner, and who you can trust to get the job done. We’ll leave you to digest.

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Written by Mary Kate Miller | June 1, 2021

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Market research is a cornerstone of all successful, strategic businesses. It can also be daunting for entrepreneurs looking to launch a startup or start a side hustle . What is market research, anyway? And how do you…do it?

We’ll walk you through absolutely everything you need to know about the market research process so that by the end of this guide, you’ll be an expert in market research too. And what’s more important: you’ll have actionable steps you can take to start collecting your own market research.

What Is Market Research?

Market research is the organized process of gathering information about your target customers and market. Market research can help you better understand customer behavior and competitor strengths and weaknesses, as well as provide insight for the best strategies in launching new businesses and products. There are different ways to approach market research, including primary and secondary research and qualitative and quantitative research. The strongest approaches will include a combination of all four.

“Virtually every business can benefit from conducting some market research,” says Niles Koenigsberg of Real FiG Advertising + Marketing . “Market research can help you piece together your [business’s] strengths and weaknesses, along with your prospective opportunities, so that you can understand where your unique differentiators may lie.” Well-honed market research will help your brand stand out from the competition and help you see what you need to do to lead the market. It can also do so much more.

The Purposes of Market Research

Why do market research? It can help you…

• Pinpoint your target market, create buyer personas, and develop a more holistic understanding of your customer base and market.
• Understand current market conditions to evaluate risks and anticipate how your product or service will perform.
• Validate a concept prior to launch.
• Identify gaps in the market that your competitors have created or overlooked.
• Solve problems that have been left unresolved by the existing product/brand offerings.
• Identify opportunities and solutions for new products or services.
• Develop killer marketing strategies .

What Are the Benefits of Market Research?

Strong market research can help your business in many ways. It can…

• Strengthen your market position.
• Help you identify your strengths and weaknesses.
• Help you identify your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses.
• Minimize risk.
• Center your customers’ experience from the get-go.
• Help you create a dynamic strategy based on market conditions and customer needs/demands.

What Are the Basic Methods of Market Research?

The basic methods of market research include surveys, personal interviews, customer observation, and the review of secondary research. In addition to these basic methods, a forward-thinking market research approach incorporates data from the digital landscape like social media analysis, SEO research, gathering feedback via forums, and more. Throughout this guide, we will cover each of the methods commonly used in market research to give you a comprehensive overview.

Primary vs. Secondary Market Research

Primary and secondary are the two main types of market research you can do. The latter relies on research conducted by others. Primary research, on the other hand, refers to the fact-finding efforts you conduct on your own.

This approach is limited, however. It’s likely that the research objectives of these secondary data points differ from your own, and it can be difficult to confirm the veracity of their findings.

Primary Market Research

Primary research is more labor intensive, but it generally yields data that is exponentially more actionable. It can be conducted through interviews, surveys, online research, and your own data collection. Every new business should engage in primary market research prior to launch. It will help you validate that your idea has traction, and it will give you the information you need to help minimize financial risk.

You can hire an agency to conduct this research on your behalf. This brings the benefit of expertise, as you’ll likely work with a market research analyst. The downside is that hiring an agency can be expensive—too expensive for many burgeoning entrepreneurs. That brings us to the second approach. You can also do the market research yourself, which substantially reduces the financial burden of starting a new business .

Secondary Market Research

Secondary research includes resources like government databases and industry-specific data and publications. It can be beneficial to start your market research with secondary sources because it’s widely available and often free-to-access. This information will help you gain a broad overview of the market conditions for your new business.

Identify Your Goals and Your Audience

Before you begin conducting interviews or sending out surveys, you need to set your market research goals. At the end of your market research process, you want to have a clear idea of who your target market is—including demographic information like age, gender, and where they live—but you also want to start with a rough idea of who your audience might be and what you’re trying to achieve with market research.

You can pinpoint your objectives by asking yourself a series of guiding questions:

• What are you hoping to discover through your research?
• Who are you hoping to serve better because of your findings?
• What do you think your market is?
• Who are your competitors?
• Are you testing the reception of a new product category or do you want to see if your product or service solves the problem left by a current gap in the market?
• Are you just…testing the waters to get a sense of how people would react to a new brand?

Once you’ve narrowed down the “what” of your market research goals, you’re ready to move onto how you can best achieve them. Think of it like algebra. Many math problems start with “solve for x.” Once you know what you’re looking for, you can get to work trying to find it. It’s a heck of a lot easier to solve a problem when you know you’re looking for “x” than if you were to say “I’m gonna throw some numbers out there and see if I find a variable.”

How to Do Market Research

This guide outlines every component of a comprehensive market research effort. Take into consideration the goals you have established for your market research, as they will influence which of these elements you’ll want to include in your market research strategy.

Secondary Data

Secondary data allows you to utilize pre-existing data to garner a sense of market conditions and opportunities. You can rely on published market studies, white papers, and public competitive information to start your market research journey.

Secondary data, while useful, is limited and cannot substitute your own primary data. It’s best used for quantitative data that can provide background to your more specific inquiries.

Find Your Customers Online

Once you’ve identified your target market, you can use online gathering spaces and forums to gain insights and give yourself a competitive advantage. Rebecca McCusker of The Creative Content Shop recommends internet recon as a vital tool for gaining a sense of customer needs and sentiment. “Read their posts and comments on forums, YouTube video comments, Facebook group [comments], and even Amazon/Goodreads book comments to get in their heads and see what people are saying.”

If you’re interested in engaging with your target demographic online, there are some general rules you should follow. First, secure the consent of any group moderators to ensure that you are acting within the group guidelines. Failure to do so could result in your eviction from the group.

Not all comments have the same research value. “Focus on the comments and posts with the most comments and highest engagement,” says McCusker. These high-engagement posts can give you a sense of what is already connecting and gaining traction within the group.

Social media can also be a great avenue for finding interview subjects. “LinkedIn is very useful if your [target customer] has a very specific job or works in a very specific industry or sector. It’s amazing the amount of people that will be willing to help,” explains Miguel González, a marketing executive at Dealers League . “My advice here is BE BRAVE, go to LinkedIn, or even to people you know and ask them, do quick interviews and ask real people that belong to that market and segment and get your buyer persona information first hand.”

Market research interviews can provide direct feedback on your brand, product, or service and give you a better understanding of consumer pain points and interests.

When organizing your market research interviews, you want to pay special attention to the sample group you’re selecting, as it will directly impact the information you receive. According to Tanya Zhang, the co-founder of Nimble Made , you want to first determine whether you want to choose a representative sample—for example, interviewing people who match each of the buyer persona/customer profiles you’ve developed—or a random sample.

“A sampling of your usual persona styles, for example, can validate details that you’ve already established about your product, while a random sampling may [help you] discover a new way people may use your product,” Zhang says.

Market Surveys

Market surveys solicit customer inclinations regarding your potential product or service through a series of open-ended questions. This direct outreach to your target audience can provide information on your customers’ preferences, attitudes, buying potential, and more.

Every expert we asked voiced unanimous support for market surveys as a powerful tool for market research. With the advent of various survey tools with accessible pricing—or free use—it’s never been easier to assemble, disseminate, and gather market surveys. While it should also be noted that surveys shouldn’t replace customer interviews , they can be used to supplement customer interviews to give you feedback from a broader audience.

Who to Include in Market Surveys

• Current customers
• Past customers
• Your existing audience (such as social media/newsletter audiences)

Example Questions to Include in Market Surveys

While the exact questions will vary for each business, here are some common, helpful questions that you may want to consider for your market survey. Demographic Questions: the questions that help you understand, demographically, who your target customers are:

• “What is your age?”
• “Where do you live?”
• “What is your gender identity?”
• “What is your household income?”
• “What is your household size?”
• “What do you do for a living?”
• “What is your highest level of education?”

Product-Based Questions: Whether you’re seeking feedback for an existing brand or an entirely new one, these questions will help you get a sense of how people feel about your business, product, or service:

• “How well does/would our product/service meet your needs?”
• “How does our product/service compare to similar products/services that you use?”
• “How long have you been a customer?” or “What is the likelihood that you would be a customer of our brand?

Personal/Informative Questions: the deeper questions that help you understand how your audience thinks and what they care about.

• “What are your biggest challenges?”
• “What’s most important to you?”
• “What do you do for fun (hobbies, interests, activities)?”
• “Where do you seek new information when researching a new product?”
• “How do you like to make purchases?”
• “What is your preferred method for interacting with a brand?”

Survey Tools

Online survey tools make it easy to distribute surveys and collect responses. The best part is that there are many free tools available. If you’re making your own online survey, you may want to consider SurveyMonkey, Typeform, Google Forms, or Zoho Survey.

Competitive Analysis

A competitive analysis is a breakdown of how your business stacks up against the competition. There are many different ways to conduct this analysis. One of the most popular methods is a SWOT analysis, which stands for “strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.” This type of analysis is helpful because it gives you a more robust understanding of why a customer might choose a competitor over your business. Seeing how you stack up against the competition can give you the direction you need to carve out your place as a market leader.

Social Media Analysis

Social media has fundamentally changed the market research landscape, making it easier than ever to engage with a wide swath of consumers. Follow your current or potential competitors on social media to see what they’re posting and how their audience is engaging with it. Social media can also give you a lower cost opportunity for testing different messaging and brand positioning.

SEO Analysis and Opportunities

SEO analysis can help you identify the digital competition for getting the word out about your brand, product, or service. You won’t want to overlook this valuable information. Search listening tools offer a novel approach to understanding the market and generating the content strategy that will drive business. Tools like Google Trends and Awario can streamline this process.

Ready to Kick Your Business Into High Gear?

Now that you’ve completed the guide to market research you know you’re ready to put on your researcher hat to give your business the best start. Still not sure how actually… launch the thing? Our free mini-course can run you through the essentials for starting your side hustle .

About Mary Kate Miller

Mary Kate Miller writes about small business, real estate, and finance. In addition to writing for Foundr, her work has been published by The Washington Post, Teen Vogue, Bustle, and more. She lives in Chicago.

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Market research definition

Market research – in-house or outsourced, market research in the age of data, when to use market research.

• Types of market research 

Different types of primary research

How to do market research (primary data), how to do secondary market research, communicating your market research findings, choose the right platform for your market research, try qualtrics for free, the ultimate guide to market research: how to conduct it like a pro.

27 min read Wondering how to do market research? Or even where to start learning about it? Use our ultimate guide to understand the basics and discover how you can use market research to help your business.

Market research is the practice of gathering information about the needs and preferences of your target audience – potential consumers of your product.

When you understand how your target consumer feels and behaves, you can then take steps to meet their needs and mitigate the risk of an experience gap – where there is a shortfall between what a consumer expects you to deliver and what you actually deliver. Market research can also help you keep abreast of what your competitors are offering, which in turn will affect what your customers expect from you.

Market research connects with every aspect of a business – including brand , product , customer service , marketing and sales.

Market research generally focuses on understanding:

• The consumer (current customers, past customers, non-customers, influencers))
• The company (product or service design, promotion, pricing, placement, service, sales)
• The competitors (and how their market offerings interact in the market environment)
• The industry overall (whether it’s growing or moving in a certain direction)

Free eBook: 2024 market research trends report

Why is market research important?

A successful business relies on understanding what like, what they dislike, what they need and what messaging they will respond to. Businesses also need to understand their competition to identify opportunities to differentiate their products and services from other companies.

Today’s business leaders face an endless stream of decisions around target markets, pricing, promotion, distribution channels, and product features and benefits . They must account for all the factors involved, and there are market research studies and methodologies strategically designed to capture meaningful data to inform every choice. It can be a daunting task.

Market research allows companies to make data-driven decisions to drive growth and innovation.

What happens when you don’t do market research?

Without market research, business decisions are based at best on past consumer behavior, economic indicators, or at worst, on gut feel. Decisions are made in a bubble without thought to what the competition is doing. An important aim of market research is to remove subjective opinions when making business decisions. As a brand you are there to serve your customers, not personal preferences within the company. You are far more likely to be successful if you know the difference, and market research will help make sure your decisions are insight-driven.

Traditionally there have been specialist market researchers who are very good at what they do, and businesses have been reliant on their ability to do it. Market research specialists will always be an important part of the industry, as most brands are limited by their internal capacity, expertise and budgets and need to outsource at least some aspects of the work.

However, the market research external agency model has meant that brands struggled to keep up with the pace of change. Their customers would suffer because their needs were not being wholly met with point-in-time market research.

Businesses looking to conduct market research have to tackle many questions –

• Who are my consumers, and how should I segment and prioritize them?
• What are they looking for within my category?
• How much are they buying, and what are their purchase triggers, barriers, and buying habits?
• Will my marketing and communications efforts resonate?
• Is my brand healthy ?
• What product features matter most?
• Is my product or service ready for launch?
• Are my pricing and packaging plans optimized?

They all need to be answered, but many businesses have found the process of data collection daunting, time-consuming and expensive. The hardest battle is often knowing where to begin and short-term demands have often taken priority over longer-term projects that require patience to offer return on investment.

Today however, the industry is making huge strides, driven by quickening product cycles, tighter competition and business imperatives around more data-driven decision making. With the emergence of simple, easy to use tools , some degree of in-house market research is now seen as essential, with fewer excuses not to use data to inform your decisions. With greater accessibility to such software, everyone can be an expert regardless of level or experience.

How is this possible?

The art of research hasn’t gone away. It is still a complex job and the volume of data that needs to be analyzed is huge. However with the right tools and support, sophisticated research can look very simple – allowing you to focus on taking action on what matters.

If you’re not yet using technology to augment your in-house market research, now is the time to start.

The most successful brands rely on multiple sources of data to inform their strategy and decision making, from their marketing segmentation to the product features they develop to comments on social media. In fact, there’s tools out there that use machine learning and AI to automate the tracking of what’s people are saying about your brand across all sites.

The emergence of newer and more sophisticated tools and platforms gives brands access to more data sources than ever and how the data is analyzed and used to make decisions. This also increases the speed at which they operate, with minimal lead time allowing brands to be responsive to business conditions and take an agile approach to improvements and opportunities.

Expert partners have an important role in getting the best data, particularly giving access to additional market research know-how, helping you find respondents , fielding surveys and reporting on results.

How do you measure success?

Business activities are usually measured on how well they deliver return on investment (ROI). Since market research doesn’t generate any revenue directly, its success has to be measured by looking at the positive outcomes it drives – happier customers, a healthier brand, and so on.

When changes to your products or your marketing strategy are made as a result of your market research findings, you can compare on a before-and-after basis to see if the knowledge you acted on has delivered value.

Regardless of the function you work within, understanding the consumer is the goal of any market research. To do this, we have to understand what their needs are in order to effectively meet them. If we do that, we are more likely to drive customer satisfaction , and in turn, increase customer retention .

Several metrics and KPIs are used to gauge the success of decisions made from market research results, including

• Brand awareness within the target market
• Share of wallet
• CSAT (customer satisfaction)
• NPS (Net Promoter Score)

You can use market research for almost anything related to your current customers, potential customer base or target market. If you want to find something out from your target audience, it’s likely market research is the answer.

Here are a few of the most common uses:

Buyer segmentation and profiling

Segmentation is a popular technique that separates your target market according to key characteristics, such as behavior, demographic information and social attitudes. Segmentation allows you to create relevant content for your different segments, ideally helping you to better connect with all of them.

Buyer personas are profiles of fictional customers – with real attributes. Buyer personas help you develop products and communications that are right for your different audiences, and can also guide your decision-making process. Buyer personas capture the key characteristics of your customer segments, along with meaningful insights about what they want or need from you. They provide a powerful reminder of consumer attitudes when developing a product or service, a marketing campaign or a new brand direction.

By understanding your buyers and potential customers, including their motivations, needs, and pain points, you can optimize everything from your marketing communications to your products to make sure the right people get the relevant content, at the right time, and via the right channel .

Attitudes and Usage surveys

Attitude & Usage research helps you to grow your brand by providing a detailed understanding of consumers. It helps you understand how consumers use certain products and why, what their needs are, what their preferences are, and what their pain points are. It helps you to find gaps in the market, anticipate future category needs, identify barriers to entry and build accurate go-to-market strategies and business plans.

Marketing strategy

Effective market research is a crucial tool for developing an effective marketing strategy – a company’s plan for how they will promote their products.

It helps marketers look like rock stars by helping them understand the target market to avoid mistakes, stay on message, and predict customer needs . It’s marketing’s job to leverage relevant data to reach the best possible solution  based on the research available. Then, they can implement the solution, modify the solution, and successfully deliver that solution to the market.

Product development

You can conduct market research into how a select group of consumers use and perceive your product – from how they use it through to what they like and dislike about it. Evaluating your strengths and weaknesses early on allows you to focus resources on ideas with the most potential and to gear your product or service design to a specific market.

Chobani’s yogurt pouches are a product optimized through great market research . Using product concept testing – a form of market research – Chobani identified that packaging could negatively impact consumer purchase decisions. The brand made a subtle change, ensuring the item satisfied the needs of consumers. This ability to constantly refine its products for customer needs and preferences has helped Chobani become Australia’s #1 yogurt brand and increase market share.

Pricing decisions

Market research provides businesses with insights to guide pricing decisions too. One of the most powerful tools available to market researchers is conjoint analysis, a form of market research study that uses choice modeling to help brands identify the perfect set of features and price for customers. Another useful tool is the Gabor-Granger method, which helps you identify the highest price consumers are willing to pay for a given product or service.

Brand tracking studies

A company’s brand is one of its most important assets. But unlike other metrics like product sales, it’s not a tangible measure you can simply pull from your system. Regular market research that tracks consumer perceptions of your brand allows you to monitor and optimize your brand strategy in real time, then respond to consumer feedback to help maintain or build your brand with your target customers.

Advertising and communications testing

Advertising campaigns can be expensive, and without pre-testing, they carry risk of falling flat with your target audience. By testing your campaigns, whether it’s the message or the creative, you can understand how consumers respond to your communications before you deploy them so you can make changes in response to consumer feedback before you go live.

Finder, which is one of the world’s fastest-growing online comparison websites, is an example of a brand using market research to inject some analytical rigor into the business. Fueled by great market research, the business lifted brand awareness by 23 percent, boosted NPS by 8 points, and scored record profits – all within 10 weeks.

Competitive analysis

Another key part of developing the right product and communications is understanding your main competitors and how consumers perceive them. You may have looked at their websites and tried out their product or service, but unless you know how consumers perceive them, you won’t have an accurate view of where you stack up in comparison. Understanding their position in the market allows you to identify the strengths you can exploit, as well as any weaknesses you can address to help you compete better.

Customer Story

See How Yamaha Does Product Research

Types of market research

Although there are many types market research, all methods can be sorted into one of two categories: primary and secondary.

Primary research

Primary research is market research data that you collect yourself. This is raw data collected through a range of different means – surveys , focus groups,  , observation and interviews being among the most popular.

Primary information is fresh, unused data, giving you a perspective that is current or perhaps extra confidence when confirming hypotheses you already had. It can also be very targeted to your exact needs. Primary information can be extremely valuable. Tools for collecting primary information are increasingly sophisticated and the market is growing rapidly.

Historically, conducting market research in-house has been a daunting concept for brands because they don’t quite know where to begin, or how to handle vast volumes of data. Now, the emergence of technology has meant that brands have access to simple, easy to use tools to help with exactly that problem. As a result, brands are more confident about their own projects and data with the added benefit of seeing the insights emerge in real-time.

Secondary research

Secondary research is the use of data that has already been collected, analyzed and published – typically it’s data you don’t own and that hasn’t been conducted with your business specifically in mind, although there are forms of internal secondary data like old reports or figures from past financial years that come from within your business. Secondary research can be used to support the use of primary research.

Secondary research can be beneficial to small businesses because it is sometimes easier to obtain, often through research companies. Although the rise of primary research tools are challenging this trend by allowing businesses to conduct their own market research more cheaply, secondary research is often a cheaper alternative for businesses who need to spend money carefully. Some forms of secondary research have been described as ‘lean market research’ because they are fast and pragmatic, building on what’s already there.

Because it’s not specific to your business, secondary research may be less relevant, and you’ll need to be careful to make sure it applies to your exact research question. It may also not be owned, which means your competitors and other parties also have access to it.

Primary or secondary research – which to choose?

Both primary and secondary research have their advantages, but they are often best used when paired together, giving you the confidence to act knowing that the hypothesis you have is robust.

Secondary research is sometimes preferred because there is a misunderstanding of the feasibility of primary research. Thanks to advances in technology, brands have far greater accessibility to primary research, but this isn’t always known.

If you’ve decided to gather your own primary information, there are many different data collection methods that you may consider. For example:

• Customer surveys
• Focus groups
• Observation

Think carefully about what you’re trying to accomplish before picking the data collection method(s) you’re going to use. Each one has its pros and cons. Asking someone a simple, multiple-choice survey question will generate a different type of data than you might obtain with an in-depth interview. Determine if your primary research is exploratory or specific, and if you’ll need qualitative research, quantitative research, or both.

Qualitative vs quantitative

Another way of categorizing different types of market research is according to whether they are qualitative or quantitative.

Qualitative research

Qualitative research is the collection of data that is non-numerical in nature. It summarizes and infers, rather than pin-points an exact truth. It is exploratory and can lead to the generation of a hypothesis.

Market research techniques that would gather qualitative data include:

• Interviews (face to face / telephone)
• Open-ended survey questions

Researchers use these types of market research technique because they can add more depth to the data. So for example, in focus groups or interviews, rather than being limited to ‘yes’ or ‘no’ for a certain question, you can start to understand why someone might feel a certain way.

Quantitative research

Quantitative research is the collection of data that is numerical in nature. It is much more black and white in comparison to qualitative data, although you need to make sure there is a representative sample if you want the results to be reflective of reality.

Quantitative researchers often start with a hypothesis and then collect data which can be used to determine whether empirical evidence to support that hypothesis exists.

Quantitative research methods include:

• Questionnaires
• Review scores

Exploratory and specific research

Exploratory research is the approach to take if you don’t know what you don’t know. It can give you broad insights about your customers, product, brand, and market. If you want to answer a specific question, then you’ll be conducting specific research.

• Exploratory . This research is general and open-ended, and typically involves lengthy interviews with an individual or small focus group.
• Specific . This research is often used to solve a problem identified in exploratory research. It involves more structured, formal interviews.

Exploratory primary research is generally conducted by collecting qualitative data. Specific research usually finds its insights through quantitative data.

Primary research can be qualitative or quantitative, large-scale or focused and specific. You’ll carry it out using methods like surveys – which can be used for both qualitative and quantitative studies – focus groups, observation of consumer behavior, interviews, or online tools.

Step 1: Identify your research topic

Research topics could include:

• Product features
• Product or service launch
• Understanding a new target audience (or updating an existing audience)
• Brand identity
• Marketing campaign concepts
• Customer experience

Step 2: Draft a research hypothesis

A hypothesis is the assumption you’re starting out with. Since you can disprove a negative much more easily than prove a positive, a hypothesis is a negative statement such as ‘price has no effect on brand perception’.

Step 3: Determine which research methods are most effective

Your choice of methods depends on budget, time constraints, and the type of question you’re trying to answer. You could combine surveys, interviews and focus groups to get a mix of qualitative and quantitative data.

Step 4: Determine how you will collect and analyze your data.

Primary research can generate a huge amount of data, and when the goal is to uncover actionable insight, it can be difficult to know where to begin or what to pay attention to.

The rise in brands taking their market research and data analysis in-house has coincided with the rise of technology simplifying the process. These tools pull through large volumes of data and outline significant information that will help you make the most important decisions.

Step 5: Conduct your research!

This is how you can run your research using Qualtrics CoreXM

• Pre-launch – Here you want to ensure that the survey/ other research methods conform to the project specifications (what you want to achieve/research)
• Soft launch – Collect a small fraction of the total data before you fully launch. This means you can check that everything is working as it should and you can correct any data quality issues.
• Full launch – You’ve done the hard work to get to this point. If you’re using a tool, you can sit back and relax, or if you get curious you can check on the data in your account.
• Review – review your data for any issues or low-quality responses. You may need to remove this in order not to impact the analysis of the data.

A helping hand

If you are missing the skills, capacity or inclination to manage your research internally, Qualtrics Research Services can help. From design, to writing the survey based on your needs, to help with survey programming, to handling the reporting, Research Services acts as an extension of the team and can help wherever necessary.

Secondary market research can be taken from a variety of places. Some data is completely free to access – other information could end up costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. There are three broad categories of secondary research sources:

• Public sources – these sources are accessible to anyone who asks for them. They include census data, market statistics, library catalogs, university libraries and more. Other organizations may also put out free data from time to time with the goal of advancing a cause, or catching people’s attention.
• Internal sources – sometimes the most valuable sources of data already exist somewhere within your organization. Internal sources can be preferable for secondary research on account of their price (free) and unique findings. Since internal sources are not accessible by competitors, using them can provide a distinct competitive advantage.
• Commercial sources – if you have money for it, the easiest way to acquire secondary market research is to simply buy it from private companies. Many organizations exist for the sole purpose of doing market research and can provide reliable, in-depth, industry-specific reports.

No matter where your research is coming from, it is important to ensure that the source is reputable and reliable so you can be confident in the conclusions you draw from it.

How do you know if a source is reliable?

Use established and well-known research publishers, such as the XM Institute , Forrester and McKinsey . Government websites also publish research and this is free of charge. By taking the information directly from the source (rather than a third party) you are minimizing the risk of the data being misinterpreted and the message or insights being acted on out of context.

How to apply secondary research

The purpose and application of secondary research will vary depending on your circumstances. Often, secondary research is used to support primary research and therefore give you greater confidence in your conclusions. However, there may be circumstances that prevent this – such as the timeframe and budget of the project.

Keep an open mind when collecting all the relevant research so that there isn’t any collection bias. Then begin analyzing the conclusions formed to see if any trends start to appear. This will help you to draw a consensus from the secondary research overall.

Market research success is defined by the impact it has on your business’s success. Make sure it’s not discarded or ignored by communicating your findings effectively. Here are some tips on how to do it.

• Less is more – Preface your market research report with executive summaries that highlight your key discoveries and their implications
• Lead with the basic information – Share the top 4-5 recommendations in bullet-point form, rather than requiring your readers to go through pages of analysis and data
• Model the impact – Provide examples and model the impact of any changes you put in place based on your findings
• Show, don’t tell – Add illustrative examples that relate directly to the research findings and emphasize specific points
• Speed is of the essence – Make data available in real-time so it can be rapidly incorporated into strategies and acted upon to maximize value
• Work with experts – Make sure you’ve access to a dedicated team of experts ready to help you design and launch successful projects

Trusted by 8,500 brands for everything from product testing to competitor analysis, Our Strategic Research software is the world’s most powerful and flexible research platform . With over 100 question types and advanced logic, you can build out your surveys and see real-time data you can share across the organization. Plus, you’ll be able to turn data into insights with iQ, our predictive intelligence engine that runs complicated analysis at the click of a button.

Related resources

Market intelligence 10 min read, marketing insights 11 min read, ethnographic research 11 min read, qualitative vs quantitative research 13 min read, qualitative research questions 11 min read, qualitative research design 12 min read, primary vs secondary research 14 min read, request demo.

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Market Research: A How-To Guide and Template

Discover the different types of market research, how to conduct your own market research, and use a free template to help you along the way.

MARKET RESEARCH KIT

5 Research and Planning Templates + a Free Guide on How to Use Them in Your Market Research

Updated: 02/21/24

Published: 02/21/24

Today's consumers have a lot of power. As a business, you must have a deep understanding of who your buyers are and what influences their purchase decisions.

Enter: Market Research.

Whether you're new to market research or not, I created this guide to help you conduct a thorough study of your market, target audience, competition, and more. Let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

What is market research?

Primary vs. secondary research, types of market research, how to do market research, market research report template, market research examples.

Market research is the process of gathering information about your target market and customers to verify the success of a new product, help your team iterate on an existing product, or understand brand perception to ensure your team is effectively communicating your company's value effectively.

Market research can answer various questions about the state of an industry. But if you ask me, it's hardly a crystal ball that marketers can rely on for insights on their customers.

Market researchers investigate several areas of the market, and it can take weeks or even months to paint an accurate picture of the business landscape.

However, researching just one of those areas can make you more intuitive to who your buyers are and how to deliver value that no other business is offering them right now.

How? Consider these two things:

• Your competitors also have experienced individuals in the industry and a customer base. It‘s very possible that your immediate resources are, in many ways, equal to those of your competition’s immediate resources. Seeking a larger sample size for answers can provide a better edge.
• Your customers don't represent the attitudes of an entire market. They represent the attitudes of the part of the market that is already drawn to your brand.

The market research services market is growing rapidly, which signifies a strong interest in market research as we enter 2024. The market is expected to grow from roughly $75 billion in 2021 to $90.79 billion in 2025 .

Free Market Research Kit

• SWOT Analysis Template
• Survey Template
• Focus Group Template

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Why do market research?

Market research allows you to meet your buyer where they are.

As our world becomes louder and demands more of our attention, this proves invaluable.

By understanding your buyer's problems, pain points, and desired solutions, you can aptly craft your product or service to naturally appeal to them.

Market research also provides insight into the following:

• Where your target audience and current customers conduct their product or service research
• Which of your competitors your target audience looks to for information, options, or purchases
• What's trending in your industry and in the eyes of your buyer
• Who makes up your market and what their challenges are
• What influences purchases and conversions among your target audience
• Consumer attitudes about a particular topic, pain, product, or brand
• Whether there‘s demand for the business initiatives you’re investing in
• Unaddressed or underserved customer needs that can be flipped into selling opportunity
• Attitudes about pricing for a particular product or service

Ultimately, market research allows you to get information from a larger sample size of your target audience, eliminating bias and assumptions so that you can get to the heart of consumer attitudes.

As a result, you can make better business decisions.

To give you an idea of how extensive market research can get , consider that it can either be qualitative or quantitative in nature — depending on the studies you conduct and what you're trying to learn about your industry.

Qualitative research is concerned with public opinion, and explores how the market feels about the products currently available in that market.

Quantitative research is concerned with data, and looks for relevant trends in the information that's gathered from public records.

That said, there are two main types of market research that your business can conduct to collect actionable information on your products: primary research and secondary research.

Primary Research

Primary research is the pursuit of first-hand information about your market and the customers within your market.

It's useful when segmenting your market and establishing your buyer personas.

Primary market research tends to fall into one of two buckets:

• Exploratory Primary Research: This kind of primary market research normally takes place as a first step — before any specific research has been performed — and may involve open-ended interviews or surveys with small numbers of people.
• Specific Primary Research: This type of research often follows exploratory research. In specific research, you take a smaller or more precise segment of your audience and ask questions aimed at solving a suspected problem.

Secondary Research

Secondary research is all the data and public records you have at your disposal to draw conclusions from (e.g. trend reports, market statistics, industry content, and sales data you already have on your business).

Secondary research is particularly useful for analyzing your competitors . The main buckets your secondary market research will fall into include:

• Public Sources: These sources are your first and most-accessible layer of material when conducting secondary market research. They're often free to find and review — like government statistics (e.g., from the U.S. Census Bureau ).
• Commercial Sources: These sources often come in the form of pay-to-access market reports, consisting of industry insight compiled by a research agency like Pew , Gartner , or Forrester .
• Internal Sources: This is the market data your organization already has like average revenue per sale, customer retention rates, and other historical data that can help you draw conclusions on buyer needs.
• Focus Groups
• Product/ Service Use Research
• Observation-Based Research
• Buyer Persona Research
• Market Segmentation Research
• Pricing Research
• Competitive Analysis Research
• Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Research
• Brand Awareness Research
• Campaign Research

1. Interviews

Interviews allow for face-to-face discussions so you can allow for a natural flow of conversation. Your interviewees can answer questions about themselves to help you design your buyer personas and shape your entire marketing strategy.

2. Focus Groups

Focus groups provide you with a handful of carefully-selected people that can test out your product and provide feedback. This type of market research can give you ideas for product differentiation.

3. Product/Service Use Research

Product or service use research offers insight into how and why your audience uses your product or service. This type of market research also gives you an idea of the product or service's usability for your target audience.

4. Observation-Based Research

Observation-based research allows you to sit back and watch the ways in which your target audience members go about using your product or service, what works well in terms of UX , and which aspects of it could be improved.

5. Buyer Persona Research

Buyer persona research gives you a realistic look at who makes up your target audience, what their challenges are, why they want your product or service, and what they need from your business or brand.

6. Market Segmentation Research

Market segmentation research allows you to categorize your target audience into different groups (or segments) based on specific and defining characteristics. This way, you can determine effective ways to meet their needs.

7. Pricing Research

Pricing research helps you define your pricing strategy . It gives you an idea of what similar products or services in your market sell for and what your target audience is willing to pay.

8. Competitive Analysis

Competitive analyses give you a deep understanding of the competition in your market and industry. You can learn about what's doing well in your industry and how you can separate yourself from the competition .

9. Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Research

Customer satisfaction and loyalty research gives you a look into how you can get current customers to return for more business and what will motivate them to do so (e.g., loyalty programs , rewards, remarkable customer service).

10. Brand Awareness Research

Brand awareness research tells you what your target audience knows about and recognizes from your brand. It tells you about the associations people make when they think about your business.

11. Campaign Research

Campaign research entails looking into your past campaigns and analyzing their success among your target audience and current customers. The goal is to use these learnings to inform future campaigns.

• Define your buyer persona.
• Identify a persona group to engage.
• Prepare research questions for your market research participants.
• List your primary competitors.
• Summarize your findings.

1. Define your buyer persona.

You have to understand who your customers are and how customers in your industry make buying decisions.

This is where your buyer personas come in handy. Buyer personas — sometimes referred to as marketing personas — are fictional, generalized representations of your ideal customers.

Use a free tool to create a buyer persona that your entire company can use to market, sell, and serve better.

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How To Do Market Research: Definition, Types, Methods

Jan 2, 2024

11 min. read

Market research isn’t just collecting data. It’s a strategic tool that allows businesses to gain a competitive advantage while making the best use of their resources. Research reveals valuable insights into your target audience about their preferences, buying habits, and emerging demands — all of which help you unlock new opportunities to grow your business.

When done correctly, market research can minimize risks and losses, spur growth, and position you as a leader in your industry. 

Let’s explore the basic building blocks of market research and how to collect and use data to move your company forward:

Table of Contents

What Is Market Research?

Why is market research important, market analysis example, 5 types of market research, what are common market research questions, what are the limitations of market research, how to do market research, improving your market research with radarly.

Market Research Definition: The process of gathering, analyzing, and interpreting information about a market or audience.

Market research studies consumer behavior to better understand how they perceive products or services. These insights help businesses identify ways to grow their current offering, create new products or services, and improve brand trust and brand recognition .

You might also hear market research referred to as market analysis or consumer research .

Traditionally, market research has taken the form of focus groups, surveys, interviews, and even competitor analysis . But with modern analytics and research tools, businesses can now capture deeper insights from a wider variety of sources, including social media, online reviews, and customer interactions. These extra layers of intel can help companies gain a more comprehensive understanding of their audience.

With consumer preferences and markets evolving at breakneck speeds, businesses need a way to stay in touch with what people need and want. That’s why the importance of market research cannot be overstated.

Market research offers a proactive way to identify these trends and make adjustments to product development, marketing strategies , and overall operations. This proactive approach can help businesses stay ahead of the curve and remain agile as markets shift.

Market research examples abound — given the number of ways companies can get inside the minds of their customers, simply skimming through your business’s social media comments can be a form of market research.

A restaurant chain might use market research methods to learn more about consumers’ evolving dining habits. These insights might be used to offer new menu items, re-examine their pricing strategies, or even open new locations in different markets, for example.

A consumer electronics company might use market research for similar purposes. For instance, market research may reveal how consumers are using their smart devices so they can develop innovative features.

Market research can be applied to a wide range of use cases, including:

• Testing new product ideas
• Improve existing products
• Entering new markets
• Right-sizing their physical footprints
• Improving brand image and awareness
• Gaining insights into competitors via competitive intelligence

Ultimately, companies can lean on market research techniques to stay ahead of trends and competitors while improving the lives of their customers.

Market research methods take different forms, and you don’t have to limit yourself to just one. Let’s review the most common market research techniques and the insights they deliver.

1. Interviews

3. Focus Groups

4. Observations

5. AI-Driven Market Research

One-on-one interviews are one of the most common market research techniques. Beyond asking direct questions, skilled interviewers can uncover deeper motivations and emotions that drive purchasing decisions. Researchers can elicit more detailed and nuanced responses they might not receive via other methods, such as self-guided surveys.

Interviews also create the opportunity to build rapport with customers and prospects. Establishing a connection with interviewees can encourage them to open up and share their candid thoughts, which can enrich your findings. Researchers also have the opportunity to ask clarifying questions and dig deeper based on individual responses.

Market research surveys provide an easy entry into the consumer psyche. They’re cost-effective to produce and allow researchers to reach lots of people in a short time. They’re also user-friendly for consumers, which allows companies to capture more responses from more people.

Big data and data analytics are making traditional surveys more valuable. Researchers can apply these tools to elicit a deeper understanding from responses and uncover hidden patterns and correlations within survey data that were previously undetectable.

The ways in which surveys are conducted are also changing. With the rise of social media and other online channels, brands and consumers alike have more ways to engage with each other, lending to a continuous approach to market research surveys.

3. Focus groups

Focus groups are “group interviews” designed to gain collective insights. This interactive setting allows participants to express their thoughts and feelings openly, giving researchers richer insights beyond yes-or-no responses.

One of the key benefits of using focus groups is the opportunity for participants to interact with one another. They spark discussions while sharing diverse viewpoints. These sessions can uncover underlying motivations and attitudes that may not be easily expressed through other research methods.

Observing your customers “in the wild” might feel informal, but it can be one of the most revealing market research techniques of all. That’s because you might not always know the right questions to ask. By simply observing, you can surface insights you might not have known to look for otherwise.

This method also delivers raw, authentic, unfiltered data. There’s no room for bias and no potential for participants to accidentally skew the data. Researchers can also pick up on non-verbal cues and gestures that other research methods may fail to capture.

5. AI-driven market research

One of the newer methods of market research is the use of AI-driven market research tools to collect and analyze insights on your behalf. AI customer intelligence tools and consumer insights software like Meltwater Radarly take an always-on approach by going wherever your audience is and continuously predicting behaviors based on current behaviors.

By leveraging advanced algorithms, machine learning, and big data analysis , AI enables companies to uncover deep-seated patterns and correlations within large datasets that would be near impossible for human researchers to identify. This not only leads to more accurate and reliable findings but also allows businesses to make informed decisions with greater confidence.

Tip: Learn how to use Meltwater as a research tool , how Meltwater uses AI , and learn more about consumer insights and about consumer insights in the fashion industry .

No matter the market research methods you use, market research’s effectiveness lies in the questions you ask. These questions should be designed to elicit honest responses that will help you reach your goals.

Examples of common market research questions include:

Demographic market research questions

• What is your age range?
• What is your occupation?
• What is your household income level?
• What is your educational background?
• What is your gender?

Product or service usage market research questions

• How long have you been using [product/service]?
• How frequently do you use [product/service]?
• What do you like most about [product/service]?
• Have you experienced any problems using [product/service]?
• How could we improve [product/service]?
• Why did you choose [product/service] over a competitor’s [product/service]?

Brand perception market research questions

• How familiar are you with our brand?
• What words do you associate with our brand?
• How do you feel about our brand?
• What makes you trust our brand?
• What sets our brand apart from competitors?
• What would make you recommend our brand to others?

Buying behavior market research questions

• What do you look for in a [product/service]?
• What features in a [product/service] are important to you?
• How much time do you need to choose a [product/service]?
• How do you discover new products like [product/service]?
• Do you prefer to purchase [product/service] online or in-store?
• How do you research [product/service] before making a purchase?
• How often do you buy [product/service]?
• How important is pricing when buying [product/service]?
• What would make you switch to another brand of [product/service]?

Customer satisfaction market research questions

• How happy have you been with [product/service]?
• What would make you more satisfied with [product/service]?
• How likely are you to continue using [product/service]?

Bonus Tip: Compiling these questions into a market research template can streamline your efforts.

Market research can offer powerful insights, but it also has some limitations. One key limitation is the potential for bias. Researchers may unconsciously skew results based on their own preconceptions or desires, which can make your findings inaccurate.

• Depending on your market research methods, your findings may be outdated by the time you sit down to analyze and act on them. Some methods struggle to account for rapidly changing consumer preferences and behaviors.
• There’s also the risk of self-reported data (common in online surveys). Consumers might not always accurately convey their true feelings or intentions. They might provide answers they think researchers are looking for or misunderstand the question altogether.
• There’s also the potential to miss emerging or untapped markets . Researchers are digging deeper into what (or who) they already know. This means you might be leaving out a key part of the story without realizing it.

Still, the benefits of market research cannot be understated, especially when you supplement traditional market research methods with modern tools and technology.

Let’s put it all together and explore how to do market research step-by-step to help you leverage all its benefits.

Step 1: Define your objectives

You’ll get more from your market research when you hone in on a specific goal : What do you want to know, and how will this knowledge help your business?

This step will also help you define your target audience. You’ll need to ask the right people the right questions to collect the information you want. Understand the characteristics of the audience and what gives them authority to answer your questions.

Step 2: Select your market research methods

Choose one or more of the market research methods (interviews, surveys, focus groups, observations, and/or AI-driven tools) to fuel your research strategy.

Certain methods might work better than others for specific goals . For example, if you want basic feedback from customers about a product, a simple survey might suffice. If you want to hone in on serious pain points to develop a new product, a focus group or interview might work best.

You can also source secondary research ( complementary research ) via secondary research companies , such as industry reports or analyses from large market research firms. These can help you gather preliminary information and inform your approach.

Step 3: Develop your research tools

Prior to working with participants, you’ll need to craft your survey or interview questions, interview guides, and other tools. These tools will help you capture the right information , weed out non-qualifying participants, and keep your information organized.

You should also have a system for recording responses to ensure data accuracy and privacy. Test your processes before speaking with participants so you can spot and fix inefficiencies or errors.

Step 4: Conduct the market research

With a system in place, you can start looking for candidates to contribute to your market research. This might include distributing surveys to current customers or recruiting participants who fit a specific profile, for example.

Set a time frame for conducting your research. You might collect responses over the course of a few days, weeks, or even months. If you’re using AI tools to gather data, choose a data range for your data to focus on the most relevant information.

Step 5: Analyze and apply your findings

Review your findings while looking for trends and patterns. AI tools can come in handy in this phase by analyzing large amounts of data on your behalf.

Compile your findings into an easy-to-read report and highlight key takeaways and next steps. Reports aren’t useful unless the reader can understand and act on them.

Tip: Learn more about trend forecasting , trend detection , and trendspotting .

Meltwater’s Radarly consumer intelligence suite helps you reap the benefits of market research on an ongoing basis. Using a combination of AI, data science, and market research expertise, Radarly scans multiple global data sources to learn what people are talking about, the actions they’re taking, and how they’re feeling about specific brands.

Our tools are created by market research experts and designed to help researchers uncover what they want to know (and what they don’t know they want to know). Get data-driven insights at scale with information that’s always relevant, always accurate, and always tailored to your organization’s needs.

Learn more when you request a demo by filling out the form below:

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Market Intelligence 101: What It Is & How To Use It

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How to do market research in 4 steps: a lean approach to marketing research

From pinpointing your target audience and assessing your competitive advantage, to ongoing product development and customer satisfaction efforts, market research is a practice your business can only benefit from.

Learn how to conduct quick and effective market research using a lean approach in this article full of strategies and practical examples. 

Last updated

Reading time.

A comprehensive (and successful) business strategy is not complete without some form of market research—you can’t make informed and profitable business decisions without truly understanding your customer base and the current market trends that drive your business.

In this article, you’ll learn how to conduct quick, effective market research  using an approach called 'lean market research'. It’s easier than you might think, and it can be done at any stage in a product’s lifecycle.

How to conduct lean market research in 4 steps

What is market research, why is market research so valuable, advantages of lean market research, 4 common market research methods, 5 common market research questions, market research faqs.

We’ll jump right into our 4-step approach to lean market research. To show you how it’s done in the real world, each step includes a practical example from Smallpdf , a Swiss company that used lean market research to reduce their tool’s error rate by 75% and boost their Net Promoter Score® (NPS) by 1%.

Research your market the lean way...

From on-page surveys to user interviews, Hotjar has the tools to help you scope out your market and get to know your customers—without breaking the bank.

The following four steps and practical examples will give you a solid market research plan for understanding who your users are and what they want from a company like yours.

1. Create simple user personas

A user persona is a semi-fictional character based on psychographic and demographic data from people who use websites and products similar to your own. Start by defining broad user categories, then elaborate on them later to further segment your customer base and determine your ideal customer profile .

How to get the data: use on-page or emailed surveys and interviews to understand your users and what drives them to your business.

How to do it right: whatever survey or interview questions you ask, they should answer the following questions about the customer:

Who are they?

What is their main goal?

What is their main barrier to achieving this goal?

Pitfalls to avoid:

Don’t ask too many questions! Keep it to five or less, otherwise you’ll inundate them and they’ll stop answering thoughtfully.

Don’t worry too much about typical demographic questions like age or background. Instead, focus on the role these people play (as it relates to your product) and their goals.

How Smallpdf did it: Smallpdf ran an on-page survey for a couple of weeks and received 1,000 replies. They learned that many of their users were administrative assistants, students, and teachers.

Next, they used the survey results to create simple user personas like this one for admins:

Who are they? Administrative Assistants.

What is their main goal? Creating Word documents from a scanned, hard-copy document or a PDF where the source file was lost.

What is their main barrier to achieving it? Converting a scanned PDF doc to a Word file.

💡Pro tip: Smallpdf used Hotjar Surveys to run their user persona survey. Our survey tool helped them avoid the pitfalls of guesswork and find out who their users really are, in their own words. 

You can design a survey and start running it in minutes with our easy-to-use drag and drop builder. Customize your survey to fit your needs, from a sleek one-question pop-up survey to a fully branded questionnaire sent via email. 

We've also created 40+ free survey templates that you can start collecting data with, including a user persona survey like the one Smallpdf used.

2. Conduct observational research

Observational research involves taking notes while watching someone use your product (or a similar product).

Overt vs. covert observation

Overt observation involves asking customers if they’ll let you watch them use your product. This method is often used for user testing and it provides a great opportunity for collecting live product or customer feedback .

Covert observation means studying users ‘in the wild’ without them knowing. This method works well if you sell a type of product that people use regularly, and it offers the purest observational data because people often behave differently when they know they’re being watched. 

Tips to do it right:

Record an entry in your field notes, along with a timestamp, each time an action or event occurs.

Make note of the users' workflow, capturing the ‘what,’ ‘why,’ and ‘for whom’ of each action.

Don’t record identifiable video or audio data without consent. If recording people using your product is helpful for achieving your research goal, make sure all participants are informed and agree to the terms.

Don’t forget to explain why you’d like to observe them (for overt observation). People are more likely to cooperate if you tell them you want to improve the product.

💡Pro tip: while conducting field research out in the wild can wield rewarding results, you can also conduct observational research remotely. Hotjar Recordings is a tool that lets you capture anonymized user sessions of real people interacting with your website. 

Observe how customers navigate your pages and products to gain an inside look into their user behavior . This method is great for conducting exploratory research with the purpose of identifying more specific issues to investigate further, like pain points along the customer journey and opportunities for optimizing conversion .

With Hotjar Recordings you can observe real people using your site without capturing their sensitive information

How Smallpdf did it: here’s how Smallpdf observed two different user personas both covertly and overtly.

Observing students (covert): Kristina Wagner, Principle Product Manager at Smallpdf, went to cafes and libraries at two local universities and waited until she saw students doing PDF-related activities. Then she watched and took notes from a distance. One thing that struck her was the difference between how students self-reported their activities vs. how they behaved (i.e, the self-reporting bias). Students, she found, spent hours talking, listening to music, or simply staring at a blank screen rather than working. When she did find students who were working, she recorded the task they were performing and the software they were using (if she recognized it).

Observing administrative assistants (overt): Kristina sent emails to admins explaining that she’d like to observe them at work, and she asked those who agreed to try to batch their PDF work for her observation day. While watching admins work, she learned that they frequently needed to scan documents into PDF-format and then convert those PDFs into Word docs. By observing the challenges admins faced, Smallpdf knew which products to target for improvement.

“Data is really good for discovery and validation, but there is a bit in the middle where you have to go and find the human.”

3. Conduct individual interviews

Interviews are one-on-one conversations with members of your target market. They allow you to dig deep and explore their concerns, which can lead to all sorts of revelations.

Listen more, talk less. Be curious.

Act like a journalist, not a salesperson. Rather than trying to talk your company up, ask people about their lives, their needs, their frustrations, and how a product like yours could help.

Ask "why?" so you can dig deeper. Get into the specifics and learn about their past behavior.

Record the conversation. Focus on the conversation and avoid relying solely on notes by recording the interview. There are plenty of services that will transcribe recorded conversations for a good price (including Hotjar!).

Avoid asking leading questions , which reveal bias on your part and pushes respondents to answer in a certain direction (e.g. “Have you taken advantage of the amazing new features we just released?).

Don't ask loaded questions , which sneak in an assumption which, if untrue, would make it impossible to answer honestly. For example, we can’t ask you, “What did you find most useful about this article?” without asking whether you found the article useful in the first place.

Be cautious when asking opinions about the future (or predictions of future behavior). Studies suggest that people aren’t very good at predicting their future behavior. This is due to several cognitive biases, from the misguided exceptionalism bias (we’re good at guessing what others will do, but we somehow think we’re different), to the optimism bias (which makes us see things with rose-colored glasses), to the ‘illusion of control’ (which makes us forget the role of randomness in future events).

How Smallpdf did it: Kristina explored her teacher user persona by speaking with university professors at a local graduate school. She learned that the school was mostly paperless and rarely used PDFs, so for the sake of time, she moved on to the admins.

A bit of a letdown? Sure. But this story highlights an important lesson: sometimes you follow a lead and come up short, so you have to make adjustments on the fly. Lean market research is about getting solid, actionable insights quickly so you can tweak things and see what works.

💡Pro tip: to save even more time, conduct remote interviews using an online user research service like Hotjar Engage , which automates the entire interview process, from recruitment and scheduling to hosting and recording.

You can interview your own customers or connect with people from our diverse pool of 200,000+ participants from 130+ countries and 25 industries. And no need to fret about taking meticulous notes—Engage will automatically transcribe the interview for you.

4. Analyze the data (without drowning in it)

The following techniques will help you wrap your head around the market data you collect without losing yourself in it. Remember, the point of lean market research is to find quick, actionable insights.

A flow model is a diagram that tracks the flow of information within a system. By creating a simple visual representation of how users interact with your product and each other, you can better assess their needs.

You’ll notice that admins are at the center of Smallpdf’s flow model, which represents the flow of PDF-related documents throughout a school. This flow model shows the challenges that admins face as they work to satisfy their own internal and external customers.

Affinity diagram

An affinity diagram is a way of sorting large amounts of data into groups to better understand the big picture. For example, if you ask your users about their profession, you’ll notice some general themes start to form, even though the individual responses differ. Depending on your needs, you could group them by profession, or more generally by industry.

We wrote a guide about how to analyze open-ended questions to help you sort through and categorize large volumes of response data. You can also do this by hand by clipping up survey responses or interview notes and grouping them (which is what Kristina does).

“For an interview, you will have somewhere between 30 and 60 notes, and those notes are usually direct phrases. And when you literally cut them up into separate pieces of paper and group them, they should make sense by themselves.”

Pro tip: if you’re conducting an online survey with Hotjar, keep your team in the loop by sharing survey responses automatically via our Slack and Microsoft Team integrations. Reading answers as they come in lets you digest the data in pieces and can help prepare you for identifying common themes when it comes time for analysis.

Hotjar lets you easily share survey responses with your team

Customer journey map

A customer journey map is a diagram that shows the way a typical prospect becomes a paying customer. It outlines their first interaction with your brand and every step in the sales cycle, from awareness to repurchase (and hopefully advocacy).

The above  customer journey map , created by our team at Hotjar, shows many ways a customer might engage with our tool. Your map will be based on your own data and business model.

📚 Read more: if you’re new to customer journey maps, we wrote this step-by-step guide to creating your first customer journey map in 2 and 1/2 days with free templates you can download and start using immediately.

Next steps: from research to results

So, how do you turn market research insights into tangible business results? Let’s look at the actions Smallpdf took after conducting their lean market research: first they implemented changes, then measured the impact.

Implement changes

Based on what Smallpdf learned about the challenges that one key user segment (admins) face when trying to convert PDFs into Word files, they improved their ‘PDF to Word’ conversion tool.

We won’t go into the details here because it involves a lot of technical jargon, but they made the entire process simpler and more straightforward for users. Plus, they made it so that their system recognized when you drop a PDF file into their ‘Word to PDF’ converter instead of the ‘PDF to Word’ converter, so users wouldn’t have to redo the task when they made that mistake. 

In other words: simple market segmentation for admins showed a business need that had to be accounted for, and customers are happier overall after Smallpdf implemented an informed change to their product.

Measure results

According to the Lean UX model, product and UX changes aren’t retained unless they achieve results.

Smallpdf’s changes produced:

A 75% reduction in error rate for the ‘PDF to Word’ converter

A 1% increase in NPS

Greater confidence in the team’s marketing efforts

"With all the changes said and done, we've cut our original error rate in four, which is huge. We increased our NPS by +1%, which isn't huge, but it means that of the users who received a file, they were still slightly happier than before, even if they didn't notice that anything special happened at all.”

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Market research (or marketing research) is any set of techniques used to gather information and better understand a company’s target market. This might include primary research on brand awareness and customer satisfaction or secondary market research on market size and competitive analysis. Businesses use this information to design better products, improve user experience, and craft a marketing strategy that attracts quality leads and improves conversion rates.

David Darmanin, one of Hotjar’s founders, launched two startups before Hotjar took off—but both companies crashed and burned. Each time, he and his team spent months trying to design an amazing new product and user experience, but they failed because they didn’t have a clear understanding of what the market demanded.

With Hotjar, they did things differently . Long story short, they conducted market research in the early stages to figure out what consumers really wanted, and the team made (and continues to make) constant improvements based on market and user research.

Without market research, it’s impossible to understand your users. Sure, you might have a general idea of who they are and what they need, but you have to dig deep if you want to win their loyalty.

Here’s why research matters:

Obsessing over your users is the only way to win. If you don’t care deeply about them, you’ll lose potential customers to someone who does.

Analytics gives you the ‘what’, while research gives you the ‘why’. Big data, user analytics , and dashboards can tell you what people do at scale, but only research can tell you what they’re thinking and why they do what they do. For example, analytics can tell you that customers leave when they reach your pricing page, but only research can explain why.

Research beats assumptions, trends, and so-called best practices. Have you ever watched your colleagues rally behind a terrible decision? Bad ideas are often the result of guesswork, emotional reasoning, death by best practices , and defaulting to the Highest Paid Person’s Opinion (HiPPO). By listening to your users and focusing on their customer experience , you’re less likely to get pulled in the wrong direction.

Research keeps you from planning in a vacuum. Your team might be amazing, but you and your colleagues simply can’t experience your product the way your customers do. Customers might use your product in a way that surprises you, and product features that seem obvious to you might confuse them. Over-planning and refusing to test your assumptions is a waste of time, money, and effort because you’ll likely need to make changes once your untested business plan gets put into practice.

Lean User Experience (UX) design is a model for continuous improvement that relies on quick, efficient research to understand customer needs and test new product features.

Lean market research can help you become more...

Efficient: it gets you closer to your customers, faster.

Cost-effective: no need to hire an expensive marketing firm to get things started.

Competitive: quick, powerful insights can place your products on the cutting edge.

As a small business or sole proprietor, conducting lean market research is an attractive option when investing in a full-blown research project might seem out of scope or budget.

There are lots of different ways you could conduct market research and collect customer data, but you don’t have to limit yourself to just one research method. Four common types of market research techniques include surveys, interviews, focus groups, and customer observation.

Which method you use may vary based on your business type: ecommerce business owners have different goals from SaaS businesses, so it’s typically prudent to mix and match these methods based on your particular goals and what you need to know.

1. Surveys: the most commonly used

Surveys are a form of qualitative research that ask respondents a short series of open- or closed-ended questions, which can be delivered as an on-screen questionnaire or via email. When we asked 2,000 Customer Experience (CX) professionals about their company’s approach to research , surveys proved to be the most commonly used market research technique.

What makes online surveys so popular?  

They’re easy and inexpensive to conduct, and you can do a lot of data collection quickly. Plus, the data is pretty straightforward to analyze, even when you have to analyze open-ended questions whose answers might initially appear difficult to categorize.

We've built a number of survey templates ready and waiting for you. Grab a template and share with your customers in just a few clicks.

💡 Pro tip: you can also get started with Hotjar AI for Surveys to create a survey in mere seconds . Just enter your market research goal and watch as the AI generates a survey and populates it with relevant questions. 

Once you’re ready for data analysis, the AI will prepare an automated research report that succinctly summarizes key findings, quotes, and suggested next steps.

An example research report generated by Hotjar AI for Surveys

2. Interviews: the most insightful

Interviews are one-on-one conversations with members of your target market. Nothing beats a face-to-face interview for diving deep (and reading non-verbal cues), but if an in-person meeting isn’t possible, video conferencing is a solid second choice.

Regardless of how you conduct it, any type of in-depth interview will produce big benefits in understanding your target customers.

What makes interviews so insightful?

By speaking directly with an ideal customer, you’ll gain greater empathy for their experience , and you can follow insightful threads that can produce plenty of 'Aha!' moments.

3. Focus groups: the most unreliable

Focus groups bring together a carefully selected group of people who fit a company’s target market. A trained moderator leads a conversation surrounding the product, user experience, or marketing message to gain deeper insights.

What makes focus groups so unreliable?

If you’re new to market research, we wouldn’t recommend starting with focus groups. Doing it right is expensive , and if you cut corners, your research could fall victim to all kinds of errors. Dominance bias (when a forceful participant influences the group) and moderator style bias (when different moderator personalities bring about different results in the same study) are two of the many ways your focus group data could get skewed.

4. Observation: the most powerful

During a customer observation session, someone from the company takes notes while they watch an ideal user engage with their product (or a similar product from a competitor).

What makes observation so clever and powerful?

‘Fly-on-the-wall’ observation is a great alternative to focus groups. It’s not only less expensive, but you’ll see people interact with your product in a natural setting without influencing each other. The only downside is that you can’t get inside their heads, so observation still isn't a recommended replacement for customer surveys and interviews.

The following questions will help you get to know your users on a deeper level when you interview them. They’re general questions, of course, so don’t be afraid to make them your own.

1. Who are you and what do you do?

How you ask this question, and what you want to know, will vary depending on your business model (e.g. business-to-business marketing is usually more focused on someone’s profession than business-to-consumer marketing).

It’s a great question to start with, and it’ll help you understand what’s relevant about your user demographics (age, race, gender, profession, education, etc.), but it’s not the be-all-end-all of market research. The more specific questions come later.

2. What does your day look like?

This question helps you understand your users’ day-to-day life and the challenges they face. It will help you gain empathy for them, and you may stumble across something relevant to their buying habits.

3. Do you ever purchase [product/service type]?

This is a ‘yes or no’ question. A ‘yes’ will lead you to the next question.

4. What problem were you trying to solve or what goal were you trying to achieve?

This question strikes to the core of what someone’s trying to accomplish and why they might be willing to pay for your solution.

5. Take me back to the day when you first decided you needed to solve this kind of problem or achieve this goal.

This is the golden question, and it comes from Adele Revella, Founder and CEO of Buyer Persona Institute . It helps you get in the heads of your users and figure out what they were thinking the day they decided to spend money to solve a problem.

If you take your time with this question, digging deeper where it makes sense, you should be able to answer all the relevant information you need to understand their perspective.

“The only scripted question I want you to ask them is this one: take me back to the day when you first decided that you needed to solve this kind of problem or achieve this kind of a goal. Not to buy my product, that’s not the day. We want to go back to the day that when you thought it was urgent and compelling to go spend money to solve a particular problem or achieve a goal. Just tell me what happened.”

— Adele Revella , Founder/CEO at Buyer Persona Institute

Bonus question: is there anything else you’d like to tell me?

This question isn’t just a nice way to wrap it up—it might just give participants the opportunity they need to tell you something you really need to know.

That’s why Sarah Doody, author of UX Notebook , adds it to the end of her written surveys.

“I always have a last question, which is just open-ended: “Is there anything else you would like to tell me?” And sometimes, that’s where you get four paragraphs of amazing content that you would never have gotten if it was just a Net Promoter Score [survey] or something like that.”

What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative research?

Qualitative research asks questions that can’t be reduced to a number, such as, “What is your job title?” or “What did you like most about your customer service experience?” 

Quantitative research asks questions that can be answered with a numeric value, such as, “What is your annual salary?” or “How was your customer service experience on a scale of 1-5?”

 → Read more about the differences between qualitative and quantitative user research .

How do I do my own market research?

You can do your own quick and effective market research by 

Surveying your customers

Building user personas

Studying your users through interviews and observation

Wrapping your head around your data with tools like flow models, affinity diagrams, and customer journey maps

What is the difference between market research and user research?

Market research takes a broad look at potential customers—what problems they’re trying to solve, their buying experience, and overall demand. User research, on the other hand, is more narrowly focused on the use (and usability ) of specific products.

What are the main criticisms of market research?

Many marketing professionals are critical of market research because it can be expensive and time-consuming. It’s often easier to convince your CEO or CMO to let you do lean market research rather than something more extensive because you can do it yourself. It also gives you quick answers so you can stay ahead of the competition.

Do I need a market research firm to get reliable data?

Absolutely not! In fact, we recommend that you start small and do it yourself in the beginning. By following a lean market research strategy, you can uncover some solid insights about your clients. Then you can make changes, test them out, and see whether the results are positive. This is an excellent strategy for making quick changes and remaining competitive.

Net Promoter, Net Promoter System, Net Promoter Score, NPS, and the NPS-related emoticons are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., Fred Reichheld, and Satmetrix Systems, Inc.

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What are the Market Research Methods?

• August 15, 2023
• Topic: Brand Strategy , Corporate , Corporate Trends , Customer Experience , Market Analysis , Product Lifecycle
• Resource type: Insights Blog

So, you have a question, but you are unsure of how to get your answer. Maybe you are wondering who your target audience is or why you lost out on a deal to your competition. Maybe you are looking to expand into a new market and want to know more about the customers and competitors in the industry. While these examples are similar in the way they help you understand your business better, they all require different market research methodologies to arrive at the answer.  

What are Market Research Methodologies?  

Research methodologies are various ways to perform research to understand your problem. The correct type to employ depends on the answers you are seeking, the information you have, and the information you need to gather. There are many different methods, but most fall into four categories: data analytics, survey, qualitative, and secondary.

In this post, we will provide an overview of the four main research methodologies along with the benefits and challenges of each.  

Custom or Syndicated Research  

In addition to the types of methodologies, there are two types of funded research: custom and syndicated.   

Custom research is funded by a single company and is focused on answering the key questions the business seeks to understand. Though more costly, the research design, implementation, and results are unique and targeted toward addressing the funding company’s needs.  

On the other hand, syndicated research is not curated or funded by a specific client; a market research company conducts it to offer data such as industry statistics, current best practices, or recent trends. Though not directly tied to a single company’s situation, businesses often buy syndicated research to gather perspective on their performance and identify areas where custom research can help provide more insight.   

The Four Types Of Market Research   

Data analytics  .

Data analytics research involves collecting and analyzing large sets of data to derive answers, uncover patterns, and predict future outcomes. This method helps you identify and understand things you are aware of but don’t yet understand.

Data can come from a variety of sources including CRM data, historical transactional data, survey data, a third-party publisher, and more to build a holistic map of the situation, identify gaps and discern trends. Data analytics is the most common research method with almost 70% of companies using it in at least one market research project in the past year.  

For example, you might have large sets of historical data and know there is a data-backed answer for how to segment your customers, but you have yet to compile all your information together to identify the answer.  

Benefits and Challenges

Benefits: Analyzing historical data provides a holistic view of a situation by combining different sets of data and modeling potential scenarios and outcomes. You can confirm hypotheses, break biases, and help build cases internally.

Challenges: This method requires a lot of data, and some of that data may be hard to access, hard to generate, or not easily analyzed. This method also requires a lot of time, money, and resources to acquire and parse the correct data.   

Survey research involves gathering opinions, preferences, and experiences by asking a set of questions to a targeted group of people. The focus of survey research is to test theories, assumptions, and hypotheses. The answers are collected from a representative sample of a targeted audience, allowing the researchers to quantify data and generalize the results to the wider population with a reasonable margin of error and strong confidence level.

Survey data can be collected from consumers, other business decision-makers, or your customer lists. Surveys are a very popular market research methodology with over 60% of companies performing at least one survey in the last year.  

For example, you may be wondering how satisfied your customers are, what factors drive satisfaction, and how you compare to key competitors in the market. By surveying your customers and those of key competitors you can understand the drivers of satisfaction and your relative strengths and opportunity areas in the market.  

Benefits and Challenges 

Benefits : Surveys provide an aggregate but statistically significant picture that companies can leverage to make decisions that align with their audiences’ preferences. Surveys also offer the ability to segment answers based on segments of the audience to analyze how different groups respond to the same questions.   

Challenges: Surveys are a fixed set of questions and cannot be adjusted once the survey has been deployed. Responses are limited to the questions posed by the researcher and don’t allow for open-ended qualitative responses. Surveys require many respondents, and depending on the target audience, it can be challenging to find a large enough sample size to provide statistically significant results. Lastly, surveys need to incentivize respondents, which could lead to a high price tag.  

Qualitative Methodologies   

Qualitative research focuses on targeted insights around concepts, opinions, and preferences. Unlike quantitative methods, these market research methodologies leverage a smaller set of data and respondents but allow for more in-depth answers. It also allows for companies to gather follow-up data that delves deeper into the reasoning behind responses  

This method is exploratory in nature to help you formulate hypothesis and establish directional themes or trends. Qualitative research also helps you understand the underlying motivations, attitudes, and perceptions of respondents.  

 The two most common qualitative research methodologies are in-depth interviews and focus groups.  

In-depth interviews  

This market research methodology involves one-on-one conversations between interviewers and those from the target audience. The interview follows a pre-determined set of questions to reveal sentiment, decision-making processes, and unmet needs. With only 40% of companies conducting them, interviews are the least used methodology, likely a result of the challenges mentioned below.  

Benefits : Interviews provide the ability to gather more in-depth answers on customer preferences by allowing researchers to ask follow-up questions to probe deeper and further clarify responses. It also allows respondents to answer in their own words rather than be bound by the available responses offered by a survey. 

Challenges: Interviews are responses from a small group of people and the results cannot be generalized to a wider audience. They are also very challenging to implement. Often, it is a struggle to identify and incentivize enough participants, and the price per respondent can be costly depending on their rarity and level of expertise. It is also critical to enlist an experienced interviewer to ensure that both the initial and follow-up questions are tailored to gather accurate information that fully addresses your target questions.   

  Focus groups   

These facilitator-led group discussions reveal perceptions of or reception to a concept or idea. While the facilitator guides the meeting, the direction of the conversation is determined by the participants creating organic responses that stem from participant perception. Just over half of companies have conducted a focus group in the last year.   

Benefits: F ocus groups allow for exploration of concepts and physical products beyond set responses like those available in through a survey. The social aspect of the focus group can also gather multiple points of view on a topic in one setting. This can add additional insight for both participants in their ongoing feedback and facilitators for their final analysis.

Challenges: Focus groups are kept small to gather meaningful insights from a group of people, something that would be difficult if the group was too large. As such, the sample size is very small, and the responses can‘t be extrapolated to a larger audience.  It is also challenging to find a group of qualified participants that are all available at the same time.

Traditionally, focus groups were conducted in person and there was a higher cost to host the group live. Now depending on the product or concept being reviewed, focus groups can be conducted over video calls, lessening the burden of cost and logistics, however the cost to incentivize members to take part remains. Similar to interviews, you will need to enlist an experienced moderator that can facilitate the conversation and help direct it as needed to ensure the target questions are addressed  

Secondary Research Methodologies     

Secondary research, a lso known as desk research, is leveraging data that already exists to answer your questions. This market research method is helpful for answering questions or deepening your understanding of things you are not directly familiar with but understand. It can be used to understand what others in your market are doing, identify potential markets for growth or expansion, or allow you to compare your organization to others on key performance indicators.  

For example, you might understand that customer preferences have affected your market, but you don’t know the exact changes. However, others have already done related research that can provide context or direct answers to your question. Secondary research is a very popular method with over half ( 55% ) of companies conducting secondary research to get insights they need for their strategies.   

Benefits: Secondary research is one of the quicker methodologies as it leverages existing data. The bulk of the time is spent identifying the problem, accessing existing data, and consolidating it for analysis and insights.   

Challenges: Some of the data you need might require payment, which would increase the cost of the overall project. There is also the risk that a data point needed for your analysis does not exist, requiring you to either speak to an expert or conduct your own research to fill in the gap.  

Picking the Right Research Methodology  

Though there are many options to choose from, the correct market research methodology to implement will be guided by the information you already have and the questions you are trying to answer.

Before you start your research, begin by listing what you know and what you are looking to learn. Some choices are very clear cut. For example, are you looking to learn more about your company’s operations in the hopes of identifying a better strategy? Since you have access to your own data and are looking to learn more, data analytics would be your best path forward.  

Sometimes choosing the right market research methodology might require more thought. For example, are you looking to launch a new product and want to learn more about customer preferences? You could interview customers or launch a focus group, but do you know what questions to ask? And as the sample pool is so small, the results from qualitative methods should not be used to make assumptions about a larger customer base.

The best place to start would be to conduct a survey to the target audience to get a basic understanding of the market and potential customer preferences. If it is a well-known customer base, you may be able to through secondary research by leveraging existing data to analyze the market.  

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• INNOVATION FESTIVAL
• Capital One

06-18-2024 MARKETING INNOVATION

AI is revolutionizing the market research industry. Here’s how—and why

Artificial intelligence (AI) offers marketing leaders the ability to understand the “why” behind customer motivations, preferences, and behaviors on a deeper, more granular level. 

[Source Photo: Ron Lach /Pexels]

BY  Ron Howard 3 minute read

In a groundbreaking shift for the marketing world, artificial intelligence (AI) is granting professionals a power previously out of reach—the ability to deeply understand the elusive “WHY” behind consumer behavior and feedback. This significant advancement in AI technology means marketers can now review and digest vast amounts of qualitative data, processing thousands of responses with precision to not only expose comprehensive insights but also strategically arrange them. This capability presents a transformative opportunity for marketers to gain detailed, actionable understanding of customer motivations, preferences, and behaviors, driving more effective, precisely targeted strategies—within minutes.

It seems so obvious but so many companies are desperate to find out “why” yet avoid asking the question directly when they execute research studies. They often give participants a set of choices that they think may be “why,” but that is such a poor substitute for allowing participants to tell you in their own words, expressing their views along with enthusiasm, or anger, or confusion, or in other ways.

Sadly, many companies have long avoided the use of open-end qualitative questions in their research studies. And the reason goes to the heart of what AI fixes: qualitative open-end responses are very complicated to interpret. It takes a great deal of analyst time and expertise to accurately extract the primary and subtle meanings expressed in open-end responses. Furthermore, what is the message expressed by specific segments such as young people versus older, men versus women, Republicans versus Democrats, or current customers versus lapsed customers. Again, it’s very expensive to analyze multiple open-end questions for a number of audience segments.

Use AI To Better Understand Consumers

AI’s capability extends beyond understanding consumer behavior, offering a lens into the work-life dynamics that influence these behaviors. By dissecting the complex interplay between professional and personal spheres, AI equips marketers with a deeper awareness of how work-life balance—or the lack thereof—affects consumer choices. This holistic understanding empowers marketers to tailor their strategies not only to the immediate needs and wants of their audience but also to the broader context of their lives, enhancing personalization and relevance.

The fusion of work-life insights with consumer behavior analysis heralds a new frontier in marketing. It offers a more nuanced appreciation of the factors driving consumer decisions, ensuring that marketing campaigns are not only effectively targeted but also resonate on a more personal and human level. As boundaries between work and personal life become increasingly fluid, the impact of these shifts on consumer behavior becomes more significant. AI’s ability to untangle these influences is a testament to its transformative potential in market research.

The intersection of AI and market research transforms vast volumes of qualitative, text-based data from a challenge to be managed into a valuable asset to be leveraged. This shift enables companies to move beyond the superficial layers of data analysis, reaching a deeper understanding of their consumers, markets, and themselves.

A New Frontier For Marketing

The true potential of AI in market research lies in its ability to process natural language responses at scale, understanding nuances and variations in human communication that would take humans considerably longer to analyze. This helps save time and money, and enriches the data pool with a depth of insights previously too costly to consider. Properly directed, AI can author amazingly insightful reports that expose the most important issues expressed in responses. It can also reveal secondary subtle motivations that truly tell the story, all in minutes, without fatigue, and without bias—based purely on the responses provided.

Looking forward, the role of AI in market research is set not just to grow, but to become indispensable. The richness of insights available through open-ended questions, when combined with the analytical power of AI, holds the promise of a future where the motivations, preferences, and unmet needs of consumers are understood with unprecedented clarity.

Companies that are early adopters of this integrated approach to asking “why” and employing AI-driven analysis will not only gain a competitive edge but will also forge stronger, more meaningful connections with their audiences. These connections are built on a foundation of genuine understanding. 

The question of “why,” powered by the capabilities of AI, is more than just a methodological choice. It represents a strategic imperative for those looking to navigate the complexities of modern markets and consumer behavior with confidence. The future belongs to those who ask, listen, and act on the truths revealed by their audiences. 

Recognize your technological breakthrough by applying to this year’s Next Big Things in Tech Awards before the final deadline, July 12. Sign up for Next Big Things in Tech Awards notifications here .

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ron Howard is the CEO of Mercury Analytics , a research technology firm that helps companies use better technology to drive better insights, and better decisions.   More

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5 reasons why marketing research is important to your business

Marketing research is a critical tool that businesses and organisations use to gather valuable information about their target market and industry. By conducting research, companies can gain insights into customer needs, preferences, and behaviour, as well as market trends and the competitive landscape. In this article, we'll explore five reasons why marketing research is important for businesses and organisations.

5 reasons why marketing research is important

Is your company on the fence about investing in marketing research? If so, read on for five reasons why marketing research is important to the viability and longevity of your business.

1. Marketing research helps businesses understand their customers.

Knowing your customers is the first step in running a successful business. And while this may sound simple enough, it can be difficult to look inside the consumer psyche—one whose needs, preferences, and behaviours are ever-evolving.

Fortunately, marketing research can give you a peek behind the curtain, helping you understand what motivates current as well as potential customers. A marketing research survey , for example, can provide insight into pricing sensitivity among a segment of your target population. The data yielded may suggest that boomers are more likely to purchase a product based on price alone while millennials are more motivated by the values of the respective company. Based on this information, you can tailor your offerings to better meet these needs.

Let’s take a closer look at what else marketing research can tell you about your target audience.

a. Marketing research reveals demographic data.

Through conducting surveys, you can better understand characteristics of your buyers, like age, gender, race, and ethnicity. You can also collect socioeconomic information like education, income, and employment status. These variables can help you engage in audience segmentation, which essentially involves tweaking your brand messaging to appeal to various subgroups.

b. Marketing research illustrates purchasing behaviour.

Marketing research tools like surveys, transaction tracking, and social media tracking can also shed light on when, why, how, and what consumers are buying. A better understanding of purchasing behaviour can help your company develop brand messaging that strikes a chord with its target audience. If consumers tend to shop between the hours of 5 and 8 p.m., for instance, your company may send an email coupon at 4:45 p.m. to prime that behaviour.

c. Marketing research helps companies appeal to potential customers.

It’s important to learn as much as possible about your current customers. However, it’s equally important to learn about people who are at the beginning of the customer journey. A deeper understanding of what motivates these individuals can help your business turn clicks into conversions.

2. Marketing research helps businesses manage risk.

Risk is an intrinsic part of the business world. However, by understanding market trends and customer behaviour, businesses can anticipate changes in demand and adjust their strategies accordingly. Market research can also help businesses identify potential obstacles or challenges and develop contingency plans to mitigate those risks.

For example, let’s say a company hopes to introduce a new product to the market. Before investing significant time and financial resources into product development, market researchers may conduct a series of surveys to determine if consumers are even interested in the respective product. This mitigates the risk of introducing a good for which there is no demand.

Other examples in which marketing research can be used as a tool for mitigating risk include:

• Conducting ad testing to determine if brand messaging resonates with consumers
• Hosting product development focus groups to receive feedback before revealing a new product to the larger market
• Organising customer satisfaction surveys at various points of the customer journey to determine any issues affecting sales
• Administering price testing to determine the ideal price for a new product

3. Marketing research helps businesses stay competitive.

Marketing research gives companies a competitive edge in many ways, one being a greater awareness of the industry itself. By understanding what other businesses are doing, your company can develop strategies to differentiate itself and stay ahead of the curve. For example, if research indicates that laundry detergent manufacturers are increasing prices, a company can either decide to a) keep up with the times and increase costs, b) keep costs the same, or c) decrease pricing to appeal to a specific target market.

Marketing research also helps companies determine areas where they may be falling behind. If several healthcare conglomerates are expanding telehealth services, it would be wise for a hospital to also make moves to provide digital appointments. Otherwise, patients may take their business elsewhere.

How else can marketing research help your business stay competitive?

a. Marketing research aids in trendspotting.

It’s important for companies to keep up with industry patterns. However, it’s also important for companies to predict patterns before they even happen. The fashion industry provides a good example of this. Trend forecasters analyse decades—centuries even—of socio-cultural data in an attempt to be the first company to put out a ‘hot’ new product that appeals to modern sensibilities.

b. Marketing research allows businesses to identify gaps in the industry.

Similarly, marketing research can help companies realise a demand that has yet to be satisfied. Through marketing research surveys, for instance, an organic snack food company may see that consumers are craving more savoury gluten-free snack options. Using this data, the company can one-up competitors by introducing a new product.

4. Marketing research gives businesses the tools to measure success.

Net profit is an important indicator of a company’s success. However, if profits are plummeting, it can be difficult to know if this is because of your company’s performance or industry-wide factors like increased materials costs and decreased demand. Because of this, businesses must rely on a more holistic approach to evaluating success.

Fortunately, marketing research can be a helpful tool if you want to measure business health using more than dollar signs. Here’s how marketing research can help you gauge company success.

a. Marketing research provides insight into customer satisfaction.

Sure, your company could be making money. But if your customers aren’t satisfied, your financial gains are likely to be short-lived. To determine if customers are happy with your products or services, you can conduct a customer feedback survey questionnaire.

Alternatively, you may choose to conduct a longitudinal panel survey . Unlike an ad hoc survey, which takes a snapshot of consumer opinions and behaviours, longitudinal studies (like monthly or quarterly trackers) monitor how consumer attitudes change over time. This tool is especially helpful if you want to see how customer satisfaction changes after the introduction of new protocols or training methods.

b. Marketing research helps businesses assess employee satisfaction.

A financially profitable company isn’t necessarily successful if its employees aren’t satisfied. To assess this metric of success, you can conduct surveys, in-person interviews, or focus groups. The results from these marketing research assessments may also shed light on the efficiency of your staff.

c. Marketing research provides insight into the performance of competitors.

It can be constructive to compare your company’s performance to that of competitors. This can help you understand if dips or rises in profit are unique to your company or simply an industry trend.

5. Marketing research helps businesses make informed decisions.

For decades, companies have made key business decisions based on gut feelings alone. But the new age of marketing revolves around data-driven decision-making: a process in which business decisions are informed by metrics and analytics. This contemporary model helps companies make solid choices that reduce risk while improving performance.

Since marketing research lends itself to data generation, it’s an integral part of this equation. For example, data yielded from a brand awareness survey may illustrate that men aged 50 to 65 in a specific geographic area are the least familiar with the brand. Using this information, the company can invest marketing dollars in a way that will yield true results.

Other examples of using marketing research to support data-driven decision-making include:

• During a focus group, a company discovers that 60% of women are dissatisfied with the playback speed options of an audiobook app. In response, software developers dedicate time and financial resources to adjusting that feature.
• Survey data reveals that as the price of microwaves increases, so does customers’ perceived value of the product. With this in mind, a company chooses to increase prices by 30%.
• A popular food chain conducts a series of phone interviews to assess customer service at various locations. Afterward, the company mandates that employees at the restaurants with the lowest reviews take customer service training courses.

All this to say, marketing research has many different applications. By gathering data about customer preferences, market trends, and industry dynamics, businesses can make decisions based on facts rather than assumptions or intuition. This can help businesses avoid costly mistakes and increase their chances of success.

Conduct high-quality marketing research with Kantar

Marketing research is a critical tool that businesses and organisations can use to gather valuable information about their target market and industry. By conducting research, businesses can gain insights into customer needs and behaviour, stay competitive, make informed decisions, manage risk, and measure success.

And during VUCA times (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous), keeping a consistent pulse on consumer sentiment and behaviour is essential to driving the right decisions for business growth.

However, in today's rapidly changing business landscape, marketing research can feel complicated and overwhelming. That’s where Kantar comes in. As an industry leader, we provide tips and tools to help you navigate each step of the marketing research process, from survey design to data visualisation.

Want to get started? Speak to our award-winning team  to learn how we can help you conduct marketing research.

For research tips direct to your inbox each month, sign up using the form below.

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Read: Survey sample questions and templates  

Read: Everything you need to know about data quality  

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10 Reasons Why Marketing Research Is Important to a Business

It’s easy to dismiss the importance of marketing research. But new businesses need sales and customers as soon as possible, and market research can ensure that those sales and customers don’t stop coming.

When you get caught by the creative spark, it’s easy to underestimate the importance of market research. But there’s a real need for market research before you bring a product to your customers.

Today, I’ll take you through some basic marketing research concepts. I’ll also explain why marketing research is important and share some resources to help you get started on your own marketing research.

If you want to stay up to date, you should also read the in-depth guide to the latest marketing trends on the Envato Blog.

What Is Marketing Research?

Before you can understand the importance of marketing research, you need to know what it is. Market research isn’t about a specific method or activity—it’s just what businesses call their attempt to learn more about their target customers.

While tasks like surveys and focus groups can help, they aren’t absolutely necessary, and they aren’t the only things you can do to research your target market. Here are some tasks that can be part of your market research:

• Have short conversations with contacts who are part of your target market . Let’s say you’re looking to launch a wedding photography service. Talk to your contacts who have been married or who are engaged and ask them about their experience in hiring and working with a wedding photographer. Even a five-minute conversation can give you insights on how to run your business.
• Look up Facebook groups relevant to your target market . This can provide a free, low-effort way to reach target customers online and ask them questions. Eventually, you can go back to these groups to promote your business, if the group rules allow for it.
• Add a survey form to your website . If you already have a website for your small business, you can offer potential customers a small discount in exchange for completing a survey. This tutorial on online market research forms can help you get started.

The above activities are just a handful of tasks that could be part of your market research. In fact, you can classify any task as a market research activity as long as you end up knowing your target market’s needs, behaviors, and preferences.

The Importance of Marketing Research

These are the ten reasons why market research is important, especially for smaller teams and businesses:

1. Better Understand Customer Needs

While every business has many stakeholders, the customer is always at the center of what you do. Conducting market research helps keep your customer as your business’s focus.

Here is where you can avoid the disconnect that businesses of all sizes can have with their customers. Learning their perspective from first-hand accounts has its benefits, including understanding what their needs and wants are. Taking this information into consideration will help guide your strategy better.

2. Uncover Emerging Trends

Understanding customer needs also means uncovering industry trends. When interpreting your findings, it’s not uncommon to identify where businesses like yours will be headed in the future.

Staying ahead of the curve has its benefits. It allows you to better serve your customers in the future. Your business will be able to better position itself as an industry leader. There’s also increased trust in a business that can cater to its customers’ current and future needs.

3. Identify Potential Issues

While it’s great to keep an eye on the future in market research, it’s also important to pick up on any pain points your customers have. Pain points are the issues that stand in the way of your customers having a smooth experience when interacting with your business.

The more pain points you can identify, the better. After all, you can’t solve a problem you don’t know you have. This is why marketing research is so important: you’ll be able to work on solutions that have been bothering your customers with the data to support your efforts.

4. Easily Spot Business Opportunities

After you’ve done your market research, it’ll be clear who you want to reach out to (your target customers), where you can reach them (your marketing channels), and what they’re interested in. Once you’ve defined these, you’ll be able to easily spot business opportunities. For example:

• Form partnerships with other businesses . Learning about who your customers are, such as their demographics, can help you find other small businesses that serve them. You can approach these businesses for joint promotions that’ll be mutually beneficial.
• Create profitable order upgrades . Knowing the other products and services that your customers tend to buy can help you come up with add-ons, product bundles, and upsells that increase the average value of each order.
• Find new locations to sell to . Knowing the geographical areas where most of your target customers live will allow you to create compelling targeted campaigns that suit the needs and culture of that area.

5. Lower Business Risks

Around half of businesses with employees don’t survive past the fifth year, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics . The way to make sure that your business survives for longer is to ensure that you’ve got a steady stream of sales and customers. To do that, you need market research.

Regular market research will be your way to check in with your current customers and potential customers to ensure that you’re still meeting their needs. Here’s how you can apply this:

• Test new designs and products before launching . Before you go all-in on a dramatic change for your business, you can test it on a smaller subset of your audience to see if the change would be welcome. For example, if you plan to do a redesign of a popular product, show the new design to your most frequent buyers. Test or ask them if they’re more likely to buy the new design versus an alternative new design or the old design.
• Find out why customers don’t come back . Ideally, your small business should have recurring customers. If they don’t come back, you can conduct a survey of previous customers or set up a focus group to find out why you’re not making any repeat sales.
• Get insights on problem areas . If your most popular product sees a big drop in sales for three consecutive months, you need to find out how to fix it before it ruins your profits completely. Survey your most frequent customers about the product and find out where the problem lies. It could be anything from a decline in the product quality to a glitch on your online store. You’ll never know unless you ask.

6. Create Relevant Promotional Materials

If you’ve ever wondered what text or images to put on your fliers, website, or social media accounts thorough market research will tell you exactly what to do. Since target customers have already expressed all their wants, needs, and frustrations with you, you’ll know exactly what to address and how to address it when you start creating your marketing materials.

For example, author Tiffany Sun surveyed her readers to find out which problems they were trying to solve. Instead of coming up with blog topics or headlines in a vacuum, she used the results of this survey to brainstorm compelling topics.

Here are some other ways your marketing materials will be easier to create:

• Knowing whether customers see your products and services as a necessity or as a luxury can help you design your product labels, brochures, and a website that fits their perception.
• Identifying the age range of your customers can tell you the type of language you’ll be using in your promotional materials. You’ll write differently when addressing retired Baby Boomers than you would when addressing young professionals.

7. Know Where to Advertise

One of the problems that small business owners face is a limited budget. Because of this, your marketing budget should be optimized to give you the best returns possible. Your market research can help ensure that you’re reaching your intended audience in the channels where they’re most likely to see your message.

These are some of the budgetary tasks that your market research can help with:

• Buying ads on social media . If your market research shows that your target audience spends most of their time on Instagram and almost never uses X, you’ll know to direct most of your social media ad budget to Instagram and forget about X.
• Placing flyers and posters . Knowing the physical spaces where your customer spends their time will tell you where you can best place your advertising. For example, university students are likely to be on campus, so placing ads for that market means that you can try bulletin boards on campus or outside local establishments that their crowd tends to frequent.
• Targeting ads . Online ads such as social media ads and pay-per-click ads can often be targeted with precision. This means that you can target based not just on the usual demographic data, but also based on online behaviors, life stage, and interests. If you truly know your customers, you’ll be able to maximize the potential for targeting. For example: here are some of the targeting options for Facebook Ads :

8. Outsell Competitors

Businesses that know their customers better tend to win more. If you can beat your competitors at finding out your customers’ needs and you aim to fulfill those needs, you’ve got a better chance of standing out from the competition. Here are some ways you can use market research to outsell competitors:

• Target dissatisfied customers . Asking target customers about their frustrations with your competitors’ products or reading their product reviews can help you improve your own products and market them to an audience that’s ready to switch brands.
• Find an underserved customer segment . Your market research might reveal that there’s a segment of the market that your competition has neglected. This will give you a new customer segment to reach out to.
• Identify unaddressed customer needs . During your market research, you might uncover some customer pain points or desires that you don’t see addressed in your competitors’ marketing materials. Try including them in your own marketing and see if the results show an increase in sales.

If you need to know more about conducting market research with competitors in mind, check out this guide on how to write a competitive analysis . You can also learn more about finding out who’s buying from your competitors .

9. Set Better Goals for Your Business

When business owners set goals for their business, they’re typically related to growth in sales or customers. But without market research, you won’t be able to know if your goals are achievable and how to achieve them in the first place.

You might say that you want to double sales by the end of the next quarter. How would you know if this goal is feasible if you don’t know whether the size of your target market is more than twice the size of your current customer base? Without knowing the current size of your potential market, you’ll just be setting arbitrary goals.

With market research, you’ll be able to determine the specific ways you want to expand your customer base. For example, do you want to reach new customers via a new untapped market segment? Or do you still have room for growth among your current target audience?

If you need help setting growth goals for your business, check out this guide on small business growth strategies . You can also learn how to set effective goals for your freelance business .

10. Decision-Making Becomes Simple

The importance of marketing research frequently comes up when making tough business decisions. Instead of having arbitrary criteria for the decisions you make as a business owner, you can always go back to your market research report. Based on that report, will this decision lead to more customers? Will you be able to reach more people who are likely to buy from you? Will it be clear to them that your business can meet their needs?

While not all decisions should be solved by market research, many of them can be, such as:

• where to spend your advertising or marketing budget
• whether there’s a demand for a new product you want to make
• if you should open a storefront in a new location
• which products to discontinue and which ones to merely improve
• how to price all your offers

There’s a real need for market research because it provides you with solid facts. Through market research, you’ll make more informed decisions rather than resting the fate of your business on guesswork.

Discover the Importance of Market Research for Your Business

Now that you understand the importance of market research, you’re ready to get started. Your business doesn’t have to spend tens of thousands of dollars on focus groups and extensive surveys to conduct market research. But it’s important that you do market research in the first place, and present your research findings with your team.

As long as you end up with a thorough list of your target market’s demographics, needs, and frustrations, you’ll be able to reap the above benefits as you grow your business. Why not get started with your marketing research today?

Present Confidently as a Research Marketer With Envato Elements

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Is Intel Stock a Buy?

• Its shares have plunged 38% year to date, presenting an opportunity.
• The once-dominant chipmaker is investing heavily in AI and manufacturing.
• This could help to significantly boost earnings in the coming years.
• Motley Fool Issues Rare “All In” Buy Alert

NASDAQ: INTC

The company is turning things around and could have much to offer investors over the long term.

The tech market has delivered impressive growth over the past year. The S&P 500 has hit record highs multiple times, fueled primarily by investors' excitement over this industry. However, despite its massive long-term potential, one company has been glaringly left out of the rally.

Shares in Intel ( INTC -0.11% ) have plunged 38% since Jan. 1, reflecting a loss of faith from Wall Street. Over the last decade, the company has faced repeated challenges, including lost market share in central processing units (CPUs), an economic downturn in 2022 that led to steep financial declines, and costly restructuring.

Yet, recent quarterly earnings and a shift in its business model suggest a recovery could be underway for Intel. Growth in the company's free cash flow and an expansion in its manufacturing division could spell a lucrative future for the chipmaker, with now potentially your chance to get in on the ground floor.

So, here's why Intel is a screaming buy this June.

Offering competitive price-to-performance in AI chips

All eyes have been on chip stocks this year alongside a boom in artificial intelligence (AI). High-powered chips like graphics processing units (GPUs) are capable of running the intensive workloads that come along with training AI models. As a result, GPU demand has skyrocketed over the last year, which has seen market leader Nvidia 's stock and earnings similarly expand. Its share price has risen 210% in the last 12 months.

Nvidia's success has motivated other chip companies to launch competing AI products, including Intel. Earlier this year, Intel debuted its Gaudi 3 accelerator, promising "50% on average better inference and 40% on average better power efficiency than Nvidia H100 -- at a fraction of the cost."

According to Tom's Hardware, Intel's Gaudi 3 chips cost about $15,650, roughly half of Nvidia's H100 for $30,000. As an underdog in the market, Intel is attempting to undercut Nvidia and attract companies to its hardware. If the company can offer competitive price-to-performance, it could have a decent chance at achieving a lucrative role in the budding AI industry .

Intel is taking back the top spot in manufacturing

Intel was once the biggest name in chip manufacturing but lost out to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing just over a decade ago. However, recent headwinds have forced Intel to rethink its business model and reprioritize the foundry industry.

Allied Market Research shows the semiconductor foundry market was valued at $107 billion in 2022 and is projected to more than double to $232 billion by 2032. Meanwhile, Intel is sinking billions into opening chip plants throughout the U.S. and abroad.

The company has attracted prominent investors in its venture, including private equity firm Apollo , Brookfield Infrastructure , and the U.S. government as a leading recipient in President Biden's CHIPs Act -- an initiative created to expand the U.S.'s foundry capacity.

Intel's priority on manufacturing strengthens its outlook in AI as it potentially sets it apart from companies like Nvidia and AMD , which are mainly focused on design. Intel's shift to a foundry model could see it become a leading AI chip manufacturer, profiting from increased demand across the industry.

CEO Pat Gelsinger said earlier this month that the company wants to build "everybody's AI chips" and expects its coming Ohio plant to become the AI fab of the nation.

Manufacturing takes a hefty investment upfront, indicating it could take years before Intel begins enjoying the fruit of its labors. However, the move could make its stock an excellent long-term buy, especially now while it's trading at one of its lowest prices in years.

One of the best-valued ways to invest in AI

The AI market's meteoric rise has pumped up stocks across the industry, raising the price of entry for new investors. However, Intel's recent dip could make its stock a bargain buy.

Data by YCharts

This chart shows Intel may be the best-valued stock in AI. The chipmaker's forward price-to-earnings ratio is the lowest among these companies, indicating its stock offers the most value.

With its vast potential in AI and a manufacturing business that could boost earnings for years, Intel's stock is a no-brainer right now.

John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Dani Cook has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool recommends Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and Intel and recommends the following options: long January 2025 $45 calls on Intel, long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft, short August 2024 $35 calls on Intel, and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .

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Top Emerging Technologies Of 2024

Last year, generative AI stole the show on our top 10 emerging technologies list. Where will it show up this year? What other new technologies should you be considering for your technology roadmap? Find out by visiting our emerging technology resource center and registering for a live interactive webinar July 10.

Align Key Functions To Power Your Growth Engine

Growth strategies that focus on extracting value from customers are outdated. Maximizing value for customers and buyers generates value for the business. Align key revenue-generating and technology functions around customer value to propel growth.

Get To Growth Faster

Forrester Decisions research services are a proven growth generator and business accelerator. They help you de-risk your decisions. Guide your actions. Target your opportunities. And align your teams on priorities and outcomes. They’re a game changer for tech, marketing, CX, sales, product, and digital leaders who want to perform at a higher level — and drive sustained, customer-obsessed business growth.

Capture Your Share Of Forrester Decisions ROI

While Forrester Decisions delivers a 259% return on investment and accelerates revenue growth by 4%, that only scratches the surface of the economic impact it can have on your business.

How Do Leaders Get Ahead With Forrester Decisions?

A report of the Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) of Forrester Decisions reveals that:

• 69% say it improves their expertise and confidence.
• 48% say it helps them align their teams and functions.
• 45% say it helps them better understand their challenges and priorities.

Research With A Consultative Approach

Today’s leaders are navigating an unprecedented, complex environment. Forrester Decisions represents a new option for business and technology leaders who need help solving problems, making decisions, and taking action to deliver results. Leaders who are looking to achieve break-out growth. Each research service includes:

Bold Vision

Stay ahead of changing customer and market dynamics and plan for the future with customer obsession research, customer insights, trends and predictions, market forecasts, technology and service provider landscapes, and more.

Dig deeper into our predictions and get ready for the exciting year ahead. Visit the Predictions 2024 hub for blogs, videos, and podcasts full of actionable insights from Forrester analysts.

Capture More 2024 Opportunity

Looking to streamline your 2024 budget planning? Explore Forrester’s guidance on where to prioritize your investments to drive customer value, cut legacy complexity, and advance with AI. Identify areas of overspending that can be reinvested in emerging solutions.

Curated Tools & Frameworks

Empower your team to execute on your vision with proven strategic models and plug-and-play templates. You’ll get KPIs and peer benchmarks, assessments, strategic models, templates, Forrester Wave™ evaluations for your function, and certification courses.

Kickstart Your CX Transformation

This complimentary guide will show you how to leverage customer journey maps to spur investment and interest in CX, as well as boost performance.

The Six Elements Of A Meaningful Marketing Plan

Without the right inputs, a marketing annual plan may simply be a list of tactics. Learn how to build a plan that drives business value.

We’ve benchmarked, comparing not just companies that are in our situation right now, but companies that have done what we intend to do ... and that’s been so insightful and significant for us. — CMO, cybersecurity and data backup company

Hands-On Guidance

Accelerate progress and de-risk decisions with best practices tailored to you and your team. We are on your side and by your side, through guidance sessions with analysts, peer discussions, events, and more.

Transform Tech Into A Business Enabler

Discover new ways to use technology to create an engine of strong, sustainable, customer-focused business growth at Forrester’s Technology & Innovation Forums.

Defy Uncertainty With Consistent, Scalable B2B Growth

Outpace your competitors despite changes in the economy, buyer behavior, and technology innovation. Learn how at Forrester’s B2B Summits.

Shorten the distance to impact.

Forrester Decisions is our portfolio of research services that helps executives, functional leaders, and their teams plan and pursue their most pressing initiatives.

Sustained Growth Starts Here

The key to building a better growth engine is aligning around customer value. Companies with high levels of alignment realize 2.4x higher revenue growth and 2.0x higher growth in profitability.

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Careers At Forrester

At Forrester, we’re bold. We make big moves, transform businesses, and define the future. We’re the people who challenge, who innovate, who dare to discover. We’re a community of smart people and vibrant voices coming together to do what’s right by our clients and each other. Our success is driven by curiosity, courage, and customer obsession. Here you can be bold at work. Join us and build an extraordinary future.

With you, we’re not just bold. We’re bold, together.

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The High Cost of Misaligned Business and Analytics Goals

• Preethika Sainam,
• Seigyoung Auh,
• Richard Ettenson,
• Bulent Menguc

Findings from research on more than 300 companies undergoing data and analytics transformations.

How and where do companies’ investments in new and improved data and analytic capabilities contribute to tangible business benefits like profitability and growth? Should they invest in talent? Technology? Culture? According to new research, the degree of alignment between business goals and analytics capabilities is among the most important factors. While companies that are early in their analytics journey will see value creation even with significant internal misalignment, at higher levels of data maturity aligned companies find that analytics capabilities create significantly more value across growth, financial, and customer KPIs.

Business leaders are feeling acute pressure to ramp up their company’s data and analytics capabilities — and fast — or risk falling behind more data-savvy competitors. If only the path to success were that straightforward! In our previous research, we found that capitalizing on data and analytics requires creating a data culture, obtaining senior leadership commitment, acquiring data and analytics skills and competencies, as well as empowering employees. And each of these dimensions is necessary just to start the analytics journey.

• PS Preethika Sainam is an Assistant Professor of Global Marketing at Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University.
• SA Seigyoung Auh is Professor of Global Marketing at Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University, and Research Faculty at the Center for Services Leadership at the WP Carey School of Business, Arizona State University.
• RE Richard Ettenson is Professor and Keickhefer Fellow in Global Marketing and Brand Strategy, The Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University .
• BM Bulent Menguc is a Professor of Marketing at the Leeds University Business School in the U.K.

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