how to do effective market research

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

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• 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: 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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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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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. 

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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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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 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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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

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.

Britannica Money. “ Market Research .”

U.S. Small Business Administration. “ Market Research and Competitive Analysis .”

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• Market Research

Effective Market Research: A Step-by-Step Guide

Key Takeaways

• Informed Decision-Making: Master the art of Effective Market Research for strategic decision-making that aligns with market dynamics and consumer behaviors.
• Targeted Strategies: Define your audience, analyze competitors, and choose the right methods to tailor strategies that resonate, ensuring relevance and engagement.
• Continuous Excellence: Elevate your market research journey with ongoing learning. Leverage additional resources, monitor, adapt, and refine strategies for sustained success.

In the ever-evolving landscape of business, one indispensable compass guides decision-makers through the dynamic currents of industry trends, consumer behaviors, and competitive landscapes—Effective Market Research.

As the lifeblood of strategic planning, market research serves as the cornerstone upon which successful enterprises build their foundations.

In this comprehensive Effective Market Research: A Step-by-Step Guide, we embark on a journey of discovery, demystifying the intricacies of market research and equipping you with the tools to navigate the complex realms of your industry.

Why is Market Research Crucial?

In a world where change is the only constant, successful businesses are those that embrace adaptability, innovation, and a profound understanding of their market.

Market research isn’t just a buzzword. It’s the linchpin that connects businesses to the pulse of their target audience, enabling them to foresee shifts in demand, identify unmet needs, and tailor their strategies with surgical precision.

The Significance of Strategic Planning

Effective market research transcends the realm of data collection; it is the catalyst for strategic planning that empowers businesses to make informed decisions.

In a landscape where the competition is fierce and consumer preferences are as dynamic as ever, a strategic approach to market research becomes the differentiator between market leaders and followers.

Navigating Our Step-by-Step Guide

Embarking on the journey of effective market research necessitates a structured approach.

Our step-by-step guide is designed to be your compass, steering you through the nuanced process of gaining actionable insights.

From laying the groundwork with a fundamental understanding of market research principles to implementing strategic changes based on findings, each section of this guide is a building block for comprehensive market intelligence.

But Why a Step-by-Step Guide?

Navigating the vast ocean of market research can be overwhelming, especially for those new to the concept or seeking to enhance their existing practices.

This step-by-step guide is crafted to demystify the process, breaking down complex concepts into digestible segments.

Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur, a startup enthusiast, or a marketing maven, this guide provides actionable insights that transcend industry boundaries.

Prepare to embark on a transformative journey—one where the compass is market research, and the destination is unparalleled business insight.

Together, let’s navigate the intricate waters of the business landscape and unveil the power of Effective Market Research—a guide designed not only to inform but to empower, ensuring that your business not only survives but thrives in the ever-evolving marketplace.

Before we venture further, we like to share who we are and our digital experiences.

About AppLabx

From developing a solid marketing plan to creating compelling content, optimizing for search engines, leveraging social media, and utilizing paid advertising,  AppLabx  offers a comprehensive suite of digital marketing services designed to drive growth and profitability for your business.

AppLabx is well known for helping companies and startups use market research techniques and tools to drive web traffic to their websites and web apps and optimize their customer experience.

At AppLabx, we understand that no two businesses are alike. That’s why we take a personalized approach to every project, working closely with our clients to understand their unique needs and goals, and developing customized strategies to help them achieve success.

If you need a digital consultation, then send in an inquiry  here .

• Understanding the Basics of Market Research
• Defining Your Target Audience
• Conducting Competitor Analysis
• Choosing the Right Research Methods
• Collecting and Analyzing Data
• Interpreting Research Findings
• Implementing Changes Based on Research
• Monitoring and Adapting
• Tips for Effective Market Research
• Additional Resources

1. Understanding the Basics of Market Research

In the pulsating realm of business strategy, market research stands as the bedrock upon which successful ventures are built.

Before delving into the intricate steps of effective market research, let’s establish a solid foundation by comprehending the basics.

Definition and Purpose

Market research, at its core, is the systematic gathering, analysis, and interpretation of information to gain insights into a market, enabling informed decision-making.

Its purpose extends beyond mere data collection; it serves as a strategic tool to identify opportunities, mitigate risks, and optimize business performance.

According to the Business Research Company, the global market research industry is projected to reach $95.49 billion in 2027 , underlining its critical role in the business landscape.

Types of Market Research

To navigate the market research landscape effectively, it’s essential to discern between two primary types: primary and secondary research.

Primary Research

This involves the direct collection of data from original sources, such as surveys, interviews, and focus groups.

For instance, a leading smartphone manufacturer conducts primary research by engaging with potential customers through beta testing and gathering firsthand feedback on features, usability, and preferences.

Secondary Research

Secondary research involves the analysis of existing data and sources, including industry reports, competitor publications, and government databases.

According to the Business Research Company, the secondary research market is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 5.3% between 2021 and 2026 , showcasing its increasing importance in the business landscape.

Identifying Research Objectives

Before embarking on a market research endeavour, it’s crucial to clearly define research objectives. These objectives serve as the guiding lights, steering the research process toward valuable outcomes.

For instance, a startup in the health and wellness industry may set research objectives to understand consumer preferences for organic products, identify market gaps, and assess the competitive landscape.

By establishing these fundamental principles, businesses can lay the groundwork for a targeted and purposeful market research strategy, setting the stage for actionable insights and strategic decision-making.

2. Defining Your Target Audience

In the labyrinth of market dynamics, pinpointing and understanding your target audience is akin to discovering the treasure map to business success.

This section delves into the intricacies of defining your target audience, exploring why it’s a paramount step in effective market research.

Importance of Target Audience Definition

The most important part of successful marketing lies in resonance—establishing a profound connection with your audience.

To achieve this, businesses must first define their target audience with meticulous precision.

Creating Buyer Personas

Buyer personas are archetypal representations of your ideal customers, crafted through in-depth research and analysis.

These personas encapsulate demographic, psychographic, and behavioral traits, offering a comprehensive snapshot of your target audience.

Demographic and Psychographic Data Integration

Demographic data (age, gender, income) and psychographic data (lifestyle, values, interests) are indispensable building blocks for creating robust buyer personas.

For instance, a fitness apparel brand defines its target audience not just by age and gender but also by psychographic data, such as an interest in sustainable living and an active lifestyle. This nuanced approach aids in tailoring products and messaging to resonate with the audience on a deeper level.

Utilizing Data Analytics for Precision

In the era of big data, leveraging advanced analytics tools becomes crucial for refining and validating target audience definitions.

Data analytics not only validates assumptions but also unveils nuanced patterns and preferences.

By combining demographic and psychographic insights and harnessing the power of data analytics, businesses can finely sculpt buyer personas that serve as the cornerstone for targeted marketing campaigns and product development.

3. Conducting Competitor Analysis

In the ever-evolving landscape of business, understanding your competitors is not just a tactical advantage but a strategic imperative.

This section delves into the intricacies of conducting competitor analysis, providing a roadmap for businesses to glean actionable insights and fortify their market position.

Identifying Competitors: The Starting Line

Before delving into analysis, businesses must first identify their competitors—both direct and indirect.

Direct competitors offer similar products or services, while indirect competitors may serve the same need but through different means.

Analyzing Competitor Strengths and Weaknesses

Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of competitors provides a nuanced view of the competitive landscape. SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) is a powerful tool in this regard.

Example: SWOT Analysis in Action

Let’s consider a scenario in the e-commerce sector. A new entrant conducts a SWOT analysis of a major competitor:

• Strengths: Established brand, and wide product range.
• Weaknesses: Slow website loading times, and limited customer engagement.
• Opportunities: Emerging markets, and untapped customer segments.
• Threats: Increasing competition, and changing consumer preferences.

Leveraging Technology for Competitive Insights

Technology has become an indispensable ally in the quest for competitive intelligence. AI-driven tools, web scraping, and social media monitoring offer real-time insights into competitor activities and consumer sentiments.

According to a report by Markets and Markets, the business intelligence market is projected to grow from USD 23.1 billion in 2020 to USD 33.3 billion by 2025 .

Benchmarking Strategies for Success

Benchmarking involves comparing your products, services, or processes against the best performers in your industry. This process not only highlights areas for improvement but also unveils opportunities for innovation.

4. Choosing the Right Research Methods

In the multifaceted realm of market research, selecting the appropriate research methods is akin to choosing the right tools for a craftsman.

This section is dedicated to unravelling the intricacies of choosing the right research methods and exploring a spectrum of approaches that cater to diverse business needs.

Surveys and Questionnaires: Tapping into Mass Perspectives

Surveys and questionnaires stand as stalwarts in gathering quantitative data from a large audience.

Whether distributed through traditional means or online platforms, they offer scalable insights.

Interviews and Focus Groups: Unveiling Nuanced Perspectives

When depth and context are paramount, interviews and focus groups step into the spotlight.

These qualitative methods provide nuanced insights, capturing the intricacies of individual experiences and group dynamics.

Example: Focus Groups in Product Development

A technology company considering a new product may conduct focus groups to understand user expectations, pain points, and feature preferences. This qualitative approach offers invaluable insights into the user experience.

Observational Research: Understanding Behavior in the Wild

Observational research involves studying subjects in their natural environment without direct interaction. This method is particularly useful for understanding consumer behaviour in real-world scenarios.

Data Mining and Analytics: Unearthing Patterns in Big Data

In the age of big data, data mining and analytics emerge as transformative tools for market researchers. By sifting through vast datasets, businesses can identify patterns, correlations, and trends.

In a report, businesses leveraging big data analytics witness 15% more sales than companies that fail to do so, as cited by SCORE.

Choosing the Right Mix for Comprehensive Insights

The effectiveness of market research often lies in a judicious mix of research methods.

Combining quantitative approaches like surveys with qualitative methods like interviews ensures a comprehensive understanding of the market landscape.

5. Collecting and Analyzing Data

In the data-driven landscape of market research, the twin pillars of success rest upon the meticulous collection and insightful analysis of data.

This section navigates through the nuances of these critical processes, showcasing how businesses can harness the power of data for informed decision-making.

Data Collection Tools and Techniques: Precision in Practice

Choosing the right tools for data collection is paramount to the accuracy and reliability of research outcomes. Various methods and technologies cater to diverse research needs.

Example: Online Surveys with Google Forms

A global fast-food chain seeking customer feedback may deploy Google Forms for online surveys.

This user-friendly tool not only facilitates large-scale data collection but also offers seamless integration with analytics platforms.

Quantitative vs. Qualitative Data: A Balancing Act

The choice between quantitative and qualitative data depends on the research objectives.

Quantitative data provides numerical insights, while qualitative data delves into the context and depth of responses.

Both quantitative and qualitative methods to ensure a comprehensive understanding of public opinion.

Data Analysis Tools and Software: Unleashing the Power of Technology

The rise of big data has catalyzed the development of advanced data analysis tools and software.

From Microsoft Excel to sophisticated AI-driven platforms, businesses have an array of options to extract meaningful insights.

Example: Tableau in Visual Analytics

A multinational retailer may utilize Tableau for visual analytics, transforming raw data into interactive visualizations.

This not only aids in pattern recognition but also enhances data-driven decision-making.

The global data analytics market is expected to reach $132.9 billion by 2026 , as cited by GlobeNewswire.

Ensuring Data Accuracy and Reliability: The Bedrock of Insights

The integrity of market research hinges on the accuracy and reliability of the collected data.

Rigorous validation processes, random sampling techniques, and data cleansing practices contribute to the trustworthiness of findings.

Ethical Considerations in Data Collection: Upholding Integrity

As technology advances, ethical considerations in data collection become increasingly vital.

Businesses must prioritize user privacy, consent, and transparency to build trust with their audience.

A survey reveals that 93% of consumers believe it’s important for companies to ensure their data is used ethically , as cited by Deloitte Digital, Australia.

6. Interpreting Research Findings

Interpreting research findings is the transformative stage where raw data metamorphoses into actionable intelligence.

This section illuminates the intricacies of this crucial phase, offering insights into how businesses can unlock the true potential of their market research endeavours.

Drawing Conclusions: Connecting the Dots

Interpreting research findings involves synthesizing data points to draw meaningful conclusions. It’s the bridge between data collection and strategic decision-making, requiring a keen eye for patterns and trends.

Example: Consumer Behavior Analysis

A global e-commerce giant, armed with data on customer preferences, may conclude that a specific demographic prefers mobile shopping apps over desktop websites. This insight informs targeted marketing strategies and app optimization.

Making Informed Decisions: Guiding the Way Forward

Informed decision-making is the ultimate goal of market research.

Interpreted findings provide the roadmap, guiding businesses toward strategies that align with market dynamics and consumer expectations.

Addressing Limitations and Biases: Navigating Imperfections

No research is immune to limitations and biases.

Acknowledging and addressing these imperfections is crucial for maintaining the credibility and reliability of research findings.

Leveraging Visualization Tools: Bringing Data to Life

Visualization tools play a pivotal role in simplifying complex data sets, making it easier for stakeholders to grasp insights.

From charts and graphs to interactive dashboards, these tools enhance the communicative power of research findings.

A study shows that 49% of businesses consider visualization critical in effective decision-making .

7. Implementing Changes Based on Research

In the dynamic landscape of business, the true power of market research is unleashed when findings are translated into actionable strategies.

This section explores the intricacies of implementing changes based on research, illustrating how businesses can transform insights into tangible results.

Strategic Planning: Blueprint for Success

Strategic planning is the linchpin between research findings and successful implementation.

It involves crafting a roadmap that aligns business goals with the insights garnered from market research.

Example: E-commerce Expansion Strategy

A retail giant, armed with insights about emerging markets and changing consumer preferences, may decide to implement a strategic plan to expand its e-commerce presence. This decision is rooted in the research-backed understanding of market dynamics.

Product or Service Adjustments: Aligning with Market Needs

Market research often reveals opportunities for product or service adjustments. Whether it’s introducing new features, optimizing existing offerings, or addressing unmet needs, these adjustments are vital for staying relevant.

Example: Tech Product Iterations

A technology company, after conducting user feedback surveys and analyzing market trends, might release software updates to address user pain points and enhance overall user experience.

Marketing and Communication Strategies: Targeted Outreach

Market research shapes marketing and communication strategies by providing insights into consumer preferences, effective channels, and messaging that resonates. This ensures that promotional efforts are finely tuned for maximum impact.

Example: Strategic Marketing Campaigns

A beverage company, having identified through market research that its target audience values sustainability, may launch a marketing campaign emphasizing eco-friendly packaging.

This not only aligns with consumer values but also differentiates the brand in a crowded market.

Measuring and Adapting: The Continuous Cycle

Implementing changes based on research is an iterative process that requires continuous measurement and adaptation. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and metrics are essential for gauging the success of implemented strategies.

Example: E-commerce Conversion Rates as a KPI

An online retailer, after implementing changes informed by market research, might track e-commerce conversion rates to measure the effectiveness of the adjustments. This data guides further adaptations for optimal performance.

8. Monitoring and Adapting

In the ever-evolving landscape of business, the journey doesn’t end with implementing changes based on research; it extends into the realm of continuous monitoring and adaptation.

This section explores the significance of this iterative process, shedding light on how businesses can stay agile and responsive to dynamic market forces.

Continuous Monitoring: Staying Ahead of the Curve

Continuous monitoring involves the real-time tracking of key performance indicators (KPIs), market trends, and consumer behaviours. It is the compass that guides businesses through the ever-shifting currents of the market.

Example: Real-Time Analytics in E-commerce

An e-commerce platform employing real-time analytics can monitor website traffic, conversion rates, and customer interactions. This allows for the swift identification of emerging trends and the timely adjustment of strategies.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Metrics for Success

KPIs serve as benchmarks for evaluating the success of implemented strategies. From sales figures to customer satisfaction scores, businesses must define and track KPIs that align with their goals.

Example: Customer Retention Rate

A subscription-based service may monitor its customer retention rate as a KPI.

If the rate declines, it signals potential issues, prompting a closer examination of the service and possible adjustments.

A study showed that increasing customer retention rates by just 5% can boost profits by 25-95% , as cited by Help Scout.

Adapting to Market Changes: Agility in Action

Market dynamics are in constant flux, necessitating an agile approach to business strategies.

Adapting to changes requires a proactive mindset, informed by ongoing research and a willingness to adjust course.

Example: Responsive Social Media Engagement

A company, monitoring social media sentiment through listening tools, may detect a shift in consumer perceptions.

Swift adaptation, such as altering marketing messaging or addressing concerns, showcases responsiveness.

Benchmarking Against Competitors: Staying Competitive

Benchmarking involves comparing key metrics against industry peers to gauge performance. Regular assessments against competitors provide insights into relative strengths and areas for improvement.

Example: Competitive Pricing Benchmarking

A retail brand may routinely benchmark its pricing against competitors to ensure competitiveness. Adjustments based on this benchmarking can be crucial for maintaining market share.

Customer Feedback Loops: A Continuous Dialogue

Establishing customer feedback loops ensures an ongoing dialogue with the audience. Listening to customer insights provides valuable information for refinement and adaptation.

Example: Feedback Integration in Software Development

A software company incorporating customer feedback loops during beta testing can identify bugs, usability issues, and feature requests. This iterative feedback process leads to a refined, customer-centric product.

In a study, 86% of customers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience .

9. Tips for Effective Market Research

Embarking on a journey of effective market research requires more than just the right tools—it demands a strategic mindset and a nuanced approach.

This section unveils a compendium of tips to enhance the effectiveness of your market research endeavours, drawing insights from industry best practices and real-world examples.

Stay Updated on Industry Trends: The Pulse of Innovation

Staying abreast of industry trends is not merely a suggestion but a strategic imperative. In a landscape where change is constant, businesses that anticipate and adapt to trends position themselves as industry leaders.

Example: Tech Companies Anticipating Trends

Leading technology companies routinely invest in research and development to anticipate emerging trends. For instance, the integration of artificial intelligence into consumer electronics aligns with the trend towards smart, interconnected devices.

Incorporate Customer Feedback: A Goldmine of Insights

Customers are the heartbeat of any business, and their feedback serves as a treasure trove of insights. Actively seeking and incorporating customer feedback fosters a customer-centric approach and helps in refining products and services.

Example: Iterative Product Development

Companies like Apple regularly solicit customer feedback through surveys and user forums . This iterative feedback loop contributes to the refinement of software updates and the development of new features in their products.

Collaborate with Cross-Functional Teams: Holistic Insights

Effective market research isn’t confined to a single department—it’s a collaborative effort that benefits from the diverse perspectives of cross-functional teams. Collaboration ensures a comprehensive understanding of market dynamics.

Research by McKinsey highlights that companies with diverse executive teams are more likely to outperform their peers in profitability .

Example: Product Launch Strategy

When launching a new product, cross-functional collaboration is vital. Marketing teams bring consumer insights, R&D teams provide technical perspectives, and sales teams contribute market feedback. This synergy ensures a well-rounded product launch strategy.

Utilize Advanced Analytics: From Data to Actionable Insights

In the era of big data, leveraging advanced analytics tools is non-negotiable. These tools transform raw data into actionable insights, unveiling patterns and correlations that might otherwise remain hidden.

Example: Predictive Analytics in Retail

Retailers leverage predictive analytics to forecast demand, optimize inventory, and personalize marketing strategies. For instance, Amazon’s recommendation engine utilizes predictive analytics to suggest products based on customer browsing and purchase history.

Regularly Revisit and Refine Research Objectives: Agile Adaptation

Market dynamics are fluid, and research objectives must evolve in tandem. Regularly revisiting and refining research objectives ensures that the research remains aligned with shifting business priorities and market trends.

Example: Quarterly Objectives Review

A consumer goods company may conduct quarterly reviews of research objectives, considering changes in consumer behaviour, market trends, and competitive landscapes. This iterative approach ensures research remains relevant and impactful.

10. Additional Resources

Navigating the vast landscape of market research requires a diverse toolkit and a wealth of knowledge.

This section unveils a curated selection of additional resources—ranging from industry reports to online courses—designed to empower businesses and individuals in their pursuit of comprehensive market insights.

Industry Reports and Publications: In-Depth Insights at Your Fingertips

• Statista : Statista provides comprehensive industry reports, infographics, and statistical insights. From global market trends to consumer behaviour, this platform offers a wealth of information. Statista boasts over 1.9 million statistics covering more than 80,000 topics .
• MarketResearch.com : A comprehensive repository of market research reports spanning various industries. Whether seeking insights on emerging technologies or global market trends, MarketResearch.com provides a rich collection of reports.

Online Courses and Training Programs: Sharpening Research Skills

• Coursera – Market Research and Consumer Behavior : This online course, offered by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, delves into the fundamentals of market research and consumer behaviour. With video lectures and interactive assignments, it provides a structured learning experience. Coursera, as of 2022, boasts over 100 million learners worldwide .
• LinkedIn Learning – Market Research Foundations : This course, available on the LinkedIn Learning platform, provides a practical guide to market research essentials. From defining research objectives to analyzing data, it equips learners with actionable skills. LinkedIn, the parent company of LinkedIn Learning, has over 774 million members as of 2022 .

Professional Organizations: Networking and Insights Exchange

• American Marketing Association (AMA) : The AMA serves as a hub for marketers and researchers. Membership provides access to research publications, industry events, and a network of professionals, fostering continuous learning. The AMA has over 30,000 marketing professionals and academics globally .
• Insights Association : The Insights Association offers resources, events, and a community for professionals in the insights and data analytics space.

Blogs and Online Communities: Real-World Insights Sharing

• GreenBook Blog : GreenBook is a leading market research blog covering industry trends, innovations, and thought leadership. It’s a go-to resource for staying updated on the dynamic landscape of market research. The GreenBook Blog features articles, interviews, and insights from industry experts, creating a repository of valuable content.
• Quirks.com : Quirks is an online platform offering articles, case studies, and insights on market research and consumer behavior. It provides a space for professionals to share their experiences and learn from one another. Quirks.com hosts webinars, conferences, and forums, fostering engagement and knowledge exchange within the market research community.

Government and Nonprofit Resources: Reliable Data Repositories

• U.S. Census Bureau – Economic Census : The U.S. Census Bureau provides a wealth of economic data through the Economic Census. It offers insights into industries, businesses, and the overall economic landscape. The Economic Census collects data on the U.S. economy from over 7 million businesses in order to cover nearly all of the nation’s business sector establishments and provides detailed industry-level data.
• World Bank – Data : The World Bank’s data repository offers a global perspective, providing access to a wide range of economic, social, and environmental data. It’s a valuable resource for understanding global market trends. The World Bank serves 189 member countries , providing a comprehensive view of global economic indicators.

As we conclude this expedition into the realm of effective market research, it’s essential to reflect on the transformative power that meticulous research holds for businesses.

The journey we’ve undertaken, step by step, through the intricate process of market research, unveils a roadmap to informed decision-making, strategic planning, and sustained success.

The Tapestry of Insights Woven

Effective market research is not a mere checklist; it’s a dynamic tapestry woven from diverse threads of data, insights, and strategic acumen.

From understanding the basics of market research to implementing adaptive strategies, each phase is a brushstroke contributing to the masterpiece of market intelligence.

Realizing the Potential of Understanding

The foundational step, understanding the basics of market research, lays the groundwork for all subsequent endeavours. It’s the compass that ensures businesses traverse the right paths, avoiding pitfalls and navigating toward success.

By discerning market trends, consumer behaviour, and competitive landscapes, organizations position themselves to make informed decisions.

Identifying the Audience: Precision in Targeting

Defining the target audience isn’t just a box to check; it’s the key to unlocking resonance.

Through demographic insights, psychographic nuances, and a profound understanding of consumer personas, businesses tailor their offerings and messages. The result? An audience that feels seen, heard, and inclined to engage.

Data-Driven Narratives: The Power of Stories

Conducting competitor analysis adds layers to the narrative, transforming it from a solo performance to a dynamic dialogue.

By deciphering competitor strengths, weaknesses, and strategies, businesses craft their own storylines, positioning themselves as protagonists in the market saga.

Choosing Wisely: The Art of Method Selection

The selection of research methods is akin to choosing the right colours for a painting.

Surveys and questionnaires capture broad strokes, while interviews and focus groups delve into intricate details. Like an artist with a palette, businesses choose their methods judiciously, ensuring a harmonious blend that brings their market picture to life.

Data, the Artist’s Palette: Vibrant and Varied

Collecting and analyzing data is the act of infusing life into the canvas.

Whether through surveys, observational research, or advanced analytics, data is the palette from which businesses draw the hues of insights. It’s the key to uncovering patterns, trends, and the ever-elusive “why” behind consumer behaviours.

Interpreting Insights: The Conductor’s Baton

As the conductor interprets the music, businesses interpret their research findings.

This phase is where raw data transforms into actionable intelligence. Drawing conclusions, making informed decisions, and addressing biases—these are the nuances that define the symphony of success.

Visualizing the Symphony: Tools for Clarity

Visualization tools are the conductor’s baton, transforming complex data into a harmonious performance. Whether through charts, graphs, or interactive dashboards, these tools enhance the clarity and communicative power of research findings.

Strategic Implementation: The Grand Performance

Implementing changes based on research is the grand performance—the culmination of meticulous preparation.

Strategic planning, product adjustments, and targeted marketing campaigns are the acts that resonate with the audience. The stage is set for businesses to shine in the spotlight of success.

Continuous Refinement: The Encore

Yet, the journey doesn’t end with applause; it continues with monitoring and adaptation. Continuous refinement ensures that businesses don’t rest on past laurels but evolve with the changing cadence of the market.

Key performance indicators, customer feedback, and benchmarking become the instruments for an encore performance.

Resources for Ongoing Excellence: The Library of Wisdom

As businesses navigate this dynamic landscape, additional resources emerge as companions in the journey.

Industry reports, online courses, professional organizations, blogs, and government repositories form a library of wisdom. Accessible and diverse, these resources empower businesses to stay informed, agile, and ever-ready for the next chapter.

The Culmination: A Symphony of Success

In conclusion, effective market research is not a one-time event—it’s a continuous symphony.

It requires a conductor’s finesse, an artist’s creativity, and a scholar’s curiosity. From understanding the basics to embracing ongoing learning, businesses that immerse themselves in this journey unlock the gates to sustained success.

In this grand symphony of effective market research, businesses find not just notes but the harmonies that lead to enduring success. As the journey continues, may businesses navigate the dynamic score with finesse, creativity, and an unwavering commitment to excellence.

If you are looking for a top-class digital marketer, then book a free consultation slot  here .

If you find this article useful, why not share it with your friends and business partners, and also leave a nice comment below?

We, at the AppLabx Research Team, strive to bring the latest and most meaningful data, guides, and statistics to your doorstep.

To get access to top-quality guides, click over to the  AppLabx Blog.

People also ask

What are the 4 types of market research.

The four types of market research are:

• Exploratory Research: Uncover initial insights.
• Descriptive Research: Analyze and quantify data.
• Causal Research: Explore cause-and-effect relationships.
• Predictive Research: Forecast future trends based on data patterns.

What are the 4 pillars of market research?

The 4 pillars of market research are:

• Defining the Problem: Clearly outline research objectives.
• Designing the Research: Plan methods and strategies.
• Data Collection: Gather relevant information.
• Data Analysis and Interpretation: Transform data into actionable insights for informed decision-making.

What software is used for market research?

Various software tools enhance market research processes, including:

• SurveyMonkey: For creating and conducting surveys.
• Google Analytics: Analyzing website traffic.
• SPSS: Statistical analysis of data.
• Tableau: Data visualization for insights.
• HubSpot: Customer relationship management and marketing analytics.

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What Is Market Analysis and How To Do One For Your...

A Complete Guide to Market Research: Methods, Templates, How to do it and a lot more

Johnny Tong

Jan 19, 2021

Table of Contents

What is Market Research?

Why is market research so important, market research methods, focus groups, observation, types of market research, market segmentation, brand awareness and reach, pricing research, how to do market research, market research report & analysis templates, swot analysis template, market survey template, 15 common and effective market survey questions, demographic questions, psychographic questions, questions about your product/service., 10 best market research software.

• 1. Surveybot
• 2. Google analytics
• 3. Question Pro
• 4. Make My Persona
• 5. SurveyMonkey

Dos and Don’ts of Market Research

Do focus on your purpose, do use multiple tools, do make necessary changes according to the reports, do use user-friendly survey, do define a budget, don’t stop doing it again, don’t rely on internet information alone, don’t go for professional respondents, market research faqs.

• What is market research?
• Why is market research so important?
• Types of market research
• How to do market research?
• 5 best market research software
• Dos and don’ts of market research
• Market research FAQs

• Keep a definite purpose
• Identify the target audience
• Relationship status
• Education level
• Study your industry
• Prepare survey questions
• Record and analyze your findings

• How old are you?
• What is your gender?
• What is your employment status?
• What do you do?
• What are your hobbies, interests, attitudes?
• What are your challenges, goals?
• How satisfied are you with our product?
• Would you recommend our product to a friend?
• How appealing is our website/store?
• Do you think our prices are high?
• How satisfied are you with our customer service?
• Was it easy to find the right product from our store/website?
• How did you know about our product?
• What attracted you to our brand?
• How often do you come across our advertisements online?

1.  Surveybot

2.  google analytics, 3.  question pro, 4.  make my persona, 5.  surveymonkey.

• How long will it take to carry out market research?
• How to choose the best market research software for my business?
• How many questions should be there in my survey?
• Can I trust the research results to make business decisions?

Chief Human @ Surveybot

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5 Tips to Market Research Like a Pro

Table of Contents

Market research provides businesses with valuable insights into their competitors, customers and industry trends. Do it well and you can spot new opportunities before others. You’ll also be better able to anticipate future trends and improve profitability. But where to get started? Five simple strategies can form the basis of your market research plan .

How to conduct effective market research

Most effective market research strategies don’t cost anything but time and labor. Others, however, may require spending some ad dollars or ponying up for a survey platform. All are worthwhile, however, for better understanding the market your business is in and the customers you want to reach. We specifically recommend the following research methods.

1. Develop buyer personas.

Buyer personas, also known as customer personas , give you a much more thorough understanding of your customers and who they are. They are essentially fictional creations based in reality — you imagine your ideal customer and build a realistic persona around them.

Market research tools can help you develop buyer personas based on your target customers’ interests, problems and lifestyles. The more personas you have, the better, as understanding why customers buy from you is perhaps the most valuable piece of information any business owner could have. Do they buy to meet a need or desire, address a problem, or exploit an opportunity to its fullest? Your marketers can zero in on this information to create advertising campaigns that generate inquiries by appealing to customers’ needs and wants. Likewise, this insight will help your sales team sell more and your development team iterate better in the future.

As you build buyer personas, harnessing demographic details like age, location, education level, parental status and income levels is very useful. These details can help you develop a communication style and tone of voice that connects with customers. An appreciation of cultural nuances, especially in a diverse country like America, can also benefit you through a better understanding of consumption patterns, attitudes, and product or service preferences.

Buyer personas can also shed light on the people, organizations and institutions that shape customers’ views and opinions. Take influencer marketing as an example. Partnering with an influencer your customers like and respect can generate a lot of sales. Identifying the influences, values and psychology of your audience can help you understand how emotions play a part in their decision-making. [Read related article: The Psychology of Sales ]

2. Conduct a survey.

A problem that many new businesses face is they don’t have a lot of customer information to use for their own market research. To gather more information about the people who buy — or may buy — your product, consider adding a survey form to your website or sending a survey to email addresses you collect.

Surveys allow you to solicit feedback from prospective and existing customers. When you create a questionnaire, try to include a few questions with text boxes so respondents can type in their own answers. You want to solicit as much information as possible — without making your survey so overwhelming that people won’t want to take it — so you can use the answers to build successful, accurate profiles for your market research.

You can also use surveys as a means to get more sales. Some business owners find that adding the option to do a survey in exchange for a discount, such as giving 10 percent off an order, is enough incentive for customers to answer your questions. Everybody benefits. You learn more about your customers and generate revenue at the same time.

Google’s Keyword Planner is one of the best market research tools you can use to determine which words and phrases you should bid for in digital advertising campaigns.

3. Upload your lead list to Facebook Ads.

Social media marketing tools, specifically the Facebook Ads program, are an effective way to carry out market research on your audience.

Look for a feature called “Custom Audiences” on your Meta Business Manager dashboard and upload your customer email list to it. The platform then automatically finds the profiles of the people on your list. After analyzing their Facebook pages, it builds charts that showcase trends among the people you added. You can see what habits and interests these people have and use this information to conduct more precise market research. 

For example, Facebook may tell you that many of your customers use YouTube. If that’s the case, you may want to advertise on it as well as create video content and a YouTube channel for your target audience.

4. Study your competitors.

All businesses benefit from a better understanding of their competitors. That’s especially so with larger companies that offer similar products to you. They didn’t get big by accident — they must have done something very well consistently over an extended period to grow so large. You want to learn what that is.

Competitors’ websites are a good place to start when researching why they have a greater market share. You can use tools like Ahrefs and SEMRush to understand the aspects of their content marketing that cause their sites to rank so highly. This is great for technical SEO planning , and it’s also good for getting an idea of why their content resonates so well with the target audiences you have in common. 

There are certain things your rivals do better than you that their customers appreciate. Try to uncover what their clients value the most and make those products or services part of your proposition. On the flip side, there are some things you do better than everyone else in the minds of consumers. Find out from your customers what they are and then build on them further to retain your competitive advantage.

On an operational level, there are important insights you can extract by studying your competition. Where are they advertising? What new products or improvements for existing products are they working on? They may have spotted an opportunity before you did.

You’ll find Semrush and other useful services on our list of the best business tools and technology.

5. Set up multiple small email campaigns.

Another way to enhance your market research is through conducting small email campaigns. Once you’ve gathered customer data using the above strategies, you can develop applicable email marketing campaigns and gauge their performance. [See our top picks for high-quality email marketing and survey software .]

Segment your email database into groups that share certain characteristics (like average spend, frequency of purchase, age, annual income, internet habits and so on). Market to each group separately to see who interacts with your emails more by clicking through to your site and making a purchase.

These small tests can provide detailed insight into what kind of marketing works with your audience. While you’re likely to make sales from all segments of customers you contact, you can focus more time on experimenting with the most active groups to incrementally increase engagement with each subsequent campaign.

As explained in our Campaigner review , you can segment customer databases as a list manager in your email marketing platform.

Why market research is important

Market research is time-consuming, yet it’s important for launching and expanding a successful business. When you know your customers and what they want — and you understand the market you’re competing in — the information you collect can help you grow your company, win sales, and build strong relationships with the people who buy your product.

As you conduct your market research, you’ll discover that people are complex and diverse. They have specific wants and needs that they want someone to solve for them. If you use your data properly, you can build great products that truly help people.

Take the five strategies above and start to implement them in your market research activities. Gather data, keep notes, learn what people like, and you could soon build in future success and stability to your business. 

Syed Balkhi contributed to this article. 

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Brandwatch Consumer Research

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Published October 17 th 2023

10 Essential Methods for Effective Consumer and Market Research

When it comes to understanding the world around you, market research is an essential step.

We live in a world that’s overflowing with information. Sifting through all the noise to extract the most relevant insights on a certain market or audience can be tough.

That’s where market research comes in – it’s a way for brands and researchers to collect information from target markets and audiences.

Once reliant on traditional methods like focus groups or surveys, market research is now at a crossroads. Newer tools for extracting insights, like social listening tools, have joined the array of market research techniques available.

Here, we break down what market research is and the different methods you can choose from to make the most of it.

What is market research, and why is it critical for you as a marketer?

Market research involves collecting and analyzing data about a specific industry, market, or audience to inform strategic decision-making. It offers marketers valuable insights into the industry, market trends, consumer preferences, competition, and opportunities, enabling businesses to refine their strategies effectively.

By conducting market research, organizations can identify unmet needs, assess product demands, enhance value propositions, and create marketing campaigns that resonate with their target audience. 

This practice serves as a compass, guiding businesses in making data-driven decisions for successful product launches, improved customer relationships, and a stronger positioning in the business landscape. 

For marketers and insights professionals, market research is an indispensable tool. It helps them make smarter decisions and achieve growth and success in the market.

These 10 market research methods form the backbone of effective market research strategies. 

Continue reading or jump directly to each method by tapping the link below.

• Focus groups
• Consumer research with social media listening
• Experiments and field trials
• Observation
• Competitive analysis
• Public domain data
• Buy research
• Analyze sales data

Use of primary vs secondary market research

Market research can be split into two distinct sections: primary and secondary. These are the two main types of market research.

They can also be known as field and desk, respectively (although this terminology feels out of date, as plenty of primary research can be carried out from your desk).

Primary (field) research

Primary market research is research you carry out yourself. Examples of primary market research methods include running your own focus groups or conducting surveys. These are some of the key methods of consumer research. The ‘field’ part refers to going out into the field to get data.

Secondary (desk) research

Secondary market research is research carried out by other people that you want to use. Examples of secondary market research methods include studies carried out by researchers or financial data released by companies.

10 effective methods to do market research

The methods in this list cover both areas. Which ones you want to use will depend on your goals. Have a browse through and see what fits.

1. Focus groups

It’s a simple concept but one that can be hard to put into practice.

You bring together a group of individuals into a room, record their discussions, and ask them questions about various topics you are researching. For some, it’ll be new product ideas. For others, it might be views on a political candidate.

From these discussions, the organizer will try to pull out some insights or use them to judge the wider society’s view on something. The participants will generally be chosen based on certain criteria, such as demographics, interests, or occupations.

A focus group’s strength is in the natural conversation and discussion that can take place between participants (if they’re done right).

Compared to a questionnaire or survey with a rigid set of questions, a focus group can go off on tangents the organizer could not have predicted (and therefore not planned questions for). This can be good in that unexpected topics can arise; or bad if the aims of the research are to answer a very particular set of questions.

The nature of the discussion is important to recognize as a potential factor that skews the resulting data. Focus groups can encourage participants to talk about things they might not have otherwise, and others might impact the group. This can also affect unstructured one-on-one interviews.

In survey research, survey questions are given to respondents (in person, over the phone, by email, or via an online form). Questions can be close-ended or open-ended. As far as close-ended questions go, there are many different types:

• Dichotomous (two choices, such as ‘yes’ or ‘no’)
• Multiple choice
• Rating scale
• Likert scale (common version is five options between ‘strongly agree’ and ‘strongly disagree’)
• Matrix (options presented on a grid)
• Demographic (asking for information such as gender, age, or occupation)

Surveys are massively versatile because of the range of question formats. Knowing how to mix and match them to get what you need takes consideration and thought. Different questions need the right setup.

It’s also about how you ask. Good questions lead to good analysis. Writing clear, concise questions that abstain from vague expressions and don’t lead respondents down a certain path can help your results reflect the true colors of respondents.

There are a ton of different ways to conduct surveys as well, from creating your own from scratch or using tools that do lots of the heavy lifting for you.

3. Consumer research with social media listening

Social media has reached a point where it is seamlessly integrated into our lives. And because it is a digital extension of ourselves, people freely express their opinions, thoughts, and hot takes on social media.

Because people share so much content on social media and the sharing is so instant, social media is a treasure trove for market research. There is plenty of data to monitor , tap into, and dissect.

By using a social listening tool, like Consumer Research , researchers can identify topics of interest and then analyze relevant social posts. For example, they can track brand mentions and what consumers are saying about the products owned by that brand. These are real-world consumer research examples.

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Social media listening democratizes insights, and is especially useful for market research because of the vast amount of unfiltered information available. Because it’s unprompted, you can be fairly sure that what’s shared is an accurate account of what the person really cares about and thinks (as opposed to them being given a subject to dwell on in the presence of a researcher).

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Your complete social listening guide.

Learn how to get started with social listening

4. Interviews

In interviews, the interviewer speaks directly with the respondent. This type of market research method is more personal, allowing for communication and clarification, making it good for open-ended questions. Furthermore, interviews enable the interviewer to go beyond surface-level responses and investigate deeper.

However, the drawback is that interviews can be time-intensive and costly. Those who opt for this method will need to figure out how to allocate their resources effectively. You also need to be careful with leading or poor questions that lead to useless results. Here’s a good introduction to leading questions .

5. Experiments and field trials

Field experiments are conducted in the participants’ environment. They rely on the independent variable and the dependent variable – the researcher controls the independent variable in order to test its impact on the dependent variable. The key here is to establish whether there’s causality.

For example, take Hofling’s experiment that tested obedience, conducted in a hospital setting. The point was to test if nurses followed authority figures (doctors) and if the authority figures’ rules violated standards (The dependent variable being the nurses, the independent variable being a fake doctor calling up and ordering the nurses to administer treatment.)

According to Simply Psychology , there are key strengths and limitations to this method.

The assessment reads:

• Strength: Behavior in a field experiment is more likely to reflect real life because of its natural setting, i.e., higher ecological validity than a lab experiment.
• Strength: There is less likelihood of demand characteristics affecting the results, as participants may not know they are being studied. This occurs when the study is covert.
• Limitation: There is less control over extraneous variables that might bias the results. This makes it difficult for another researcher to replicate the study in exactly the same way.

There are also massive ethical implications for these kinds of experiments and experiments in general (especially if people are unaware of their involvement). Don’t take this lightly, and be sure to read up on all the guidelines that apply to the region where you’re based.

6. Observation

Observational market research is a qualitative research method where the researcher observes their subjects in a natural or controlled environment. This method is much like being a fly on the wall, but the fly takes notes and analyzes them later. In observational market research, subjects are likely to behave naturally, which reveals their true selves. 

They are not under much pressure. However, if they’re aware of the observation, they can act differently.

This type of research applies well to retail, where the researcher can observe shoppers’ behavior by day of the week, by season, when discounts are offered, and more. However, observational research can be time-consuming, and researchers have no control over the environments they research.

7. Competitive analysis

Competitive analysis is a highly strategic and specific form of market research in which the researchers analyze their company’s competitors. It is critical to see how your brand stacks up to rivals. 

Competitive analysis starts by defining the product, service, brand, and market segment. There are different topics to compare your firm with your competitors. It could be from a marketing perspective: content produced, SEO structure, PR coverage, and social media presence and engagement. It can also be from a product perspective: types of offerings, pricing structure. SWOT analysis is key in assessing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

We’ve written a whole blog post on this tactic, which you can read here .

8. Public domain data

The internet is a wondrous place. Public data exists for those strapped for resources or simply seeking to support their research with more data.  With more and more data produced every year, the question about access and curation becomes increasingly prominent – that’s why researchers and librarians are keen on open data.

Plenty of different types of open data are useful for market research: government databases, polling data, “fact tanks” like Pew Research Center, and more. 

Furthermore, APIs grant developers programmatic access to applications. A lot of this data is free, which is a real bonus.

9. Buy research

Money can’t buy everything, but it can buy research. Subscriptions exist for those who want to buy relevant industry and research reports. Sites like Euromonitor, Statista, Mintel, and BCC Research host a litany of reports for purchase, oftentimes with the option of a single-user license or a subscription.

This can be a massive time saver, and you’ll have a better idea of what you’re getting from the very beginning. You’ll also get all your data in a format that makes sense, saving you effort in cleaning and organizing.

10. Analyze sales data

Sales data is like a puzzle piece that can help reveal the full picture of market research insights. Essentially, it indicates the results. Paired with other market research data, sales data helps researchers better understand actions and consequences. Understanding your customers, their buying habits, and how they change over time is important.

This research will be limited to customers, and it’s important to keep that in mind. Nevertheless, the value of this data should not be underestimated. If you’re not already tracking customer data, there’s no time like the present.

Choosing the right market research method for your strategy

Not all methods will be right for your situation or your business. Once you’ve looked through the list and seen some that take your fancy, spend more time researching each option.You’ll want to consider what you want to achieve, what data you’ll need, the pros and cons of each method, the costs of conducting the research, and the cost of analyzing the results.

Get it right, and it’ll be worth all the effort.

Former Brandwatch Employee

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How to Do Market Research

Market research can help you learn about your audience and competitors. Check out this guide to learn how to do effective market research.

Whether you are making a new product or introducing a unique service, market research stands out as a crucial step of its launch. It not only helps you understand the needs of your target audience, but also allows you to know what type of solutions competitors are offering to your potential customers.

If you don’t have the relevant data to analyze these factors, you are essentially shooting in the dark. This leads you down a path full of potential missteps, mistakes, and losses. Due to these reasons, it is absolutely critical for you to learn how to do market research.

From drawing out buyer personas to gathering tools for relevant social media ads , here is how you can conduct market research for an ideal rollout.

What is market research?

Market research is the process of collecting and analyzing data about a target market, relevant audiences, and associated demand for a product or service. The approach is most often used to assess the potential of a new offering within a specific market.

Conducting market research helps you learn the strengths and weaknesses of your solutions through the eyes of your target customers. Additionally, the process enables you to know more about market drivers such as economic indicators.

In turn, your product developers can refine your offering to fit market expectations. At the same time, your marketing department can put together buyer personas to leverage their buying habits to your advantage.

This enables you to use techniques such as behavioral targeting and market segmentation before, during, and after your product rollout. As a result, it becomes easier for you to achieve critical goals such as creating a positive buzz, building a high buyer interest, and increasing your return on investment (ROI).

Typically, market research covers various segments of data collection, such as the following.

• The overall demand for your product or service.
• The general size of your target market.
• The economic strength of your associated audiences.
• The demographics of your potential customers.
• The availability and prices of similar solutions.

When you learn how to conduct market research that includes these key aspects, you are able to determine the overall viability of your offering. This gives you a guideline for making informed decisions for your business, and keeps you from investing in a solution that seems doomed from the start.

When to conduct market research

More often than not, businesses perform market research before the launch of a new product or service. But that is not the only situation where the process stands out as an important step. In fact, the decision of when to perform market research depends upon your approach towards your solutions, policies, and target market.

Keeping this in mind, you can execute your market research in situations including but limited to:

• Testing the potential of a new product or service.
• Understanding buyer sentiment for an existing solution.
• Refining your offerings through feedback from target customers.
• Analyzing market reception to product updates and changes.
• Assessing the strength of your existing product or service against new competitors.

To put it simply, doing marketing research is most common before rolling out a new offering. But you can also continue performing it well after your initial launch. The latter may seem like an additional ongoing investment. However, it also consistently strengthens your solutions in light of new data, trends , and consumer buying habits.

What are the benefits of market research?

There are various advantages to conducting market research across a number of situations. On a macro level, all of these perks work towards enhancing your market positioning and increasing your ROI. This allows you to achieve your goals without running into unnecessary hurdles.

On a micro level, each of these benefits bring something distinct to the table. As a result, these individual rewards contribute to your business’ growth in more than one way.

The following segments describe some of the most common benefits of conducting market research.

You learn more about your target market

The most glaring advantage of performing market research comes in the form of understanding your target audience. This includes but is not limited to gathering more information about the needs, expectations, and buying habits of your potential customers.

By collecting and organizing relevant data, you can also determine your target demographics that tell you more about the age, location, and income of your average buyer. This allows you to determine buyer personas, and leads you to meet the demands of your target customers.

You get to know the latest industry trends

Market research also gives you a firm grasp over the latest industry trends that could make or break your offering. This includes the hype around certain technologies, buyer sentiment towards particular solutions, and the overall strength of the economy.

Through primary and secondary research, you can also learn about the most popular methods that encourage potential customers to voice their opinions. You may then use this information to optimize content for surveys and interviews alike.

You are able to gauge your competition’s status

Even when you are not performing a complete competitor analysis, asking your target customers certain questions can paint a picture of your competition. This reveals if anyone is offering the same solution as you, while also outlining their reputation and status within your target segment.

Through this data collection, you can also determine the strength and weaknesses of your competitors’ offerings. This helps you set your product positioning, messaging, and pricing through an informed approach. This way, you can be confident to spend money on measures that give you an edge over your competitors.

You can easily refine your offerings

From launching a new solution to making updates to your existing offerings, market research can help you determine where your product or service stands for potential customers. This gives your product developers a guideline to improve your solution and cater to your audience’s feedback.

Besides helping you steer clear of losses, this approach lets you bring a compelling product to market. This also sets a foundation for your approach towards customer service, and encourages you to continue listening to customers for consistent benefits in the future.

You may build a strong marketing campaign

When you learn how to conduct market research, you are able to obtain information that goes beyond your basic buyer demographics. By understanding your target audience’s behavior towards personal research and information consumption, you can devise an effective marketing campaign for your solutions.

Learning how to perform market research also gives you the ability to invest in a variety of marketing methodologies. This covers segments such as search engine optimization (SEO), pay per click (PPC), and email outreach. By using a range of marketing tools, you can effortlessly connect with your potential customers and existing audiences in the long run.

Types of market research methods

Since market research is a broad subject, it also holds different types of measures to collect relevant data. Depending upon your business’ requirements, budget, and the outlined timeframe to bring your product to market, you can choose between different types of market research approaches.

Some of the most popular ways to conduct market research include the following methods.

While learning how to perform market research, you may come across the benefits of primary research. Unlike secondary research that uses pre-published and generalized findings, this method allows you to directly collect data from your target market. As a result, you get conclusive and definitive results that are specific to your product or service.

Surveys are a big part of this primary research approach. With the availability of digital avenues, they also allow you to reach out to potential customers without a huge investment of time and money. For seamless data collection through your surveys, you can also turn to an email marketing solution.

Personal interviews

Another part of primary research, personal interviews provide you with the opportunity to conduct face-to-face conversations. This method also gives you the ability to ask open-ended questions, which lead you to have a deeper understanding of your potential customers, their likes, and their dislikes.

With the availability of video call solutions, you can also conduct these interviews digitally. When you don’t require the physical presence of involved parties at the same location, you can hold these conversations in a timely and convenient manner.

Focus groups

You may have already heard of focus groups through the web, TV, or print media. These groups comprise a set of people from different walks of life who examine your offering in a controlled setting. This primary research approach also involves conversations with open-ended questions.

While focus groups are an important part of market research, you need to understand the pros and cons of using a focus group carefully. One of the biggest considerations in this regard is an individual’s biased opinion that could influence the final results for the whole group.

Observation

Unlike many primary research methods, observation does not ask questions or indulge the participants in conversations. Instead, it involves a designated professional watching over a participant while they interact with your product or service. This can be a highly effective method of learning how potential customers feel about your offering.

While conducting market research through this method, you should be ready to give your participants a fully-functional product. This allows you to get specific opinions about all of the product’s features and benefits. This way, you can rest assured in the strength of the activity’s results.

As you move forward with these approaches, it is important to learn the differences between quantitative research and qualitative research. Simply put, the former provides you with numerical and statistical data, while the latter delivers detailed views and commentary. You should use both approaches for optimal results.

How to conduct market research

Once you understand the basics of market research, conducting it is simply a matter of following predefined processes. When you have helpful information such as a market research template at hand, you can go through the required activities without additional stress.

While conducting market research, you can use the following methods to reach out to your target market.

• Digital ads . These online ads on different websites and search engines help you find people from your target audience who are willing to participate in your chosen method of research.
• Email marketing . You can run a marketing campaign to reach out to existing and potential customers through emails. Besides helping you get appointments for interviews and observational research, it is also one of the easiest ways to conduct surveys.
• Professional solutions . You can hire seasoned professionals who specialize in conducting market research. This outsourcing approach is often followed for personal interviews and focus groups.

You can consider any of these market research approaches or even combine them for maximum effect. With that being said, you should always have tools in place to track performance and make decisions according to latest results.

You can also use best practices to get the most out of each research methodology.

How to lead personal interviews and focus groups

• Have your specific product or service ready for demonstration.
• Lead with a description of your offering.
• Ask open-ended questions about consumer perception.
• Inquire about competitors and similar solutions in the market.
• Present questions about what’s missing from the offering.
• Ask for opinions about your intended price.
• Watch out for any single participant who is influencing others’ opinions.
• Get concluding notes and commentary from each participant.

How to perform research in observation settings

• Ask potential customers if you can observe them while they use your solution.
• Notice if they face any difficulties in accessing the features of your offering.
• Assess the overall interest of the participants while using the product or service.
• Highlight how comfortable or challenging it was for them to complete certain actions.
• Use meticulous record-keeping approaches to document their experience.
• Include how long each participant engaged with the product or service.

How to build a market research template

Since surveys are predetermined questionnaires that you can send through emails, you can get inspiration from a template of this market research method.

Typically, an effective template for conducting market research surveys covers the following aspects.

• Demographic . This covers aspects such as age, gender, and location.
• Industry . This relates to the recipient’s familiarity and involvement in your sector.
• Business . This refers to the participant’s professional life and routine.
• Brand . This asks for their knowledge about your brand.
• Competition . This involves questions related to similar solutions.
• Product or Service . This inquires about the recipient’s perception towards your offering.

After learning how to do market research using these methods, it becomes easy for you to draft a detailed questionnaire that leads you through interviews and surveys alike. As long as you are mindful about all the necessary details that you should cover in your research, you can get the answers you need to ensure an optimal product rollout.

Final notes

Conducting market research is an essential step for all types of businesses that are planning a new product rollout or refining their existing solutions. By adopting the right practices for market research, you can ensure that your product or service is ready to check all the boxes for your potential customers.

With Mailchimp, you can perform your market research through digital avenues, while also benefiting from intelligent analysis and reporting tools. By utilizing our all-in-one email platform’s automation, customization, and segmentation features, you can get the most out of each research effort by your brand.

Related Topics

• Marketing Tools
• Product-Market Fit
• Business Inspiration
• Create Your Brand
• Launching a Business

Market research: Everything you need to know

Last updated

5 February 2023

Reviewed by

Market research is key to developing any product or service to ensure you’re creating something that people actually want to use. This can save your company time and money while ensuring a customer-centric reputation from day one.

This guide looks at the ins and outs of market research from past and present. Keep reading to discover the power of market research and everything you need to know. 

• What is market research?

Market research is how businesses explore, learn, and gather information about a market or a specific market segment. You gather the research data in different ways, depending on your primary purpose. Reasons to undertake market research include wanting to:

Uncover potential buyer needs or market trends

Test how attractive new product ideas may be before you develop them

Learn buyer opinions about existing products and services compared to your competitors 

• When to use market research

To differentiate your brand from your competitors, you need the right data. Market research makes it easier to create a brand, product, or service that appeals to current and potential buyers.

You and your team must decide how valuable a business idea or a new or modified product may be before integrating it into your overall business plan. The data you collect gives you the basis for those decisions.

Market research is a critical part of strategic business planning. It tests ideas, enables effective resource allocation, and tightens your relationship with your current and future customer base.

You decide which methods to use based on the data you want to collect, why you want to collect it, and how you'll make the best use of it.

• Why do market research?

Effective market research gives you enough valuable data to make the right decisions. You want to minimize risk and optimize your marketing to maximize revenue and hit targets. Those decisions mainly revolve around how you can:

Build or improve on your brand identity

Attract more new buyers

Increase sales to existing buyers using upsell, cross-sell, and down-sell strategies

Improve your marketing impact to build better sales relationships 

Maintain or expand your market share

Catch, overtake, or stay ahead of your competitors

Decide the best ways to communicate with your target markets

Identify any product, service, or performance issues and how you may correct them

When you use accurate and comprehensive market research data, you can successfully enter a new market or grow your turnover in an existing one.

• How often should you do market research?

You should do market research frequently. That way, you will know you're still meeting buyer needs as they change before current sales levels potentially fall off. You can successfully introduce new or modified products and services by consulting your market to meet additional or changing needs and wants.

• Outcomes of good market research

Customer motivations change. People often buy a product or service to solve a problem, achieve a goal, satisfy a desire, or support an aspiration.

Motivations may be at the forefront of a buyer's mind: 'I am hungry, so I will buy something to eat.' 

Or they may be more subtle: 'I need new footwear, and I also want to look cool.' Researchers call this achieving or displaying approved cultural status.

When you know which motivations result in different groups of people buying savory or sweet food to satisfy that immediate hunger need, you can deliver focused advertising messages and make the greatest impact. 

What 'cool' means to Gen Z or Millennial buyers is often different, so knowing how to differentiate your marketing will deliver a high impact. Making the right advertising decisions can create and grow demand, which you’ll meet to meet.

To take a different example, let’s look at middle managers who aspire to the C-Suite. They’re likely to choose an office product or system which will solve the current processing problem, improve efficiencies, and maximize productivity. However, they’ll also select a product that makes them look innovative and budget-minded in the eyes of their colleagues and superiors. 

A high-tech crash is devastating. Office equipment that provides full technology backup and integrates with the corporate network, the cloud, and all mobile devices while delivering high-quality presentation materials should be an attractive product. Researching these broader issues will separate you from competitors who only research at an office-operational level. 

Your sales presentations will need to do two things:

Focus on the basic features, advantages, and benefits of your product

Raise the buyer's thinking about the career implications of buying from you

When you know and understand which motivators encourage buying decisions and which of those are more important than others, you can:

Make or modify products and services that you know will appeal to your target markets

Advertise, market, and sell more effectively

This is how you rise above and separate your company, products, and services from your competitors.

Motivations change, so market research keeps you in the loop

Another reason for doing market research is that motivations change. They change with age and broader fashion and lifestyle trends in the B2C universe, while business trends influence motivations in the B2B universe.

It's critical to know how your chosen market segments perceive your brand and offerings as their key motivations evolve. Market research gives you practical answers about your product or service while learning how your target market feels about them. Now we've looked at the what and the why, let's move on to the how.

• What are the main types of market research?

There are three main types of market research. In addition, it helps to know four terms before we look at the research methods.

Exploratory and specific market research

Exploratory market research is about asking questions to learn something new. If a business idea leads to a potential new offering, exploratory research will help you determine whether there is a market for it and how big that may be.

Specific market research would follow the exploratory phase. It deep dives into specific issues, problems, and possible solutions the exploratory phase exposed. Or you could use it to learn more about your current offerings in your existing markets.

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Primary research is what you, your team, or market research consultants do. You go straight to your target group and get the information you want. The information may be exploratory or specific.

Secondary research is about collecting what's already out there. It could be census data, academic research publications, survey results from government agencies, your trade association, and even your competitors. Facebook and other online sites mine vast amounts of data about their members and make it available for very target-specific marketing campaigns.

Now, let's look at the three main types of research.

What is online market research?

When you do market research on the internet, you're doing online market research. You can do both qualitative and quantitative studies and a secondary web search for published data that you want.

Qualitative research may include videos of current buyers using your products, one-on-one interviews, and group discussions. You will see how they use your products and how they and others respond to using them.

Quantitative research gathers data from surveys, questionnaires, and polls. Online research means participants can opt in, rather than your team cold-calling or mailing the survey. They can also take it at a time that suits them, making them more likely to be focused and thoughtful.

What you learn tells you about purchasing behavior and the user's perspective of advantages and shortcomings. Depending on the survey you create, results might tell you things like: 

What buyers have bought previously

Why they bought those items

How they assess your product

How your product compares to your competitors' products

What they will base future purchase decisions on.

Some benefits of online market research

Detailed and wide-ranging online research tends to be cheaper than other methods. Data collection is:

Recorded directly, rather than collecting it from separate groups or surveyors

Less likely to have inputting errors

Quicker to do an in-depth analysis of the raw results and complete them faster

Quicker to do reruns to provide nuanced opinion data

Easier for survey management to oversee and complete the reports

Faster to get the reports out to interested parties

What are paid market research surveys?

You pay people to attend an online session, ask prepared questions, and record the answers. You ask the same questions to each survey participant about the product or brand in question. After the session, you review and summarize all the answers to provide common opinions for your analysis.

When the group members can handle and use a product, they can more easily comment on it and compare it with other products from your company or competitors. Sometimes, you may wish to do the survey in real time. This could occur at a supermarket where the participant responds to the product merchandising of you and your competitors.

Choose your paid participants carefully. You want them to display your ideal niche market personas' approaches, attitudes, beliefs, and emotional responses.

What is a market study?

Market studies are extensive and best before developing a major innovation. You want to ensure the whole market finds the innovation appealing and affordable over a long time rather than just a small segment. Your study will investigate market dynamics and what motivates or demotivates purchase decisions. The study will include the following:

The size of the potential market in terms of potential buyers

Purchase histories of similar products or products that served a similar purpose

Likely purchase frequency of the primary and secondary products

Likely price ranges the target market will find acceptable

Competitor market share

Competitor advantages and shortcomings as perceived by your target market

Needs and wants not currently being met by products comparable to your new product

Let’s imagine you’re launching a new vacuum cleaner. You can identify a broader market by looking into purchase histories of similar products. Brooms did the job vacuum cleaners do today. 

Identifying the purchase frequency of primary and secondary products is also wise. If you sell heavy-duty vacuum cleaners, you’ll know they’re not easy to carry around. So how likely is your customer to also buy a lightweight vac for minor or quick cleaning? They may even add a hand-held vac to their cleaning arsenal to remove pet hairs and easily clean the drapes and blinds. 

• The history of market research

Before we discuss the specific steps to plan and execute successful market research, let's look at the history of this fascinating subject.

One of the earliest market research studies happened in 1914. Charles Parlin of Curtis Publishing Company said that automobile manufacturers could no longer sell what they decided, but what their customers wanted. 

His boss, Mr. Curtis, asked him to visit hundreds of dealerships to see where the rubber actually met the road. Parlin gave 2,500 sheets of research to his boss, so they could decide which advertisements worked best. Running better ads meant more advertising revenue, meaning wider magazine distribution. This also helped Mr. Curtis charge higher advertising fees.

Market research became something of a science in the 1920s. Rather than a local retailer or manufacturer speaking with local customers to see what they did and didn’t want, the Roaring Twenties’ mass product advertising and nationwide distribution demanded a more powerful approach. 

Automobiles encouraged the growth of city suburbs, while increased electricity supply meant companies could sell appliances. Commercial radio channels, telephone communication, and going to the movies reduced the feeling of rural and small-town isolation. Suddenly, everyone wanted what was once only available to a few. Manufacturing and innovation took off.

Making it, advertising it, and shipping it did not guarantee sales. Getting people to want it meant effective advertising. Making adverts that worked resulted in Daniel Starch coming up with a theory in 1920: People had to see and read attractive yet believable ads to act on them.

Starch and his team stopped as many people in the street as possible. They showed them an ad and asked if they remembered seeing it. If they had seen it, Starch asked which magazine they saw the ad in, what they thought of it, and whether they acted on it.

They collated the data to compare which magazine ads had the greatest effect on buying decisions.

George Gallup developed the research not by showing people ads but by asking: 

If they could remember which ads they'd seen

What they thought of them

What they did about it

His team eventually did face-to-face and telephone surveys.

Radio stations began to use Gallup's methods, asking people what they remembered hearing. They aimed to encourage manufacturers and retailers to run certain ads to appeal to their listeners.

In the 1930s, Robert Merton and Paul Lazarsfeld of Columbia University began focus groups to understand buyers, their preferences, objections, and motivations. This research uncovered mismatches between what people said and what they did.

They learned that a dominating group member could say something about their own experience or behavior and ask the group if others had noticed the same. Other group members sometimes agreed because the dominant member was persuasive, not because it was true for them. Many just went along with it, proving how much group dynamics matter. 

After World War II, market research became more concerned with understanding what made certain people respond to certain types of ad messages from a personal point of view.

Ernest Dichter used Freudian psychology to develop motivational research. While he went a little overboard on Freudian interpretation (people use soap to cleanse themselves of sin), he got his message out to advertisers. He surmised that if you figure out the personality of your product, you will know how to market it to people who exhibit the same personality traits.

Before we smacked gender roles on the head, Dichter would have linked an efficient, house-proud housewife to an effective vacuum cleaner. She needed a product that gave her home a permanent clean appearance. Her husband would love coming home to a shiny house, and her lady friends would be in awe. It's not just about vacs being better than brooms.

Between the 1960s and 1980s, computers and telephones enabled quantitative methods to be the focus of market researchers. Telephone surveys began to replace face-to-face interviews. John Howard said qualitative and quantitative research should work side-by-side. 

Researchers used psychology, sociology, and management science techniques to study buyer motivations and how their emotions impacted owning and consuming certain products and services. Focus groups became the order of the day once again.

Psychologists like Allan Pease, who pioneered studies in body language, began to develop the theory of buyer personas. He said that how companies advertise and sell to people is just as important as the psychological, social, and emotional principles researchers had previously developed.

In the 1970s and 80s, Neil Rackham further determined how critical it is to understand how senior execs make major purchase decisions. Researching your market from their point of view is critical. While you may have ascertained a need for the product, further market research must understand how C-Suite execs go through the purchase decision-making process.

That brings us up to date. Market research has developed into a sophisticated scientific process. When you research effectively, you’ll get the data you need to build your business.

• The steps for conducting market research

Researchers use different models, but we’ve included all the steps, so you won't miss anything.

As with all projects, actions fall into four categories: Planning, execution, assessment, and implementation.

1. Planning

Identify the need for a particular market research project

Review what you have done so far and already know to ensure your research will be direct, broad, and deep enough to deliver your intended results

Decide on the purpose and desired outcomes of your study

Determine your research objectives

Choose your research team and methodology

2. Execution

Create the research project methodology and process  (qualitative, quantitative, primary, or secondary) to deliver on the objectives 

Determine your research methods (i.e., online surveys, focus groups)

Create your data collection forms, questionnaires, etc.

Select your research targets (past, present, potential customers, or specific customer segments if you know them) 

Decide on the number of people you will contact, plus where and how to contact them. For your research to be reliable, the number must be large enough to be a good cross-section of your target market.

Collect the data

3. Assessment

Analyze the data

Decide on any follow-ups to collect more data or to refine your understanding of what you have already collected

Decide if further analysis of the data will deliver relevant and valuable nuanced opinions

Review the results

Write the report

Present the research findings and recommendations to appropriate stakeholders

4. Implementation

Based on the research results and recommendations, determine what impactful actions to execute to deliver your intended business results.

• How to get started

Your first step is to review what you have in your hand and decide who to share it with. When you and your team are clear about all the aspects of market research we've shared, you can decide which ideas, market segments, and products or services you should be researching. 

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How to Do Market Research: A Definitive Guide

Article Snapshot

Section 1: introduction to market research.

Before we dive into the intricacies of market research, let's first establish a solid understanding of what it entails. Market research is the systematic process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data about a target market or industry. It involves gathering information about potential customers, their needs and preferences, as well as assessing the overall market landscape and identifying opportunities for growth.

Market research plays a vital role in shaping business strategies and decision-making processes. It helps businesses identify market trends, evaluate product or service viability, understand customer behavior, and develop effective marketing campaigns. By leveraging market research, companies can minimize risks, optimize resources, and increase their chances of success.

Section 2: Preparing for Market Research

Before embarking on any market research endeavor, it is crucial to establish clear objectives and determine the appropriate research methodology. In this section, we will guide you through the essential steps of preparing for market research.

Defining Research Objectives

The first step in any market research project is to define clear research objectives. These objectives should align with your business goals and provide a framework for your research efforts. Whether you aim to understand customer satisfaction, evaluate market potential for a new product, or analyze competitor strategies, defining specific and measurable objectives is essential to ensure the research is focused and effective.

Choosing the Right Research Methodology

Once you have defined your research objectives, the next step is to select the most appropriate research methodology. There are various methodologies available, each with its strengths and limitations. Qualitative research methods, such as interviews and focus groups, allow for in-depth exploration of customer opinions and perceptions. On the other hand, quantitative research methods, like surveys and data analysis, provide statistical insights and numerical data.

Creating a Research Plan

To ensure the success of your market research endeavor, it is essential to develop a comprehensive research plan. A research plan outlines the steps, timeline, budget, and resources required for your market research project. By creating a well-structured plan, you can effectively manage your research activities, allocate resources efficiently, and stay on track to achieve your research objectives.

Section 3: Conducting Primary Market Research

Primary market research involves collecting firsthand data directly from your target audience. This section will explore various primary research methods and provide insights into how to conduct effective primary market research.

Survey Research

Surveys are a popular and effective method for gathering primary research data. They allow businesses to collect a large volume of data from a diverse audience. Designing effective survey questions, selecting appropriate survey administration methods, and maximizing response rates are crucial elements to consider when conducting survey research.

Interviews and Focus Groups

Interviews and focus groups offer a more in-depth understanding of customer opinions and behaviors. By engaging directly with participants, businesses can explore complex topics and gain valuable insights. This section will cover techniques for conducting successful interviews and focus groups, as well as analyzing and interpreting the qualitative data obtained.

Observational Research

Observational research involves observing and analyzing consumer behavior in real-life situations. This method provides rich insights into consumer interactions, preferences, and decision-making processes. We will discuss different types of observational research and address ethical considerations associated with this methodology.

Section 4: Gathering and Analyzing Secondary Market Research

Secondary market research involves gathering existing data and information from various sources. This section will explore reliable sources for secondary research data, data collection methods, and techniques for analyzing and interpreting secondary research findings.

Sources of Secondary Research Data

Identifying reputable sources for secondary market research data is crucial for obtaining accurate and reliable information. We will explore a wide range of sources, including market research firms, industry reports, government publications, and online databases.

Data Collection and Analysis

Once you have gathered the secondary research data, the next step is to organize and analyze it effectively. This section will provide insights into various data collection methods and techniques for analyzing and interpreting secondary research findings. We will also discuss the utilization of data visualization tools to present data in a visually appealing and informative manner.

Section 5: Utilizing Market Research Findings

Market research findings hold immense value only when they are effectively utilized to drive business growth. In this section, we will explore how to interpret and apply research findings, communicate results, and continually monitor and evaluate market research efforts.

Interpreting and Applying Research Findings

Interpreting research findings accurately is vital to extract actionable insights. We will discuss techniques and strategies for interpreting research findings and applying them to make informed business decisions. Real-world case studies will be presented to illustrate the practical application of market research findings.

Communicating Research Results

Effectively communicating research results is essential for ensuring that the insights gained are understood and utilized by key stakeholders. This section will provide tips for creating visually appealing and informative research reports and delivering impactful presentations to stakeholders and decision-makers.

Monitoring and Evaluating Market Research

Market research is an ongoing process, and continuous monitoring and evaluation are crucial to stay abreast of market trends and changes. We will explore strategies for tracking market dynamics, monitoring the effectiveness of research efforts, and adjusting research strategies based on feedback and evolving market conditions.

Understanding the Importance of Market Research

Market research is an indispensable component of any successful business strategy. It provides crucial insights into customer behavior, market trends, and competitor analysis, enabling businesses to make informed decisions and gain a competitive edge. In this section, we will explore the significance of market research and its role in driving business success.

The Value of Market Research

Market research serves as a guiding light for businesses, helping them navigate the complex landscape of consumer demands and market dynamics. By conducting thorough research, businesses can gain a deep understanding of their target audience, identify unmet needs, and develop products or services that truly resonate with their customers.

One of the primary benefits of market research is its ability to minimize risk. By gathering data and insights before launching a new product or expanding into a new market, businesses can assess market potential, evaluate customer preferences, and anticipate potential challenges. This proactive approach reduces the likelihood of costly mistakes and increases the chances of success.

Moreover, market research plays a vital role in identifying and capitalizing on market opportunities. By staying attuned to market trends, businesses can spot emerging consumer needs, industry shifts, and technological advancements. Armed with this knowledge, they can adapt their strategies, develop innovative solutions, and stay ahead of the competition.

Market research also provides a solid foundation for effective marketing campaigns. By understanding the target audience's preferences, motivations, and pain points, businesses can tailor their messaging, positioning, and communication channels to effectively reach and engage their customers. This targeted approach not only increases customer acquisition but also enhances customer loyalty and brand advocacy.

The Risks of Neglecting Market Research

Failing to conduct market research can have dire consequences for businesses. Without a deep understanding of their target audience, businesses risk developing products or services that do not meet customer needs or preferences. This can lead to low customer satisfaction, decreased sales, and ultimately, business failure.

Additionally, neglecting market research can result in missed opportunities. In a rapidly evolving marketplace, failing to track consumer trends, competitor strategies, and industry shifts can leave businesses lagging behind. By the time they realize the need for change, it may be too late to catch up, leading to lost market share and diminished competitiveness.

Furthermore, without market research, businesses may struggle to effectively allocate their resources. They may invest in marketing campaigns that do not resonate with their target audience or allocate resources to markets with limited potential. This misalignment of resources can drain finances and hinder overall business growth.

The Role of Market Research in Decision-Making

Market research serves as a compass for decision-making, guiding businesses in making strategic choices based on data-driven insights. Whether it is launching a new product, entering a new market, or adjusting pricing strategies, market research provides the necessary information to make informed decisions.

By conducting market research, businesses can gain a comprehensive understanding of their target audience's preferences, needs, and behaviors. This knowledge allows them to develop products or services that align with customer expectations, resulting in higher customer satisfaction and increased sales.

Market research also empowers businesses to assess the competitive landscape. By studying competitors' strengths, weaknesses, and market positioning, businesses can identify gaps and opportunities for differentiation. This knowledge enables them to develop unique value propositions and competitive strategies that set them apart from their rivals.

Additionally, market research helps businesses evaluate the effectiveness of their marketing efforts. By measuring key performance indicators (KPIs) and analyzing consumer responses, businesses can identify areas for improvement and refine their marketing strategies. This iterative approach ensures that marketing budgets are optimized and yields the highest return on investment (ROI).

In conclusion, market research is an invaluable tool for businesses aiming to thrive in a competitive marketplace. By understanding the importance of market research and leveraging its insights, businesses can make informed decisions, minimize risks, seize opportunities, and ultimately drive sustainable growth. Now that we have established the significance of market research, let's delve into the practical steps of preparing for and conducting market research.

Preparing for Market Research

Before diving into market research, it is crucial to lay a solid foundation by preparing for the research process. This section will explore the essential steps involved in preparing for market research, including defining research objectives, selecting the appropriate research methodology, and creating a comprehensive research plan.

Clearly defining research objectives is the cornerstone of any successful market research project. Research objectives serve as guiding principles that outline the specific goals and outcomes you hope to achieve through your research efforts. These objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).

When defining your research objectives, consider what you aim to accomplish. Are you seeking to understand customer preferences for a new product? Do you want to assess market potential for a specific geographic region? Defining clear and focused research objectives will help you stay on track and ensure that your research efforts yield actionable insights.

Once you have defined your research objectives, the next step is to select the most appropriate research methodology. Different research methodologies offer unique advantages and are suited for different research objectives.

Qualitative research methods, such as interviews and focus groups, provide in-depth insights into customer opinions, attitudes, and perceptions. These methods allow for rich, nuanced data collection and are particularly useful for exploring complex topics or understanding the underlying motivations and emotions driving consumer behavior.

Quantitative research methods, on the other hand, involve the collection and analysis of numerical data. Surveys and questionnaires are common quantitative research tools that allow for large-scale data collection. These methods are useful for measuring customer satisfaction, analyzing customer preferences, and identifying statistical relationships between variables.

It's important to choose a research methodology that aligns with your research objectives, budget, and time constraints. Consider the advantages and limitations of each methodology and select the one that will provide the most relevant and accurate data for your specific research needs.

A well-structured research plan is essential for conducting market research efficiently and effectively. A research plan serves as a roadmap that outlines the steps, timeline, budget, and resources required for your research project.

By creating a comprehensive research plan, you can ensure that your market research efforts are well-organized, efficient, and yield valuable insights. The plan will also serve as a reference point to track progress and make adjustments as needed throughout the research process.

Now that you understand the importance of preparing for market research, we will delve into the practicalities of conducting primary market research in the next section.

Conducting Primary Market Research

Survey research is one of the most commonly used methods for collecting primary research data. Surveys allow businesses to gather a large volume of data from a diverse audience efficiently. They can be conducted through various channels, including online surveys, phone interviews, or in-person questionnaires.

When designing a survey, it is important to carefully craft the survey questions to ensure they are clear, unbiased, and relevant to the research objectives. Use a combination of open-ended and closed-ended questions to gather both qualitative and quantitative data. Open-ended questions provide respondents with the opportunity to express their opinions and provide detailed feedback, while closed-ended questions offer predefined response choices that can be easily analyzed.

To maximize response rates, it is essential to carefully consider the survey administration method. Online surveys are cost-effective and convenient, allowing respondents to complete the survey at their convenience. Phone interviews provide a personal touch and allow for follow-up questions, while in-person questionnaires enable businesses to interact directly with respondents. Choosing the appropriate survey administration method depends on factors such as target audience demographics, research objectives, and available resources.

Additionally, it is crucial to consider respondent fatigue and survey length. Long and tedious surveys can lead to decreased response rates and inaccuracies in responses. Keep the survey concise, focused, and engaging to ensure higher participation and reliable data.

Interviews and focus groups provide valuable qualitative insights into consumer opinions, preferences, and behaviors. These methods allow businesses to engage directly with participants and gain a deeper understanding of their thoughts and motivations.

Interviews can be conducted in-person, over the phone, or through video calls. They provide an opportunity to ask probing questions, delve into specific topics, and explore in-depth responses. The interviewer can adapt the questioning based on the participant's responses, allowing for a dynamic and personalized conversation.

Focus groups involve bringing together a small group of individuals to discuss a specific topic or product. This method allows participants to interact with one another, share their opinions, and generate insights through group discussions. Focus groups provide a unique perspective by capturing the collective thoughts and experiences of the participants.

To conduct successful interviews and focus groups, it is essential to carefully plan the session. Develop a discussion guide or interview script that includes a set of key questions or topics to cover. This will ensure consistency and enable comparability across interviews or focus groups. Actively listen to participants, encourage open and honest responses, and create a comfortable environment for sharing opinions.

Qualitative data obtained from interviews and focus groups require careful analysis. Use techniques such as thematic analysis or coding to identify recurring themes, patterns, and insights. These qualitative insights can provide valuable context and depth to complement quantitative data collected through surveys or other methods.

Observational research involves observing and analyzing consumer behavior in real-life settings. This method allows businesses to gain insights into consumer interactions, preferences, and decision-making processes. It can be particularly useful in retail environments, public spaces, or during product usage.

Participant observation involves immersing oneself in the context being studied and actively participating in the observed activities. This method allows researchers to gain firsthand experience and capture the nuances of behavior and interactions. Non-participant observation, on the other hand, involves observing from a distance without directly engaging with the participants. This method allows for more objective observations and avoids potential biases that may arise from researcher-participant interaction.

When conducting observational research, it is essential to consider ethical considerations and obtain necessary permissions, especially in public spaces or when observing sensitive behavior. Maintain confidentiality and anonymity of participants and ensure that the research does not infringe upon their privacy.

Observational research often involves recording observations through notes, photographs, or video recordings. These records serve as valuable data for analysis and interpretation. Analyze the collected data by identifying patterns, behaviors, and trends. Observational research findings can be used to supplement and validate other primary research methods, providing a comprehensive understanding of consumer behavior.

As we have explored the various primary research methods, it is important to note that choosing the appropriate method depends on the research objectives, target audience, available resources, and the depth of insights required. By carefully selecting and conducting primary market research methods, businesses can uncover valuable insights about their target audience, preferences, and behaviors.

Gathering and Analyzing Secondary Market Research

While primary market research provides valuable firsthand data, secondary market research involves gathering existing data and information from various sources. This section will explore the sources of secondary research data and provide insights into data collection methods and techniques for analyzing and interpreting secondary research findings.

Secondary market research relies on existing data and information that has been collected by others. There are various sources from which businesses can gather secondary research data, including:

When gathering secondary research data, it is crucial to consider the reliability and credibility of the sources. Ensure that the data comes from reputable sources and is up-to-date. Cross-referencing information from multiple sources can help validate the accuracy and consistency of the data.

Once you have gathered the relevant secondary research data, the next step is to organize and analyze it effectively. The process of data collection and analysis involves several key steps:

Secondary research findings should be interpreted and used in conjunction with primary research data to gain a comprehensive understanding of the market landscape. Combining primary and secondary research data allows for triangulation, validation, and a more holistic analysis of the research objectives.

By effectively gathering and analyzing secondary research data, businesses can gain valuable insights into market trends, consumer behavior, and industry dynamics. These insights serve as a foundation for informed decision-making, strategy formulation, and staying ahead of the competition.

Utilizing Market Research Findings

Interpreting and analyzing research findings is a critical step in extracting actionable insights that can drive business decisions. Here are some key considerations when interpreting and applying research findings:

Remember that market research is an iterative process, and new insights may emerge as you delve deeper into the data. Continuously revisit and refine your interpretation of the research findings to ensure that you capture the most accurate and valuable insights.

Effectively communicating research results is crucial to ensure that the insights gained are understood and utilized by key stakeholders. Here are some tips for communicating research results:

Market research is an ongoing process that requires continuous monitoring and evaluation. Here are some key aspects to consider when monitoring and evaluating market research efforts:

By monitoring and evaluating market research efforts, you can ensure that the insights gained are effectively utilized and that your research strategies remain aligned with the evolving market landscape.

In conclusion, effectively utilizing market research findings is essential for driving business growth and staying ahead of the competition. By interpreting and applying research findings, communicating results effectively, and continuously monitoring and evaluating research efforts, businesses can make informed decisions, improve customer experiences, and seize market opportunities.

Conclusion: The Power of Market Research

Market research is a powerful tool that empowers businesses to make informed decisions, understand their target audience, and gain a competitive edge. Throughout this comprehensive guide, we have explored the various aspects of market research, from understanding its importance to conducting primary and secondary research, and utilizing research findings effectively. Now, let's recap the key points and emphasize the power of market research in driving business success.

Market research serves as a compass for businesses, guiding them through the complex landscape of consumer demands, market trends, and competitor analysis. By conducting thorough research, businesses can gain valuable insights into their target audience, identify market opportunities, and mitigate risks. Market research enables businesses to make informed decisions, optimize resources, and drive sustainable growth.

One of the primary benefits of market research is its ability to provide a deep understanding of customer preferences and needs. By gaining insights into customer behavior, businesses can develop products and services that truly resonate with their target audience, leading to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Market research also enables businesses to stay ahead of the competition. By monitoring market trends, tracking competitor activities, and assessing industry dynamics, businesses can identify emerging opportunities and adapt their strategies accordingly. This flexibility allows businesses to maintain a competitive edge and seize market opportunities before their competitors.

Furthermore, market research plays a vital role in effective marketing campaigns. By understanding consumer preferences, motivations, and pain points, businesses can tailor their messaging, positioning, and communication channels to reach and engage their target audience more effectively. This targeted approach increases customer acquisition, enhances brand perception, and drives business growth.

However, market research is not a one-time endeavor. It requires continuous monitoring and evaluation to stay attuned to evolving market trends, consumer preferences, and competitive dynamics. By monitoring key metrics, tracking market trends, and gathering ongoing customer feedback, businesses can refine their strategies, identify areas for improvement, and deliver exceptional customer experiences.

In conclusion, market research is an indispensable tool for businesses aiming to thrive in a competitive marketplace. By understanding the importance of market research, preparing thoroughly, conducting primary and secondary research effectively, interpreting and applying research findings, and continuously monitoring and evaluating research efforts, businesses can gain a deeper understanding of their target audience, make informed decisions, and drive business growth. Embrace the power of market research and unlock the endless opportunities it holds for your organization.

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A Comprehensive Guide on How to Perform Market Research

Navigating the intricate world of business often hinges on understanding markets, consumers, and competitors. This understanding is directly rooted in effective market research. While many acknowledge its significance, the detailed process of conducting comprehensive market research can be a challenge for some.

This guide aims to clarify the steps and strategies involved, ensuring businesses can gather insights that are both meaningful and actionable. Dive in to discover the nuances and best practices on how to perform market research, setting the foundation for informed decision-making and strategic planning.

Understanding How to Do Market Research

Embarking on the journey of market research can be both exciting and rewarding, as it equips enterprises with market data needed to make strategic decisions. Follow these seven essential market research steps that will steer towards valuable insights.

1. Define Objectives

Before diving into market research, it's crucial to define the research objective. This foundational step forms the groundwork for an effective market research process.

• Start Broad, then Narrow Down : Begin by identifying the overarching goal, such as understanding customer preferences. From there, refine the objective to be more specific, like identifying preferences among a particular demographic or region.
• Align with Business Goals : Ensure that the research objectives are in sync with the company's broader goals. If the aim is market expansion, the research might focus on potential markets or competitor landscapes in new regions.
• Collaborate : Engage multiple departments or stakeholders in the objective-setting process. Different perspectives can offer a more holistic view of what the research should achieve.
• Stay Flexible : While it's essential to have clear objectives, it's equally important to remain adaptable. As the research progresses, new questions or areas of interest might emerge. Being open to refining objectives can lead to unexpected and valuable insights.

2. Choose the Right Market Research Method

Once objectives are crystal clear, the next pivotal step is selecting the appropriate research method. This choice can significantly influence the quality and relevance of the insights gathered. 

Different methods offer varying levels of detail. While some provide a broad overview of the market, others delve deep into specific aspects or demographics. The chosen method also often dictates the time, money, and manpower required. Making an informed choice ensures optimal resource utilization without compromising on the quality of insights.

Exploring common research methods:

• Surveys : Ideal for gathering quantitative data, surveys can reach a wide audience and provide insights on general market trends, preferences, or behaviors.
• Interviews : Offering a qualitative perspective, one-on-one interviews can uncover deeper motivations, challenges, or sentiments of the target audience.
• Focus Groups : These are discussions with a small group of participants, providing a mix of qualitative insights and allowing for dynamic interactions and feedback on specific topics or products.
• Observational Research : By studying consumers in their natural environment, businesses can gain unfiltered insights into behaviors, usage patterns, and more.
• Experimental Research : This method tests hypotheses in controlled settings, allowing businesses to understand cause-and-effect relationships, such as the impact of a price change on sales.

3. Determine Target Market Research Audience

Identifying the specific target market research audience allows tailoring research efforts, ensuring relevant and representative data. This step ensures that the data collected is not just accurate but also relevant to the business's goals.

Steps to identify the right audience:

• Segmentation : Divide the broader market into smaller segments based on criteria like demographics, buying behavior, geographic location, or psychographics.
• Prioritization : Not all segments might be equally relevant. Assess which segments align most closely with the business objectives and prioritize them for research.
• Sampling : Instead of surveying an entire segment, a representative sample can be chosen. This sample should be large enough to be statistically significant but manageable in terms of research resources.
• Validation : Ensure that the chosen audience truly represents the desired market segment. This might involve preliminary surveys or checks to confirm their relevance.

Tips for determining the right audience:

• Stay Updated : Market dynamics change, and so do audience behaviors and preferences. Regularly update audience definitions to stay relevant.
• Avoid Biases : Ensure that the selection process is unbiased. Over-relying on certain criteria or overlooking others can skew results.
• Engage Stakeholders : Collaborate with sales, customer service, or other departments that interact directly with customers. Their insights can be invaluable in defining the right audience.

4. Collect Market Research Data

The data collection phase is where the groundwork laid in the previous steps comes to fruition. It's the process of gathering information from the defined audience using the chosen research method. The quality and accuracy of the data collected during this phase will directly influence the insights and conclusions drawn.

Best practices for data collection:

• Ensure Consistency : Whether it's the wording of survey questions or the setting of focus groups, maintaining consistency ensures data reliability across the board.
• Prioritize Data Quality : It's better to have smaller, high-quality data than vast amounts of unreliable information. Implement checks and balances to maintain data integrity.
• Stay Ethical : Always seek consent from participants, maintain their privacy, and be transparent about how the data will be used.
• Test and Refine : Before rolling out on a larger scale, test the data collection methods on a smaller group to identify and rectify potential issues.

5. Analyze the Market Research Data

After the meticulous process of data collection, the next step is analysis. This phase transforms raw data into meaningful insights, providing a clearer understanding of the market landscape, consumer behaviors, and potential opportunities or challenges.

Key data analysis techniques:

• Statistical Analysis : Using tools and software, data can be subjected to various statistical tests to identify significant patterns or trends.
• Qualitative Analysis : For data from interviews or focus groups, thematic analysis can be employed to identify recurring themes or sentiments.
• Comparative Analysis : By comparing current data with past data sets or benchmarking against industry standards, businesses can gauge their performance and position in the market.
• Predictive Analysis : Leveraging historical data and statistical algorithms, businesses can forecast future trends or behaviors.
• Visual Data Analysis : Tools that create graphs, charts, and heat maps can help in visualizing complex data sets, making patterns more discernible.

6. Interpret the Results

With data analysis complete, the next crucial step of market research is interpretation. This phase involves making sense of the analyzed data, drawing conclusions, and understanding the implications for the business. It's where the numbers and patterns are translated into strategic insights that can guide decision-making.

Steps for effective interpretation:

• Relate to Objectives : Revisit the initial research objectives and assess how the results address them. This ensures the interpretation remains aligned with the research's purpose.
• Consider External Factors : Understand external market dynamics, economic factors, or industry trends that might influence the results. This provides a holistic view of the findings.
• Draw Conclusions : Based on the data and its analysis, draw clear conclusions. These should be concise, actionable, and directly related to the research objectives.
• Recommend Actions : Based on the conclusions, suggest actionable steps the business can take. This turns the research into a strategic tool for growth.

7. Present the Findings

After the rigorous processes of data collection, analysis, and interpretation, it's time to communicate the insights. Presenting the findings is about packaging the market research results in a manner that's clear, compelling, and actionable for stakeholders, ensuring that the research's value is fully realized.

Key elements of an effective presentation:

• Executive Summary : Start with a concise overview of the research objectives, methods, and key findings. This provides a snapshot for those who might not delve into the details.
• Visual Aids : Utilize charts, graphs, and infographics to represent data visually . This makes complex data sets more digestible and highlights key patterns or trends.
• Detailed Findings : Delve into the specifics of the results, ensuring that stakeholders have access to both the broad strokes and the finer details.
• Recommendations : Based on the interpreted results, outline actionable recommendations for the business. This turns insights into clear next steps.
• Q&A Session : Allow stakeholders to ask questions or seek clarifications. This ensures a thorough understanding and can also provide additional perspectives.

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Unlock ChatGPT's potential in building marketing reports and dashboards with this comprehensive guide. 5 steps to build your next market research report.

Example of Market Research

Imagine launching a new product and wanting to understand the market's response. Market research becomes the guiding compass, gauging customer interest through methods like surveys and focus groups.

Gauging Customer Interest

Market research becomes your trusted ally in deciphering the minds and hearts of your target customers. Through surveys, focus groups, and feedback mechanisms , you gain valuable insights into what sparks their interest and captures their attention. Unveiling the features, benefits, and packaging that resonate most with consumers allows you to tailor your product offerings to meet their desires precisely.

Identifying Competitors

Market research identifies competitors, their market size, and what sets the product apart. In the fiercely competitive business landscape, knowing who your competitors are and what sets you apart is essential. Armed with this knowledge, your enterprise can carve out a distinct niche and craft a unique value proposition that resonates with your audience.

Determining Optimal Pricing Strategies

Pricing is crucial. Market research guides towards the optimal balance between profitability and customer perception. By assessing consumer willingness to pay and comparing prices of similar products in the market, you can strategically position your offering to attract and retain loyal customers.

Analyzing Consumer Behavior Market Research Data

Data becomes the goldmine of knowledge, and market research is the expert prospector that digs deep to unearth valuable insights. By analyzing consumer behavior data, your enterprise gains a deep understanding of customer preferences, shopping habits, and pain points. This treasure trove of information empowers you to refine your marketing approach, create compelling messaging, and deliver personalized experiences that resonate with your audience on a profound level.

Allocating Resources Effectively

Launching a new product demands efficient resource allocation. Market research guides to invest where they yield the highest returns. By identifying the most promising market segments and channels, you can optimize your marketing efforts, ensuring your message reaches the right audience at the right time.

Aligning Business Strategies With Actual Market Desires

The journey of conducting market research is like navigating through uncharted waters. By defining clear objectives, choosing the right methods, determining the target audience, collecting and analyzing data, interpreting the results, and presenting the findings in a clear and concise manner, an enterprise positions itself to unlock valuable insights. These insights empower strategic decisions, driving growth and success in the fiercely competitive market landscape. It's all about understanding market demand research, competitor landscape, customer preferences, and more, and using this knowledge to steer the enterprise in the right direction.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the essential steps for effective market research.

To succeed in market research, follow these steps. First, define clear goals and insightful research questions. Then, choose suitable research methods aligned with objectives. Identify the specific audience for relevant data. Collect reliable data systematically using tools like surveys. Analyze the data to uncover meaningful trends. Interpret results for strategic decisions. Finally, present findings in a concise report.

How can market research benefit new product launches?

Market research helps new product launches by understanding customer interest. It identifies competitors and pricing strategies. Analyzing consumer behavior data guides better decision-making. Market research optimizes marketing efforts for higher returns.

How does market research refine business marketing approaches?

Market research refines marketing by providing insights, identifying effective strategies, and keeping up with trends. It assesses marketing success, leading to improvements.

What are the primary benefits of using market research in decision-making?

Market research reduces uncertainty, identifies opportunities, minimizes risks, boosts competitiveness, and enhances customer satisfaction.

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A Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting Effective Market Research

Market research is the backbone of informed business decisions. Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting, understanding your market is essential for success. 

In this guide, we’ll take you through a step-by-step process for conducting effective market research. We’ll also explore the role of the “Best Business Market Research Company” and the significance of professional “Business Market Research Services.”

Simple Guidance

Define your objectives.

Before diving into research, clearly define your objectives. Ask yourself what you want to achieve through this research. Are you looking to understand your target audience better, evaluate market trends, or assess your competition? Knowing your goals will guide your research efforts.

Identify Your Target Audience

Your target audience is the foundation of your research. Define who your ideal customers are. Consider variuos demographics of data like age, gender, income, and location. Dive deeper into psychographics, including lifestyle, preferences, and behaviors. Understanding your audience helps tailor your research.

Choose Your Research Methods

There are various research methods at your disposal:

• Surveys: Collect data through questionnaires or online surveys.
• Interviews: Conduct one-on-one interviews with industry experts or potential customers.
• Observation: Observe consumer behavior in a natural setting.
• Secondary Research: Utilize existing data, reports, and studies.
• Focus Groups: Gather a small group to discuss their opinions and experiences.

Select methods that align with your objectives and budget.

Gather Data

Execute your chosen research methods. Create surveys, conduct interviews, or observe market trends. Ensure that your data collection process is unbiased and representative of your target audience.

Analyze Data

Once you’ve gathered data thoroughly, it’s time to analyze it deeply. Look for patterns, trends, and insights. Consider using software tools or hiring professionals for complex data analysis.

Evaluate Competitors

To stay competitive, you must know your rivals. Identify variuos key competitors and analyze their strengths or potential and weaknesses. Determine what sets your business apart and how you can capitalize on it.

Professional Market Research Services

Consider enlisting the expertise of a Best Business Market Research Company . These firms specialize in comprehensive market analysis. They have access to vast data resources and employ skilled analysts to provide in-depth insights. Hiring professionals can save you time and ensure the accuracy of your research.

Customer Feedback

Listen to your customers. Their feedback can be a goldmine of information. Conduct customer surveys, read reviews, and engage with them on social media. Their opinions can guide product development and marketing strategies.

Monitor Trends

Market research isn’t a one-time task. Keep an eye on industry trends, consumer behavior, and emerging technologies. Staying up-to-date ensures your business remains relevant.

Make Informed Decisions

The ultimate goal of market research is to make informed decisions. Based on your findings, adjust your business strategies, marketing campaigns, and product offerings. Your research should guide every aspect of your business.

Testing and Refinement

After implementing changes, continuously monitor their impact. Conduct follow-up research to assess their effectiveness. Be prepared to adapt and refine your strategies as needed.

Cost-Benefit Analysis

Evaluate the cost of your market research against the benefits it brings. A well-executed research strategy should generate a significant return on investment.

Ethical Considerations

Respect ethical standards when conducting market research. Ensure data privacy, obtain informed consent from participants, and avoid deceptive practices.

Conclusion And Final Words

Effective market research is the cornerstone of a successful business. It empowers you to make informed decisions, understand your audience, and stay competitive. While you can conduct research independently, leveraging the expertise of a “Best Business Market Research Company” can provide invaluable insights.

In summary, market research is a dynamic and ongoing process. By following these steps and considering the assistance of professional “Business Market Research Services,” you can gain a competitive edge in your industry and steer your business towards growth and success.

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Home Blog Customer experience How to conduct market research – A complete guide

How to conduct market research – A complete guide

Are your market research efforts falling flat? It’s a common problem. All that data – a sea of numbers and statistics – with nothing to bring it to life. No magic. No pizazz. No WOW factor.

But that doesn’t really matter, does it? Market research isn’t meant to be entertaining, right?

Perhaps not, but it does need to capture the attention of your audience – otherwise, what’s the point? You can have the most valuable insights in the world, but if people are skipping over them to get to the good bit (that never comes), your data is going nowhere.

So, what do you do about it?

Conduct market research effectively, of course.

Welcome to the modern world, a place of digital disruption and data-driven insights; of short attention spans and constant distractions. In all, a challenging landscape were standing out and capturing attention requires more effort than ever before.

Luckily, the field of market research has evolved to meet these challenges. Today, market research is about understanding customer behavior and weaving that understanding into a relatable narrative. It’s about valuing quality insights over quantity and becoming increasingly customer centric.

In this blog, we’ll explore what market research is, why it’s important, and how to conduct market research effectively. We’ll delve into different types of market research, including primary research and secondary research, and discuss popular methods for conducting market research, such as surveys, focus groups, and interviews. We’ll also talk about how to avoid bias in your research and how to make sense of your data.

By the end of this guide, you’ll have all the tools you need to conduct market research that captures the insights you’re craving. You can tap this wealth to make sure your product and services development and delivery are on target, as well make sure you’re stacking up against your competition.

What is market research?

Market research is the process of delving deep into the hearts and minds of your customers, like a detective searching for clues. It’s about uncovering the secrets of your market, discovering what drives your customers’ behavior, and using that knowledge to make informed decisions about your business. Think of it as a treasure map, leading you on a journey to uncover valuable insights and opportunities.

Why use market research?

Market research is a secret weapon for your business. With it, you can keep you place at the head of the pack and avoid any looming potholes in your industry landscape.

By understanding your target market, customers, and competition, you can make strategic decisions that will help your business thrive. It’s a powerful tool that can give you a competitive edge and help you power up your business.

Primary vs secondary research

Primary research is like digging for diamonds, it’s the process of collecting original data. Secondary research, on the other hand, is more like panning for gold, it’s the process of gathering data that has already been collected. Primary research is often more time-consuming and expensive, but it allows you to gather information that is specific to your needs. Secondary research is often quicker and cheaper, but it may not be as specific to your needs.

When conducting market research, it is important to consider both primary and secondary research methods. By combining the two, you can gather a comprehensive understanding of your target audience and make informed decisions. Primary research provides a deeper understanding of your target audience, while secondary research provides a broad understanding of the industry and market trends.

In conclusion, primary and secondary research methods are both important tools in the market researcher’s toolbox. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, and by utilizing both, you can gather a well-rounded understanding of your target audience and make informed decisions. Always remember to keep your research goals and objectives in mind when deciding which research method to use.

Market research methods

There are many methods available to conduct market research, each with unique advantages and disadvantages.

One popular method is surveys, which can be conducted online, by phone, or in person. Surveys are a great way to gather a large amount of data quickly and relatively cheaply. However, they are not always the most effective way to really understand what customers say and do.

Another common method is focus groups, where a small group of people are brought together to discuss a specific topic or product. This method is particularly useful for getting in-depth feedback on a product or service, as participants can discuss their thoughts and experiences with others. However, focus groups can be expensive to organize and may not be representative of the broader population.

Interviewing individual customers is also an effective way to gain insight into customer behavior and attitudes. This method is particularly useful for gaining a deep understanding of a specific target market or customer segment. However, it can be time-consuming and costly to conduct many interviews.

Finally, observational research allows researchers to observe customers in their natural environment, without any interference. This method is useful for gaining insight into customer behavior and can help identify patterns and trends that may not be visible through other research methods.

No matter which method you choose, it is important to remember that market research is not just about gathering data, but also about understanding and interpreting that data.

By using storytelling to bring statistics to life, businesses can create powerful, data-driven customer stories that grab the attention of stakeholders, illustrate key findings, and contribute to customer-centric decisions. Without a compelling narrative, data can become dry and unengaging, leaving readers with fact-fatigue, and missing out on the meaningful takeaways.

How to conduct market research

Conducting market research can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Start by defining your research question, then choose the methods that will work best for your business. Then, gather and analyze the data, and use it to make informed decisions. Remember that market research is an ongoing process, so be sure to keep track of your findings and adjust as needed.

First up, define the research question. The more specific and focused you are, the easier it’ll be to design your research and analyze the results. For example, if you are a new clothing retailer, your research question might be “What are the most popular clothing styles among teenagers in our target market?”

You’ll need to choose of the many available research methods that work best for your business. There are many different methods of market research, including surveys, focus groups, interviews, and observational studies. Surveys are a popular method because they are relatively cheap and easy to administer. Focus groups are also a good option, as they provide valuable insights into consumer behavior and attitudes. Interviews can be more time-consuming, but they are useful for gaining in-depth information from a small number of participants. Observational studies involve observing consumers in their natural environment, which can provide valuable insights into consumer behavior.

After you have chosen your research methods, it is time to gather and analyze the data. Surveys, focus groups, and interviews should be designed with care, as the questions and format can greatly affect the quality of the data. For observational studies, be sure to have a clear plan for observing and recording consumer behavior. Once you’ve got the data, analyze it to find patterns and trends – using software or (unlikely!) by hand.

Of course, data is only worth what you can do with it – use the data to find what’s possible, what’s under threat, and where you can do better. For example, if your research shows that teens in your target market are really into utility jackets, you make sure you’ve got multiple options in your clothing line.

But you can’t rest on your laurels! Market research is ongoing and constant – keeping up with trends never stop and know that customers behaviors shift too. If you don’t keep up with the changes, you’ll lag your competitors.

You might feel swamped at the idea of doing effective market research, but if you take it step by step, with the right methods for your needs, it can be the key to unlocking growth and results.

Remember, keep your research question focused, choose the right methods, gather, and analyze data, and use the data to make informed decisions. Also, remember to keep track of your findings and adjust as needed. It is an ongoing process, so be prepared to adapt and evolve with the market.

15 common market research questions

When it comes to market research, there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach. Every business has unique needs and goals, but there are certain questions that are commonly asked in market research. Some of these questions include:

• Who is my target market?
• What are the needs and preferences of my target market?
• What are my competitors doing?
• How can I improve my product or service?
• How can I reach my target market more effectively?
• What are the current trends in my industry?
• How does my product or service compare to others in the market?
• What are the potential barriers to entry in my market?
• What is my product or service’s unique selling point?
• How can I increase brand awareness?
• What is my target market’s buying behavior?
• How can I increase customer loyalty?
• What is the potential market size for my product or service?
• How can I increase customer retention?
• What is the potential return on investment for my product or service?

Answering these questions through market research can help you gain a deeper understanding of your market and make more informed decisions. However, these questions are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to market research, and you should tailor your questions to your specific needs and goals.

Examples of market research

Are you feeling like Victor Frankenstein on a stormy night, tasked with bringing life to something dull on the surface but brimming with potential? That’s the challenge of market research. But why does it matter so much?

To truly understand your customers and gain valuable insights from your data, you need to dig deep and discover what drives their behavior. And once you have that understanding, you can craft a compelling story. By sharing powerful, data-driven customer stories with your stakeholders, you can grab their attention, illustrate key findings, and contribute to customer-centric decisions.

Because let’s face it, without stories to bring statistics to life, it’s easy for readers to tune out. Our brains relate best to characters, and by constructing characters in your market research, your content will have more impact. In fact, a study from McMaster University found that when stakeholders can see their customers in the story, they connect with the message.

To give you a better idea of how market research can be applied in the real world, let’s look at a couple of examples. In the retail industry, market research can be used to determine which products are in demand and what customers are looking for. A retail company may conduct a survey to gather data on customer preferences and use that information to inform their product development and market focus.

A popular example of market research in the retail industry is Walmart’s use of customer feedback and data analysis to optimize their product selection and improve their in-store experience. In the healthcare industry, market research can be used to understand patient needs and preferences, such as in a study conducted by the Cleveland Clinic to improve their patient satisfaction scores. In the technology industry, market research can be used to understand customer needs and preferences in product development, such as in a study conducted by Apple to improve the user experience of their products.

And let’s not forget successful market research campaigns. One that stands out is Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign. By conducting market research and understanding the importance of personalization, Coca-Cola was able to create a campaign that resonated with their target audience and increased sales. Another example is Netflix’s use of data analysis and customer feedback to inform their decision to create their own content, leading to the success of original series like Stranger Things and The Crown.

In summary, market research is essential for understanding your customers and making informed business decisions. From product development to marketing strategies, it can inform a wide range of decisions and lead to success. So, don’t be like Frankenstein on that stormy night, use market research to bring your ideas to life.

How can Forsta help?

At Forsta, we know that market research is a powerful tool for businesses, but it can be difficult to conduct effectively. That’s why we’ve developed a software specifically designed to make market research easier for businesses. Our  market research survey software  is packed with features that make conducting market research a breeze.

Discover the advantages of Forsta’s market research survey software: If you’re looking to take your market research to the next level, then take a look at our website and see how Forsta’s  market research survey software  can help your business conduct market research effectively.

The power of market research at your fingertips: Market research is crucial for any business that wants to stay competitive. It provides valuable information about your target market, customers, and competition, which can inform a wide range of business decisions. From product development to marketing strategies, market research is essential for the success of your business.

Ready to research? Let’s go.

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How to Conduct Market Research for a Startup

• 17 Mar 2022

With every innovative product idea comes the pressing question: “Will people want to buy it?”

As an entrepreneur with a big idea, what’s the best way to determine how potential customers will react to your product? Conducting market research can provide the data needed to decide whether your product fits your target market.

Before launching a new venture, you should understand market research. Here’s how to conduct market research for a startup and why it’s important.

Access your free e-book today.

What Is Market Research?

Market research is the process of gathering information about customers and the market as a whole to determine a product or service’s viability. Market research includes interviews, surveys, focus groups, and industry data analyses.

The goal of market research is to better understand potential customers, how well your product or service fits their needs, and how it compares to competitors’ offerings.

There are two types of research you can conduct: primary and secondary.

• Primary research requires collecting data to learn about your specific customers or target market segment. It’s useful for creating buyer personas, segmenting your market, and improving your product to cater to customers’ needs .
• Secondary research is conducted using data you didn’t collect yourself. Industry reports, public databases, and other companies’ proprietary data can be used to gain insights into your target market segment and industry.

Why Is Market Research Important for Entrepreneurs?

Before launching your venture, it’s wise to conduct market research to ensure your product or service will be well received. Feedback from people who fall into your target demographics can be invaluable as you iterate on and improve your product.

Performing market research can also help you determine a pricing strategy by gauging customers’ willingness to pay for your product. Additionally, it can improve the user experience by revealing what features matter most to potential customers.

When assessing which startups to fund, investors place heavy importance on thorough market research that indicates promising potential. Providing tangible proof that your product fulfills a market need and demonstrating you’ve taken the time to iterate on and improve it signal that your startup could be a worthwhile investment.

Related: How to Talk to Potential Investors: 5 Tips

How to Do Market Research for a Startup

1. form hypotheses.

What questions do you aim to answer through market research? Using those questions, you can make predictions called hypotheses . Defining your hypotheses upfront can help guide your approach to selecting subjects, researching questions, and testing designs.

An example question you may ask is: “How much are people in my target demographic willing to pay for the current version of my product?” Your hypothesis could be: “If my product contains all its current features, customers will be willing to pay $500 for it.”

Another example question you may ask is: “What’s the user’s biggest pain point, and is my product meeting their needs?” Your hypothesis could be: “I believe the user’s biggest pain point is needing an easy, unintimidating way to learn basic car maintenance, and I predict that my product meets that need.”

You can and should test multiple hypotheses, but try to select no more than a few per test, so the research stays focused.

Related: A Beginner’s Guide to Hypothesis Testing in Business

2. Select the Type of Research Needed to Test Hypotheses

Once you’ve formed your hypotheses, determine which type of research to conduct.

If your hypotheses focus on determining your startup’s place in the broader market, start with secondary research. This can include using existing data to determine market size, how much of that market your startup could reasonably own, who your biggest competitors are, and how your brand and product compare to theirs.

If your hypotheses require primary research, decide which data collection method best fits your needs. These can include one-on-one interviews, surveys, focus groups, and polls. Primary research allows you to gather insights into customer satisfaction and loyalty, brand awareness and perception, and real-time product usability.

3. Identify Target Demographics and Recruit Subjects

To gather meaningful insights, you need to understand your target demographic. Do you aim to cater to working parents, young athletes, or pet owners? Determine the type of person who can benefit from your product.

If you conduct primary research, you need to recruit subjects. This can be done in several ways, including:

• Word of mouth: The simplest but least reliable way to recruit participants is by word of mouth. Ask people you know to refer others to be research subjects, then screen them to confirm they fit your target demographic.
• Promoting the study on social media: Many social media platforms enable you to show an ad to people who fall into specific demographic categories or have certain interests. This allows you to get the word out to a large number of people who qualify.
• Hiring a third-party market research company: Some companies provide full market research services and recruit participants and conduct research on your behalf.

However you recruit subjects, ensure they take a screener survey beforehand, which allows you to determine whether they fit the specific demographic you want to study or have a trait that eliminates them from the research pool. It also provides demographic data—such as age and race—that enables you to select a diverse subset of your target demographic.

In addition, you can offer compensation to boost participation, such as money, meal vouchers, gift cards, or early access to your product. Make it clear that compensation is in appreciation for subjects’ time and honest feedback.

4. Conduct the Research

Once you’ve determined the type of research and target demographic necessary to test your hypotheses, conduct your research. To reduce bias, enlist someone unfamiliar with your hypotheses to perform interviews or lead focus groups.

Ask questions based on your audience and hypotheses. For instance, if you’re aiming to test existing customers’ purchase motivations, you may ask: “What challenge were you trying to solve when you first bought the product?”

If examining brand perception, your audience should consist of potential customers who don’t yet know your brand. Present them with a list of competitor logos—with yours in the mix—and ask them to rank the brands by perceived reliability.

While the questions you ask are vehicles to prove or disprove hypotheses, ensure they don’t lead subjects in one direction. To craft unbiased research questions , use neutral language and vary the order of options in multiple-choice questions. This can keep subjects from selecting the same option each time if they sense the third option is always mapped to a certain outcome. It also helps account for primacy bias (the tendency to select the first option in a list) and recency bias (the tendency to select the final option in a list).

Once you’ve collected data, ensure it’s organized efficiently and securely so you can protect subjects’ identities .

Related: 3 Examples of Bad Survey Questions and How to Fix Them

5. Gather Insights and Determine Action Items

After you’ve organized your data, analyze it to extract actionable insights. While some of the data will be qualitative rather than quantitative, you can detect patterns in responses to make it quantifiable. For instance, noting that 15 of 20 subjects mentioned feeling overwhelmed when attempting to assemble your product.

Once you’ve analyzed the data and communicated emerging trends using data visualizations , outline action items.

If the majority of users in your target demographic reported feeling overwhelmed while assembling your product, action items might include:

• Creating different versions of assembly instructions to test with other groups, varying diagrams and instructional language
• Researching instruction manual best practices

Each round of market research can offer more information about how your product is perceived and experienced by potential users.

Market Research as an Ongoing Endeavor

While it’s useful to conduct market research before launching your product, you should revisit your hypotheses and form new ones over the course of building your venture.

By conducting market research with each version of your product, you can gradually improve it and ensure it continues to fit target customers’ needs.

Are you interested in bolstering your entrepreneurship skills? Explore our four-week online course Entrepreneurship Essentials and our other entrepreneurship and innovation courses to learn to speak the language of the startup world.

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What Is Market Research & How To Do IT Like a Pro

What is market research?

Why is it important to conduct market research, types of market research, most common methods of market research, how to conduct market research, tips for conducting market research, final thoughts.

Whether you’re a new business aiming to enter a new market or a well-established company trying to expand, market research is a vital tool. It helps to pinpoint what your customers need or prefer to decide on launching new products or services. 

But what exactly is market research and how to do it effectively? Read this article to learn more about market research, its types, and the steps to conduct it.

Market research is the process of collecting and analyzing information about a specific target market to better understand the existing or potential customers’ behavior, needs, and preferences. A company can use market research in various situations:

• Market research for a new product or service helps to identify potential customers and know how interested they are in the new launch in advance. 
• Market research is a way to create marketing personas for an existing or new product or service. Having research-based personas helps businesses to reach customers more effectively and make their product more attractive.
• Market research for competitive analysis is aimed at understanding competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, and market positioning of your own business. 
• Market research for customer satisfaction and loyalty allows you to measure how satisfied customers are with the products and services offered. The research also allows you to gain an insight into the overall customer experience.
• Market research for brand recognition aims to measure how aware the consumers are of your brand. 
• Market research allows you to evaluate a past marketing campaign to optimize future campaigns.

To understand the popularity of a research type, take a look at the spending chart showing the share each research has in total market research spend in the U.S.:

Market research can be done internally or outsourced to dedicated companies or market researchers. It can involve various methods and techniques such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, and data analysis.

There are several reasons why market research is important for your business: 

Identifying opportunities

By learning more about your target market and trends in the economy through market research, you can discover new opportunities to use. For example, you may discover a customer need that is yet to be realized by other businesses and then introduce a new product specifically for it. Or, you may discover a feature that would make it easier for people to use your service and increase adoption. This can also potentially lead to new revenue streams and business growth. It can also lead to a big change of strategy, for example, from a vertical marketing system to a horizontal one. 

Assessing competition

Analyzing competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, and strategies, can help to improve your product positioning in the market and identify areas where your business can gain a competitive advantage. For example, you may survey your customers to learn what other brands they prefer and find out what makes your product unique in their eyes. 

Mitigating risks

Market research is your safety net when it comes to business strategy and new ideas. It allows you to assess possible risks and challenges related to entering new markets, launching new products, or implementing new marketing strategies, helping to minimize mistakes.

For example, two of the sectors that spend the most on market research are pharma ( roughly 17% ) and media and entertainment (almost 16%). And it’s no wonder these businesses invest significant money in research. The cost of rushed decisions for both industries could probably be much more than what they spend on market assessment. 

Supporting decision-making

Conducting market research can provide valuable information that supports strategic decision-making across all areas of your business, from product development and pricing to distribution and growth strategies.

Market research has two main types based on the source of information. 

Primary research

Primary market research means you (or a company you hired) collect original data directly from your customers or competitors to target particular research goals. It provides insights into consumer preferences and market trends which allows you to make informed decisions about your product or service. Primary research can be exploratory or specific.

Exploratory research often takes place during the first stages of market research. The process involves interviews or surveys with open-ended questions.

It helps to identify an issue for further research or gain a deeper understanding of a problem or market opportunity. Exploratory research is a way to work through complex issues and discover the main motivations behind certain consumer preferences or behaviors. 

Specific primary market research usually follows the exploratory one and examines one particular issue discovered in the previous stage. It can also be used to test a theory identified in earlier stages of research. Unlike exploratory research, specific research aims to provide precise and conclusive findings to guide decision-making. 

One of the companies that successfully uses primary research is Nike. The company uses data from its apps to analyze customer experience and likes. Analyzing the insights from Invincible model wearers , It released a new more comfortable running shoe. Recently Nike polled one of its app’s users in Japan to collaborate on a special release . 

Secondary research

Secondary market research means that you or a company you hired gathers and analyzes existing information collected by others. You can use the data from governmental surveys, industry reports, and other previously conducted research. For email marketing, you can check out Selzy’s reports on the role of AI and emojis in email marketing .

Let’s imagine your company wants to understand consumer preferences for electric vehicles (EVs). You can start by reviewing industry reports from research firms that provide insights into EV market trends, consumer adoption rates, and factors influencing purchase decisions.

Additionally, you can analyze analytics from social media platforms, automotive forums, and EV enthusiast websites to gauge public sentiment and engagement with EV-related content. This might involve tracking hashtags, monitoring discussions, and analyzing user reviews to identify common themes and concerns among prospective EV buyers.

You might wonder which research type is better for you. Both primary and secondary market research are important and have their use cases. Primary research is significantly more expensive, however, it provides the most relevant information. Secondary research can give you a broad understanding of the issue and is more affordable to conduct. In most cases, it’s better to use them both.

There are two main types of data collection for market research.

Quantitative market research involves collecting numerical data to reveal important statistics about your business and market. Multiple-choice questionnaires are a quantitative research method that can help to measure customers’ interest in your company and its products.   

Qualitative market research , on the other hand, focuses on the opinions and beliefs people have about your business or product. This type of research helps to learn why customers choose to buy certain products. It also offers insights into how customers feel about your products and services. Focus groups and interviews are popular qualitative market research examples.

Let’s now consider the most popular methods used to conduct market research:

Survey is one of the most popular methods of market research. It allows you to collect the information directly from the customers through structured questionnaires. Surveys can be conducted online, via telephone, direct mail , or in person.

The flexibility of surveys allows you to tailor questions to your specific research objectives, be it understanding customer needs or gathering demographic information. Surveys can cover quantitative data with multiple-choice questions and qualitative data with open-ended questions.

Surveys can also be conducted via emails you send to your customers. It is a good way to find out how customers rate the products and services you provide.  

This approach is also convenient for respondents as they can leave their feedback at their own pace. 

Here’s an example of how to embed a survey in an email :

Try Selzy for free to add a survey to your next email campaign. Selzy has an intuitive email builder that makes the process easy and straightforward.

Personal interviews

Personal interviews involve one-on-one conversations between a researcher and a participant. Unlike surveys with fixed questions, interviews allow you to ask more and get richer responses. You can really dig into why someone feels a certain way or does something.

Another big plus is that personal interviews build trust. When people talk directly to someone, they feel more comfortable sharing their thoughts and experiences. This honesty gives insights you might miss with other methods.

Focus groups

Focus groups bring together a small group of selected participants from the company’s target market so that they can leave their feedback on the products or services. Focus groups typically require the assistance of research professionals. A trained moderator leads a discussion with the group about the product and their user experience.

Focus groups provide an opportunity for people to actively participate in dynamic discussions, exchange ideas, and share insights that may not appear in formal surveys or individual interviews. At the same time, focus groups can put pressure on some people to agree with the rest of the group or stay silent. So, it’s important to take human psychology into account when using focus groups as a research method.

Competitive analysis

Competitive analysis is the process that involves researching your major competitors to learn more about their products, services, and marketing strategies. The analysis involves gathering data on competitors’ products, pricing strategies, and customer demographics. 

Analyzing your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses helps to assess the level of competition your business has and identify opportunities for business growth and development. For example, if you discover that a competitor excels in customer service, but lacks in product innovation, you can use this opportunity to focus on developing innovative products while also providing excellent customer service to set your business apart on the market.

Internal data analysis

This method involves analyzing the data collected within the company to gain insights into the performance and efficiency of the business processes. By analyzing internal data such as sales figures, customer demographics, and website traffic, you can better understand your operations and identify areas for improvement or optimization.

One of the ways you can use internal data analysis is to measure the effectiveness of your email marketing. You can analyze open rates , click-through rates , conversion rates, and unsubscribe rates to compare your campaigns and come up with new tactics.

Here’s an example of a campaign report you can get in Selzy: 

Market segmentation

Market segmentation is a popular technique to divide the target market into smaller groups based on shared characteristics or behaviors. The segmentation can be based on various factors such as demographics, psychographics, geographic location, or behavioral traits. Market segmentation allows companies to tailor their marketing strategies and offer options to meet the needs of each segment.

For example, a skincare brand might use segmentation to target customers with sensitive skin who are seeking gentle, hypoallergenic products. By developing a product line specifically designed for this segment, with features such as formulas without fragrance and dermatologist-recommended ingredients, the brand can meet the exact needs of these customers more efficiently.

Just like account-based marketing , segmentation also allows businesses to target specific customer groups more effectively. In email marketing, for example, segmentation can be used to make campaigns more personalized and customer-specific. 

Let’s see how you can conduct effective market research. We’ll explain the steps using a made-up small business called “FreshBite Catering.” Let’s say it specializes in providing gourmet catering services for corporate events, weddings, and private parties. 

1. Define your problem and goals

The first step to start your market research is to define goals and problems relevant to the research. At this point, you need to identify specific challenges, obstacles, or areas of concern that your business aims to address through the research process. Your problem may lie in product positioning. Then your goals can include understanding consumer preferences, identifying competitors, or assessing market trends. 

In our example, FreshBite wants to conduct research to improve its services. The goal then is to identify areas for improvement by effectively gathering comprehensive feedback from a range of customers.

2. Identify your target audience and research method

Next, clearly define who your ideal customers are. Consider demographic factors such as age, gender, income level, education, occupation, location, and household size. Also, think about psychographic characteristics like interests, values, lifestyle, attitudes, and purchasing behavior. Once you know who you’re trying to reach, you can tailor your research methods to gather the most relevant information. 

As FreshBite Catering is conducting research to identify how to improve its services, its target audience would include its current customers, potential customers, and industry experts.

Let’s say the company will use surveys to conduct the research. It will help FreshBite to gain a comprehensive understanding of its customers’ needs and preferences, as well as identify actionable opportunities to improve its services and strengthen its competitive position in the market.

3. Collect data

Once the previous two steps are complete, it’s time to collect the data using the research methods you chose. Besides primary research methods, you can also use secondary research. 

To ensure the quality and reliability of data collection, you need to check that the research is carried out consistently and according to plan.

In our example, FreshBite would design a survey that covers key areas of interest, such as menu selection, food quality, customer service, pricing, and overall customer experience. The survey can include a mix of multiple-choice questions and open-ended questions (such as comment boxes) to allow respondents to provide detailed feedback. The company can collect the data via email or a form on their website.

4. Analyze the data

The next step is to analyze the data gathered from the research. This is where raw information is transformed into actionable insights that drive strategic decision-making. In the vast amount of information collected, you should look for trends, behavioral patterns, and other tendencies.

5. Draw conclusions

After the data analysis, you need to summarize the key findings — the most important things you learned. These findings help to better understand the topic, guide the decision-making, and suggest ideas for future studies.

Here is an example of a market research report showing the main findings of a brand awareness study:

As for FreshBite’s research conclusions, analysis of survey responses may find a significant demand for vegetarian and vegan options among the customer base. Adding vegetarian and vegan dishes to the menu will help FreshBite attract a broader range of customers and enhance overall satisfaction levels.

Let’s consider some tips that will be helpful in conducting effective market research. 

Stay flexible and adapt

Market research is an ongoing process, so be prepared to adapt and refine your approach based on new information and changing market conditions. For example, if a new competitor or a product type enters the market, you might need to adjust your research focus to understand their offerings and market strategy. Additionally, if customer feedback indicates a shift in preferences towards eco-friendly products, you could modify your research to explore sustainable options for your future products. 

Use online tools and resources

Take advantage of online tools and resources to streamline your research process. For example, you could use platforms like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms to conduct surveys for your research. You can also utilize social media analytics tools to track audience engagement and explore market research databases and reports for industry insights.

By using these online tools, you can automate data collection, easily analyze results, and access valuable industry information promptly. Using online resources will help you save time and resources.

Pilot studies

Consider conducting pilot studies of your research methods before fully implementing them. Conducting pilot studies involves testing smaller-scale versions of your research methods to identify any challenges before doing full-scale marketing research.

For example, before launching a large-scale survey, you could test it with a small sample group to assess response rates and identify any ambiguities in the questions.

To conclude, market research is a powerful tool that can help your business increase sales and attract more customers thanks to valuable insights into their preferences and market trends.  

When conducting market research it’s important to follow these steps: 

• Define your problem and goals.
• Identify your target audience and research method.
• Collect research data. 
• Analyze it.
• Draw conclusions from research findings.

Following these steps will make your research effective and help reach successful decisions for your business operations based on the information you got. 

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Market Research (2024): 12 Techniques for Effective Market Research

Home » Market Research   | 🕑 

Gust de Backer

November 4, 2023.

Market research is important for any business….

Most companies fail because they develop something the market doesn’t want or because they don’t move with the market fast enough.

I’m going to show you:

• What market research is
• What components are involved in market research
• How to do market research

Let’s start quickly…

Table of Contents

What is market research?

Market research consists of surveys and analyses that identify your market, or competition, customers and positioning.

It is easy to outsource market research, but it is also easy to do yourself. In fact, market research gives you the most important insights you need to set up or grow your business.

Why is market research important?

The book The Lean Startup states that the number one reason start-ups fail is because they bring a product to market that no one is waiting for:

Market research allows you to understand what the market wants and where the market is moving. A problem-solution fit or product-market fit helps measure your progression of this.

Marketing myopia

The goal is not to sell your products but to provide the customer with his needs. Customers never need a product or service only need the solution.

The goal isn’t to sell things, it’s to satisfy customer needs. – Theodore Levitt

12 components of market research

In doing market research, I always distinguish between the qualitative and quantitative research:

1. Quantitative research

Quantitative research focuses on data that is expressed in numbers, tables, graphs and/or charts. It’s particularly used for gathering facts of issues and matters about which quite a bit is already known.

1.1 Desk research

The term actually gives it away a bit, desk research is the research you do at your desk.

Collecting information based on existing research (also called secondary research) is desk research.

The benefits of this are:

• It can save time.
• The costs are lower.
• A lot of data is available.

The disadvantages are:

• Information does not connect seamlessly to the objective.
• Existing data may be outdated.
• There may be subjective perception.

1.2 Market segmentation and size

Market segmentation is generally done on 5 different components:

• Demographic criteria : components such as age, life stage, gender, ethnicity, culture, etc.
• Geographic criteria : consider country, region, city, size of city, climate, etc.
• Socio-economic criteria : income, occupation, education, etc.
• Psychographic criteria : personal characteristics, lifestyle, etc.
• Behavioral criteria : loyalty, degree of use, buying frequency, digital intelligence, usage, etc.

Dividing the market into certain segments helps you to:

• Align business strategy with different types of buyers.
• Customer-centric marketing strategy.
• Proper positioning for each type of buyer.

To effectively and efficiently determine your go-to-market strategy and the size of your market, it is helpful to use the TAM SAM SOM model:

This model allows you to divide the market into 4 segments so that you can focus your resources on the most potential market, but still have a good picture of the total size of the market.

Also, the TAM SAM SOM model allows you to bridge the ‘Chasm’ between the Early Adopters and the Early Majority:

Indeed, the Early Adopters are content with a solution that is not quite perfect yet while the Early Majority wants a simple, easy and effective solution.

1.3 Search volume

Also a well-known way to determine how much demand there is from the market is a keyword survey:

By looking at search volumes and competition, it is possible to estimate how much demand there is for a particular product or service and how much competition there is to meet that demand. Using a tool like SEMrush or Ubersuggest , you can do this easily.

1.4 Trends and developments

What is easier to start a business than to respond to current trends and developments …

By setting up your business around a trend or development, it is possible to jump on a gap in the market where there is a lot of demand, but where there is still (relatively) little supply.

Think for example of the trend of online shopping, by setting up a webshop early for products that are standard and of which it is difficult and expensive to place them all in a store (books 😉 ) you can respond perfectly to a changing landscape.

The DESTEP analysis allows you to identify trends and developments, which will be covered later in this article.

1.5 Competition

Most markets have some form of competition. Even the blue ocean market often has competition, as Spotify entered a blue ocean market, but still competed with CDs.

With competition, you can look at several things:

• Average revenue
• Positioning
• Price/quality
• The product range
• The service and support
• Distinctive character
• Target group
• Strengths/Weaknesses
• Costs to switch

New Lanchester Strategy

A market can be divided using the New Lanchester Strategy :

• One company has more than 74% of the market share, you then speak of a monopoly . This type of market is extremely difficult to approach.
• The combined market share of the market leader and the second largest company is more than 74% and the market leader is 1.7 times larger than the number two. This is referred to as a duopoly . This market is also very difficult to approach.
• A company with 41% market share that is at least 1.7 times as big as the number two can be labelled as a market leader . In this type of market it often works well to introduce a new segment.
• If one company has no more than 26% market share, anything is still possible.
• If the largest market share of one company within the market is less than 26% then there is no real market leader, this market is relatively easy to approach.

1.6 Starters and stoppers

Look at how many people start and stop each year within your industry, this indicates how healthy your industry is. If many companies go bankrupt, it is a risk, but also an opportunity if you can create a more efficient business model .

You can find this information online at the Chamber of Commerce.

1.7 Surveys with closed questions

Closed-ended surveys are also part of quantitative research, but ideally are used only when validating a particular assumption or analyzing a benchmark or result.

2. Qualitative Research

Qualitative research focuses on words and meanings to understand concepts, thoughts or experiences. This type of research is particularly useful in gaining insight into topics about which there is still little knowledge.

2.1 In-depth interviews

An in-depth interview can be used for:

• Discovering a problem in the market
• Discover solutions to a problem
• Validate problem in the market
• Validate solution to the problem
• Mapping the Decision-Making Unit .

Some rules in conducting customer interviews:

A few more learnings I can share from experience:

• Introduce yourself as someone who is doing research, not someone who is trying to sell a product. It is important not to use the word ‘research’, but to start with ‘Can you help me?’ or ‘I spoke to … who referred me to you’.
• Compliments about the solution is a form of noise, you are not looking for compliments but for concrete and hard validation such as a signature or visible motivation towards the product or service.
• Any feedback you get about future situations is not useful , ‘I don’t have a problem now, but maybe in the future’, ‘If you add A, B and C then I do want to work with you’.
• Don’t generalize , you want to know specifically what the problem is, how big that problem is, what the consequences of that problem are and who is involved in the problem. The same applies to the solution.
• H earing someone say something once is not validation , you want to have as many conversations as possible to be as sure as possible of your findings.
• If you can’t find a specific niche with a specific problem then it is impossible to create a solution for it.

Possibly you could use the STAR / LSD method for this or immerse yourself in Customer Development .

Customer problem statement

Finally, you can then complete a customer problem statement:

“Our [target audience] is experiencing problems with [customer experience]. Based on [considerations], they are now solving this with [alternative solution]. The disadvantages of this are [complaints].”

2.2 Surveys with open questions

Surveys with open questions are also a form of market research. For example, consider a converters survey, or a survey that you put on the thank you page of your web shop or form to ask some open questions.

Hotjar even offers a Product-Market Fit survey to validate your Product-Market Fit .

Optionally, you could also send respondents a questionnaire with open questions, but then I would personally prefer an in-depth interview, because then you can ask more questions.

2.3 Target group research

Concrete insight into the different segments of your target audience based on:

• What they find important
• What kind of people they are
• How much they have to spend
• What the ages are

It’s also possible to do review mining of your competitors or yourself to get some voice of customer data.

2.4 Expert interview

Interviews do not have to be with (potential) customers only, but can also be with experts within a branch or industry. Ask for example about their experience, what they notice, what they see and if they can confirm or refute your assumptions.

2.5 Observations

Sometimes people don’t say what they do and don’t do what they say….

The solution to this is to observe them and see what the behavior is and perhaps whether the behavior changes with a particular solution.

Observe, take notes and perhaps ask if anyone can explain their behavior.

Market research example

Suppose you want to start a construction market (chain), you can start by dividing the market into different segments/personas. For example:

• Non-handy young adults
• Handyman father
• Independent worker

Questions you can answer with market research in doing so:

• What are characteristic traits of this persona?
• What is important to this persona?
• How does this persona make a purchase?
• What does the customer journey look like?
• What are important aspirations of this persona?
• How big is the market?
• What are demographics of this persona?
• Where does this persona live?
• What type of home does this persona have?
• What does this persona have to spend?
• How does this persona go about seeking information?
• What does this persona perform themselves and what does this persona outsource and why?
• What is the frequency that this persona interacts with you?
• Whose opinion does this persona consider important?
• What media can this persona be reached with?
• What does this persona consider important in making a choice?
• Why does this persona choose a particular brand or solution?
• How might this persona be influenced?
• What solutions or competitors does this persona consider?
• How much is the persona willing to spend on a solution?
• What problem does this persona have?
• What solutions does this persona use for their problems?

Well-known marketing models

There are also some well-known marketing models that you can use to conduct market research, such as:

• Potential entrants
• Strength of substitutes
• Supplier strength
• Buyer power
• Competitive power of players in the market among themselves
• Demographic factors
• Economic factors
• Socio-cultural factors
• Technological factors
• Ecological factors
• Political-legal factors
• Context Map : is very similar to the DESTEP Analysis, but slightly more comprehensive.
• Market Development
• Market penetration
• Diversification
• Product development
• Value Strategies of Treacy and Wiersema : a company should be good at 3 of the value strategies and excellent at one of the value strategies.
• SWOT Analysis : identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
• Question marks
• Total Addressable Market
• Serviceable Available Market
• Serviceable Obtainable Market

Red or Blue Ocean

There is a difference between a Red or Blue Ocean market:

Based on this, you can more easily choose how to approach the market:

• Existing market (Red Ocean)
• New market (Blue Ocean)
• Niche strategy
• Cost-leader

Start Investigating…

Now it’s your turn, Get Out Of The Building and start researching.

I’m curious, what do you think is the most efficient form of market research?

Let me know in a comment.

P.S. could you use some extra help? Send an e-mail to [email protected]

Frequently asked questions about Market Research

Market research consists of surveys and analysis that identify your market, or competition, customers and positioning. There are many different types of research, but desk research combined with customer interviews and questionnaires are often used.

Good market research consists of different customer segments/personas, in-depth understanding of the competition, estimation of the market size, and content understanding of different customer segments.

Exploratory: exploratory research into a problem statement. Descriptive: descriptive research into a problem statement. Explanatory: research into relationships between variables. The requirements of a market research study are a report of the findings, a good questionnaire and the representativeness of the study.

Market research aims to explore the market, to know what is going on, who is in the market, who are your customers, what your customers care about, etc.

I try to help business surpass their growth ceiling with my content.

Sounds interesting?

Let’s connect on LinkedIn!

Account-Based Marketing | Brand Identity | Business Strategy | Customer Development Process | Customer Journey | Decision-Making Unit | Market Research | Marketing and Sales | Marketing Strategy | TAM SAM SOM Model

Gust’s Must-Reads 👇🏼

• TAM SAM SOM
• Value Proposition
• Brainstorming
• Decision Making Unit
• Product-Market Fit
• North Star Metric
• Market Research
• Customer Development
• Growth Hacking
• Brand Identity
• Customer Journey
• Account-Based Marketing

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I have been checking out many of your stories and i can state pretty clever stuff. I will make sure to bookmark your site.

Great to hear! If you have any more questions, feel free to ask them.

Gust du Backer, this was a fascinating read! Market research is all about acquiring market insights and marketing aspects. It addresses all elements influencing both, such as consumer and sales analysis, among others. Whether we are analyzing data for the red or blue oceans, I feel that market research is crucial, and the key aim is to listen to customers’ opinions, rely on credible sources, and understand the stages of what you do to ensure the market strategy’s success.

Thank you, Philip!

Great piece article with complete step-by-step clear ideas about market research techniques. All businesses should undergo a market research analysis before entering into the real world. It helps in knowing their competitor better and gaining crystal clear ideas about their target audience.

Thank you, Dhananjay!

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• Content Marketing

35 Content Marketing Statistics You Should Know

Stay informed with the latest content marketing statistics. Discover how optimized content can elevate your digital marketing efforts.

Content continues to sit atop the list of priorities in most marketing strategies, and there is plenty of evidence to support the reasoning.

Simply put, content marketing is crucial to any digital marketing strategy, whether running a small local business or a large multinational corporation.

After all, content in its many and evolving forms is indisputably the very lifeblood upon which the web and social media are based.

Modern SEO has effectively become optimized content marketing for all intents and purposes.

This is when Google demands and rewards businesses that create content demonstrating experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) for their customers – content that answers all of the questions consumers may have about their services, products, or business in general.

Content marketing involves creating and sharing helpful, relevant, entertaining, and consistent content in various text, image, video, and audio-based formats to the plethora of traditional and online channels available to modern marketers.

The primary focus should be on attracting and retaining a clearly defined audience, with the ultimate goal of driving profitable customer action.

Different types of content can and should be created for each stage of a customer’s journey .

Some content, like blogs or how-to videos, are informative or educational. Meanwhile, other content, like promotional campaign landing pages , gets to the point of enticing prospective customers to buy.

But with so much content being produced and shared every day, it’s important to stay updated on the latest trends and best practices in content marketing to keep pace and understand what strategies may be most effective.

Never has this been more true than in 2024, when we’re in the midst of a content revolution led by generative AI , which some feel represents both an opportunity and a threat to marketers.

To help you keep up, here are 35 content marketing statistics I think you should know:

Content Marketing Usage

How many businesses are leveraging content marketing, and how are they planning to find success?

• According to the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), 73% of B2B marketers, and 70% of B2C marketers use content marketing as part of their overall marketing strategy.
• 97% of marketers surveyed by Semrush achieved success with their content marketing in 2023.
• A B2B Content Marketing Study conducted by CMI found that 40% of B2B marketers have a documented content marketing strategy; 33% have a strategy, but it’s not documented, and 27% have no strategy.
• Half of the surveyed marketers by CMI said they outsource at least one content marketing activity.

Content Marketing Strategy

What strategies are content marketers using or finding to be most effective?

• 83% of marketers believe it’s more effective to create higher quality content less often. (Source: Hubspot)
• In a 2022 Statista Research Study of marketers worldwide, 62% of respondents emphasized the importance of being “always on” for their customers, while 23% viewed content-led communications as the most effective method for personalized targeting efforts.
• With the increased focus on AI-generated search engine results, 31% of B2B marketers say they are sharpening their focus on user intent/answering questions, 27% are creating more thought leadership content, and 22% are creating more conversational content. (Source: CMI)

Types Of Content

Content marketing was synonymous with posting blogs, but the web and content have evolved into audio, video, interactive, and meta formats.

Here are a few stats on how the various types of content are trending and performing.

• Short-form video content, like TikTok and Instagram Reel, is the No. 1 content marketing format, offering the highest return on investment (ROI).
• 43% of marketers reported that original graphics (like infographics and illustrations) were the most effective type of visual content. (Source: Venngage)
• 72% of B2C marketers expected their organization to invest in video marketing in 2022. (Source: Content Marketing Institute – CMI)
• The State of Content Marketing: 2023 Global Report by Semrush reveals that articles containing at least one video tend to attract 70% more organic traffic than those without.
• Interactive content generates 52.6% more engagement compared to static content. On average, buyers spend 8.5 minutes viewing static content items and 13 minutes on interactive content items. (Source: Mediafly)

Content Creation

Creating helpful, unique, engaging content can be one of a marketer’s greatest challenges. However, innovative marketers are looking at generative AI as a tool to help ideate, create, edit, and analyze content quicker and more cost-effectively.

Here are some stats around content creation and just how quickly AI is changing the game.

• Generative AI reached over 100 million users just two months after ChatGPT’s launch. (Source: Search Engine Journal)
• A recent Ahrefs poll found that almost 80% of respondents had already adopted AI tools in their content marketing strategies.
• Marketers who are using AI said it helps most with brainstorming new topics ( 51%) , researching headlines and keywords (45%), and writing drafts (45%). (Source: CMI)
• Further, marketers polled by Hubspot said they save 2.5 hours per day using AI for content.

Content Distribution

It is not simply enough to create and publish content.

For a content strategy to be successful, it must include distributing content via the channels frequented by a business’s target audience.

• Facebook is still the dominant social channel for content distribution, but video-centric channels like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram are growing the fastest .  (Source: Hubspot)
• B2B marketers reported to CMI that LinkedIn was the most common and top-performing organic social media distribution channel at 84% by a healthy margin. All other channels came in under 30%.
• 80% of B2B marketers who use paid distribution use paid social media advertising. (Source: CMI)

Content Consumption

Once content reaches an audience, it’s important to understand how an audience consumes the content or takes action as a result.

• A 2023 Content Preferences Study by Demand Gen reveals that 62% of B2B buyers prefer practical content like case studies to inform their purchasing decisions, citing “a need for valid sources.”
• The same study also found that buyers tend to rely heavily on content when researching potential business solutions, with 46% reporting that they increased the amount of content they consumed during this time.
• In a recent post, blogger Ryan Robinson reports the average reader spends 37 seconds reading a blog.
• DemandGen’s survey participants also said they rely most on demos ( 62% ) and user reviews (55%) to gain valuable insights into how a solution will meet their needs.

Content Marketing Performance

One of the primary reasons content marketing has taken off is its ability to be measured, optimized, and tied to a return on investment.

• B2C marketers reported to CMI that the top three goals content marketing helps them to achieve are creating brand awareness, building trust, and educating their target audience.
• 87% of B2B marketers surveyed use content marketing successfully to generate leads.
• 56% of marketers who leverage blogging say it’s an effective tactic, and 10% say it generates the greatest return on investment (ROI).
• 94% of marketers said personalization boosts sales.

Content Marketing Budgets

Budget changes and the willingness to invest in specific marketing strategies are good indicators of how popular and effective these strategies are at a macro level.

The following stats certainly seem to indicate marketers have bought into the value of content.

• 61% of B2C marketers said their 2022 content marketing budget would exceed their 2021 budget.
• 22% of B2B marketers said they spent 50% or more of their total marketing budget on content marketing. Furthermore, 43% saw their content marketing budgets grow from 2020 to 2021, and 66% expected them to grow again in 2022.

Content Challenges

All forms of marketing come with challenges related to time, resources, expertise, and competition.

Recognizing and addressing these challenges head-on with well-thought-out strategies is the best way to overcome them and realize success.

• Top 3 content challenges included “attracting quality leads with content” ( 45% ), “creating more content faster” (38%), and “generating content ideas” (35%). (Source: Semrush’s The State of Content Marketing: 2023 Global Report)
• 44% of marketers polled for CMI’s 2022 B2B report highlighted the challenge of creating the right content for multi-level roles as their top concern. This replaced internal communication as the top challenge from the previous year.
• Changes to SEO/search algorithms ( 64% ), changes to social media algorithms (53%), and data management/analytics (48%) are also among the top concerns for B2C marketers.
• 47% of people are seeking downtime from internet-enabled devices due to digital fatigue.
• While generative AI has noted benefits, it also presents challenges for some marketers who fear it may replace them. In Hubspot’s study, 23% said they felt we should avoid using generative AI.
• Another challenge with AI is how quickly it has come onto the scene without giving organizations time to provide training or to create policies and procedures for its appropriate and legal use. According to CMI, when asked if their organizations have guidelines for using generative AI tools, 31% of marketers said yes, 61% said no, and 8% were unsure.

Time To Get Started

As you can clearly see and perhaps have already realized, content marketing can be a highly effective and cost-efficient way to generate leads, build brand awareness, and drive sales. Content, in its many formats, powers virtually all online interactions.

Generative AI is effectively helping to solve some of the time and resource challenges by acting as a turbo-powered marketing assistant, while also raising a few procedural concerns.

However, the demand for content remains strong.

Those willing to put in the work of building a documented content strategy and executing it – by producing, optimizing, distributing, and monitoring high-value, relevant, customer-centric content, with the help of AI or not – can reap significant business rewards.

More resources:

• 6 Ways To Humanize Your Content In The AI Era
• Interactive Content: 10 Types To Engage Your Audience
• B2B Lead Generation: Create Content That Converts

Featured Image: Deemak Daksina/Shutterstock 

Jeff has been helping organizations manage, measure and optimize their Web presences for over 20 years. He has deep knowledge ...

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GOVT 3557 Exceptionalism Questioned: America and Europe

Course description.

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2023-2024 . Courses of Study 2024-2025 is scheduled to publish mid-June.

Do you want to learn the discussion-based case method as taught at the Harvard Business School? Do you want to learn how to write a long research paper? Do you not want to take a final examination? If so this course may be for you. Since the beginning of the republic, American intellectuals, politicians and businessmen have extolled the exceptionalism of America. In a world of diverse forms of capitalism, can this view be sustained? Is America a shining city on the hill or a darkened city in the valley? Comparison is an effective way to discern and assess what is unique and what is general in the distinctive form of America's capitalist democracy. In this course the liberal market economy of the United States with its distinctive strengths and weaknesses is put side-by-side with different forms of liberal, corporatist and statist market economies that characterize different European countries in the emerging European polity. The diversity of capitalism points to one overarching conclusion: all of these countries are arguably capitalist, democratic market economies belonging to "the West;" and each of them has distinctive strengths and weaknesses. Like all other countries, America is ordinary in mobilizing its formidable capacities and displaying its glaring weaknesses as it copes with change. 

When Offered Fall.

Distribution Category (GLC-AS, SBA-AS, SSC-AS) Course Subfield (AM, CP, IR)

View Enrollment Information

  Regular Academic Session.   Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: AEM 3557 ,  ILRGL 3557

Credits and Grading Basis

4 Credits Graded (Letter grades only)

Class Number & Section Details

18570 GOVT 3557   LEC 001

Meeting Pattern

• TR 2:55pm - 4:10pm To Be Assigned
• Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024

Instructors

Katzenstein, P

To be determined. There are currently no textbooks/materials listed, or no textbooks/materials required, for this section. Additional information may be found on the syllabus provided by your professor.

For the most current information about textbooks, including the timing and options for purchase, see the Cornell Store .

Additional Information

Instruction Mode: In Person

18573 GOVT 3557   DIS 201

• M 9:05am - 9:55am To Be Assigned

18577 GOVT 3557   DIS 202

• M 10:10am - 11:00am To Be Assigned

18581 GOVT 3557   DIS 203

• W 11:15am - 12:05pm To Be Assigned

18582 GOVT 3557   DIS 204

• W 12:20pm - 1:10pm To Be Assigned

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Available Syllabi

About the class roster.

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