market research survey strategy

How to conduct a market survey that works

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Knowing your audience is the backbone of success whether you’re a small business or a household name. And to know your audience, you need to do some all-important market research. But what’s the best way to go about doing that? Well, the easy answer is to use our market research platform to get on-demand insights into your existing audience and your potential customers.

But, if you want to take the long route, you could conduct a good old fashioned market research survey yourself.

What is a market research survey?

We’re glad you asked. A market research survey is a way of gaining information, insights, and attributes about your target consumers, so you can better understand them and what makes them tick. These surveys are typically conducted by market research companies . More information means more knowledge, which leads to more understanding – helping drive more successful campaigns.

But market research surveys don’t just help you improve your targeting and create campaigns that have impact. They provide valuable insight into the feelings, attitudes, and preferences of your audience – guiding everything from concept testing and launching new products, to brand positioning and customer satisfaction.

But what does it really take to conduct a market survey that works? Let’s get into it.

1. Set a clear goal 2. Know who to survey 3. Get help from survey-savvy people 4. Figure out the best way to get answers 5. Focus on the execution 6. Understand analysis is the answer 7. Uncover the bigger picture

1. Set a clear goal

Start by setting a clear objective of what you want from your market research. This will be determined by your marketing goals. If you’re launching a new product, for example, you’ll want to know what the demand is, how aware people are of your existing products/brand, if they currently use a competitor, and how frequently they buy.

Be precise about the outcome you’re looking for so you can get the answers you need to nail your future marketing campaigns .

• Why are you doing the survey?
• What do you want to find out from your research?
• Is it for product improvements with an existing audience?
• Are you looking to launch a new product into the marketplace and therefore need to know if there’s sufficient demand?
• Are you looking to improve your customer experience?

Knowing what you want to find out will help you identify what information you need. And it’ll help you determine whether a qualitative or quantitative approach works best.

The aim is to find out what your customers are looking for and improve satisfaction with your brand. 

Uncovering consumer attitudes could reveal some invaluable insights that will guide your strategy with the customer at the heart.

2. Know who to survey

Market research starts with identifying which market you’re targeting. Who’s your audience? Are you looking at existing customers? Or are you looking to find out more about potential customers? 

Think back to your goal here. Keeping in mind what you’re looking to achieve from your market research can help guide who you survey. For example, if you want to build on your customer offering by introducing a priority service, you may just want to gather information from people living in a certain area or earning over a certain amount.

Use regional data to attain precise information about the target customer whose data you need, and narrow it down to support your ultimate goal. 

Determine key demographics of your target audience like where they live, their age, gender, or income bracket. You’ll also need to establish the market size of your target market in order to calculate your sample size.

3. Get help from some survey-savvy people

Who knows about surveys? We do. 

We teased this at the start, but turning to an existing, ongoing survey (or multiple) could save you a helluva lot of time – and money. So if you need a faster way to understand digital consumers, we give you an on-demand window into their worlds. All in a few quick clicks, in one reliable audience insights platform.

GWI data spans 53 markets and represents over 2 billion internet users, making it the world’s leading market survey on digital consumers. 

We provide a level of detail you can’t find elsewhere. Survey research is tricky. So why not leave it to the market research experts? And if you want something super bespoke for your business needs, our Custom research offering might be just the thing. 

4. Figure out the best way to get answers

Cast your mind back to steps 1 and 2. Thinking about who you’re looking to survey and what you’re looking to gain will help determine how you get those answers from the right target market. 

Knowing the difference between primary research and secondary research, as well as qualitative and quantitative, can go a long way to helping you figure out the best approach. 

For example, primary market research is where you gather data that hasn’t been collected before – it’s new, essentially. You can gather primary research via surveys or observations. On the other hand, secondary market research is where you gather data that’s already been collected or conducted before by other people. You can find secondary research in published reports or studies. 

Surveys can be carried out in a number of ways, no longer exclusive to telephone surveys and focus groups. The online survey is another option that allows you to take a step away from the time-consuming paper survey. You can also conduct market research in groups or on an individual basis. 

Once again, the optimum approach for your brand will depend on your goals and the information you’re trying to capture, as well as your target audience, market share potential, and overall preferences.

If you want to gather in-depth information from Gen Z , for example, you might want to head over to Instagram. With 28% of Gen Zs saying that Instagram is their favorite social media platform, you’re most likely to find them scrolling here where you can try out polls to get answers, and  ask follow-up questions that dig a little deeper.

Using quantitative panel data to back this up, market researchers can come away with powerful insights and market analysis they can trust.

 5. Focus on the execution

Once you’re clear about your goals, the data you want, the people you need to talk to, and the best way to gather your survey data, it’s important to maximize the sample size. 

This means reaching people at the right time, checking out where they’re likely to be, and setting a realistic timeframe for them to share their thoughts.

You’ve got to really keep your target audience in mind here. If you’re physically interacting with people, think about the places they’re likely to visit, and at what times they’ll be there. There’s no use setting up camp at the mall on a weekday if you’re looking to talk to corporate big fish.

If it’s an online survey, understanding which social media platforms or websites they are likely to hang out on, and at what times they tend to be online is vital to getting those survey form completion numbers to hit the high notes. 

Conducting some data analysis ahead of the survey can go a long way in helping make the survey easier to reach the right audiences. Take the guesswork out of your marketing research.

6. Analysis is the answer

Once you’ve gathered your market survey responses, they need to be analyzed thoroughly to pull out key trends and findings to allow you to gain some tasty, actionable insights from the data. So, what do you need to be looking at?

• Examine qualitative answers for stand-out quotes and detailed feedback about attitudes and behaviors
• Calculate averages from your quantitative answers
• Compare your results against global and local secondary market research

There are plenty of ways to cross-examine and analyze your market research data based on the type of data you’ve collected and what you’re looking for.

7. Uncover the bigger picture

Conducting a single market research survey is invaluable to brands, but when carried out in isolation, market research can lack real-world relevance.  

To get more from your analysis, large-scale market survey data allows you to compare your findings across multiple data points. You can cross-reference it with local subgroups and compare against global averages to clearly see where the value truly lies.

Use case: Identifying affluent consumer behaviors on social media

Here’s a hypothetical example. Let’s say you sell a luxury product. You’ve identified from your own survey results and analytics that social media is prominent in your customers’ lives. 

But you need more detail to target high-earners on the channels where they’re most active.

By using a deep data set to dig down into their activity on social media, you can uncover exactly where they spend their time:

Combining this with questions designed to reveal their motivations for using social media takes your understanding to the next level:

Here, 30% of affluent consumers follow/subscribe to companies and brands they purchase from, so we’re more inclined to say they can be targeted with a good social media strategy from brands to be enticed into buying from them. 

Uncovering insights like this is key to delivering a well-positioned message that sticks. 

Now, you can create a campaign specifically targeted to hit your ideal target market, where they hang out and in a way that speaks to their interests.

Market research surveys are pivotal to success

Market surveys can be used in a variety of ways to help a brand focus more on its target audience and take a more people-based approach.

You can use it to get a better understanding of the perceptions around your brand, test the appetite for a new product, and find customer demographics to accurately pitch an ad campaign. A marketing research survey enables you to gather information about your audience and help to build a buyer persona for each sector of your target audience for more personalized, effective marketing strategies.

Data holds the answers you need to achieve almost every business goal.

But data is powerless without effective analysis. And without effective analysis, no insights can be drawn. So it pays to have third-party survey data sets at your disposal to contextualize your findings. A skillfully-planned market survey that catches customer feedback and experience will deliver findings that could spell the difference between success and failure in a marketing strategy. Leveraging GWI’s data platform means getting clued up on your audience fast, and making decisions you can stand behind.

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Marketing tips

How to conduct your own market research survey (with example)

After watching a few of those sketches, you can imagine why real-life focus groups tend to be pretty small. Even without any over-the-top personalities involved, it's easy for these groups to go off the rails.

So what happens when you want to collect market research at a larger scale? That's where the market research survey comes in. Market surveys allow you to get just as much valuable information as an in-person interview, without the burden of herding hundreds of rowdy Eagles fans through a product test.

Table of contents:

What is a market research survey?

Market surveys are what's known as "primary research"—that is, information that the researching company gathers firsthand. Secondary research consists of data that another organization gathered and published, which other researchers can then use for their own reports. Primary research is more expensive and time-intensive than secondary research, which is why you should only use market research surveys to obtain information that you can't get anywhere else. 

A market research survey can collect information on your target customers':

Experiences

Preferences, desires, and needs

Values and motivations

The types of information that can usually be found in a secondary source, and therefore aren't good candidates for a market survey, include your target customers':

Demographic data

Consumer spending data

Household size

Why conduct market research?

Here are some examples of how market research surveys can be used to fill a wide range of knowledge gaps for companies:

A B2B software company asks real users in its industry about Kanban board usage to help prioritize their project view change rollout.

A B2C software company asks its target demographic about their mobile browsing habits to help them find features to incorporate into their forthcoming mobile app.

A printing company asks its target demographic about fabric preferences to gauge interest in a premium material option for their apparel lines.

A wholesale food vendor surveys regional restaurant owners to find ideas for seasonal products to offer.

Primary vs. secondary market research

Market surveys are what's known as "primary research"—that is, information that the researching company gathers firsthand. Secondary research consists of data that another organization gathered and published, which other researchers can then use for their own reports. 

Primary research is more expensive and time-intensive than secondary research, which is why you should only use market research surveys to obtain information that you can't get anywhere else. 

If you've exhausted your secondary research options and still have unanswered questions, it's time to start thinking about conducting a market research survey.

6 types of market research survey

Depending on your goal, you'll need different types of market research. Here are six types of market research surveys.

1. Buyer persona research

A buyer persona research survey will help you learn more about things like demographics, household makeup, income and education levels, and lifestyle markers. The more you learn about your existing customers, the more specific you can get in targeting potential customers. You may find that there are more buyer personas within your user base than the ones that you've been targeting.

2. Sales funnel research

With a sales funnel research survey, you can learn about potential customers' main drivers at different stages of the sales funnel. You can also get feedback on how effective different sales strategies are. Use this survey to find out:

How close potential buyers are to making a purchase

What tools and experiences have been most effective in moving prospective customers closer to conversion

3. Customer loyalty research

The demographics of your most loyal customers

What tools are most effective in turning customers into advocates

What you can do to encourage more brand loyalty

4. Branding and marketing research

The Charmin focus group featured in that SNL sketch is an example of branding and marketing research, in which a company looks for feedback on a particular advertising angle to get a sense of whether it will be effective before the company spends money on running the ad at scale. Use this type of survey to find out:

Whether a new advertising angle will do well with existing customers

Whether a campaign will do well with a new customer segment you haven't targeted yet

What types of campaign angles do well with a particular demographic

5. New products or features research

What features they wish your product currently had

What they think of a particular product or feature idea

6. Competitor research

Whether your competitors have found success with a buyer persona you're not targeting

Information about buyers for a product that's similar to one you're thinking about launching

Feedback on what features your competitors' customers wish their version of a product had

How to write and conduct a market research survey

Once you've narrowed down your survey's objectives, you can move forward with designing and running your survey.

Step 1: Write your survey questions

A poorly worded survey, or a survey that uses the wrong question format, can render all of your data moot. If you write a question that results in most respondents answering "none of the above," you haven't learned much. 

Categorical questions

Also known as a nominal question, this question type provides numbers and percentages for easy visualization, like "35% said ABC." It works great for bar graphs and pie charts, but you can't take averages or test correlations with nominal-level data.

Multiple choice: Use this type of question if you need more nuance than a Yes/No answer gives. You can add as many answers as you want, and your respondents can pick only one answer to the question. 

Checkbox: Checkbox questions add the flexibility to select all the answers that apply. Add as many answers as you want, and respondents aren't limited to just one. 

Ordinal questions

This type of question requires survey-takers to pick from options presented in a specific order, like "income of $0-$25K, $26K-$40K, $41K+." Like nominal questions, ordinal questions elicit responses that allow you to analyze counts and percentages, though you can't calculate averages or assess correlations with ordinal-level data.

Dropdown: Responses to ordinal questions can be presented as a dropdown, from which survey-takers can only make one selection. You could use this question type to gather demographic data, like the respondent's country or state of residence. 

Ranking: This is a unique question type that allows respondents to arrange a list of answers in their preferred order, providing feedback on each option in the process. 

Interval/ratio questions

For precise data and advanced analysis, use interval or ratio questions. These can help you calculate more advanced analytics, like averages, test correlations, and run regression models. Interval questions commonly use scales of 1-5 or 1-7, like "Strongly disagree" to "Strongly agree." Ratio questions have a true zero and often ask for numerical inputs (like "How many cups of coffee do you drink per day? ____").

Ranking scale: A ranking scale presents answer choices along an ordered value-based sequence, either using numbers, a like/love scale, a never/always scale, or some other ratio interval. It gives more insight into people's thoughts than a Yes/No question. 

Matrix: Have a lot of interval questions to ask? You can put a number of questions in a list and use the same scale for all of them. It simplifies gathering data about a lot of similar items at once. 

Example : How much do you like the following: oranges, apples, grapes? Hate/Dislike/Ok/Like/Love

Textbox: A textbox question is needed for collecting direct feedback or personal data like names. There will be a blank space where the respondent can enter their answer to your question on their own. 

Step 2: Choose a survey platform

Most survey apps today look great on mobile, but be sure to preview your survey on your phone and computer, at least, to make sure it'll look good for all of your users.

If you have the budget, you can also purchase survey services from a larger research agency. 

Step 3: Run a test survey

Before you run your full survey, conduct a smaller test on 5%-10% of your target respondent pool size. This will allow you to work out any confusing wording or questions that result in unhelpful responses without spending the full cost of the survey. Look out for:

Survey rejection from the platform for prohibited topics

Joke or nonsense textbox answers that indicate the respondent didn't answer the survey in earnest

Multiple choice questions with an outsized percentage of "none of the above" or "N/A" responses

Step 4: Launch your survey

If your test survey comes back looking good, you're ready to launch the full thing! Make sure that you leave ample time for the survey to run—you'd be surprised at how long it takes to get a few thousand respondents. 

Even if you've run similar surveys in the past, leave more time than you need. Some surveys take longer than others for no clear reason, and you also want to build in time to conduct a comprehensive data analysis.

Step 5: Organize and interpret the data

Tips for running a market research survey.

You know the basics of how to conduct a market research survey, but here are some tips to enhance the quality of your data and the reliability of your findings.

Find the right audience: You could have meticulously crafted survey questions, but if you don't target the appropriate demographic or customer segment, it doesn't really matter. You need to collect responses from the people you're trying to understand. Targeted audiences you can send surveys to include your existing customers, current social media followers, newsletter subscribers, attendees at relevant industry events, and community members from online forums, discussion boards, or other online communities that cater to your target audience. 

Focus questions on a desired data type: As you conceptualize your survey, consider whether a qualitative or quantitative approach will better suit your research goals. Qualitative methods are best for exploring in-depth insights and underlying motivations, while quantitative methods are better for obtaining statistical data and measurable trends. For an outcome like "optimize our ice cream shop's menu offerings," you may want to find out which flavors of ice cream are most popular with teens. This would require a quantitative approach, for which you would use categorical questions that can help you rank potential flavors numerically.

Establish a timeline: Set a realistic timeline for your survey, from creation to distribution to data collection and analysis. You'll want to balance having your survey out long enough to generate a significant amount of responses but not so long that it loses relevance. That length can vary widely based on factors like type of survey, number of questions, audience size, time sensitivity, question format, and question length.

Market research survey campaign example

Let's say you own a market research company, and you want to use a survey to gain critical insights into your market. You prompt users to fill out your survey before they can access gated premium content.

Survey questions: 

1. What size is your business? 

<10 employees

11-50 employees

51-100 employees

101-200 employees

>200 employees

2. What industry type best describes your role?

3. On a scale of 1-4, how important would you say access to market data is?

1 - Not important

2 - Somewhat important

3 - Very important

4 - Critically important

4. On a scale of 1 (least important) to 5 (most important), rank how important these market data access factors are.

Accuracy of data

Attractive presentation of data

Cost of data access

Range of data presentation formats

Timeliness of data

5. True or false: your job relies on access to accurate, up-to-date market data.

Survey findings: 

63% of respondents represent businesses with over 100 employees, while only 8% represent businesses with under 10.

71% of respondents work in sales, marketing, or operations.

80% of respondents consider access to market data to be either very important or critically important.

"Timeliness of data" (38%) and "Accuracy of data" (32%) were most commonly ranked as the most important market data access factor.

86% of respondents claimed that their jobs rely on accessing accurate, up-to-date market data.

Insights and recommendations: Independent analysis of the survey indicates that a large percentage of users work in the sales, marketing, or operations fields of large companies, and these customers value timeliness and accuracy most. These findings can help you position future report offerings more effectively by highlighting key benefits that are important to customers that fit into related customer profiles. 

Market research survey example questions

Your individual questions will vary by your industry, market, and research goals, so don't expect a cut-and-paste survey to suit your needs. To help you get started, here are market research survey example questions to give you a sense of the format.

Yes/No: Have you purchased our product before?

Multiple choice: How many employees work at your company?

<10 / 10-20 / 21-50 / 51-100 / 101-250 / 250+

Checkbox: Which of the following features do you use in our app?

Push notifications / Dashboard / Profile customization / In-app chat

Dropdown: What's your household income? 

$0-$10K / $11-$35K / $36-$60K / $61K+

Ranking: Which social media platforms do you use the most? Rank in order, from most to least.

Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / LinkedIn / Reddit

Ranking scale: On a scale of 1-5, how would you rate our customer service? 

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Textbox: How many apps are installed on your phone? Enter a number: 

Market research survey question types

Good survey apps typically offer pre-designed templates as a starting point. But to give you a more visual sense of what these questions might look like, we've put together a document showcasing common market research survey question types.

Use automation to put survey results into action

Related reading:

This article was originally published in June 2015 by Stephanie Briggs. The most recent update, with contributions from Cecilia Gillen, was in September 2023.

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Amanda Pell

Amanda is a writer and content strategist who built her career writing on campaigns for brands like Nature Valley, Disney, and the NFL. When she's not knee-deep in research, you'll likely find her hiking with her dog or with her nose in a good book.

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Market Research: A How-To Guide and Template

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

MARKET RESEARCH KIT

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

Updated: 02/21/24

Published: 02/21/24

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

Enter: Market Research.

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

Table of Contents

What is market research?

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

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

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

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

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

How? Consider these two things:

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

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

Free Market Research Kit

• SWOT Analysis Template
• Survey Template
• Focus Group Template

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

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.

Don't forget to share this post!

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5 Challenges Marketers Face in Understanding Audiences [New Data + Market Researcher Tips]

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Free Guide & Templates to Help Your Market Research

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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: 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 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 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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How to use market surveys to gather actionable insights

Last updated

1 April 2024

Reviewed by

New to market surveys? Follow this guide to take the guesswork out of your next product or service launch with easy-to-build market surveys that will get you the data you need.

As one of the most effective research methods , many businesses use market surveys as their primary data collection tool. Whether your team is looking to improve existing client offerings or wants to redesign your current products or services, collecting market research will be an essential part of your project’s success.

Your team must facilitate regular market research to understand your target market. Covering everything you need to know, use this guide to get you started down the path of high-quality market research and insight collection. 

Let’s get into it!

Market analysis template

Save time, highlight crucial insights, and drive strategic decision-making

• What are market surveys?

A market survey is a tool used to collect information and data from a set group of people. Often sent to existing customers, surveys for market research can help your team learn valuable information about your target audience and chosen market.

When used correctly, a market survey will provide your team with data and insights, including:

Demographic information of your top customers

The needs and wants of your target audience

Any pain points or issues with your current product or service

Competitor brands that your customers also use

Trends and information about your target market

Market research vs. marketing research

Despite sounding quite similar, market research and marketing research are two different terms:

Market research

As the primary subject of this article, market research is the practice of collecting and analyzing information from a specific target audience or customer base. It’s commonly done as part of UX research and gives the company better insights into the needs and wants of its customers. Market surveys are some of the most widely used tools to conduct this type of research.

Marketing research

Alternatively, marketing research focuses more on reporting on information specifically related to marketing efforts. This type of research is often focused on gaining insights about new or upcoming marketing messaging, campaign launches, and more. A/B testing packaging, surveying customers, and price trialing are examples of marketing research.

• The benefits of surveys for market research

Market surveys are popular across all industries due to their ease of use and efficient data collection capabilities. As your team begins to develop your market research strategy, here are a few reasons why you should consider using market surveys as part of your plan:

Gain insights for potential future products

Instead of blindly creating a new product or service that you think your customers will like, use market research surveys to create exactly what they’re looking for from the start.

Brand loyalty is built through trust and collaboration with your customers. By inviting them into the process (by getting them to share their experiences and preferences), your team not only gains direct feedback about how to move forward but also creates a sense of community and appreciation. 

Using open-ended questions as part of your market research surveys allows your customers to talk about their preferences, experiences, and desires for your brand. This allows their needs and concerns to be heard while providing you with a road map for future success. Talk about a win-win!

Analyze your competitors

Do you know where your brand measures up compared to other competitors in your industry? Learn why your customers choose you (and why others opt for your competitors) with well-crafted surveys for market research.

No matter the industry your company works within, there is always competition between different brands. Help your business stand out from the others by conducting regular market research about your target audience’s experiences—giving you great insights about where your offerings currently stand and what you can do to improve and better serve your customers.

Test your marketing efforts before the big launch

Don’t blow your marketing budget on a campaign that isn’t going to land with your target audience. Instead, top-performing teams use market research surveys to A/B test ideas and storylines within their marketing materials before the big launch—and the results are worth the extra effort!

Focus groups , customer interviews , and small-batch surveys are great ways to learn more about the effectiveness of your current marketing materials. When done currently, your market surveys will give you direct insights into the wording and phrasing used to convey their primary concerns (something that will go a long way for relatability while boosting your conversion rates). 

Everyone wants to be heard and understood—so use your market surveys to connect and listen to your target audience to enhance your next marketing campaign.

Create fresh content that connects

Creating high-quality content is hard—especially if you operate within a narrow niche. If your company uses content marketing to connect with its target audience, marketing surveys can be incredibly valuable. 

Instead of racking your brain to find content ideas that you think will resonate with your target audience, your team can use market surveys to get ideas, perspectives, and stories that can be turned into earnest and compelling content for your brand. 

Sending out a market survey asking for opinions or ideas for content is a surprisingly easy (and effective) way to build a winning content strategy—and we highly recommend adding it to your current marketing strategy!

Understand customer sentiment

How do your customer base and the general public feel about your brand? If you don’t have a clear answer to this question, you need to use well-crafted market surveys to find out.

The way your customers perceive your brand, products, and services has a dramatic impact on the success of your business. Customer sentiment analysis (which can be part of your market research strategy) is a great way to explore this topic—giving you direct insights into the experiences and sentiments about your offerings. Often sent after a purchase or speaking with a customer service representative, this type of market survey helps your team stay on top of your public image. 

If you start noticing an influx of negative reviews, you know it’s time to change. If your brand is well-loved, you need to focus on initiatives supporting and fostering this sentiment further. 

But, without market research surveys, your team will be unaware of customer sentiment, making all decisions reactionary and late rather than as part of your day-to-day decision-making process and strategy.

• Types of market surveys (with examples)

Now that we have explored the incredible value that market research surveys can bring to your team, let’s jump into some of the most common types of surveys used by businesses looking to learn more about their chosen market:

Market description surveys

Market description surveys determine the size and interests of a particular niche segment. When done correctly, market description surveys will give your team insights into the following:

Potential market growth

Existing competitors within the space

The core issues and problems this market is looking to address

Market description surveys are often sent out to a large number of participants to collect data from a wide range of sources. This type of survey is great to implement during the early stages of a new project, as you can use any of the feedback quickly to improve your business. 

Market segmentation surveys

Market segmentation surveys are created to learn more about the specifics of your target audience. Who are they, and who is not a part of this group, and why? What do they like, and what do they need now and into the future?  

By sending market segmentation surveys to your customers and target audience, your team will gain information about:

The different types of people within your chosen market

Market demographic, including age, geographic location, income and gender

Your customer’s primary wants and preferences

Your customer’s pain points and concerns

To create better quality products and services that resonate with your target audience, you first need to understand who they are. Using a market segmentation survey template from SurveyMonkey, your team will be able to segment your market into groups based on shared interests and preferences—allowing you to create more personalized and detailed offerings and marketing campaigns that will convert.

Purchase tracking surveys

Market research surveys can understand and track your customer’s purchase experience and habits. They can highlight each customer’s journey , from learning about your product to paying for your product or service. Purchase tracking surveys provide insights into:

How your customers became aware of your brand

The impact of marketing campaigns

Customer purchase behavior (including the likelihood of repurchase)

Pain points or barriers that prevent customers from buying

Understanding your customer’s path to purchase and experience with your brand is essential for long-term brand success. We recommend using the SurveyMonkey purchase tracking survey template to get started with effective customer purchase tracking research. 

Just adapt the questions to your specific customer base and set the survey to be sent a few days after a purchase—you will be blown away by the amount of information you can collect!

• Common market survey mistakes to avoid

Using the information and templates provided throughout this article, your team can now create and distribute market surveys to your customers and chosen market. To get the most out of your efforts (and to avoid mistakes that can diminish the value of your surveys), here are a few of our top market research survey mistakes you should avoid:

Choosing the wrong audience

No matter how well you write your market survey questions, if you send the content to the wrong group of people, you will not collect helpful information. 

To avoid this fate, spending extra time identifying your target audience can be helpful. Whether you do this through team brainstorming sessions, smaller custom research projects, or by segmenting your already existing target audience, these efforts will be tremendously helpful for getting accurate and nuanced insights from your surveys down the line.

Using the wrong sample size

The number of people you survey will significantly impact the quality and accuracy of the results you receive—and should be something your team is aware of before you even send out your first market research survey!

To determine what size of sample size will be best suited for your project, you first need to think about the type of information you are looking to collect:

Generalized market analysis

Broad-scoped research projects need a large number of participants to provide an accurate portrayal of your target audience. If your team wants to learn more about a new market, making sure you send and receive surveys from a large sample size will be essential. 

Collecting customer demographics and exploring purchasing behaviors are two examples of market research categories that require a larger sample size to give reliable results.

User experience

Alternatively, anecdotal and personalized information is often more beneficial when provided by a smaller (but high-quality) group of participants. Instead of collecting large amounts of vague information from a bigger group, interviewing or surveying a smaller group of qualified people can provide specific and detailed insights into the experiences of your top customers. 

Learning more about product or service pain points or exploring the reception to a new feature are examples of market research projects that can benefit from a smaller sample size.

Not optimizing survey send times

How (and when) you send your market research surveys to your target audience matters.

Demographic surveys can be sent to new subscribers, ideally during the workday, to prevent notification during the evening or at night. Ensure that your surveys get seen and completed by factoring in send time into your strategy. If you collect post-purchase data, send your survey after a recent purchase. 

Whenever you ask your customers to complete a survey, you’re asking for a favor. So, do your best to be appreciative and polite—and always avoid sending too much email spam!

Writing unclear survey questions

Possibly one of the most commonly made mistakes when beginning market research is writing confusing and non-specific questions for surveys.

The questions you choose to add to your survey should be intentional—meaning that they have gone through rounds of editing and prioritization to be clear and compelling to your audience while providing your team with insightful and specific data.

We highly recommend hosting a brainstorming session for potential survey questions with your team. After you have written out as many ideas and iterations for questions as you can, spend the time to rewrite, reorganize, and rate the strength of each question you want to include in your survey. Only the best of the best should make the cut—making your survey short, sweet, and impactful.

• Maximize your market research insights

Using this guide, we hope your team now understands the importance of market research on the success of your upcoming lunch or brand redesign. No matter the size of your company, taking the time to learn more about your chosen market will always improve your offerings—so we encourage you to get started as soon as possible!

But, once you get started, the fun has only just begun. Market surveys are an excellent tool for gathering information about your target audience—but how can you get the most out of the data you have collected?

A customer insights hub can give your team access to customer insights, no matter the type of data you want to collect and analyze. Made to store your market research data in an accessible and flexible way, use it to infuse customer insights seamlessly into your existing workflow.

We hope you found this guide helpful—now get out there and create high-quality market surveys!

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Brandwatch Consumer Research

Formerly the Falcon suite

Formerly Paladin

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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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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The Ultimate Guide to Market Research: Types, Benefits, and Real-World Examples

Team Fratzke

Today's consumers hold a lot of power when making purchase decisions. With a quick inquiry in a search engine or search bar within a social media platform, they can access genuine reviews from their peers without relying on sales reps.

Considering this shift in consumer behavior, adjusting your marketing strategy so it caters to the modern-day buying process is essential . To achieve this, you must thoroughly understand your target audience, the market you operate in, and the factors influencing their decision-making.

This is where market research can be leveraged so you stay current with your audience and industry. 

Article Overview

In this article, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about how to conduct market research, including:

• Why market research is essential for understanding your target audience, the market you operate in, and factors influencing decision-making
• What are the different types of market research, such as primary and secondary market research
• How to collect information about your customers and target market to determine the success of a new or existing product, improve your brand, and communicate your company's value
• Real-world examples of companies leveraging market research

What is market research?

Market research is a necessary process that involves collecting and documenting information about your target market and customers. This helps you determine the success of a new product, improve an existing one, or understand how your brand is perceived. You can then turn this research into profits by  developing marketing strategies and campaigns to effectively communicate your company's value .

While market research can provide insights into various aspects of an industry, it is not a crystal ball that can predict everything about your customers. Market researchers typically explore multiple areas of the market, which can take several weeks or even months to get a complete picture of the business landscape.

Even by researching just one of those areas, you can gain better insights into who your buyers are and what unique value proposition you can offer them that no other business currently provides.

Of course, you can simply use your industry experience and existing customer insights to make sound judgment calls. However, it's important to note that market research provides additional benefits beyond these strategies. There are two things to consider:

• Your competitors also have experienced individuals in the industry and a customer base. Your immediate resources may equal those of your competition's immediate resources. Seeking a larger sample size for answers can provide a better edge.
• Your brand's customers do not represent the entire market's attitudes, only those who are attracted to your brand.

The market research services industry is experiencing rapid growth , indicating a strong interest in market research as we enter 2024. The market is expected to grow from approximately $75 billion in 2021 to $90.79 billion in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 5%. 

Your competitors have highly skilled individuals within the industry, meaning your available personnel resources are likely similar to those of your competitors. So what are you going to do to get ahead?

You’re going to do thorough market research, which is why seeking answers from a larger sample size is essential. Remember that your customers represent only a portion of the market already attracted to your brand, and their attitudes may not necessarily reflect those of the entire market. You could be leaving money on the table by leaving out untapped customers .

Why do market research?

Market research helps you meet your buyers where they are. Understanding your buyer's problems, pain points, and desired outcomes is invaluable as our world becomes increasingly noisy and demanding. This knowledge will help you tailor your product or service to appeal to them naturally. 

What’s even better is when you're ready to grow your business, market research can also guide you in developing an effective market expansion strategy.

Market research provides valuable insights into factors that impact your profits and can help you to :

• Identify where your target audience and current customers are conducting their product or service research
• Determine which competitors your target audience looks to for information, options, or purchases
• Keep up with the latest trends in your industry and understand what your buyers are interested in
• Understand who makes up your market and what challenges they are facing
• Determine what influences purchases and conversions among your target audience
• Analyze consumer attitudes about a particular topic, pain, product, or brand
• Assess the demand for the business initiatives you're investing in
• Identify unaddressed or underserved customer needs that can be turned into selling opportunities
• Understand consumer attitudes about pricing for your product or service.

Market research provides valuable information from a larger sample size of your target audience, enabling you to obtain accurate consumer attitudes. By eliminating any bias or assumptions you have about your target audience, you can make better business decisions based on the bigger picture. 

As you delve deeper into your market research, you will come across two types of research: primary and secondary market research . Simply put, think of two umbrellas beneath market research - one for primary and one for secondary research. In the next section, we will discuss the difference between these two types of research. That way, if you work with a market who wants to use them, you’ll be ready with an understanding of how they can each benefit your business.

Primary vs. Secondary Research

Both primary and secondary research are conducted to collect actionable information on your product. That information can then be divided into two types: qualitative and quantitative research. Qualitative research focuses on public opinion and aims to determine how the market feels about the products currently available. On the other hand, quantitative research seeks to identify relevant trends in the data gathered from public records. 

Let's take a closer look at these two types.

Primary Research

Primary research involves gathering first-hand information about your market and its customers. It can be leveraged to segment your market and create focused buyer personas . Generally, primary market research can be categorized into exploratory and specific studies.

Exploratory Primary Research

This type of primary market research is not focused on measuring customer trends; instead, it is focused on identifying potential problems worth addressing as a team. It is usually conducted as an initial step before any specific research is done and may involve conducting open-ended interviews or surveys with a small group of people.

Specific Primary Research

After conducting exploratory research, businesses may conduct specific primary research to explore issues or opportunities they have identified as necessary. Specific research involves targeting a smaller or more precise audience segment and asking questions aimed at solving a suspected problem. Specific primary research reveals problems that are unique to your audience so you can then offer a unique (and valuable) solution.

Secondary Research

Secondary research refers to collecting and analyzing data that has already been published or made available in public records. This may include market statistics, trend reports, sales data, and industry content you already can access. Secondary research really shines when you go to your competitors . The most commonly used sources of secondary market research include:

• Public sources
• Commercial sources
• Internal sources

Public Sources

When conducting secondary market research, the first and most accessible sources of information are usually free . That’s right–these public sources are free and at your fingertips so there’s no reason for you to not be checking them out and leveraging them for your own gain.

One of the most common types of public sources is government statistics. According to Entrepreneur, two examples of public market data in the United States are the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor & Statistics. These sources offer helpful information about the state of various industries nationwide including:

Commercial Sources

Research agencies such as Pew, Fratzke, Gartner, or Forrester often provide market reports containing industry insights from their own in-depth studies . These reports usually come at a cost if you want to download and obtain the information, but these agencies are experts at what they do, so the research is most likely valuable.

Internal Sources

Internal sources of market data can include average revenue per sale, customer retention rates, and other data on the health of old and new accounts. They are often overlooked when it comes to conducting market research because of how specific the data is; however, these sources can be valuable as they provide information on the organization's historical data.

By analyzing this information, you can gain insights into what your customers want now . In addition to these broad categories, there are various ways to conduct market research. Let’s talk about them.  

Types of Market Research

• Interviews (in-person or remote)

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.

Interviews can be conducted face-to-face or virtually, allowing for a natural conversation flow while observing the interviewee's body language. By asking questions about themselves, the interviewee can help you create buyer personas , which are made by using information about the ideal customer, such as:

• Family size 
• Challenges faced at work or in life 

And other aspects of their lifestyle. This buyer profile can shape your entire marketing strategy , from the features you add to your product to the content you publish on your website. Your target audience will feel that the marketing was made just for them and will be drawn to your product or service.

Focus groups are market research involving a few carefully selected individuals who can test your product, watch a demonstration, offer feedback, and answer specific questions. This research can inspire ideas for product differentiation or highlight the unique features of your product or brand that set it apart from others in the market.  This is a great market research option to gain specific feedback, which you can use to improve your services .

Product/Service Use Research

Product or service usage research provides valuable insights into how and why your target audience uses your product or service.  This research can help in various ways including:

•  Identifying specific features of your offering that appeal to your audience. 
• Allowing you to assess the usability of your product or service for your target audience. 

According to a report published in 2020, usability testing was rated the most effective method for discovering user insights, with a score of 8.7 out of 10. In comparison, digital analytics scored 7.7, and user surveys scored 6.4.

Observation-based research is a process that involves observing how your target audience members use your product or service. The way that you intended your product or service to be used may not be the actual way that it is used. Observation-based research helps you understand what works well in terms of customer experience (CX) and user experience (UX), what problems they face, and which aspects of your product or service can be improved to make it easier for them to use.

To better understand how your potential customers make purchasing decisions in your industry, it is essential to know who they are. This is where buyer persona research comes in handy. Buyer or marketing personas are fictional yet generalized representations of your ideal customers. They give you someone to whom you want your marketing efforts to empathize and move, even though they don’t really exist. 

Gathering survey data and additional research to correctly identify your buyer personas will help you to visualize your audience so you can streamline your communications and inform marketing strategy . Key characteristics to include in a buyer persona are:

• Job title(s)
• Family size
• Major challenges

Market segmentation research enables you to classify your target audience into various groups or segments based on specific and defining characteristics. This method allows you to understand their needs, pain points, expectations, and goals more effectively.

Pricing research can provide valuable insights about the prices of similar products or services in your market. It can help you understand what your target audience expects to pay for your offerings and what would be a reasonable price for you to set. Correct pricing is important because if you set it too high, consumers will go to your cheaper competitor; but if you set it too low, your consumers may become suspicious of your product or service and still end up with your competitor. This information allows you to develop a solid pricing strategy aligning with your business goals and objectives. 

Competitive Analysis

Competitive analyses are incredibly valuable as they provide a deep understanding of your market and industry competition. Through these analyses, you can gain insights like: 

• What works well in your industry 
• What your target audience is already interested in regarding products like yours
• Which competitors you should work to keep up with and surpass 
• How you can differentiate yourself from the competition

Understanding customer satisfaction and loyalty is crucial to encouraging repeat business and identifying what drives customers to return (such as loyalty programs, rewards, and exceptional customer service). Researching this area will help you determine the most effective methods to keep your customers coming back again and again. If you have a CRM system, consider further utilizing automated customer feedback surveys to improve your understanding of their needs and preferences.

Brand awareness research helps you understand the level of familiarity your target audience has with your brand. It provides insights into your audience members' perceptions and associations when they think about your business.This type of research reveals what they believe your brand represents. This information is valuable for developing effective marketing strategies, improving your brand's reputation, and increasing customer loyalty .

To improve your marketing campaigns, you need to research by analyzing the success of your past campaigns among your target audience and current customers. This requires experimentation and thoroughly examining the elements that resonate with your audience. By doing so, you can identify the aspects of your campaigns that matter most to your audience and use them as a guide for future campaigns. 

Now that you understand the different market research categories and types let's look at how to conduct your market research.  Using our expertise and experience, we’ve created a step-by-step guide to conducting market research.

How to Do Market Research (Detailed Roadmap)

• Define the problem or objective of the research. 
• Determine the type of data needed. 
• Identify the sources of data. 
• Collect the data. 
• Analyze the data. 
• Interpret the results. 
• Report the findings. 
• Take action based on the findings.

1. Define the problem or objective of the research

Defining the problem or objective of the research is the first step in conducting market research. This involves identifying the specific issue that the research is trying to address. It is essential to be clear and specific about the research problem or objective, as it will guide the entire research process.

2. Determine the type of data needed

After defining the research problem or objective, the next step is determining the data type needed to address the issue. This involves deciding whether to collect primary or secondary data. Primary data is collected directly from the source, while secondary data is collected from existing sources such as government reports or market research studies.

3. Identify the sources of data

Once the data type has been determined, the next step is identifying the data sources. This involves identifying potential sources of primary and secondary data that can be used to address the research problem or objective. Primary data sources can include surveys, focus groups, and interviews, while secondary data sources can include government reports, industry publications, and academic journals.

4. Collect the data

After identifying the data sources, the next step is to collect the data. This involves designing and implementing a data collection plan consistent with the research problem or objective. The data collection plan should specify the methods and procedures for collecting data, sample size, and sampling method.

5. Analyze the data

Once the data has been collected, the next step is to analyze the data. This involves organizing, summarizing, and interpreting the data to identify patterns, relationships, and trends. The research problem or objective should guide the data analysis process and be conducted using appropriate statistical methods and software.

6. Interpret the results

After analyzing the data, the next step is to interpret the results. This involves drawing conclusions from the data analysis and using the results to address the research problem or objective. It is essential to analyze the results objectively and to avoid making assumptions or drawing conclusions that are not supported by the data.

7. Report the findings

Try identifying common themes to create a story and action items.To make the process easier, use your favorite presentation software to create a report, as it will make it easy to add quotes, diagrams, or call clips.

Feel free to add your flair, but the following outline should help you craft a clear summary:

• Background: What are your goals, and why did you conduct this study?
• Participants: Who you talked to? A table works well to break groups down by persona and customer/prospect.
• Executive Summary: What were the most exciting things you learned? What do you plan to do about it?
• Key Findings: Identify the key findings using data visualizations and emphasize key points.
• Recommendations + Action Plan: Your analysis will uncover actionable insights to fuel strategies and campaigns you can run to get your brand in front of buyers earlier and more effectively. Provide your list of priorities, action items , a timeline, and its impact on your business.

8. Take action based on the findings

The final step in conducting market research is to take action based on the findings. This involves using the results to make informed decisions about the marketing strategy, product development, or other business decisions. It is important to use the findings to drive action and to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the action taken continuously.

How to Prepare for Market Research Projects

Identify a persona group to engage, prepare research questions for your market research participants, list your primary competitors.

The idea is to use your persona as a reference point for understanding and reaching out to your industry's audience members. Your business might cater to more than one persona, and that's completely acceptable! However, you must be mindful of each persona while strategizing and planning your content and campaigns. 

How to Identify the Right People to Engage for Market Research

When selecting a group on which to conduct market research , it is essential to consider individuals with the same characteristics as your target audience. 

If you need to research multiple target audiences, recruit separate groups for each one. Select people who have recently interacted with you by looking through social media for post interactions or seeing if they’ve made recent purchases from you.

If you are planning to conduct an evaluation, it is recommended that you focus on people who have completed it within the last six months. However, if you have a longer sales cycle or a specific market, you can extend the period up to a year. It is crucial to ask detailed questions during the evaluation, so the participants' experience must be fresh.

Gather a mix of participants

If you want to expand your customer base, you’re going to want to get viewpoints of your product or service from every angle. Consider getting this mix by recruiting individuals who have already purchased your product, those who have bought a competitor's product, and those who haven't purchased anything. While targeting your existing customers may be the easiest option, gathering information from non-customers can help you gain a more balanced market perspective .

We recommend taking the following steps to select a mix of participants:

• Create a list of customers who made a recent purchase . This is usually the most accessible group to recruit. If you have a CRM system with list segmentation capabilities, run a report of deals that closed within the past six months and filter it for the characteristics you're looking for. Otherwise, work with your sales team to get them a list of appropriate accounts.
• Create a list of customers who were in an active evaluation but didn't make a purchase. You should get a mix of buyers who either purchased from a competitor or decided not to purchase. Again, you can obtain this list from your CRM or your Sales team's system to track deals.
• Use social media to call for participants. Try reaching out to people who follow you on social media but decided not to buy from you. Some may be willing to talk to you and explain why they did not purchase your product.
• Leverage your network . Spread the word that you're conducting a study to your coworkers, former colleagues, and LinkedIn connections. Even if your direct connections don't qualify, some will likely have a coworker, friend, or family member who does.
• Choose an incentive to motivate participants to spend time on your study. If you're on a tight budget , you can reward participants for free by giving them exclusive access to content. 

Related Resources:

• Digital Marketing Strategy: Keep It Simple
• 5 Marketing Predictions for the Looming Recession
• Recession Proof Marketing Strategies for Your Business
• Marketing Operations Framework - The Five Ps
• Biggest Marketing Challenges Leaders Face
• Digital Marketing Benchmarks & KPIs - How To Compare Your Performance

Preparation is key when conducting research in hopes of gaining productive and informative conversations. This involves creating a discussion guide, whether it is for a focus group, an online survey, or a phone interview. The guide should help you cover all the relevant topics and manage your time efficiently.

The discussion guide should be in an outline format, with an allocated time and open-ended questions for each section. All the questions must be open-ended, as asking closed questions may lead the interviewee to respond with a simple "yes" or "no" answer. You may need more detailed answers to make informed decisions, so be sure to ask follow-up questions as necessary.  Also leave out any leading questions as they may unintentionally influence the interviewee's response, skewing your research results.

It's essential to identify your competitors accurately and you may even have some hidden in plain sight.  There are some instances where your company's business division might compete with your main product or service, even though that company's brand might have a different focus. Take a look at Apple:  the company is known primarily for its laptops and mobile devices, but Apple Music competes with Spotify over its music streaming service.

From a content perspective, you might compete with a blog, YouTube channel, or similar publication for inbound website visitors — even though their products don't overlap with yours. An example of this is when a toothpaste company might compete with publications like Health.com or Prevention on specific blog topics related to health and hygiene, even though the magazines don't sell oral care products.

Here are a few ways to build your competitor list:

• Check your industry quadrant on G2 Crowd: This is a significant first step for secondary market research in some industries. G2 Crowd aggregates user ratings and social data to create "quadrants" that show companies as contenders, leaders, niche players, or high performers in their respective industries. G2 Crowd specializes in digital content, IT services, HR, e-commerce, and related business services.
• Download a market report: Companies like Forrester and Gartner offer free and gated market forecasts yearly on the vendors leading their industry. On Forrester's website, for example, you can select "Latest Research" from the navigation bar and browse Forrester's latest material using a variety of criteria to narrow your search. These reports are good assets to save on your computer.
• Use social media : Social networks can be excellent company directories if you use the search bar correctly. On LinkedIn, for example, select the search bar and enter the name of the industry you're pursuing. Then, under "More," select "Companies" to narrow your results to the businesses that include this or a similar industry term on their LinkedIn profile.

Identifying Content Competitors

Search engines can be beneficial when it comes to secondary market research . To identify the online publications competing with your business, start with the overarching industry term you identified earlier, and then come up with more specific industry terms that are related to your company . For example, if you run a catering business, you might consider yourself a "food service" company, as well as a vendor in "event catering," "cake catering," "baked goods," and so on.

Once you have this list, follow these steps:

• Google it: Running a search on Google for the industry terms that describe your company can be very beneficial. You may come across a mix of product developers, blogs, magazines, and other websites.
• Compare your search results against your buyer persona: Remember the persona you created during the primary research stage? You can use it to evaluate whether a publication you found through Google could steal website traffic from you. If the website's content aligns with what your buyer persona would want to see, it is a potential competitor and should be added to your list of competitors.

After a series of similar Google searches for the industry terms you identify with, look for repetition in the website domains that have come up.

When searching, examine the first two or three pages of results. These websites are considered reputable sources of content in your industry and should be monitored closely as you create your collection of videos, reports, web pages, and blog posts.

Market Research Examples

Mcdonald's focus on customer feedback and profiling.

McDonald's invests in developing a detailed consumer profile to attract and retain customers, including parents of young children who appreciate the family-friendly atmosphere and menus. The brand seeks feedback from customers through surveys and questionnaires in stores, social media, and its mobile app. It also monitors customer feedback on digital channels.

Nike's Extensive Research and Collaboration for Running Shoes Development

Nike invests heavily in creating running shoes that cater to the needs of its customers, which it determines through extensive market research and customer surveys. The brand goes to great lengths to understand its customers' preferences, such as the type of running surface, the distance they run, and their running style, to develop shoes that meet their specific needs.

In addition to customer surveys, Nike also collaborates with athletes to develop shoes that cater to their specific requirements. This research helps Nike improve its existing running shoe models and innovate new ones, ensuring that the brand stays ahead of the competition.

Disney employs focus groups that specifically cater to children to test out their new characters and ideas.

The Walt Disney Company invests millions of dollars in creating captivating stories tested for their effectiveness with children, the intended audience. Disney executives hold focus groups with preschoolers and kindergartners several times a year to gather their opinions and feedback on TV episodes, Disney characters, and more. 

This market research strategy is effective because children are the ultimate audience that Disney aims to please. The collected feedback helps the company improve existing content to meet the preferences of its audience and ensure continued success as a multi-billion dollar enterprise.

KFC tested its meatless product in specific markets before launching it nationwide.

In 2019, KFC began developing and testing a meatless version of its famous chicken. However, instead of immediately launching the product nationwide, they decided to test it in select stores in the Atlanta, Georgia area. 

This is an innovative and practical approach to market research, as it allows the company to determine the product's sales performance on a smaller scale before committing too many resources to it. If the meatless chicken fails to gain popularity in Georgia, KFC can make the necessary changes to the product before introducing it to the broader market.

Yamaha conducted a survey to determine whether to use knobs or sliding faders on the Montage keyboard.

Yamaha is a Japanese corporation that produces various products, from motorcycles to golf cars to musical instruments. When it began developing its new Montage keyboard, the team was unsure whether to use knobs or sliding faders on the product. 

To address this dilemma, Yamaha used Qualtrics to send a survey to their customers. Within just a few hours , they received 400 responses. By using survey feedback, Yamaha ensured that it was designing a product that would perfectly meet the preferences of its audiences.

The Body Shop used social listening to determine how to reposition brand campaigns based on customer feedback.

The Body Shop is a well-known brand that offers ethically sourced and natural products. They take pride in their core value of sustainability. The Body Shop team tracked conversations to understand the sustainability subtopics that were most important to their audiences. 

They found that their customers cared a lot about refills. Based on this information, the Body Shop team confidently relaunched their Refill Program across 400 stores globally in 2021, with plans to add another 400 in 2022. Market research confirmed that their refill concept was on the right track and also highlighted the need for increased efforts to demonstrate how much the Body Shop cares about its customers' values .

VideoTranscript

The takeaway.

Fratzke Consulting offers a comprehensive suite of market research services to help brands gain valuable insights into their target market, competitors, and industry trends. Our expert team utilizes various primary and secondary research methods to gather accurate and unbiased data, including surveys, competitive research, and industry reports. With Fratzke Consulting, you'll have the tools to succeed in today's rapidly evolving business landscape.

Interested in learning more? Book a free audit consultation today.

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How to Build a Strong Survey Campaign for Market Research

A survey campaign is part of a far larger endeavor, as it is just one methodology in a research campaign. Thus, it requires more than merely being planned out; researchers must decide on one of the types of research to conduct before settling on a survey.

There’s also more when it comes to producing a strong survey campaign. This article explains this in full detail, so that businesses and market researchers can create surveys that reap the most insights.

Defining a Survey Campaign

A survey campaign is a series of efforts used to gain firsthand data from a target market in market research, or a target population in general research . 

This kind of campaign is a primary research method in which researchers attempt to find a solution to a problem. For example, it can focus on the problem they would come upon in descriptive research. 

But there’s much more to survey campaigns. Although they can be used to resolve problems discovered in a type of research, such as exploratory, causal, etc., they can be used for a wealth of other purposes. 

When it comes to business, a survey campaign can determine if a new strategy will be beneficial, detrimental or affect little to no changes. What even more important is that such a campaign allows businesses to understand the lifeblood of their business: their customers.

What a Survey Campaign Helps Reveal for Your Business

Dovetailing off of the previous section, there are many things a survey campaign can help a business achieve. Some of these go beyond market research itself. 

Here are some of the other purposes a survey campaign helps serve:

• Via the target market survey
• Market segmentation for further segmenting
• Advertising
• General marketing   
• Includes the NPS, CSAT, CES, visual rating survey & more
• Discovering the CLV (customer lifetime value)
• Testing product satisfaction
• Innovating products with new features and upgrades
• Understanding how your product compares with competitors’
• Regular checks on the opinions of your brand
• Finding customer aversions to avoid in your messaging and brand’s image
• Running a pulse survey
• Via the employee satisfaction survey
• Via a customer experience survey 
• Using a survey for content marketing strategy
• Includes B2B endeavors
• Helps you learn more about the specific needs and desires of your target market, or B2B clients such as partners, vendors and other businesses.
• Allows brands to keep up with market and niche trends
• Makes it easier to change with the times
• Being able to compare your brand with others
• Getting a feel of the thoughts and attitudes in your overall space

Proving the Value of a Survey Campaign 

While many brands turn to market research, they do not always carry it out successfully. With primary research specifically, it is more difficult to reap accurate, bias-free insights , as it involves far more than just an analysis, but the labor of conducting the research yourself.  

Additionally, a business may encounter the issue of biases, a lack of participants and even responses that are hard to draw conclusions from. 

A survey campaign provides the antidote to all of these problems — when conducted correctly , that is.

A survey campaign is useful for reasons beyond the 10 in the aforementioned list. Here are a few ways this kind of campaign is a must for businesses:

Since surveys help measure the CX (customer experience), they inform businesses on a variety of touchpoints that influence their CX and how they do so. This is important, as 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a good CX . Thus, a business can improve its customer experience, which will therefore increase sales.

76% of customers expect businesses to understand their needs . A properly designed survey campaign will do exactly this. This is because you can create a number of different, although related surveys under one campaign. By creating diverse surveys, you can study a more diverse set of segments in your target market. This kind of research will help you understand and adapt to their needs.

When it comes to branding and customer loyalty, businesses can stand to run a survey campaign for a variety of reasons. First off, 86% of consumers believe that authenticity is important when they decide on the brands they choose to support.

Surveys can also help in brand recognition; simply deciding on a correct signature color can spur brand recognition as high as 80%. Creating a survey campaign with visually-oriented surveys can achieve this. 

Then comes the sensitive issue of news and culture, particularly social and political issues. 64% of consumers from across the globe said that they would either boycott or buy from a company simply for its political or social stance. A survey campaign allows you to quiz your target market on its thoughts surrounding current affairs so that you take the correct position or none at all.

How to Build a Survey Campaign

The following explains how to set up a survey campaign, ensuring you use the correct surveys, frequency and other functions within your campaign.

• Or, if you have already conducted exploratory or explanatory research, consider other related factors or issues that you’d like to study.
• For example, perhaps it fits into branding more, or perhaps it is an advertising issue.
• When you’ve affixed your campaign with a macro-application (ex: advertising), decide whether you’ll need to run one or several surveys. 
• If you perform this research and discover cause and effect relationships, you may need to rework your intentions or original questions.
• Using the question types as question templates, form your questions.
• When you’ve come up with 10-15 questions, consider cutting them and organizing them into two or more surveys. (Shorter surveys have greater response rates).
• As you organize your questions, create the appropriate theme for each survey.
• Customers are fond of transparency.
• Here you can mention that the survey is to improve their own CX, or that their opinion matters.
• Use a strong online survey tool to create, launch and run your survey to the correct target market. 

• Your original results will bring key findings that answer your work’s key questions, answer a hypothesis or prompt further research.
• This may require further survey research.

Consolidating Your Research

A research project often manifests as a long and winding process, rife with several sub-campaigns and tasks. A survey campaign can help tame this process, easing the way to finding key results. 

This is because surveys provide agility and speed to insight — when conducted correctly. It is virtually impossible to find hundreds or even thousands of respondents that properly fit your target population, let alone convince them to take a survey.

That’s where an online survey tool offers a multitude of value , as it can carry out these tasks and more, with little to no effort from you. A strong online survey tool is thus a necessity for your survey campaign needs. 

Do you want to distribute your survey? Pollfish offers you access to millions of targeted consumers to get survey responses from $0.95 per complete. Launch your survey today.

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How To Do Market Research: Definition, Types, Methods

Jan 2, 2024

11 min. read

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

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

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

Table of Contents

What Is Market Research?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1. Interviews

3. Focus Groups

4. Observations

5. AI-Driven Market Research

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

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

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

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

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

3. Focus groups

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

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

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

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

5. AI-driven market research

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

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

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

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

Examples of common market research questions include:

Demographic market research questions

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

Product or service usage market research questions

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

Brand perception market research questions

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

Buying behavior market research questions

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

Customer satisfaction market research questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

Step 1: Define your objectives

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

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

Step 2: Select your market research methods

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

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

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

Step 3: Develop your research tools

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

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

Step 4: Conduct the market research

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

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

Step 5: Analyze and apply your findings

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

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

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

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

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

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

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What Are Consumer Insights? Meaning, Examples, Strategy

How Coca-Cola Collects Consumer Insights

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

9 Top Consumer Insights Tools & Companies

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How to Create a Marketing Survey? (+ 10 Essential Tips)

Today’s business world is highly competitive and, because of this, it’s more crucial than ever before to understand your customers.

To succeed, you need to know the needs and preferences of your customers. Market surveys that are crafted with care and intent serve as valuable tools for gaining insights into each of these areas — without the stress of cold-calling!

Anyone can create a survey, but not everyone can create a survey that customers enjoy taking, which are two completely different things.

Creating a survey that target customers will want to take involves a measure of thoughtfulness, planning, and a mindset that prioritizes user experience.

In the following article, we’re digging into what it means to create a marketing survey that doesn’t bore your customers and what you should do to get started conducting your own market research.

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1. Clearly define the survey objectives

Before diving into the fun part – the creation of your marketing survey-, it’s important to clearly define the objectives for the project at hand. What specific information do you want to gather from your customers?

Are you looking for feedback on a new product, exploring the current market trends, or do you want customer satisfaction information that you can evaluate?

If you can outline your goals with high certainty, the survey creation process will be kick started. The same certainty also ensures that your market research questions are targeted and relevant.

2. Know your target markets well

The first step to creating successful marketing surveys is to build a solid foundation by growing an understanding of your target audience.

Understanding your target audience’s customer demographics is the key foundation to crafting surveys that they identify with. If you want people to take your survey, it needs to be relevant.

Your target audience won’t be willing to take time out of their day to fill out a survey that has nothing to do with them, which further goes to show how important it is to know your target market.

Tailor your survey questions to address the things they’re interested in and like. Focus on their personal needs, too. Personalization is key here.

It’s also a good idea to take into consideration how specific your market research survey needs to be.

You don’t want to be targeting a demographic that is too broad (too big), but you also don’t want to be too specific in terms of who you’re targeting with your surveys.

Unfortunately, there’s a fine line (that can be very blurry) between these two extremes. Using too many filters to vet potential respondents before the survey will make it harder for you to find enough customers who qualify to complete the entire survey.

Say you filter respondents down to females who are 18-29 years old that live in Redding, California and who own a 2005 Buick. Using this set of highly-specific criteria, you’re going to get very few respondents who qualify to complete your survey.

On the contrary, the chances are actually higher that you won’t find anyone at all to complete the survey.

3. Craft clear, concise survey questions

The quality of your survey questions significantly impacts how effective your online survey ends up being. You should aim for questions that are clear, straight-to-the-point, and free of “filler” (that is, extra words and unnecessary details).

Your questions don’t need to be detailed or contain descriptions unless they are for specification purposes.

Avoid using language that is too technical or industry-specific as to not confuse your target audience or dissuade them from continuing your survey.

For example, if you’re in the space industry, you wouldn’t want to put out a survey that contains long, relatively uncommon words like ‘Enceladus’ if you’re trying to gauge the opinions and preferences of people who aren’t astronomers by trade.

Instead, opt for straightforward questions that are easy to understand and answer.

Don’t worry about making your questions sound professional or impressive; instead, put the emphasis on gathering the appropriate information without overwhelming your customers. Simple questions receive better and more thoughtful input.

A market research survey that is poorly worded or that uses a question format that isn’t correct, can quickly render all of the data you manage to collect null and void.

Customer surveys that ask the wrong questions or that use poor wording can easily render your survey data useless.

If a question you write sees most respondents answering with “I don’t know” and similar answers, you have missed your goal of gaining customer feedback.

There are a host of different kinds of market research questions that can be used to gather data from target customers. Here are a few of the different kinds that you could consider using.

Use Categorical Questions

Categorical questions can also be called nominal questions. They produce numbers and percentages that can be used for easy data visualization.

They are great for creating visual data like bar graphs and pie charts, but don’t give enough information to gather numerical averages. In addition, they can’t test correlations.

Some of the most basic survey questions, yes/no questions, are categorical.

Multiple choice questions are, as well. However, they offer slightly more information than yes/no questions do, since you can add as many possible answers as you want.

Checkbox questions are extremely flexible and gives respondents the freedom to choose as many answers as they feel fit them. They are the questions that surveys ask that have respondents click any number of different boxes to select their answer(s).

They are also a type of categorical question.

4. Choose the right format

There are various survey formats available for use. Each one is suited to different objectives and types of information, which makes it important to know which type should be used for what purpose. Common survey types include:

• Customer satisfaction: used for understanding the level of satisfaction your customers have with your product, service, or company as a whole.
• NPS: used to measure who likely a customer is to recommend your business. NPS surveys are also used to gauge customer loyalty.
• Market research: used to gain accurate insights and information about your target market.Consider your goals and their nature, as well as the type of data you’re looking to collect when selecting the appropriate type of survey for your needs.

5. Use open and close-ended questions

For a marketing survey to be effective, it should have an equal balance of open-ended and close-ended questions, if possible. Close-ended questions are questions like multiple choice questions or asking for ratings,

Marketing surveys that are effective have a balance of closed-ended and open-ended questions. Closed-ended questions -multiple choice or questions that ask for ratings- provide quantitative data that is easy to analyze and make use of.

However, open-ended questions are great for allowing respondents to give feedback in more detail by using their own words.

By including both types of questions in your surveys, you’re rewarded with valuable sneak peaks into how your customers perceive your business on a personal, individual level.

a. Open-ended questions

There are an endless number of market research questions we could use as examples for open-ended questions. Questions that start with the following phrases are open-ended:

• What do you think of/about
• How do you feel about
• How would you describe
• Tell us about

b. Close-ended questions

While close-ended questions are not as fun for respondents to answer (and don’t give results that are as detailed as their open-ended counterparts), there is a time and place for using them.

Examples of close-ended questions include those that start with:

• Do you like…
• Have you ever…
• Are you going to…

These kinds of questions are best answered with simple, yes/no answers, which is what makes them close-ended. Since the question doesn’t prompt the respondant to elaborate on their answer, a yes or no will suffice, effectively “closing” the conversation.

6. Consider user experience

A user’s experience plays a critical role in the success of your market research survey.

Surveys should always be easy to access and be designed for navigation across a wide variety of different platforms and devices.

Designs should be intuitive and clean, boasting potent visual cues and clear instructions that work to effortlessly guide customers through the survey.

Special attention should be paid to page layout, load time, and interactive elements — each of these facets should work with the others like a well-oiled machine.

7. Launch a pilot market research survey

Before launching your market research survey to your target market and customer base, conduct a quick pilot test using a group of willing respondents who are interested in helping you out.

A trial run-type test, a pilot survey will help you to easily identify flaws in your survey design, which allows you to make any adjustments that might be necessary before the survey goes live.

After the pilot has launched, pay attention to how your respondents interact with it. Collecting feedback after the pilot will leave you with a ton of valuable information to work with moving forward.

8. Analyze and interpret survey results

Once you’ve gathered enough market research data that you can use, it’s time to move onto the next step — analyzing and interpreting the market research data to make improvements!

In the data you’ve collected, be sure to watch out for patterns and recurring themes.

You can use pie charts, bar graphs, and other visualization tools to showcase your findings. Visualization tools are an easy way to draw attention to important information, since humans are highly visual creatures and we are drawn to images.

Asking your existing customers follow-up questions is a smart way to put market research data to good use.

Take note of ways that you could improve the effectiveness of your existing marketing strategies and marketing activities; don’t simply ask the questions and try to remember the results!

Recording the data on paper (or your computer) is the best way to track it.

Are there any strategies that you could make better? More effective? How about more engaging?

Carefully analyzing the results of your market research surveys uncovers insights that can be used to make future decisions surrounding your business’ growth.

9. Implement feedback loops

Once you’ve gathered your information, it’s important to use the information for something. So, make use of the valuable insights you gained from your survey by using them to implement feedback loops!

A feedback loop is the process of gathering information from customers and then using it to make changes related to the operation of your business. It’s a loop, like the name suggests.

Share your market survey research with your team (if you have one) and discuss potential changes that could be made based on the feedback received, successfully bringing the loop to completion.

By incorporating feedback loops, you demonstrate to your customers that their opinions are valued – and valid.

It also reassures them that your business is dedicated to improving their experience, which goes a long way when it comes to retaining loyal customers.

Implementing feedback loops can be done in a number of different ways, but one awesome example is everyone’s favorite streaming service– Netflix.

Netflix implements watcher feedback on a regular basis.

Their loop starts when they publish a piece of content for streaming. From there, they monitor how it performs by tracking how many people watch it and, if they don’t finish it, how far they got before the switched it off.

Once they’ve gathered those numbers they use the data to decide whether they keep the content live or if they delete and replace it with something else. This feedback also plays into which content is posted in the future and helps to draw in potential customers.

10. Repeat and improve

Successful marketing research surveys are not simply one-time jobs. They’re an ongoing process of repetition and improvement that should spend minimal amounts of time being stagnant.

Survey questions should be regularly reviewed and updated to reflect current customer needs and the dynamic objectives of your business.

Feedback about survey experiences should be gathered from both loyal customers and new customers. This feedback should then be incorporated and considered when making future changes, regardless of the reason for them.

By continually refining your marketing efforts, you can ensure that your market research surveys remain effective, relevant, and engaging to your target market and that your data quality never suffers.

To create a marketing survey that your customers love, you must take the time to plan, utilize thoughtful designs, and gain a deep understanding of your target audience.

By carefully following the steps we’ve outlined above, you’ll be able to design and run market research surveys that capture valuable data while simultaneously engaging and resonating with your audience.

Don’t forget to define clear objectives for your market research survey, learn about your audience, craft appropriate questions while striking just the right balance between open and close-ended questions, and choose the right survey format for your needs.

A focus should be put on user experience and a pilot test should be ran for maximum insight gain.

Using the right approach, a well-designed marketing survey can be a powerful tool for gaining insights into consumer attitudes, driving customer engagement, and making informed decisions regarding your business.

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Market Research Surveys: Unveiling Consumer Trends and Preferences

• Key Takeaways

71% of businesses use Market Research Surveys to inform decision-making (Source: Gartner)

Online surveys have a response rate of around 30% (Source: Statista)

72% of companies integrate survey data with CRM systems for personalized insights (Source: SEMrush)

Market Research Surveys are essential for understanding consumer trends and preferences, benefiting product development and marketing strategies.

Technology plays a crucial role in enhancing survey effectiveness and integrating survey data for personalized insights.

Incorporating customer feedback through surveys leads to improved customer satisfaction, market relevance, and long-term business growth.

Market surveys are crucial for understanding what consumers like and want. They help businesses make better products and improve their marketing. But how can businesses use surveys well to succeed in a competitive market?

Importance of Market Research Surveys

Market Research Surveys play a crucial role in understanding consumer behavior and preferences. By studying what customers like and why they buy, businesses learn more about what makes people choose products and how their tastes change.

This knowledge helps companies stay important and competitive in fast-changing markets. Surveys also show businesses new trends, predict how customers’ preferences will change, and let them adjust their plans. Without this knowledge, companies might make choices based on guesses instead of facts.

• Significance of Understanding Consumer Behavior
• Consumer behavior is influenced by various factors like age, gender, income, and lifestyle.
• Market Research Surveys help in understanding why consumers buy certain products or services.
• Knowing consumer behavior allows businesses to create targeted marketing strategies.
• It also helps in designing products that meet specific consumer needs and preferences.
• Role of Surveys in Gathering Actionable Insights
• Surveys collect direct feedback from consumers about their preferences and experiences.
• This feedback is crucial for making informed decisions about product development.
• Surveys also help in pricing strategies, understanding market trends, and identifying competitors.
• The insights gathered from surveys empower businesses to take actionable steps to improve their offerings and customer satisfaction levels.

Survey Methods and Tools

• Online Survey Platforms
• Wide reach: Reach a larger audience geographically and demographically.
• Cost-effective: Reduce costs associated with printing and distribution.
• Customizable templates: Easily create surveys tailored to specific needs.
• Real-time data collection: Gather data instantly for quick analysis.
• Advanced analytics: Access detailed insights and trends from survey data.

Most Relevant Tools:

• SurveyMonkey: Offers customizable surveys, real-time analytics, and respondent targeting.
• Google Forms: Free tool with customizable templates and integration with Google Workspace.
• Typeform: Interactive surveys with advanced features like logic branching and multimedia integration.
• Qualtrics: Enterprise-level survey platform with powerful analytics and automation capabilities.
• Traditional Methods like Phone Interviews and Focus Groups
• In-depth insights: Allows for probing questions and qualitative data collection.
• Personalized interaction: Build rapport with respondents for honest feedback.
• Group dynamics: Understand group opinions and consensus on topics.
• Flexibility: Adapt questions based on responses for deeper insights.
• Zoom: Conduct virtual focus groups with video conferencing and recording features.
• SurveyGizmo: Integrates phone interviews with online surveys for seamless data collection.
• Voxco: Offers CATI (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing) software for phone surveys.
• FocusVision: Provides technology solutions for in-person and virtual focus groups.
• Automation Tools for Efficient Survey Administration
• Time-saving: Automate survey distribution, reminders, and follow-ups.
• Data accuracy: Reduce human errors in data entry and processing.
• Scalability: Handle large volumes of survey responses efficiently.
• Integration: Connect survey data with CRM systems and analytics tools.
• SurveyGizmo: Automates survey workflows, including scheduling, reminders, and reporting.
• SurveyMonkey CX: Integrates with CRM systems for automated customer feedback collection.
• Zoho Survey: Offers workflow automation for survey distribution and response tracking.
• Alchemer: Automates survey tasks like email notifications, data validation, and reporting.

Technology in Market Research 

• Impact of Technology on Survey Efficiency and Accuracy
• Technological progress has changed how surveys work, making them faster and more accurate.
• Using online survey platforms like SurveyMonkey, Google Forms, and Typeform has its perks. These platforms offer ready-made templates and let you collect and analyze data instantly, which speeds up the survey process.
• Mobile-friendly surveys are crucial nowadays. Tools like Qualtrics and SurveyGizmo create surveys that work well on phones, helping reach more people and getting better response rates.
• Technology also helps ensure data accuracy. During surveys, it checks for errors and maintains quality control, which improves the overall reliability of the data collected.
• AI-Powered Analytics for Data Interpretation
• AI in Survey Data Analysis : AI tools like IBM Watson, Tableau, and SAS analyze big survey data to find useful insights and trends.
• NLP looks at survey answers, sorts feelings, and finds main ideas for clearer data.
• Predictive Analytics predicts customer actions using survey data for smarter business choices.
• Visualizations and Dashboards make survey data easier to understand with clear visuals.
• Integrating Surveys with CRM Systems for Personalized Insights
• CRM Integration Benefits: Integrating survey data with CRM systems like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zoho CRM benefits businesses. It helps understand customers better for improved marketing and happier customers.
• Customer Segmentation: With CRM integration, businesses can group customers based on survey responses. This helps in creating personalized marketing campaigns and suggesting products that match customers’ interests.
• Automated Follow-ups: Automated follow-up surveys based on CRM data keep customers engaged. These follow-ups can be triggered by customer interactions, helping in collecting feedback regularly and addressing concerns promptly.
• Analytics and Reporting: Integrated CRM systems offer detailed analytics and reporting. By combining survey data with customer profiles, businesses gain insights into customer behavior and preferences, guiding decision-making and improving business performance.

Uncovering Consumer Preferences

• Gathering Insights on Product Features and Pricing Expectations
• Understanding Product Features: Market Research Surveys help in understanding which product features resonate most with consumers. This includes aspects like design, functionality, and usability.
• Evaluating Pricing Expectations: Surveys can gauge consumer perceptions regarding pricing. It helps in determining the price range that consumers find acceptable for different products or services.
• Identifying Emerging Trends and Niche Market Segments
• Identifying Trends: Surveys help find new trends liked by people. For instance, trends like preferring eco-friendly stuff, digital services, or certain lifestyles.
• Discovering Niche Markets: Surveys reveal niche markets with specific needs. For example, in health, a niche could be people wanting organic, gluten-free products.
• Validating Market Hypotheses and Mitigating Risks
• Validating Product Ideas: Surveys help in validating market hypotheses before investing resources in product development. By gathering feedback on potential product ideas, businesses can assess demand and viability.
• Risk Mitigation: Surveys also serve as a risk mitigation tool by identifying potential pitfalls or challenges early in the process. For instance, if a new product concept receives negative feedback in surveys, it signals potential risks in launching it without modifications.

Utilizing Survey Data for Product Development and Marketing

• Iterative Improvements Based on Customer Feedback
• Continuous Feedback: Surveys let businesses get ongoing feedback from customers about their products or services.
• Finding Problems: Surveys help find exact areas where customers might not be happy or having trouble with the product.
• Improvement Focus: Looking at survey results helps decide what changes are most important based on what customers need or problems they have.
• Gradual Improvements: By using survey feedback, businesses can keep making small changes to the product over time.
• Tailoring Marketing Strategies to Consumer Preferences
• Understanding What People Like: Surveys help businesses know what customers like, such as how they want to be contacted, what messages they prefer, and what they expect from products.
• Targeting Specific Groups: Businesses use surveys to group customers based on what they like. This helps create marketing plans that match each group’s interests, making ads more interesting and getting more people interested.
• Making Ads Personal: Surveys help make ads that feel personal to customers. This makes them more likely to buy and stay loyal to the brand.
• Listening to Customers: Using survey feedback in marketing plans makes sure ads match what customers want. This makes campaigns work better overall.
• Enhancing Product Usability and Functionality Through Surveys
• Usability Testing: Surveys ask about how easy a product is to use, how well it’s organized, and how people feel using it. This helps businesses make improvements based on user feedback.
• Feature Prioritization: Surveys help businesses know which new features or improvements are most important to customers. This helps them focus on what matters most to users.
• Beta Testing: Surveys are used to test new features or products with a small group of customers before releasing them widely. This helps gather feedback early on to make improvements.
• Iterative Design: Surveys are used throughout the design process to keep improving products based on what users say. This leads to products that better meet customer needs.

Case Studies and Success Stories 

• Real-World Examples of Companies Benefiting from Survey-Driven Strategies

Example 1: Starbucks

• Starbucks regularly conducts customer satisfaction surveys to gather feedback on their products and services.
• By analyzing survey data, Starbucks identified opportunities to improve their mobile ordering process, leading to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Example 2: Amazon

• Amazon utilizes surveys to understand consumer preferences and shopping habits.
• Insights from surveys have helped Amazon tailor its product recommendations and improve the overall shopping experience, contributing to its market dominance.
• Impact of Surveys on Business Growth and Market Relevance

Increased Customer Satisfaction

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• Surveys allow businesses to address customer concerns promptly, leading to higher satisfaction levels and repeat purchases.
• Improved customer satisfaction results in positive word-of-mouth marketing and a loyal customer base, driving business growth.

Enhanced Product Development

• Survey data helps businesses identify market gaps and consumer preferences, guiding product development strategies.
• Launching products based on survey insights leads to higher success rates and increased market relevance.
• Best Practices and Lessons Learned from Successful Survey Implementations

Clear Objectives and Target Audience

• Define specific goals for surveys, such as understanding consumer preferences or evaluating customer satisfaction.
• Identify the target audience to ensure survey questions are relevant and actionable.

Designing Effective Surveys

• Craft surveys with clear, concise questions to minimize survey fatigue and improve response rates.
• Use a mix of multiple-choice questions, rating scales, and open-ended questions for comprehensive insights.

Analyzing and Acting on Survey Data

• Utilize survey analysis tools to derive meaningful patterns and trends from collected data.
• Implement actionable changes based on survey findings to enhance customer experiences and drive business growth.

Continuous Improvement and Iteration

• Regularly conduct surveys to track changes in consumer preferences and market trends.
• Incorporate feedback from surveys into iterative improvements, ensuring ongoing relevance and competitiveness.

Market surveys help businesses understand and respond to customer trends effectively. By using different survey methods and technology, companies gather insights, refine products, and improve marketing for growth. Customer feedback from surveys enhances product development, marketing, and builds lasting customer relationships, ensuring success in dynamic markets.

• How can Market Research Surveys benefit businesses?

Market Research Surveys provide actionable insights into consumer preferences, aiding in product development and targeted marketing strategies.

• What are some effective survey methods?

Online surveys, phone interviews, and focus groups are common methods used to gather diverse and valuable consumer feedback.

• How does technology enhance survey effectiveness?

Technology automates survey administration, analyzes data efficiently, and integrates with CRM systems for personalized insights.

• What role do surveys play in product development?

Surveys validate market hypotheses, uncover niche opportunities, and guide iterative improvements based on customer feedback.

• Can surveys impact business growth and relevance?

Yes, survey-driven strategies lead to enhanced customer satisfaction, market agility, and long-term success in competitive landscapes.

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12 Useful Marketing Surveys: Types, Questions & Tools

Marketing surveys let you understand brand perception, analyze customer sentiment , and identify improvement areas.

But what kind of surveys should you be sending, and how do you frame your questions to elicit the right answers from respondents?

It can be a tough nut to crack sometimes, but we’ve made it easier in this article. Read on to find 12 important survey types and sample questions to ask. We’ll also show you tools that will simplify everything.

• A marketing survey uses well-crafted questionnaires to gather information about your target audience and their sentiment on your company and competitors.
• Conduct market research because it helps you to: understand the needs and expectations of your user personas , enhance your product and features, stay ahead of the competition, and make changes to your marketing strategy if needed.
• There are 12 types of marketing surveys you could use for research:
• User persona survey
• Market research survey
• Brand awareness survey
• Competitor research survey
• Product research survey
• Feature research survey
• Product-market fit (PMF) survey
• Net Promoter Score survey (NPS)
• Customer satisfaction survey (CSAT)
• Customer effort score (CES) survey
• Content evaluation survey
• Exit surveys

Best tools for creating market surveys:

• Userpilot – best for creating and deploying short in-app surveys. Book a demo to learn more.
• Typeform – best for long-form market research surveys.

What are marketing surveys?

Marketing surveys are a method of soliciting customer feedback and collecting market research data using a questionnaire.

Why should you be conducting market research?

Marketing surveys come with multiple benefits. Here are some things you stand to gain:

• Understand the needs and expectations of your user personas: Through market research , you’ll learn the general needs of your target market and try to weigh them against what you currently offer.
• Enhance your product and features: Market research can help you collect new feature ideas and also validate your existing product ideas. For example, you can release a survey asking customers and potential customers what they think about a specific feature. If a good percentage of them responded positively, then that’s a sign the market needs it.
• Stay ahead of the competition: By gathering opinions about your top competitors, you’ll uncover gaps you could fill to make your current customers happy and attract more users.
• Make changes to your marketing strategy if needed: Through marketing surveys, you’ll uncover the demographics within your target customers and learn more about their needs. With this information, you can adjust your messaging , campaign channels, pricing , and other elements of your strategy.

Different types of marketing surveys for qualitative and quantitative research

By now, you may be wondering how to conduct marketing surveys and begin reaping the benefits listed above. This section shows you various survey types and how to approach them correctly.

1. User persona survey

Persona surveys help you identify the needs, pain points , jobs to be done , and behaviors of target users and break them into segments based on shared traits.

Moreover, you can use the insights generated to create user-centric products, tailor your marketing campaigns, and also personalize the product experience for each persona.

An effective way to collect user persona data is to send your surveys to new sign-ups as part of your welcome flow . Examples of questions to ask in user persona surveys:

• What will you be using {product name} for?
• How large is your company?
• What is your job title?
• Mention some significant obstacles you face in your professional life
• What do you want to achieve with [software]?

2. Market research survey

Market research surveys let you collect and analyze data about your market. The data obtained will enable you to assess market demand, understand your target audience better, optimize pricing , jump on market trends, etc.

In general, you’ll have enough insights to inform product development and tailor products to meet audience needs.

Send market research surveys at regular intervals, especially when planning product launches.

Examples of market research survey questions include:

• How much are you willing to pay for [product name]?
• What is the problem that the product/service helped to solve for you?
• How do you search for the products you want to buy?
• What factors influence your decision to purchase?

3. Brand awareness survey

Trigger this survey to measure your target market’s awareness and perceptions of your brand and generate insights to improve brand positioning .

Make brand awareness surveys a regular practice, especially after a crucial marketing campaign. Doing this helps you gauge your efforts and consistently push the correct narrative about your company.

Brand awareness survey question examples:

• Describe [brand name] in one sentence.
• How do you feel about [brand]?
• Do you currently use the product of this brand?
• Which of the following products have you tried? (Select all that apply)
• How did you hear about us?

4. Competitor research survey

Run this survey to analyze your relative position to competitors. Focus your questions on competitor pricing, marketing strategies, analysis of their products and services, etc., and use the data to devise strategies and gain a competitive advantage.

Example of questions to ask:

• Which product/service would you consider as an alternative to ours?
• How would you compare our products to our competitors?
• Compared to our competitors, is our product quality better, worse, or about the same?
• What do you think about our pricing?
• Why did you choose to use our [product] over other options?
• Which other options did you consider before choosing [product name]?

5. Product research survey

Product surveys give you a general idea of what users think of your product. Collecting this data can help you prioritize the product roadmap and find ways to improve the product experience.

Product research survey questions examples:

• What specific features or aspects of our product do you like the most?
• How easy or difficult was it to use the product?
• Is there anything missing from our product that you want to see added or improved?
• Did the product meet your expectations?
• How would you rate the ease of use and user interface of our product?
• What add-ons will you like in our product?

6. Feature research survey

Similar to product research, this narrows the focus to specific features. You can trigger this survey immediately after first-time interaction with a feature, when beta testing a feature, or after you’ve launched a new feature.

Example of feature research survey questions to ask existing customers:

• Please let us know how we can further improve this feature.
• How was your experience using [feature name]?
• Do you find this feature helpful?

7. Product-market fit (PMF) survey

PMF surveys help you understand whether your product addresses and solves the needs of your target market.

The data uncovered will let you know if there’s a demand in the market you’re selling and whether you’re moving in the right direction.

Example of the typical PMF survey:

How would you feel if you could no longer use our product?

• Very disappointed
• Somewhat disappointed
• Not disappointed

You’ve achieved product-market fit if over 40% of respondents will be disappointed that they can no longer use your product.

8. Net Promoter Score survey (NPS)

This survey uses an 11-point scale (0-10) to measure customer loyalty and predict business growth.

The standard question is usually something like:

“On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend our product to a friend or colleague?”

NPS survey respondents are classified into three:

• Promoters: They love your tool and rate you 9 or 10
• Passives: They’re neutral, so they rate you 7 or 8
• Detractors: This group are unhappy with their experience and rate you between 0 and 6

Subtract the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters to get your Net Promoter Score.

The NPS surveys you trigger can be transactional (sent after purchases, onboarding, customer service call, etc.) or relational (sent regularly to keep in touch with customers).

How you send your surveys totally depends on your objectives, but we recommend using both transactional and relational NPS so you don’t miss out on any insight.

Speaking of insights, it’s hard to know what the customer thinks by just seeing their rating. That’s why it’s a good idea to send quantitative follow-up questions that give respondents enough room for expression.

Examples of follow-up questions to ask:

• Why did you choose that score?
• What specific aspect(s) of our product/service influenced your rating the most?
• What improvements or changes would make you more likely to recommend our product/service?
• How can we improve your experience?
• What do you like most/least about [product name]?

9. Customer satisfaction survey (CSAT)

CSAT surveys measure customer satisfaction data at a granular level, providing you with insights to improve the user experience.

Trigger your CSAT surveys after specific engagements—e.g., when users interact with a feature for the first time, after contacting support, immediately after a customer renews their accounts, etc.

Measuring user satisfaction at every touchpoint reveals friction areas so you can investigate and fix them.

CSAT surveys are typically measured with smiley faces or a Likert scale having 1-5 answer statements.

Examples of questions to ask:

• How would you rate your interaction with our support team?
• How satisfied are you with [product] so far?
• Did [feature] meet your expectations?

10. Customer effort score (CES) survey

This survey measures the perceived effort a customer exerts to complete an action while engaging with your business.

CES is similar to CSAT in many ways. For instance, they serve the same purpose—identifying the friction points in the user experience —and use the same Likert scale.

Examples of CES questions:

• How easy was it to [perform action]?
• On a scale of 1-7, how would you rate the effort it takes to use our X feature?
• Was it easy to find the information you wanted?

11. Content evaluation survey

Trigger this one if you want to assess the effectiveness of your resources/help guides. The responses will enable you to improve the quality of the training content you produce and increase in-app engagement.

Set your evaluation survey to trigger after a user engages with the training material. Some questions to ask include:

• How helpful did you find this resource?
• Have you found what you were looking for in this article?
• Which types of content did you find most valuable and informative? (e.g., interactive walkthroughs , blog posts, video tutorials, etc.)
• Did you find the content easy to consume and understand?

12. Exit surveys

Exit or so-called churn surveys aims to understand the reasons behind churn and reduce cancelations by offering alternatives before letting customers go.

Set your exit surveys to automatically trigger when a customer clicks the cancelation account button. Ensure the survey is delivered in-app right at the moment your customer is about to cancel. Not everyone will go ahead and answer a survey they got via email after they finished closing their account.

• What is the reason you are leaving [product name]?
• What’s the main reason you are canceling your account?
• Why did you decide to cancel your subscription?

What are the best tools for creating market surveys?

When selecting a survey tool, go for something that:

• Allows you to build multiple survey types.
• Can analyze survey responses to generate rich insights.
• Is easy to use even if you don’t have experience creating your own market research.

The tools below help you do just that.

Userpilot – best for short in-app surveys

Userpilot is a product growth platform that helps PMs and PMMs drive product adoption.

With Userpilot, you can:

• Choose from a variety of survey templates and customize them to your brand. You can also build from scratch if you want—all code free.
• Dig into survey analytics to see how your surveys are performing. A glance at the results dashboard will show you how many people completed the survey, where most respondents dropped, etc.
• Trigger surveys contextually based on user behavior using custom events and segmentation.

• Localize the survey content to make the survey include global audiences.
• Tag qualitative NPS responses and analyze patterns easily.

Typeform – best for long-form market research surveys

Typeform allows you to include multiple questions in your surveys. You can freely move between different response types in the same survey—e.g., Likert scale, qualitative questions, yes/no questions, etc.

More importantly, the platform has extensive survey templates to save you time and mental energy.

Once your survey is ready, you can generate a link and embed it on any platform that allows it.

For example, Userpilot seamlessly integrates with Typeform, so you can include your Typeform surveys while building with our app.

Marketing surveys come with lots of benefits for your company.

Gathering responses from your target audience helps you shape your offerings to the market need and consistently stay ahead of the competition. You’ll drive acquisitions and long-term retention faster that way.

Ready to get started with marketing surveys? Get a Userpilot Demo now to see how our platform can help you build and analyze different surveys.

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Why use surveys?

Survey research methods.

• Conducting market research surveys
• Common mistakes with market research surveys?

The different types of survey methods

Survey tools for your survey method, what can businesses do with these types of surveys, how to write a research survey (free example templates), try qualtrics for free, types of market research surveys.

20 min read There are different types of survey research you can run, but the majority of research is conducted with just a handful of research survey methods. We explore what they are and how to use them.

What is a market research survey?

A market research survey is a way of getting feedback directly from the people who have the ultimate say in your organization’s success: your customers.

Unlike focus groups or interviews, market research surveys allow you to get detailed feedback at scale — from behaviors to overall experiences — and in a standardized format. Also, as the data is easy to process, you can quickly turn it into actionable insights .

Surveys are used to collect primary research, which means market research data that you collect yourself. The other type is secondary data, which is obtained from other sources, for example census data.

Surveys are among the most popular methods of primary market research, since they can be used to gather qualitative and quantitative research on market trends, and they can cover a huge range of respondents across your customer base. They’re also a format familiar to many people.

Get started with our free survey software

Surveys are ultimately about understanding your target audience, but they can go beyond your customer base. They can be taken by anyone — employees, potential future customers, and even those who don’t want to engage with your business (helping you to identify the ones that do).

However, a survey isn’t a stand-alone solution. It can work alongside other survey methods, such as focus groups, field studies, observation, and market analysis, to help you get a clear picture of your market and decide what direction to take.

But with all these different types of survey methods, and some being better than others in specific areas (e.g. data quality, collecting feedback), where should you start?

To get the best out of each survey research type, consider what you can invest in terms of:

• Time: How quickly do you need the survey research? Do you have time to conduct research?
• Money: Do you have the budget to invest in research overheads?
• Knowledge of analytics: Are you trained to interpret the collected data? If not, do you have a partner you can work with to get the insights you need?
• Research expertise: Do you have clearly defined problems or challenges that you want to explore or understand through surveys?
• Technology capability: Is your survey software up to the task of analyzing the data?
• Your audience’s response: Is it likely that your audience will respond? What survey types (online surveys, etc.) would they be most receptive to?
• Slow responses: Do you have a strategy in place to avoid low response rates?

Conducting market research surveys: best practices

Today’s market research industry is advancing rapidly, thanks in part to new technologies which make it easier to conduct market research, and offer more power and sophistication when it comes to analyzing your data.

Data-driven research is the standard across market research and other disciplines, and within the sector competition between brands is driving progress towards better and better market research tools. Beyond customer satisfaction, demographic questions and competitive analysis, today’s tools can dive deeper into your data, unearthing key drivers behind trends and even providing aggregated data on emotions and attitudes in customer feedback.

However, none of these technological advances can replace humans. To conduct market research successfully, you need to be able to combine tech with insight, intelligence and intuition, especially when you’re dealing directly with target customers, for example during a phone interview or when you’re approaching existing customers whose relationship to your brand needs to be maintained.

As we’ll see in this guide, market research can be used in a huge range of contexts, including brand tracking, customer experience research, employee experience programs, and of course product development. Whichever application you’re looking at, it’s essential to prepare thoroughly before sending out your surveys.

• Make sure your research question has been formulated and agreed by everyone involved in the project
• Develop a communications plan to maximize the chances of people engaging with your survey, including introductions, publicity, reminders and follow-up
• Consider using pre-testing before you fully launch your survey to thoroughly road-test it and iron out any issues
• Close the loop – after the study is complete and actions have been taken, let participations know how their contribution helped
• Consider a research panel for future surveys, either one you’ve built yourself or one managed by a third party provider

What are some common mistakes with market research surveys?

With the right survey tools and appropriate support from your survey platform provider, everything should go smoothly, even if you’re not an expert at doing your own market research. However, there are a few things to watch out for.

Choosing the wrong people to survey

Figuring out who you’re going to survey in the first place may seem like an obvious first step and not one you need to spend much time on. But in fact it’s possible to get it wrong, survey the wrong people and end up running a market research study with unreliable data. This is sometimes called ‘sample framing error’

Getting your sample size wrong

If your sample is too small, you run the risk of getting a sample group that doesn’t adequately reflect your target population. This can throw your entire market research survey off course. But if the sample is too large, you spend time and money on research that doesn’t add significant value. Have a look at our sample size calculator to help determine the right sample size for your market research surveys.

Using the wrong kinds of analysis

Do you know your conjoint analysis from your T-test? Understanding the basic types of statistical tests you can use to analyze market research survey data is essential if you’re not using a survey tool with built-in analytics. You’ll need to match the kind of data you’re collecting to the analysis method you choose in order to get accurate insights from your market research surveys.

Writing confusing survey questions

Survey questions aren’t like the questions we use in everyday speech, or even like the ones we ask in formal writing. They need to be highly specific, include appropriate context, and be free of any kind of descriptive or persuasive element that might introduce bias. For a primer on writing great market research survey questions, see our guide to great survey questions

You should choose your survey method based on your target audience, distribution capabilities, and the questions you want answered. For example, interviews are far more personal and explorative by nature, but they’re difficult and costly to scale. Online surveys, on the other hand, have far greater reach and much more affordable — but you lose the opportunity to connect with respondents. Let’s go through the different types and how you can use them.

Online surveys

Online surveys are accessible to any participant across the globe, providing they have an internet connection. You can create online surveys using survey platforms and distribute them via email using a link, or respondents can go directly to the online survey and complete it.

Paper surveys

Paper surveys (or written surveys) are printed surveys filled in by hand. This method works well if respondents have enough time (and incentive) to complete the survey, and the researcher is happy to manually collect the data before collating and interpreting the answers.

Mail surveys

Mail surveys provide exceptional geographical coverage as they can be printed off and sent via the post. However, as recipients need to return the surveys for counting, it’s recommended that you include a pre-paid returns envelope in the original envelope, otherwise you’ll have lower response rates.

Telephone surveys

Telephone surveys involve asking respondents a series of questions over the phone. It’s a popular survey method as it’s convenient for researchers and doesn’t require a lot of capital to do. However, researchers may need to invest time to set up interviews with participants and take notes during the process.

In-person interviews / face-to-face surveys

In-person interviews and face-to-face surveys are great opportunities to get more insightful and valuable responses from participants. You can quickly find out why they think and feel the way that they do, providing an unbiased view of a subject or issue. However, like telephone surveys, they require a lot of time to set up and gather data.

Panel surveys

Panel surveys use a pre-selected group of people as the sample, so that the research can be carried out quickly. It presents a happy medium between the speed and quality of research data.

Based on the type of survey method you choose, here are the types of tools you need and can use for each:

A good internet connection is required for participants to access online surveys, though mobile devices data plans mean that most people can connect to the internet easily.

A good survey software platform is needed to give you full functionality and flexibility, so your online surveys can be customized and optimized. However, businesses can get more for their money with a survey software system that does more for the company.

For example, the Qualtrics XM Platform™ is a best-of-breed experience operating system for experience management. It brings all your operational and experience data together from across the organization to help create and improve experiences for employees, customers, prospects and more. It automatically updates records, has an in-built analytics engine and can handle research projects, from start to finish, in a few clicks.

All you need are paper, ink, pens and clipboards — but due to environmental and sustainability concerns, particularly paper waste and ink pollution, you may want to opt for a more digitized solution.

For mail surveys, the resources and concerns are the same as with paper surveys — but the main difference is distribution.

Ultimately, you need a reliable postal service that can deliver to your target audience. It also becomes costly if you want to include international respondents.

As long as you have good connectivity and network coverage, telephone surveys are straightforward. That said, survey calls can last a long time, so if you plan to include international audiences, ensure you can afford the calling costs.

The only requirement for in-person interviews and face-to-face surveys is a venue to hold them in.

These require participants to be available at the time of the research. Traditionally, third-party generated research panels are available as a service to companies that don’t have access to the audiences they need.

The surveys we explored can be used for four purposes in any business:

1. Market surveys

These help you understand who’s out there, what they want, and how you can best meet their needs.

Market description surveys

Purpose: to determine the size and relative market share of the market. Such studies provide key information about market growth, competitive positioning, and tracking share of the market .

Market profiling / segmentation surveys

Purpose: to identify who the customers are , who they are not, and why they are or are not your customers. This is often a descriptive market segmentation and market share analysis.

Stage in the purchase process / tracking surveys

Where is the customer in the adoption process? This information shows Market Awareness – Knowledge – Intention – Trial – Purchase – Repurchase of the product.

2.   Customer experience surveys

This kind of survey helps you put yourself in the customer’s shoes and look at your business from their perspective.

Customer intention – purchase analysis surveys

Purpose: Directed at understanding the current customer. What motivates the customer to move from interest in the product to actual purchase? This is key to understanding customer conversion, commitment, and loyalty .

Customer attitudes and expectations surveys

Purpose: Used to direct advertising and improve customer conversion, commitment, and loyalty. Does the product meet customer expectations ? What attitudes have customers formed about the product and/or company?

Learn how you can set up and run customer attitudes and use surveys

Sales lead generation surveys

Purpose: Sales lead generation surveys are for

• assuring timely use and follow-up of sales leads
• qualifying sales leads (thereby saving valuable sales force time)
• providing more effective tracking of sales leads

Customer trust / loyalty / retention analysis surveys

Purpose: Especially helpful for high-priced consumer goods with a long decision and purchase processes (time from need recognition to purchase), this type of study explores the depth of consumer attitudes formed about the product and/or company.

Salesforce effectiveness surveys

Purpose: A combination of measures that focus on the sales activities, performance, and effectiveness in producing the desired and measurable effect or goal. Often measured as a 360-degree survey completed by the salesperson, the client (evaluating the sales call), and the supervisor responsible for evaluating the salesperson.

Customer service surveys

Purpose: Akin to customer satisfaction surveys, customer service surveys instead focus in detail on the actual customer service that was received, the process involved in receiving that service, and the evaluation of the participants in the service process.

Customer service representative (CSR) surveys

Purpose: CSRs often exhibit frustration, burnout, and high turnover . Surveys focus on CSR retention, reducing costs, and increasing the quality of customer relationships.

Attitudes, burnout, turnover, and retention: CSRs hold attitudes that reflect on their job-related activities including:

• the allocation of time
• solutions to customer needs
• how to improve their job
• best practices
• how well internal departments help customers

3. Product surveys

As part of product development, surveys help you find out what features, benefits and attributes appeal most to your customers, and how best to package your product, experience or service.

New product, service or experience concept analysis surveys

Purpose: Concept test studies are appropriate in the initial screening of new product concepts . Likes and dislikes about the concept and evaluation of acceptability and likelihood of purchase are especially useful measures.

Concept optimization, demand estimation, and cost analysis surveys (conjoint analysis)

Purpose: Determines an optimal bundle of features and benefits, and estimates associated demand. This kind of survey develops market share estimates of market potential for the alternative potential products.

Habits and practices, or attitude and usage surveys

Purpose: Directed at understanding usage situations, including how, when, and where the product is used. Habits and practices studies sometimes include a real or virtual pantry audit. Attitude and usage studies are used to understand consumer attitudes towards the product category and to life in general. They also look at product and brand usage, including how, when and where the product is used.

Product satisfaction surveys (attribute, features, promised benefits)

Purpose: Evaluation of the product’s promised bundle of benefits (both tangible and image). Are expectations created for the product by advertising, packaging , and the product appearance fulfilled by the product?

Competitive benchmarking surveys

Purpose: A “best practices” study of “how does the market view us relative to the competition?” Competitive positioning analyses often compare the attributes and benefits that make up the product using multidimensional scaling. These analyses also include an evaluation of key competitors, looking at the same KPIs and attributes as product satisfaction surveys.

Sales forecasting and market tracking surveys

Purpose: Sales forecasting and market tracking studies can include expert opinion (experts estimate the market), judgmental bootstrapping (expert-based rules describing how to use available secondary market information), conjoint analysis (estimation of consumer intentions based on product attributes that are important in the decision), and intentions evaluations (consumer self-reported intentions of future purchases).

Price setting surveys and elasticity of demand analysis

Purpose: Price surveys estimate the elasticity of demand and show optimal price points, including prices too low or too high. Price surveys may estimate the demand for different product or service segments, or different usage situations.

4. Brand surveys

A survey can help you understand how consumers perceive your brand and what values and ideas they associate with it. You can explore what value your brand has and whether people would choose you over competitors in your market niche.

Brand equity analysis surveys

Purpose: What is the psychological value that a brand holds in the marketplace? Brand equity is a composite of brand awareness , brand quality, brand associations, and brand loyalty measures.

Advertising value identification and analysis surveys

Purpose: Advertising value analysis focuses on mapping the hierarchical attributes, benefits, and values that are associated with and portrayed by an advertisement. Means-end analysis is often part of this type of study.

Advertising message effectiveness surveys (media and message)

Purpose: Message effectiveness testing identifies the impressions, feelings, and effectiveness in moving the respondent to a desired goal (increased awareness, more product information, trial, repeat purchase).

Once you know the right type of survey to run, the next step is to write a survey that your respondents will love to take!

Survey methods can be used to help collect data on real business issues and help you answer questions. Qualtrics supports customer surveys on every channel, at every journey stage to get you answers for more informed decisions.

We’ve put together a range of survey example templates that you can use for free to help you get started:

• Employee satisfaction survey template
• Employee exit survey template
• Customer satisfaction (CSAT) survey template
• Ad testing survey template
• Brand awareness survey template
• Product pricing survey template
• Product research survey template
• Employee engagement survey template
• Customer service survey template
• NPS survey template
• Product package testing survey template
• Product features prioritization survey template

In addition, for large-scale research studies, Qualtrics offers market research services to help with everything from questionnaire design and survey methods, to implementation and analysis.

Related resources

Post event survey questions 10 min read, best survey software 16 min read, close-ended questions 7 min read, survey vs questionnaire 12 min read, response bias 13 min read, double barreled question 11 min read, likert scales 14 min read, request demo.

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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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Understanding and Evaluating Survey Research

A variety of methodologic approaches exist for individuals interested in conducting research. Selection of a research approach depends on a number of factors, including the purpose of the research, the type of research questions to be answered, and the availability of resources. The purpose of this article is to describe survey research as one approach to the conduct of research so that the reader can critically evaluate the appropriateness of the conclusions from studies employing survey research.

SURVEY RESEARCH

Survey research is defined as "the collection of information from a sample of individuals through their responses to questions" ( Check & Schutt, 2012, p. 160 ). This type of research allows for a variety of methods to recruit participants, collect data, and utilize various methods of instrumentation. Survey research can use quantitative research strategies (e.g., using questionnaires with numerically rated items), qualitative research strategies (e.g., using open-ended questions), or both strategies (i.e., mixed methods). As it is often used to describe and explore human behavior, surveys are therefore frequently used in social and psychological research ( Singleton & Straits, 2009 ).

Information has been obtained from individuals and groups through the use of survey research for decades. It can range from asking a few targeted questions of individuals on a street corner to obtain information related to behaviors and preferences, to a more rigorous study using multiple valid and reliable instruments. Common examples of less rigorous surveys include marketing or political surveys of consumer patterns and public opinion polls.

Survey research has historically included large population-based data collection. The primary purpose of this type of survey research was to obtain information describing characteristics of a large sample of individuals of interest relatively quickly. Large census surveys obtaining information reflecting demographic and personal characteristics and consumer feedback surveys are prime examples. These surveys were often provided through the mail and were intended to describe demographic characteristics of individuals or obtain opinions on which to base programs or products for a population or group.

More recently, survey research has developed into a rigorous approach to research, with scientifically tested strategies detailing who to include (representative sample), what and how to distribute (survey method), and when to initiate the survey and follow up with nonresponders (reducing nonresponse error), in order to ensure a high-quality research process and outcome. Currently, the term "survey" can reflect a range of research aims, sampling and recruitment strategies, data collection instruments, and methods of survey administration.

Given this range of options in the conduct of survey research, it is imperative for the consumer/reader of survey research to understand the potential for bias in survey research as well as the tested techniques for reducing bias, in order to draw appropriate conclusions about the information reported in this manner. Common types of error in research, along with the sources of error and strategies for reducing error as described throughout this article, are summarized in the Table .

Sources of Error in Survey Research and Strategies to Reduce Error

The goal of sampling strategies in survey research is to obtain a sufficient sample that is representative of the population of interest. It is often not feasible to collect data from an entire population of interest (e.g., all individuals with lung cancer); therefore, a subset of the population or sample is used to estimate the population responses (e.g., individuals with lung cancer currently receiving treatment). A large random sample increases the likelihood that the responses from the sample will accurately reflect the entire population. In order to accurately draw conclusions about the population, the sample must include individuals with characteristics similar to the population.

It is therefore necessary to correctly identify the population of interest (e.g., individuals with lung cancer currently receiving treatment vs. all individuals with lung cancer). The sample will ideally include individuals who reflect the intended population in terms of all characteristics of the population (e.g., sex, socioeconomic characteristics, symptom experience) and contain a similar distribution of individuals with those characteristics. As discussed by Mady Stovall beginning on page 162, Fujimori et al. ( 2014 ), for example, were interested in the population of oncologists. The authors obtained a sample of oncologists from two hospitals in Japan. These participants may or may not have similar characteristics to all oncologists in Japan.

Participant recruitment strategies can affect the adequacy and representativeness of the sample obtained. Using diverse recruitment strategies can help improve the size of the sample and help ensure adequate coverage of the intended population. For example, if a survey researcher intends to obtain a sample of individuals with breast cancer representative of all individuals with breast cancer in the United States, the researcher would want to use recruitment strategies that would recruit both women and men, individuals from rural and urban settings, individuals receiving and not receiving active treatment, and so on. Because of the difficulty in obtaining samples representative of a large population, researchers may focus the population of interest to a subset of individuals (e.g., women with stage III or IV breast cancer). Large census surveys require extremely large samples to adequately represent the characteristics of the population because they are intended to represent the entire population.

DATA COLLECTION METHODS

Survey research may use a variety of data collection methods with the most common being questionnaires and interviews. Questionnaires may be self-administered or administered by a professional, may be administered individually or in a group, and typically include a series of items reflecting the research aims. Questionnaires may include demographic questions in addition to valid and reliable research instruments ( Costanzo, Stawski, Ryff, Coe, & Almeida, 2012 ; DuBenske et al., 2014 ; Ponto, Ellington, Mellon, & Beck, 2010 ). It is helpful to the reader when authors describe the contents of the survey questionnaire so that the reader can interpret and evaluate the potential for errors of validity (e.g., items or instruments that do not measure what they are intended to measure) and reliability (e.g., items or instruments that do not measure a construct consistently). Helpful examples of articles that describe the survey instruments exist in the literature ( Buerhaus et al., 2012 ).

Questionnaires may be in paper form and mailed to participants, delivered in an electronic format via email or an Internet-based program such as SurveyMonkey, or a combination of both, giving the participant the option to choose which method is preferred ( Ponto et al., 2010 ). Using a combination of methods of survey administration can help to ensure better sample coverage (i.e., all individuals in the population having a chance of inclusion in the sample) therefore reducing coverage error ( Dillman, Smyth, & Christian, 2014 ; Singleton & Straits, 2009 ). For example, if a researcher were to only use an Internet-delivered questionnaire, individuals without access to a computer would be excluded from participation. Self-administered mailed, group, or Internet-based questionnaires are relatively low cost and practical for a large sample ( Check & Schutt, 2012 ).

Dillman et al. ( 2014 ) have described and tested a tailored design method for survey research. Improving the visual appeal and graphics of surveys by using a font size appropriate for the respondents, ordering items logically without creating unintended response bias, and arranging items clearly on each page can increase the response rate to electronic questionnaires. Attending to these and other issues in electronic questionnaires can help reduce measurement error (i.e., lack of validity or reliability) and help ensure a better response rate.

Conducting interviews is another approach to data collection used in survey research. Interviews may be conducted by phone, computer, or in person and have the benefit of visually identifying the nonverbal response(s) of the interviewee and subsequently being able to clarify the intended question. An interviewer can use probing comments to obtain more information about a question or topic and can request clarification of an unclear response ( Singleton & Straits, 2009 ). Interviews can be costly and time intensive, and therefore are relatively impractical for large samples.

Some authors advocate for using mixed methods for survey research when no one method is adequate to address the planned research aims, to reduce the potential for measurement and non-response error, and to better tailor the study methods to the intended sample ( Dillman et al., 2014 ; Singleton & Straits, 2009 ). For example, a mixed methods survey research approach may begin with distributing a questionnaire and following up with telephone interviews to clarify unclear survey responses ( Singleton & Straits, 2009 ). Mixed methods might also be used when visual or auditory deficits preclude an individual from completing a questionnaire or participating in an interview.

FUJIMORI ET AL.: SURVEY RESEARCH

Fujimori et al. ( 2014 ) described the use of survey research in a study of the effect of communication skills training for oncologists on oncologist and patient outcomes (e.g., oncologist’s performance and confidence and patient’s distress, satisfaction, and trust). A sample of 30 oncologists from two hospitals was obtained and though the authors provided a power analysis concluding an adequate number of oncologist participants to detect differences between baseline and follow-up scores, the conclusions of the study may not be generalizable to a broader population of oncologists. Oncologists were randomized to either an intervention group (i.e., communication skills training) or a control group (i.e., no training).

Fujimori et al. ( 2014 ) chose a quantitative approach to collect data from oncologist and patient participants regarding the study outcome variables. Self-report numeric ratings were used to measure oncologist confidence and patient distress, satisfaction, and trust. Oncologist confidence was measured using two instruments each using 10-point Likert rating scales. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was used to measure patient distress and has demonstrated validity and reliability in a number of populations including individuals with cancer ( Bjelland, Dahl, Haug, & Neckelmann, 2002 ). Patient satisfaction and trust were measured using 0 to 10 numeric rating scales. Numeric observer ratings were used to measure oncologist performance of communication skills based on a videotaped interaction with a standardized patient. Participants completed the same questionnaires at baseline and follow-up.

The authors clearly describe what data were collected from all participants. Providing additional information about the manner in which questionnaires were distributed (i.e., electronic, mail), the setting in which data were collected (e.g., home, clinic), and the design of the survey instruments (e.g., visual appeal, format, content, arrangement of items) would assist the reader in drawing conclusions about the potential for measurement and nonresponse error. The authors describe conducting a follow-up phone call or mail inquiry for nonresponders, using the Dillman et al. ( 2014 ) tailored design for survey research follow-up may have reduced nonresponse error.

CONCLUSIONS

Survey research is a useful and legitimate approach to research that has clear benefits in helping to describe and explore variables and constructs of interest. Survey research, like all research, has the potential for a variety of sources of error, but several strategies exist to reduce the potential for error. Advanced practitioners aware of the potential sources of error and strategies to improve survey research can better determine how and whether the conclusions from a survey research study apply to practice.

The author has no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

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PwC’s Voice of the Consumer Survey 2024

Shrinking the consumer trust deficit

• 30 minute read
• May 15, 2024

Companies can strengthen the confidence consumers have in them by executing on six key imperatives.

Listen to the Voice of the Consumer Survey report, and hear insights from our experts.

Trust is crucial for consumers and for the companies that sell products and services to them: as shoppers confront a set of overlapping and often mutually reinforcing disruptions—financial, ecological and technological—they are prioritising reassurance and reliability from the brands they engage with.

That’s a signal finding of our inaugural Voice of the Consumer Survey, which builds on insights amassed over 15 years of consumer research by collecting the perspectives of more than 20,000 consumers across 31 countries and territories on a wide range of issues, including caring for the environment, attending to their health, being open about data, finding value for money and embracing AI.

The good news for leaders of consumer-facing businesses: global consumer markets are set to continue expanding. The global consumer class, comprised of those spending US$12 or more per day, reached 4 billion last year, and is projected to reach 5 billion people by 2031 . The bad news: there’s a widening gap between the trust that executives think consumers place in their companies and the trust that consumers actually have in them. In order to maintain and grow market share, companies must figure out how to build trust in several dimensions.

In interviews conducted alongside our quantitative survey, senior executives confirmed the importance of trust and reputation to their strategy and growth—and described a landscape of both challenges and enormous opportunities. ‘In an era of wide distrust, business is still one of the more trusted institutions,’ says Esi Eggleston Bracey, Unilever’s Chief Growth and Marketing Officer. ‘People trust brands they love and companies that use their data responsibly. Employees trust companies that support them, have responsible practices and treat them as people. And investors trust performance and solid, continuous returns.’

Six consumer trust imperatives

• Forge bonds with eco-conscious consumers by connecting their intentions to positive environmental impacts.
• Create and promote a product portfolio that reflects consumers’ desires for wellness, nutrition and more sustainable food production.
• Strike a balance with social media use, recognising its significance as a platform for sales and engagement, while being mindful of consumer concerns about its credibility.
• Safeguard personal data, while continuing to use it to offer personalised services and elevated customer experiences.
• Navigate conflicting priorities in an economy with rising prices, meeting customers’ expectations of value while managing price increases effectively.
• Incorporate and experiment with AI tools in business operations while maintaining a human element, especially in more complex and personal services.

Forge greater bonds with eco-conscious consumers

A staggering 85% of survey respondents report experiencing firsthand the disruptive effects of climate change in their daily lives. A smaller but still considerable number (46%) also say that they are buying more sustainable products as a way to reduce their personal impact on the environment.

This gap presents a chance for consumer markets companies to better connect with environmentally aware consumers. It also calls for a deeper understanding of consumer behaviour, including that of the 43% of all surveyed consumers who report making more considered purchases to reduce their overall consumption.

Across the board, consumers tell us they would be willing to pay 9.7% above average price for sustainably produced or sourced goods, in line with last year’s pulse survey results of 9.8%. They say the sustainability incentives that would have the greatest impact on their purchasing are mainly tangible attributes, including production methods that emphasise waste reduction and recycling (40%), eco-friendly packaging (38%), and making a positive impact on nature and water conservation (34%). Messaging that promotes a company’s social responsibility programmes or community engagements (20% and 17%, respectively) is seen as less influential.

In interviews, executives from a wide range of consumer markets companies—representing grocery, health, home decor and more—shared similar experiences of their customers’ eco-minded behaviour. The expectation that companies will do the right thing for the environment is now seen as table stakes. Thus, companies must achieve a delicate balance between consumer affordability and environmental impact. This may involve switching from high-performance plastic packaging to biodegradable options, or giving customers a choice of using more costly sustainable aviation fuels for product delivery. ‘If reusable packaging was less expensive, not more, that would be a game changer,’ says Bálint Lévai, CEO of the dietary supplements company BioTechUSA, which has experimented with a range of alternative packaging options, with limited consumer uptake.

Cost increases associated with sustainability are a fundamental challenge for consumer-facing companies. The 2024 edition of PwC’s Annual Global CEO Survey showed that two-thirds of companies have efforts underway to improve energy efficiency, but only about half are creating innovative climate-friendly products or services. Many are also facing tough decisions on costs. ‘For companies, there is a real focus on operational challenges and minimising impacts on product pricing. How do they create systems and supply chains to meet their climate commitments? Where do they source raw materials at appropriate prices? How do they drive needed efficiencies in new processes?’ asks David Chavern, President and CEO of the Consumer Brands Association, a US trade group for manufacturers of consumer packaged goods (CPG). ‘Ultimately, climate risk will be priced into inputs and processes, and the necessary next question will be how to also deliver the right price to the consumer.’

• Expand the impact of compliance and regulatory work, like the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) , by using non-financial information to find bottom-line benefits.
• Build more resilient, more efficient and less energy-intensive supply chains through network optimisation, integrated visibility and technological innovation.
• Discover efficiencies in operations such as truck loading, warehouse operations, routing, and waste and inventory reduction through machine learning, AI, and analytics.
• Embrace the opportunity for premiumisation through product differentiation valued by consumers (e.g., products that commit to doing no harm).

Create a product portfolio that reflects wellness, nutrition and sustainable food production

More than half of consumers (52%) express intentions to boost their intake of fresh fruits and vegetables, while a smaller but important group (22%) plan to reduce their red meat consumption. Despite these health-orientated preferences, only 19% of consumers consider the environmental implications of their food choices. This disconnect presents a significant opportunity for food producers, retailers and wholesalers to bridge the gap between consumer intent and sustainable practice.

The growing interest in plant-based diets hints at a rising awareness of the environmental burdens posed by traditional meat production, particularly beef, which is a known contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Explicitly addressing these consumer concerns may help companies integrate plant-based options into mainstream shopping habits, while being mindful that the main motivations behind these shifts are consumers’ considerations of general health (57%) and product cost (52%) when they make food and dietary choices.

Feeding the globe

The ambition to adopt healthier and more sustainable diets cannot rest on consumers alone; producers and retailers must also step up. Global population numbers are expected to surge from 8.1 billion today to 9.7 billion by 2050 , and the dual challenge of feeding more mouths and reducing food production’s ecological footprint is becoming increasingly urgent. Although the business model of selling in larger quantities is necessary and lucrative, it will require innovation to reduce potential risks to long-term environmental and social sustainability.

Food companies can leverage the willingness of consumers to pay a premium for sustainably produced goods as a competitive advantage. Effective strategies might also include comprehensive food packaging and presentation that not only guides consumers towards environmentally friendly choices but also builds trust through transparency in product design and the communication of clear sustainability information at point of sale. For example, six in ten consumers in our survey agree that an independent sustainability score on food products would be helpful and that incentives on the pricing of foods nearing expiry would drive likelihood to purchase these items.

• Support consumers’ ability to eat a healthy diet through clear category signposting, packaging information, and other targeted communication and marketing efforts.
• Expand portfolio strategies to incorporate a greater number of alternative meat products and proteins.
• Cater to a growing demand for health and wellness products, such as weight-loss prescription drugs and other over-the-counter solutions.
• Innovate to meet a new generation of informed consumers who are focused on their health, offering products such as wearables that incorporate health-tracking features.

Strike a balance between engagement with social media and caution over its credibility concerns

Consumers have mixed feelings about social media. They increasingly use it as a place for purchases; 46% of consumers report directly buying products through social media, a significant rise from 21% in 2019. And they really like it as a place for discovery and reviews: 67% of consumers use social media channels to discover new brands, and 70% of consumers seek reviews to validate a company before making a purchase. But at the same time, consumers are questioning its safety and reliability, ranking social media their least trusted industry.

Striking the right balance on social media is crucial for companies. Brands need to create engaging and authentic content that resonates with their target audience, while also being mindful of the concerns that consumers have on trust. Data protection was the leading factor that influenced consumer trust—83% of respondents consider it a top priority. Other important factors are the quality of goods and services (79%), companies’ treatment of employees (77%), and product affordability (75%).

of consumers report purchasing products directly through social media—up from 21% in 2019.

Businesses are engaged in a delicate dance of expressing their purpose and values while also navigating the need for caution in their communications with consumers. ‘Companies today are trusted more than governments and media. That gives companies an opportunity to play a larger and purposeful role in society,’ says Ronald den Elzen, Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Heineken. ‘At the same time, we see many companies becoming more careful and restrictive in advertising, based on the polarisation we are seeing around the world.’

Advertising’s new frontier

‘Five years ago, we were spending half of what we spend now on digital advertising,’ says Kyle Artz, Vice President of China Strategy at Coca-Cola, one of the world’s largest advertisers, stressing the importance of directing this spend towards innovative consumer engagement. Through personalised approaches, user-generated content initiatives, gamification and more, companies are competing in the digital space to create relationships that go beyond mere brand awareness. The impact of personalised social media advertisements is evident, with seven in ten consumers reporting that it would influence their purchasing decisions, followed by the influence of retailer websites (66%), email (54%) and text messaging (38%).

Global social media ad spending alone is projected to reach US$220 billion this year, up from the US$207 billion forecast for 2023. This includes a strong focus on social media influencers, both widely recognisable celebrities and aspiring individuals, who are now an established channel—our survey found they have influenced 41% of consumers to make a purchase. ‘Influencers are playing a much bigger role than what they were playing even a year ago,’ says Nitish Gupta, Managing Director in Vietnam of the personal care brand Kimberly-Clark. ‘Across medical, beauty, baby and childcare, and personal care categories, when I look at the social commerce landscape, it’s a sea change.’

• Emulate front-running CPG companies by building social ecosystems targeted to specific generations (Gen Z, millennials, etc.) across various social media platforms (YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitch, etc.).
• Invest in marketing and advertising to build brands instead of pursuing more transactional trade promotion spend.
• Take a digital-first approach to investing in advertising channels such as text and email, in addition to social media.

Safeguard personal data, while using it to elevate customer experiences

A large majority of consumers (83%) say that protection of their personal data is one of the most crucial factors in companies’ ability to earn their trust. When asked specifically about privacy, a significant majority of consumers (80%) also demand assurances that their personal information won’t be shared. But only around half feel confident that they understand how their data is stored and shared, and 71% express concerns about the security of their personal data on social media.

The acquisition and use of first-person data for personalisation has also become crucial to maintaining a competitive advantage in the marketplace. ‘Consumers expect that brands today understand them better than ever before,’ says Tien Yue Chen, Executive Director of the Malaysia-based pewter home decor and luxury gifting company Royal Selangor. As Coca-Cola’s Artz tells us: ‘First-person data for personalisation and advanced insights is a point of consideration in nearly every decision we make.’ With competition for valuable data intensifying, and new regulations coming into force in the  EU and several  Asia-Pacific countries , it’s imperative for companies to implement robust data protection measures and enact a strategy that engages with consumers without compromising the ethical use of data.

Use it, don’t abuse it

Industry executives describe a developing social contract that involves consumers willingly sharing their personal information in exchange for valuable incentives such as promotions, exclusives and other perks. Indeed, nearly 50% of consumers say they are happy for their data to be used to offer them personalised services and experiences. ‘When our customers notice that their data is being used to provide them with better products or treatments, or to achieve efficiencies in obtaining their prescriptions, we can see that they feel much more confident in sharing their data with us, and this reinforces our reputation,’ says Patriciana Rodrigues, Chairwoman of Pague Menos, a Brazilian pharmacy chain.

This trend is especially evident in loyalty programmes, which are becoming the primary engine of customer data for many companies. Given that an overwhelming 93% of executives in the United States believe that establishing and nurturing trust has a direct and positive impact on financial performance , this exchange of data and incentive has the potential to create a virtuous circle between trust and revenue.

• Responsibly scale your data strategy to realise the full benefits for the company and your consumers, given that many CPG companies have already made their foundational investments in data, tech and AI use cases.
• Build AI-enabled digital tools for testing early-stage ideas and for digital prototyping in order to create efficiencies, such as the shortening of innovation cycles.
• Elevate your ‘power brands’ by using insights from consumer data to narrow or expand the focus of your brand portfolio.

Meet customers’ expectations of value while managing price increases effectively

Inflation ranks overwhelmingly as the number-one risk that consumers think could impact their country over the next year; 64% put the issue within their top three concerns. That’s more than 20 percentage points ahead of other major threats, including slow economic growth, climate change and health issues, and it was the top concern consistently around the globe—despite lower rates of inflation and, in some regions, signs of deflation.

A consistent observation came to light in our interviews with executives in a variety of consumer goods sectors. After consumers largely accepted the price increases of the covid era, they have shown little tolerance for continued rises, especially as they turn their attention to mounting non-discretionary spending: 62% expect the most significant increase in spending in the next six months to be on groceries.

Cost-effective pricing is emerging as an important and complex factor in gaining consumer trust. Governments and regulators, acting out of a sense of duty to consumers, have already started taking action against price increases that they see as outside reasonable bounds. And consumers are searching for better value for their money: 40% would consider switching from their preferred name brands to more affordable options, such as discount brands and generic products. ‘It’s important to remember that value doesn’t equal price,’ says Noel Keeley, CEO of the Irish food retailer and wholesaler Musgrave Group. ‘It’s not necessarily the cheapest, it’s the brand they feel they are getting the best value from.’

Given consumers’ and lawmakers’ reactions to price increases, companies need to make other moves to not only manage pricing but secure their finances and reassure investors. ‘Globally, investors are asking about how we are going to approach volume growth in the future,’ says Artz. ‘There is huge pressure on [consumer goods] companies that enjoyed price increases during covid but are now finding it increasingly challenging to deliver volume growth on top of pricing. So we have to be prudent and continue to monitor the right balance of volume and price at both a global and local level.’

Focus on the purchase journey

Brands and retailers must embrace a more flexible omnichannel strategy to meet consumers’ evolving expectations for a dynamic mix of online and offline experiences. Marketers should also take note that the distribution of consumers’ preferred shopping locations—either in-store or via remote channels—has remained consistent post-pandemic. Since 2022, preference for shopping in-store has hovered at around 42%, via smartphone at 34% and via PC at 23%.

For some companies, increasing resources to deliver a consistent and personalised experience, regardless of the platform or location, is a source of competitive advantage. ‘Our investment in customer-centricity, alongside delivering exceptional customer experience regardless of channel, has paid off in terms of an uplift in brand loyalty across our offerings,’ says Marc Giroux, COO of Food for Canadian grocery chain Metro Inc.

Consumers are seeking personal connection, particularly in their discovery of new brands; 55% of survey respondents say they choose to visit physical stores and engage with salespeople, compared with 49% who seek out recommendations from family and friends, and 46% who turn to online browsing. Indeed, many executives stressed the importance of empowering their sales staff through access to more personalised consumer data and offering consumers more meaningful in-store services and experiences.

Modest technological empowerment is also key to building consumer trust and satisfaction in the in-store experience. Nearly 40% of consumers indicated that the availability of mobile or contactless payment solutions would encourage them to shop in-store. Additionally, more than one-third of consumers expressed interest in smart tags that provide product details on smartphones, as well as self-checkout systems.

• Secure profitability (as prices normalise in the second half of 2024) by investing in consumer demand, restoring volume through marketing and advertising, and continuing cost-saving initiatives.
• Attract customers back into stores through targeted investments in talented staff and technology, to improve the shopping experience.
• Consider mergers and acquisitions as part of a disciplined capital allocation. Lagging brands may be ripe for pruning.

Incorporate AI while maintaining the human element

Companies face the challenge of responsibly aligning consumer sentiment towards emerging technology, like generative AI (GenAI ), with the technology’s current and potential capabilities. A substantial 80% of consumers express concerns about GenAI’s future developments. Although more than half of consumers trust GenAI for simpler tasks, such as aggregating product information or providing recommendations, consumers are less confident about its usage in higher-risk, more personal services such as healthcare. This means that companies must tread carefully in integrating technology that can reduce operating costs, addressing consumer concerns and maintaining ethical standards.

Unilever’s Eggleston Bracey, for example, notes that acceptance of AI among employees and consumers has grown significantly in the past 18 months. ‘I’m amazed at the receptivity towards AI from January 2023 to today,’ she told us. ‘Internally, we like to think of AI as an opportunity for Augmented Intelligence, the blend of artificial and human intelligence. Our responsible AI strategies dictate we always have a person in the loop.’

‘We’re also seeing more adoption as large language models have made AI so accessible, making it a lot less scary for people. People are identifying with it now because it’s making life easier.’

Take the percentage of consumers who trust AI to provide product recommendations: 50%. This number will continue to climb as familiarity with ChatGPT and other AI applications increases, and if consumers turn away from incumbent search engines and towards AI platforms. ‘AI search, with its propensity to “choose” products for consumers, will be a massive change for CPG companies,’ says Chavern of the Consumer Brands Association. ‘But that won’t be the only way that AI could turn marketing on its head. It is easy to see how it could be used for massively improved ad efficiency and content individualisation.’

Early-stage adoption

Today, adoption of machine learning and GenAI applications, such as LLMs (large language models) and text-to-image tools, varies among brands. Companies have used these tools for internal improvements such as supply chain optimisation, company information management and pricing strategies. Some brands have progressed further—and done so quickly—experimenting with consumer engagement and marketing personalisation through design-led tools in controlled environments or ‘sandbox’ settings. ‘Six months ago, we were just starting out in terms of our GenAI journey,’ says Kavindra Mishra, CEO of Shoppers Stop, a chain of department stores in 40 cities across India. ‘Now, we are using it to interact with more than 9 million loyalty customers, enabling us to personalise our engagement with them, and supercharging our understanding of their attitudes and behaviours.’

Despite high interest among respondents in the use of chatbots for providing detailed responses (42%) and to solve complex problems (44%), nearly half (49%) of consumers demand direct connection with a sales representative if the chatbot is unable to answer the consumer’s query effectively. This, again, highlights the crucial balance that companies need to strike between technological innovation and the human touch.

• Develop a responsible strategy for the regulatory landscape that will emerge around AI in the next few years.
• Scale successful machine learning, AI and digital use cases to optimise sales and demand planning.
• Explore the potential of AI tools to increase supply chain efficiency, from new product development to waste and inventory reduction.
• Test and learn with the producing capabilities of LLMs on ad campaign development and production.

Unlocking the trust premium

As global consumer markets continue to expand, companies must move beyond their own perceptions of customer trust and learn what their clients actually think. Senior executives recognise this, and though challenges exist, there are also significant opportunities for those companies that prioritise trust-building efforts rooted in brand building, responsible practices and solid performance. Trust is an increasingly valuable currency in consumer markets, so companies must commit to building and maintaining long-term integrity.

In January and February 2024, PwC surveyed 20,662 consumers across 31 countries and territories: Australia; Brazil; Canada; China; Czechia (Czech Republic); Egypt; France; Germany; Hong Kong, SAR; Hungary; India; Indonesia; Ireland; Malaysia; Mexico; the Netherlands; the Philippines; Poland; Qatar; Romania; Saudi Arabia; Singapore; Slovakia; South Africa; South Korea; Spain; Thailand; United Arab Emirates; Ukraine; the United States; and Vietnam. The respondents were at least 18 years old and were asked about a range of topics relating to consumer trends, including shopping behaviours, emerging technology and social media.

Interviews with industry executives took place in March and April 2024.

PwC Research , PwC’s global centre of excellence for market research and insight, conducted this survey.

Sabine Durand-Hayes , Global Consumer Markets Leader, is a partner with PwC France.

Myles Gooding , Global Consumer Markets Advisory Leader, is a partner with PwC Canada.

Brian Crane , Global Consumer Markets Assurance Leader, is a partner with PwC US.

Rakesh Mani , a specialist in the Southeast Asia Consumer Markets advisory practice, is a partner with PwC Malaysia.

Kelly Pedersen , a leading practitioner in global consumer markets transformation, is a principal with PwC US.

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Six strategies for growth outperformance

Growth is the lifeblood of any successful business, but achieving growth that is both profitable and sustainable has proved especially difficult in recent years. Business leaders need a strategic approach that combines courage, innovation, and a willingness to make bold moves. In this episode of the Inside the Strategy Room podcast, McKinsey partners Rebecca Doherty and Kate Siegel and senior partner Jill Zucker share their insights on how companies can grow faster and more consistently than their peers. This transcript has been edited for clarity and length. For more discussions on the strategy issues that matter, follow the series on your preferred podcast platform .

Sean Brown: This may seem like a naive question, but why does growth matter?

Jill Zucker: Growth drives performance. It drives culture. It drives employee satisfaction. It helps you retain the best talent. And it fosters innovation in the marketplace. But it’s important to grow profitably. Top-line-only growth tends to catch up with you over time. And while most organizations aspire to grow, we find that growth is quite hard to achieve. Only 25 percent of companies grow sustainably over time. But if you can achieve it, that growth is rewarded, with sustainable growth outperformers generating seven percentage points more annual total shareholder returns than their peers.

Sean Brown: What does it take to be a growth outperformer?

Jill Zucker: We studied what drives growth at more than 4,000 companies around the globe, and we found a set of ingredients that are true across industries. We recognize the challenges that companies are facing today because of the global economy, so our research spans a period of ebbs and flows in the economy.

The first thing that we found is that it’s important to wake up in the morning and actively choose growth. We meet many executives who say they want their companies to grow, but they don’t allocate resources to support that growth over time.

You also need the courage to make bold moves, even in a time of economic uncertainty. In previous decades, you could choose not to pursue growth in a temporarily challenging environment. These challenging events, however, have become so pervasive that we need to have a through-cycle growth mindset. During the financial crisis, the gap between those companies that chose growth and those that stuck to maintaining the core business was reasonably narrow, but as the economy settled, that gap significantly widened. You saw a much steeper growth curve among those that had made bold bets during the downturn.

Sean Brown: How do you ensure that the pathways you choose lead you to the intended destination?

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Jill Zucker: You need to lay the foundation for more dynamic resource allocation, by which we mean both capital and talent. It means being careful in your culture to shut off projects without shutting off the talent. Just because a talented executive pursued a good experiment that didn’t work out doesn’t mean the executive should leave. Talent remains scarce in many business areas, so it’s important to allocate it to growth projects. It also means allocating resources to areas you are convinced will grow and eliminating the hobbies.

Secondly, you need to think about inorganic opportunities—both acquisitions and divestitures. The third part of the foundation is building functional capabilities, whether it’s marketing or digital or innovation.

Sean Brown: What strategies do you find growth outperformers pursue?

Rebecca Doherty: We looked at what companies have done both during the uncertainty over the past five years as well as over the longer term and found six differentiating strategies. One of the timeless approaches is to continue innovating in the core. Eighty percent of growth comes from maximizing the value of your core [exhibit]. But that’s not enough to put you in the echelon of companies that achieve growth on a sustained basis. To achieve that remaining 20 percent, you need to move into adjacencies in your value stream, such as new geographies, and build breakout businesses.

The third timeless element is putting people at the heart of what you do, whether it’s day-to-day growth or a broader transformation. Having your core people involved in growth initiatives with an ownership mindset is critical.

The three strategies that have emerged in more recent years include building an innovation culture , using sustainability as an accelerant to growth, and portfolio reallocation, including what we call shrinking to grow. The bold moves you make could include divesting assets where you may not be the best owner and then reallocating those resources toward growth opportunities.

Sean Brown: You talked about the timeless growth strategies. What makes them timeless?

Rebecca Doherty: The ratio of growth that comes from the core versus adjacencies or breakout business is pretty consistent over time. We’ve also found that companies that grow in all directions over a ten-year period have double the chance of outperforming their peers.

Sean Brown: How do the strongest growers embed an innovation culture?

Rebecca Doherty: We ran an executive survey of more than 1,000 companies, and I was surprised, frankly, to see how important innovation is across all the growth paths. Historically, people think of innovation as a way to turbocharge the core business. But leading growers look just as much at innovating new offerings and permeating that mindset through the company.

Sean Brown: Many companies still see sustainability more as a cost than a growth generator. How do you envision it accelerating growth?

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Rebecca Doherty: We’ve found that if you already have growth and profitability in place, sustainability can be that extra punch  that gives you a lift over your competitors. Sustainable growth is not a substitute for profitability, but companies that have been able to embed sustainability in their businesses have been rewarded. Perhaps intuitively, those that deliver growth and profits show a five-percentage-point outperformance in TSR. If you add ESG [environmental, social, and governance] into the mix—and this isn’t dabbling but integrating ESG priorities into your strategy and sharing the messages with investors—you see seven points of outperformance. In some sectors such as retail, you have brands that have brought sustainability into the core and have done strings of acquisitions over the years to drive impact.

Sean Brown: How do you balance the bets on breakout or adjacent growth against building up the core? If 80 percent of the growth comes from the core, should that much of your investment go there as well?

Rebecca Doherty: It depends in part on the maturity of the business and where you are on the growth curve. If it’s early, you should focus on propelling that core growth strategy. If it’s a mature business and you’re only making incremental gains, maybe you look to invest beyond the core. How much you invest does matter, though. Companies sometimes simply take last year’s budget and tweak it by a few percent. For a breakout business, sometimes you need to invest more—and not just more money. I worked with one company that put its chief technology officer into the new business to help grow it. The initial investment in dollars wasn’t large but the investment in talent was.

You should also think about the investment in stage gates. Some bets may require a large up-front investment, and you will not see much revenue for a while. Others, you could start with smaller investments, and the funding could grow proportionately with revenue. Different profiles can work, but it’s important to have a sound business plan, understand the operational and financial milestones, and be willing to pull the plug if it’s not panning out—which is a bold move in itself.

Sean Brown: Reallocation of resources includes both people and capital, but people tend to have incentives. How do you maintain incentives when you’re moving somebody from a stable business into a riskier growth project?

Rebecca Doherty: It ties to what Jill said earlier: a failed business doesn’t mean a failed executive. The culture needs to reward risk taking, and management has to accept that you won’t have 100 percent success. In terms of incentives, you can align an individual’s incentives to delivering the project, but also implement incentives that reward thinking about what is best for the broader company.

Jill Zucker: We see some management teams reward managers uniformly on EPS [earnings-per-share] growth of the business or total shareholder return, and therefore whether you’re innovating or you’re maximizing the core, you are rewarded equally. It’s not about giving more money to one person or another but about what will grow the total shareholder return. This encourages managers to give up some capital for innovation if they believe that doing so will improve the company’s growth.

Sean Brown: Can you elaborate on how companies should pursue growth through adjacencies?

Kate Siegel: Finding growth outside your core business is challenging, so we looked at how growth outperformers approach adjacencies. Our sample was about 250 companies that had announced significant adjacency moves over the past 20 years. We found four types of rationales, or approaches, that underpinned these moves. The first was based on customer relationships and the knowledge of customers’ pain points. The second was capabilities, where companies could use their existing assets, people, or processes in new markets. Expansion into the value chain—going upstream or downstream to capture various synergies—was another rationale. The last one was finding opportunities for disruption and business model innovation. What’s interesting is that the more approaches they used, the higher the reward, and that included both outperformers and other companies.

Sean Brown: How do companies identify those adjacencies? Is it based on experience and team discussions, or do they use tools?

Kate Siegel: There is a variety of data you can scan on trends, technologies, changes in preferences. You can also consider similarities of your offerings to certain businesses and capabilities. For example, we recently helped a software company that was struggling with high competition find diversification opportunities. We used AI to scan unstructured online data to identify more than 500 growth ideas based on the value creation approaches . Another set of AI analyses helped prioritize the opportunities based on trends, news mentions, momentum, and patent intensity to give the management team a short list of ideas. The company then considered which were the best fit, what talent they would need, or whether the market was big enough. One of these ideas was one they hadn’t talked about before. AI is a powerful tool for challenging orthodoxies.

Sean Brown: One strategy we haven’t yet touched on is shrinking to grow. What does that mean?

Kate Siegel: We know only about 10 percent of companies are able to maintain positive growth rates across a decade. But suppose you don’t have this consistent growth engine. The next-best strategy is to periodically prune back your portfolio and then grow healthily from a new base. You divest parts of the business one or two years out of the decade, but in every other year, you grow from that new base. We’ve seen that work in some conglomerates, where they regularly look at their portfolio to see if there are less attractive assets they could divest and then reinvest the proceeds into ones that could be better platforms.

Sean Brown: What if the businesses you want to prune have some star performers? How are companies thinking about that talent dimension?

Kate Siegel: Divestitures typically have key-member clauses to ensure business continuity, but you can take steps to understand which talent you would like to retain. The worst thing you can do is not think about talent when you sell a business, because it could have the best technology officer for a new growth entity you plan to reinvest in.

Rebecca Doherty: When we consider an acquisition, we often think about it as one plus one equals more than two. Likewise, when we think about divestitures or spinouts, it’s usually not two minus one equals one, because you’re not the best owner of the business, and someone else might be, or it might flourish on its own. Separations might not only give you proceeds to reinvest but also help the other entity perform better.

Sean Brown: Once you have laid out the various growth paths and developed strategies, you need to execute them well. What does excellence look like for execution?

Kate Siegel: People are at the heart of a successful transformation. Transformations that activate the full organization are eight times more likely to succeed. In addition, those in which more than 20 percent of employees owned transformation initiatives saw nearly twice the excess shareholder return than their peers did. Once you have the right aspiration mindsets and culture, with clarity on the growth pathways, the most important thing is to involve as many people as possible in the growth effort. That includes getting everyone aligned on the growth aspiration, building the skills they need, having leaders consistently talk about the growth targets, and implementing processes to verify whether the bets are working.

Sean Brown: Are you optimistic that companies can revive growth?

Jill Zucker: There is not a single company I can point to that’s not focused on growth today, despite the economic backdrop. When I think back to other periods of economic uncertainty, the hunkering down, the fixation on the core, the focus on efficiency were much more at the forefront. Now, growth remains a priority.

Jill Zucker   is a senior partner in  McKinsey’s New York office,  Kate Siegel  is a partner in the Detroit office, and  Rebecca Doherty is a partner in the Bay Area office.  Sean Brown is global director of communications for the Strategy & Corporate Finance Practice and is based in the Boston office.

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