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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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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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Free Guide & Templates to Help Your Market Research

Marketing software that helps you drive revenue, save time and resources, and measure and optimize your investments — all on one easy-to-use platform

The Ultimate Guide to Market Research [+Free Templates]

A comprehensive guide on Market Research with tools, examples of brands winning with research, and templates for surveys, focus groups + presentation template.

Rakefet is the CMO at Mayple. She manages all things marketing and leads our community of experts through live events, workshops, and expert interviews. MBA, 1 dog + 2 cats, and has an extensive collection of Chinese teas.

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Natalie is a content writer and manager who is passionate about using her craft to empower others. She thrives on team dynamic, great coffee, and excellent content. One of these days, she might even get to her own content ideas.

Updated February 26, 2024.

Before you do anything in business you have to have a good grasp of the market. What’s the market like? Who are your competitors? And what are the pain points and challenges of your ideal customer? And how can you solve them? Once you have the answers to those questions then you are ready to move forward with a marketing plan and/or hire a digital marketing agency to execute it.

In this guide we break down what market research is, the different types of market research, and provide you with some of the best templates, tools, and examples, to help you execute it on your own.

Excited to learn?

Let’s dive in.

What is market research?

Market research is the process of gathering information about your target market and customers to determine the success of your product or service, make changes to your existing product, or understand the perception of your brand in the market.

“Research is formalized curiosity, it is poking and prying with a purpose.” - Zora Neale Hurston

We hear the phrase "product-market fit" all the time and that just means that a product solves a customer's need in the market. And it's very hard to get there without proper market research. Now, I know what you're going to say. Why not get actionable insights from your existing customers? Why not do some customer research?

The problem with customer research is two-fold:

• You have a very limited amount of data as your current customers don't represent the entire market.
• Customer research can introduce a lot of bias into the process.

So the real way to solve these issues is by going broader and conducting some market research.

Why do market research?

There are many benefits of doing market research for your company. Here are a few of them:

• Understand how much demand exists in the market, the market size
• Discover who your competitors are and where they are falling short.
• Better understand the needs of your target customers and the problems and pain points your product solves.
• Learn what your potential customers feel about your brand.
• Identify potential partners and new markets and opportunities.
• Determine which product features you should develop next.
• Find out what your ideal customer is thinking and feeling.
• Use these findings to improve your brand strategy and marketing campaigns.

“The goal is to transform data into information, and information into insight.” - Carly Fiorina

Market research allows you to make better business decisions at every stage of your business and helps you launch better products and services for your customers.

Primary vs secondary research

There are two main types of market research - primary and secondary research.

Primary research

Primary market research is when researchers collect information directly, instead of relying on outside sources of information. It could be done through interviews, online surveys, or focus groups and the advantage here is that the company owns that information. The disadvantage of using primary sources of information is that it's usually more expensive and time-consuming than secondary market research.

Secondary research

Secondary market research involves using existing data that is summarized and collected by third parties. Secondary sources could be commercial sources or public sources like libraries, other websites, blogs , government agencies, and existing surveys. It's data that's more readily available and it's usually much cheaper than conducting primary research.

Qualitative vs quantitative research

Qualitative research is about gathering qualitative data like the market sentiment about the products currently available on the market (read: words and meanings). Quantitative research deals with numbers and statistics. It's data that is numbers-based, countable, and measurable.

Types of market research

1. competitive analysis.

Every business needs to know its own strengths and weaknesses and how they compare with its largest competitors in the market. It helps brands identify gaps in the market, develop new products and services, uncover market trends, improve brand positioning , and increase their market share. A SWOT analysis is a good framework to use for this type of research.

2. Consumer insights

It's also equally important to know what consumers are thinking, what the most common problems are and what products they are purchasing. Consumer research can be done through social listening which involves tracking consumer conversations on social media. It could also include analyzing audiences of brands , online communities, and influencers, and analyzing trends in the market.

3. Brand awareness research

Brand awareness is a super important metric for understanding how well your target audience knows your brand. It's used to assess brand performance and the marketing effectiveness of a brand. It tells you about the associations consumers make when they think of your brand and what they believe you're all about.

4. Customer satisfaction research

 Customer satisfaction and loyalty are two really important levers for any business and you don't have to conduct in-depth interviews to get that information. There is a wide range of automated methods to get that kind of data including customer surveys such as NPS surveys, customer effort score (CES) surveys, and regularly asking your customers about their experience with your brand.

5. Customer segmentation research

 Customer segmentation research involves figuring out what buckets consumers fall into based on common characteristics such as - demographics, interests, purchasing behavior, and more. Market segmentation is super helpful for advertising campaigns, product launches, and customer journey mapping.

6. Interviews

Customer interviews are one of the most effective market research methods out there. It's a great way for business owners to get first-party data from their customers and get insights into how they are doing in real time.

7. Focus groups

Focus groups are a great way to get data on a specific demographic. It's one of the most well-known data collection methods and it involves taking a sample size of people and asking them some open-ended questions. It's a great way to get actionable insights from your target market.

8. Pricing research

 Pricing strategy has a huge influence on business growth and it's critical for any business to know how they compare with the leading brands in their niche. It can help you understand what your target customer is willing to pay for your product and at what price you should be selling it.

To start, get automated software to track your competitors' pricing . Then, summarize your research into a report and group the results based on product attributes and other factors. You can use quadrants to make it easier to read visually.

9. Campaign research

It's also important for a brand to research its past marketing campaigns to determine the results and analyze their success. It takes a lot of experimentation to nail the various aspects of a campaign and it's crucial for business leaders to continuously analyze and iterate.

10. Product/service use research

Product or user research gives you an idea of why and how an audience uses a product and gives you data about specific features. Studies show that usability testing is ranked among the most useful ways to discover user insights (8.7 out of 10), above digital analytics and user surveys. So it's a very effective way to measure the usability of a product.

Now that you know the different types of market research let's go through a step-by-step process of setting up your study.

How to conduct a market research study

Looking for your next business idea? Want to check which niche markets are going to be best for it? if it's going to Here's a pretty simple process for conducting

1. Define your buyer persona

The first step in market research is to understand who your buyers are. For that, you need a buyer persona (sometimes called a marketing persona) which is a fictional generalized description of your target customer. You could (and should) have several buyer personas to work with.

Key characteristics to include in your buyer personas are:

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

Now that you've got your customer personas it's time to decide who to work with for your research.

2. Identify the right people to engage with

It's critical that you pick the right group of people to research. This could make or break your market research study. It's important to pick a representative sample that most closely resembles your target customer. That way you'll be able to identify their actual characteristics, challenges, pain points, and buying behavior.

Here are a few strategies that will help you pick the right people:

• Select people who have recently interacted with you
• Pull a list of participants who made a recent purchase
• Call for participants on social media
• Leverage your own network
• Gather a mix of participants
• Offer an incentive (gift card, product access, content upgrades)

3. Pick your data collection method(s)

Here's a quick breakdown of all the different ways you could collect data for your market research study.

Surveys are by far the fastest method of gathering data. You could launch them on your site or send them in an email and automate the whole process. Regular surveys can also help brands improve their customer service so they help kill two birds with one stone.

Interviews take a little longer and require a detailed set of interview questions. Never go into an interview without a clear idea of what you're going to be asking. It's also a little more difficult to schedule time and to get your potential or current customers on the phone or on Zoom.

Focus group

Focus groups are controlled interviews with groups of people led by facilitators. Participants in focus groups are selected based on a set of predetermined criteria such as location, age, social status, income, and more.

Online tracking

Online tracking is done through digital analytics tools like HotJar or Google Analytics. Tracking user behavior on your site gets you an accurate analysis of who your demographic is and what are the types of products or content that they engage with.

The problem here is that you never get to find out the 'why' - the reason behind their behavior - and that's why you need to combine digital analytics with other data collection methods like surveys and usability/product testing.

Marketing analysis

Another great way to collect data is to analyze your marketing campaigns which gives you a great idea of who clicked on your ads, how often, and which device they used. It's a more focused way of using tracking to zero in on a specific marketing campaign.

Social media monitoring

We've talked about this one before. Social monitoring or listening is when you track online conversations on social media platforms. You can use a simple social listening tool to get all the data you need by searching for specific keywords, hashtags, or topics.

Subscription and registration data

Another great way to collect data is to look at your existing audience. That might include your email list, rewards program, or existing customers. Depending on the size of your list, it could give you some broad insights into the type of customers/users you have and what they are most interested in.

Monitoring in-store traffic

Conduct a customer observation session to monitor your actual customers and how they behave in your store (physically or online). Observation is a market research technique where highly-trained market researchers observe how people or consumers interact with products/services in a natural setting.

4. Prepare your research questions

Write down your research questions before you conduct the research. Make sure you cover all the topics that you are trying to gain clarity on and include open-ended questions. The type of questions you use will vary depending on your data collection approach from the last step.

If you're doing a survey or an in-person interview then here are some of the best questions to ask.

The awareness stage

• How did you know that something in this product category could help you?
• Think back to the time you first realized you needed [product category]. What was your challenge?
• How familiar were you with different options on the market?

The consideration stage

• Where did you go to find out the information?
• What was the first thing you did to research potential solutions?
• Did you search on Google? What specifically did you search for? Which keywords did you use?
• Which vendor sites did you visit?
• What did you find helpful? What turned you off?

The decision stage

• Which criteria did you use to compare different vendors?
• What vendors made it to the shortlist and what were the pros/cons of each?
• Who else was involved in the final decision?
• Allow time for further questions on their end.
• Don't forget to thank them for their time and confirm their email/address to receive the incentive you offered

If you noticed, the progression of these questions follows the stages of the buyer's journey which helps you to gain actionable insights into the entire customer experience.

5. List your primary competitors

There are two kinds of competitors - industry competitors and content competitors. Industry competitors compete with you on the actual product or service they sell. Content competitors compete with you in terms of the content they publish - whether that's on specific keywords or they rank higher on topics that you want to be ranked for.

It's important to write a list of all of your competitors and compare their strengths, weaknesses, competitive advantages, and the type of content they publish.

There are different ways to find your competitors. You can look on sites like G2 Crowd and check their industry quadrants.

You could also download a market report from Forrester or Gartner . And you could also search on social media or market research tools like SimilarWeb .

6. Summarize your findings

Now that you've done your research it's time to summarize your findings. Look for common themes in your research and try to present them in the simplest way possible. Use your favorite presentation software to document it and add it to your company database.

Here's a quick research outline you could use:

Background - your goals and why you conducted this study

Participants - who you've talked to. Break down the type of personas and/or customers you've spoken with.

Executive summary - what was the most interesting stuff you've learned? What do you plan to do about it?

Customer journey map - map out the specific motivations and behavioral insights you've gained from each stage of the customer journey (awareness, consideration, and decision).

Action plan - describe what action steps you're going to take to address the issues you've uncovered in your research and how you are going to promote your product/service to your target audience more effectively.

Market research template

Not sure where to begin? Need some templates to help you get started? We got them for you.

1. Market survey template

First and foremost, you need a template to run your market survey. In this template, you will find all the types of questions you should be asking - demographic, product, pricing, and brand questions. They can be used for market surveys, individual interviews, and focus groups.

We also present a variety of question formats for you to use:

• true/false questions
• multiple choice questions
• open response questions

2. SWOT analysis template

A strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis is one of the best ways to do competitor research. It's a really simple analysis. There are four squares and you write down all four of these attributes for each of your competitors.

3. Focus group template

Not sure how to conduct focus groups? Here is a comprehensive template that will help you to take better notes and record your findings during the focus group meeting.

4. Marketing strategy template

The plan of action from your market research should become a vital part of your marketing strategy. We've actually created a marketing strategy template that you could download and use to update your marketing personas, your SWOT analysis, and your marketing channel strategies.

Market research examples

Here are some examples of the good, the bad, and the ugly in market research. Some brands thrive on research and some ignore it completely. Take a look.

McDonald's

McDonald’s sells its food in 97 countries around the world. Their secret? They do a lot of market research before they launch anything. The company uses four key questions in their research process:

• Which products are performing well?
• What prices are most affordable to customers?
• What are consumers reading and watching?
• What content do they consume?
• Which restaurants are most attended, and why?

They also extensively use customer feedback to improve their products. They even put some products up for a vote to see which ones are most loved by their customers.

The iconic coffee brand is valued at almost $30 billion and has over 30,000 coffee shops around the world and part of that success comes from their obsession with customer service. They launched a brilliant idea called “My Starbucks Idea” to try and make the customer feel a part of the journey.

It was an open innovation platform where customers could post their idea for a new coffee drink or food item and if it was good a company representative would actually reach out to them. It had a leaderboard and every year the company would develop some of these ideas.

In 2012, Starbucks launched 73 coffee products from ideas they received from customers. Cake pops and pumpkin spice lattes were born out of this platform, all thanks to market research. Can you imagine a world without pumpkin spice lattes?

For all its innovation Facebook had an epic market research failure. In 2013, Facebook partnered with HTC to launch a smartphone called First. It had Facebook’s interface on its home screen and that was a really jarring change for most people. Instead of taking you to a home screen with your favorite apps, Facebook really took center stage.

To be fair, you could turn it off and get a regular Android home window but that would be missing the entire reason you bought the phone in the first place. So it was a complete mismatch to consumers’ wants and the phone flopped.

Turns out, that nobody wanted to see Facebook when they first opened their phone 😅.

Bloom & Wild

Bloom & Wild is a UK flower delivery brand that was looking for their next campaign. They did some research and found out that people think red roses are cliche and prefer to buy something else as a gift on Valentine’s Day. So the brand chose not to sell roses for Valentine’s Day 2021 and made it into a “No Roses Campaign”.

The results - they saw a 51% increase in press coverage year after year.

Top tools used for market research

Here are some of the top market research and digital analytics tools you should try out for your next research project.

Answer the Public

Answer the public is a free market research tool that helps marketers figure out what questions people ask online. It's really easy to use. You put in a keyword or topic and it spits out a whole variety of questions and subtopics.

Spyfu is a search engine analytics platform that gives you data on where your competitors get their traffic from. It provides info on the kind of both organic traffic and PPC channels down to the specific keywords people used to find each site. It's a great tool to use to map the competitive landscape.

Think with Google

This is an online publication from Google's team where they publish consumer insights from real-time data and their own insights. It uses Google Analytics but presents it to you as a library of information. You can find industry data on a whole array of businesses from educational institutions to counseling services.

Want to do the most extensive market research possible? Use SimilarWeb. It's a competitive analysis and data tool that provides you with literally everything you need.

It has data on:

• Digital marketing data - SEO, traffic, advertising
• Economic trends - economic indicators like annual growth rate, audience, benchmarking
• eCommerce, investing, and even sales data

BuzzSumo is a great tool to use to get actionable insights from social media and content marketing. It aggregates data from various social media channels and shows you the type of content that users engage with and share on their pages.

Typeform is a survey tool that can help you make surveys and fun interactive forms. It's a great tool to use to make your forms more engaging for your audience. The tool has a bunch of easy templates and a ton of integrations to help you visualize that data and share it with your team.

Latana is a brand research tool that helps you understand consumer perception of your brand over time. It helps you answer some key questions about the type of values your customers have, and the type of audiences your competitors are targeting and helps you to focus your campaigns on the right audience for your business.

Statista is one of the most popular consumer data platforms around. It has a wealth of information about consumer markets, business conditions, and industry trends around the world. It's easier to use than most business publications because it aggregates all the data you need in one place. The downside is that it's a little pricy but perfect for teams that have the budget for it.

Dimensions.ai

Dimensions is a search engine for academic publications. It is a great resource if you're looking for deeper insights into things like psychology, micro and macroeconomics, and business trends. A lot of the articles are free to view just make sure you select the " All OA " option which stands for Open Access research.

Otter is an AI-powered transcription software for interviews and meetings. It sits in the background and transcribes your meeting for you and then provides you with a digitized conversation that can be stored, search for specific keywords, and analyzed. It's a great tool to use for doing interviews.

Yelp is a search engine for reviews of local businesses. It's one of the best sources of opinions about a whole variety of products and services. It's a great place to get ideas about the kind of interview questions you want to ask, to find out the pain points of your ideal customer, and to find deeper insights into your target audience.

You have to conduct your market research regularly if you want to see significant results. Try the different methods that we’ve outlined, see what works for you, and remember to keep your team’s focus on the customer. The more knowledgeable they are of your target customer’s needs and wants the better your targeting and marketing strategy will be.

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How To Present Your Market Research Results And Reports In An Efficient Way

Table of Contents

1) What Is A Market Research Report?

2) Market Research Reports Examples

3) Why Do You Need Market Research Reports

4) How To Make A Market Research Report?

5) Types Of Market Research Reports

6) Challenges & Mistakes Market Research Reports

Market research analyses are the go-to solution for many professionals, and for good reason: they save time, offer fresh insights, and provide clarity on your business. In turn, market research reports will help you to refine and polish your strategy. Plus, a well-crafted report will give your work more credibility while adding weight to any marketing recommendations you offer a client or executive.

But, while this is the case, today’s business world still lacks a way to present market-based research results efficiently. The static, antiquated nature of PowerPoint makes it a bad choice for presenting research discoveries, yet it is still widely used to present results. 

Fortunately, things are moving in the right direction. There are online data visualization tools that make it easy and fast to build powerful market research dashboards. They come in handy to manage the outcomes, but also the most important aspect of any analysis: the presentation of said outcomes, without which it becomes hard to make accurate, sound decisions. 

Here, we consider the benefits of conducting research analyses while looking at how to write and present market research reports, exploring their value, and, ultimately, getting the very most from your research results by using professional market research software .

Let’s get started.

What Is a Market Research Report?

A market research report is an online reporting tool used to analyze the public perception or viability of a company, product, or service. These reports contain valuable and digestible information like customer survey responses and social, economic, and geographical insights.

On a typical market research results example, you can interact with valuable trends and gain insight into consumer behavior and visualizations that will empower you to conduct effective competitor analysis. Rather than adding streams of tenuous data to a static spreadsheet, a full market research report template brings the outcomes of market-driven research to life, giving users a data analysis tool to create actionable strategies from a range of consumer-driven insights.

With digital market analysis reports, you can make your business more intelligent more efficient, and, ultimately, meet the needs of your target audience head-on. This, in turn, will accelerate your commercial success significantly.

Your Chance: Want to test a market research reporting software? Explore our 14-day free trial & benefit from interactive research reports!

How To Present Your Results: 4 Essential Market Research Report Templates

When it comes to sharing rafts of invaluable information, research dashboards are invaluable.

Any market analysis report example worth its salt will allow everyone to get a firm grip on their results and discoveries on a single page with ease. These dynamic online dashboards also boast interactive features that empower the user to drill down deep into specific pockets of information while changing demographic parameters, including gender, age, and region, filtering the results swiftly to focus on the most relevant insights for the task at hand.

These four market research report examples are different but equally essential and cover key elements required for market survey report success. You can also modify each and use it as a client dashboard .

While there are numerous types of dashboards that you can choose from to adjust and optimize your results, we have selected the top 3 that will tell you more about the story behind them. Let’s take a closer look.

1. Market Research Report: Brand Analysis

Our first example shares the results of a brand study. To do so, a survey has been performed on a sample of 1333 people, information that we can see in detail on the left side of the board, summarizing the gender, age groups, and geolocation.

**click to enlarge**

At the dashboard's center, we can see the market-driven research discoveries concerning first brand awareness with and without help, as well as themes and celebrity suggestions, to know which image the audience associates with the brand.

Such dashboards are extremely convenient to share the most important information in a snapshot. Besides being interactive (but it cannot be seen on an image), it is even easier to filter the results according to certain criteria without producing dozens of PowerPoint slides. For instance, I could easily filter the report by choosing only the female answers, only the people aged between 25 and 34, or only the 25-34 males if that is my target audience.

Primary KPIs:

a) Unaided Brand Awareness

The first market research KPI in this most powerful report example comes in the form of unaided brand awareness. Presented in a logical line-style chart, this particular market study report sample KPI is invaluable, as it will give you a clear-cut insight into how people affiliate your brand within their niche.

As you can see from our example, based on a specific survey question, you can see how your brand stacks up against your competitors regarding awareness. Based on these outcomes, you can formulate strategies to help you stand out more in your sector and, ultimately, expand your audience.

b) Aided Brand Awareness

This market survey report sample KPI focuses on aided brand awareness. A visualization that offers a great deal of insight into which brands come to mind in certain niches or categories, here, you will find out which campaigns and messaging your target consumers are paying attention to and engaging with.

By gaining access to this level of insight, you can conduct effective competitor research and gain valuable inspiration for your products, promotional campaigns, and marketing messages.

c) Brand image

When it comes to research reporting, understanding how others perceive your brand is one of the most golden pieces of information you could acquire. If you know how people feel about your brand image, you can take informed and very specific actions that will enhance the way people view and interact with your business.

By asking a focused question, this visual of KPIs will give you a definitive idea of whether respondents agree, disagree, or are undecided on particular descriptions or perceptions related to your brand image. If you’re looking to present yourself and your message in a certain way (reliable, charming, spirited, etc.), you can see how you stack up against the competition and find out if you need to tweak your imagery or tone of voice - invaluable information for any modern business.

d) Celebrity analysis

This indicator is a powerful part of our research KPI dashboard on top, as it will give you a direct insight into the celebrities, influencers, or public figures that your most valued consumers consider when thinking about (or interacting with) your brand.

Displayed in a digestible bar chart-style format, this useful metric will not only give you a solid idea of how your brand messaging is perceived by consumers (depending on the type of celebrity they associate with your brand) but also guide you on which celebrities or influencers you should contact.

By working with the right influencers in your niche, you will boost the impact and reach of your marketing campaigns significantly, improving your commercial awareness in the process. And this is the KPI that will make it happen.

2. Market Research Results On Customer Satisfaction

Here, we have some of the most important data a company should care about: their already-existing customers and their perception of their relationship with the brand. It is crucial when we know that it is five times more expensive to acquire a new consumer than to retain one.

This is why tracking metrics like the customer effort score or the net promoter score (how likely consumers are to recommend your products and services) is essential, especially over time. You need to improve these scores to have happy customers who will always have a much bigger impact on their friends and relatives than any of your amazing ad campaigns. Looking at other satisfaction indicators like the quality, pricing, and design, or the service they received is also a best practice: you want a global view of your performance regarding customer satisfaction metrics .

Such research results reports are a great tool for managers who do not have much time and hence need to use them effectively. Thanks to these dashboards, they can control data for long-running projects anytime.

Primary KPIs :

a) Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Another pivotal part of any informative research presentation is your NPS score, which will tell you how likely a customer is to recommend your brand to their peers.

Centered on overall customer satisfaction, your NPS Score can cover the functions and output of many departments, including marketing, sales, and customer service, but also serve as a building block for a call center dashboard . When you’re considering how to present your research effectively, this balanced KPI offers a masterclass. It’s logical, it has a cohesive color scheme, and it offers access to vital information at a swift glance. With an NPS Score, customers are split into three categories: promoters (those scoring your service 9 or 10), passives (those scoring your service 7 or 8), and detractors (those scoring your service 0 to 6). The aim of the game is to gain more promoters. By gaining an accurate snapshot of your NPS Score, you can create intelligent strategies that will boost your results over time.

b) Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)

The next in our examples of market research reports KPIs comes in the form of the CSAT. The vast majority of consumers that have a bad experience will not return. Honing in on your CSAT is essential if you want to keep your audience happy and encourage long-term consumer loyalty.

This magnificent, full report KPI will show how satisfied customers are with specific elements of your products or services. Getting to grips with these scores will allow you to pinpoint very specific issues while capitalizing on your existing strengths. As a result, you can take measures to improve your CSAT score while sharing positive testimonials on your social media platforms and website to build trust.

c) Customer Effort Score (CES)

When it comes to presenting research findings, keeping track of your CES Score is essential. The CES Score KPI will give you instant access to information on how easy or difficult your audience can interact with or discover your company based on a simple scale of one to ten.

By getting a clear-cut gauge of how your customers find engagement with your brand, you can iron out any weaknesses in your user experience (UX) offerings while spotting any friction, bottlenecks, or misleading messaging. In doing so, you can boost your CES score, satisfy your audience, and boost your bottom line.

3. Market Research Results On Product Innovation

This final market-driven research example report focuses on the product itself and its innovation. It is a useful report for future product development and market potential, as well as pricing decisions.

Using the same sample of surveyed people as for the first market-focused analytical report , they answer questions about their potential usage and purchase of the said product. It is good primary feedback on how the market would receive the new product you would launch. Then comes the willingness to pay, which helps set a price range that will not be too cheap to be trusted nor too expensive for what it is. That will be the main information for your pricing strategy.

a) Usage Intention

The first of our product innovation KPI-based examples comes in the form of usage intention. When you’re considering how to write a market research report, including metrics centered on consumer intent is critical.

This simple yet effective visualization will allow you to understand not only how users see your product but also whether they prefer previous models or competitor versions . While you shouldn’t base all of your product-based research on this KPI, it is very valuable, and you should use it to your advantage frequently.

b) Purchase Intention

Another aspect to consider when looking at how to present market research data is your audience’s willingness or motivation to purchase your product. Offering percentage-based information, this effective KPI provides a wealth of at-a-glance information to help you make accurate forecasts centered on your product and service offerings.

Analyzing this information regularly will give you the confidence and direction to develop strategies that will steer you to a more prosperous future, meeting the ever-changing needs of your audience on an ongoing basis.

c) Willingness To Pay (WPS)

Our final market research example KPI is based on how willing customers are to pay for a particular service or product based on a specific set of parameters. This dynamic visualization, represented in an easy-to-follow pie chart, will allow you to realign the value of your product (USPs, functions, etc.) while setting price points that are most likely to result in conversions. This is a market research presentation template that every modern organization should use to its advantage.

4. Market Research Report On Customer Demographics 

This particular example of market research report, generated with a modern dashboard creator , is a powerful tool, as it displays a cohesive mix of key demographic information in one intuitive space.

By breaking down these deep pockets of consumer-centric information, you can gain the power to develop more impactful customer communications while personalizing every aspect of your target audience’s journey across every channel or touchpoint. As a result, you can transform theoretical insights into actionable strategies that will result in significant commercial growth. 

Every section of this responsive marketing research report works in unison to build a profile of your core audience in a way that will guide your company’s consumer-facing strategies with confidence. With in-depth visuals based on gender, education level, and tech adoption, you have everything you need to speak directly to your audience at your fingertips.

Let’s look at the key performance indicators (KPIs) of this invaluable market research report example in more detail.

a) Customer By Gender

This KPI is highly visual and offers a clear-cut representation of your company’s gender share over time. By gaining access to this vital information, you can deliver a more personalized experience to specific audience segments while ensuring your messaging is fair, engaging, and inclusive.

b) Customers by education level

The next market analysis report template is a KPI that provides a logical breakdown of your customers’ level of education. By using this as a demographic marker, you can refine your products to suit the needs of your audience while crafting your content in a way that truly resonates with different customer groups.

c) Customers by technology adoption

Particularly valuable if you’re a company that sells tech goods or services, this linear KPI will show you where your customers are in terms of technological know-how or usage. By getting to grips with this information over time, you can develop your products or services in a way that offers direct value to your consumers while making your launches or promotions as successful as possible.

d) Customer age groups

By understanding your customers’ age distribution in detail, you can gain a deep understanding of their preferences. And that’s exactly what this market research report sample KPI does. Presented in a bar chart format, this KPI will give you a full breakdown of your customers’ age ranges, allowing you to build detailed buyer personas and segment your audience effectively.

Why Do You Need Market Research Reports?

As the adage goes, “Look before you leap“ – which is exactly what a research report is here for. As the headlights of a car, they will show you the pitfalls and fast lanes on your road to success: likes and dislikes of a specific market segment in a certain geographical area, their expectations, and readiness. Among other things, a research report will let you:

• Get a holistic view of the market : learn more about the target market and understand the various factors involved in the buying decisions. A broader view of the market lets you benchmark other companies you do not focus on. This, in turn, will empower you to gather the industry data that counts most. This brings us to our next point.
• Curate industry information with momentum: Whether you’re looking to rebrand, improve on an existing service, or launch a new product, time is of the essence. By working with the best market research reports created with modern BI reporting tools , you can visualize your discoveries and data, formatting them in a way that not only unearths hidden insights but also tells a story - a narrative that will gain a deeper level of understanding into your niche or industry. The features and functionality of a market analysis report will help you grasp the information that is most valuable to your organization, pushing you ahead of the pack in the process.
• Validate internal research: Doing the internal analysis is one thing, but double-checking with a third party also greatly helps avoid getting blinded by your own data.
• Use actionable data and make informed decisions: Once you understand consumer behavior as well as the market, your competitors, and the issues that will affect the industry in the future, you are better armed to position your brand. Combining all of it with the quantitative data collected will allow you to more successful product development. To learn more about different methods, we suggest you read our guide on data analysis techniques .
• Strategic planning: When you want to map out big-picture organizational goals, launch a new product development, plan a geographic market expansion, or even a merger and acquisition – all of this strategic thinking needs solid foundations to fulfill the variety of challenges that come along.
• Consistency across the board: Collecting, presenting, and analyzing your results in a way that’s smarter, more interactive, and more cohesive will ensure your customer communications, marketing campaigns, user journey, and offerings meet your audience’s needs consistently across the board. The result? Faster growth, increased customer loyalty, and more profit.
• Better communication: The right market research analysis template (or templates) will empower everyone in the company with access to valuable information - the kind that is relevant and comprehensible. When everyone is moving to the beat of the same drum, they will collaborate more effectively and, ultimately, push the venture forward thanks to powerful online data analysis techniques.
• Centralization: Building on the last point, using a powerful market research report template in the form of a business intelligence dashboard will make presenting your findings to external stakeholders and clients far more effective, as you can showcase a wealth of metrics, information, insights, and invaluable feedback from one centralized, highly visual interactive screen. 
• Brand reputation: In the digital age, brand reputation is everything. By making vital improvements in all of the key areas above, you will meet your customers’ needs head-on with consistency while finding innovative ways to stand out from your competitors. These are the key ingredients of long-term success.

How To Present Market Research Analysis Results?

Here we look at how you should present your research reports, considering the steps it takes to connect with the outcomes you need to succeed:

• Collect your data 

As with any reporting process, you first and foremost need to collect the data you’ll use to conduct your studies. Businesses conduct research studies to analyze their brand awareness, identity, and influence in the market. For product development and pricing decisions, among many others. That said, there are many ways to collect information for a market research report. Among some of the most popular ones, we find: 

• Surveys: Probably the most common way to collect research data, surveys can come in the form of open or closed questions that can be answered anonymously. They are the cheapest and fastest way to collect insights about your customers and business. 
• Interviews : These are face-to-face discussions that allow the researcher to analyze responses as well as the body language of the interviewees. This method is often used to define buyer personas by analyzing the subject's budget, job title, lifestyle, wants, and needs, among other things. 
• Focus groups : This method involves a group of people discussing a topic with a mediator. It is often used to evaluate a new product or new feature or to answer a specific question that the researcher might have. 
• Observation-based research : In this type of research, the researcher or business sits back and watches customers interact with the product without any instructions or help. It allows us to identify pain points as well as strong features. 
• Market segmentation : This study allows you to identify and analyze potential market segments to target. Businesses use it to expand into new markets and audiences. 

These are just a few of the many ways in which you can gather your information. The important point is to keep the research objective as straightforward as possible. Supporting yourself with professional BI solutions to clean, manage, and present your insights is probably the smartest choice.

2. Hone in on your research:

When looking at how to source consumer research in a presentation, you should focus on two areas: primary and secondary research. Primary research comes from your internal data, monitoring existing organizational practices, the effectiveness of sales, and the tools used for communication, for instance. Primary research also assesses market competition by evaluating the company plans of the competitors. Secondary research focuses on existing data collected by a third party, information used to perform benchmarking and market analysis. Such metrics help in deciding which market segments are the ones the company should focus its efforts on or where the brand is standing in the minds of consumers. Before you start the reporting process, you should set your goals, segmenting your research into primary and secondary segments to get to grips with the kind of information you need to work with to achieve effective results.

3. Segment your customers:

To give your market research efforts more context, you should segment your customers into different groups according to the preferences outlined in the survey or feedback results or by examining behavioral or demographic data.

If you segment your customers, you can tailor your market research and analysis reports to display only the information, charts, or graphics that will provide actionable insights into their wants, needs, or industry-based pain points. 

• Identify your stakeholders:

Once you’ve drilled down into your results and segmented your consumer groups, it’s important to consider the key stakeholders within the organization that will benefit from your information the most. 

By looking at both internal and external stakeholders, you will give your results a path to effective presentation, gaining the tools to understand which areas of feedback or data are most valuable, as well as most redundant. As a consequence, you will ensure your results are concise and meet the exact information needs of every stakeholder involved in the process.

• Set your KPIs:

First, remember that your reports should be concise and accurate - straight to the point without omitting any essential information. Work to ensure your insights are clean and organized, with participants grouped into relevant categories (demographics, profession, industry, education, etc.). Once you’ve organized your research, set your goals, and cleaned your data, you should set your KPIs to ensure your report is populated with the right visualizations to get the job done. Explore our full library of interactive KPI examples for inspiration.

• Include competitor’s analysis 

Whether you are doing product innovation research, customer demographics, pricing, or any other, including some level of insights about competitors in your reports is always recommended as it can help your business or client better understand where they stand in the market. That being said, competitor analysis is not as easy as picking a list of companies in the same industry and listing them. Your main competitor can be just a company's division in an entirely different industry. For example, Apple Music competes with Spotify even though Apple is a technology company. Therefore, it is important to carefully analyze competitors from a general but detailed level. 

Providing this kind of information in your reports can also help you find areas that competitors are not exploiting or that are weaker and use them to your advantage to become a market leader. 

• Produce your summary:

To complement your previous efforts, writing an executive summary of one or two pages that will explain the general idea of the report is advisable. Then come the usual body parts:

• An introduction providing background information, target audience, and objectives;
• The qualitative research describes the participants in the research and why they are relevant to the business;
• The survey research outlines the questions asked and answered;
• A summary of the insights and metrics used to draw the conclusions, the research methods chosen, and why;
• A presentation of the findings based on your research and an in-depth explanation of these conclusions.
• Use a mix of visualizations:

When presenting your results and discoveries, you should aim to use a balanced mix of text, graphs, charts, and interactive visualizations.

Using your summary as a guide, you should decide which type of visualization will present each specific piece of market research data most effectively (often, the easier to understand and more accessible, the better).

Doing so will allow you to create a story that will put your research information into a living, breathing context, providing a level of insight you need to transform industry, competitor, or consumer info or feedback into actionable strategies and initiatives.

• Be careful not to mislead 

Expanding on the point above, using a mix of visuals can prove highly valuable in presenting your results in an engaging and understandable way. That being said, when not used correctly, graphs and charts can also become misleading. This is a popular practice in the media, news, and politics, where designers tweak the visuals to manipulate the masses into believing a certain conclusion. This is a very unethical practice that can also happen by mistake when you don’t pick the right chart or are not using it in the correct way. Therefore, it is important to outline the message you are trying to convey and pick the chart type that will best suit those needs. 

Additionally, you should also be careful with the data you choose to display, as it can also become misleading. This can happen if you, for example, cherry-pick data, which means only showing insights that prove a conclusion instead of the bigger picture. Or confusing correlation with causation, which means assuming that because two events happened simultaneously, one caused the other. 

Being aware of these practices is of utmost importance as objectivity is crucial when it comes to dealing with data analytics, especially if you are presenting results to clients. Our guides on misleading statistics and misleading data visualizations can help you learn more about this important topic. 

• Use professional dashboards:

To optimize your market research discoveries, you must work with a dynamic business dashboard . Not only are modern dashboards presentable and customizable, but they will offer you past, predictive, and real-time insights that are accurate, interactive, and yield long-lasting results.

All market research reports companies or businesses gathering industry or consumer-based information will benefit from professional dashboards, as they offer a highly powerful means of presenting your data in a way everyone can understand. And when that happens, everyone wins.

Did you know? The interactive nature of modern dashboards like datapine also offers the ability to quickly filter specific pockets of information with ease, offering swift access to invaluable insights.

• Prioritize interactivity 

The times when reports were static are long gone. Today, to extract the maximum value out of your research data, you need to be able to explore the information and answer any critical questions that arise during the presentation of results. To do so, modern reporting tools provide multiple interactivity features to help you bring your research results to life. 

For instance, a drill-down filter lets you go into lower levels of hierarchical data without generating another graph. For example, imagine you surveyed customers from 10 different countries. In your report, you have a chart displaying the number of customers by country, but you want to analyze a specific country in detail. A drill down filter would enable you to click on a specific country and display data by city on that same chart. Even better, a global filter would allow you to filter the entire report to show only results for that specific country. 

Through the use of interactive filters, such as the one we just mentioned, you’ll not only make the presentation of results more efficient and profound, but you’ll also avoid generating pages-long reports to display static results. All your information will be displayed in a single interactive page that can be filtered and explored upon need.  

• Customize the reports 

This is a tip that is valuable for any kind of research report, especially when it comes to agencies that are reporting to external clients. Customizing the report to match your client’s colors, logo, font, and overall branding will help them grasp the data better, thanks to a familiar environment. This is an invaluable tip as often your audience will not feel comfortable dealing with data and might find it hard to understand or intimidating. Therefore, providing a familiar look that is also interactive and easier to understand will keep them engaged and collaborative throughout the process. 

Plus, customizing the overall appearance of the report will also make your agency look more professional, adding extra value to your service. 

• Know your design essentials 

When you’re presenting your market research reports sample to internal or external stakeholders, having a firm grasp on fundamental design principles will make your metrics and insights far more persuasive and compelling.

By arranging your metrics in a balanced and logical format, you can guide users toward key pockets of information exactly when needed. In turn, this will improve decision-making and navigation, making your reports as impactful as possible.

For essential tips, read our 23 dashboard design principles & best practices to enhance your analytics process.

• Think of security and privacy 

Cyberattacks are increasing at a concerning pace, making security a huge priority for organizations of all sizes today. The costs of having your sensitive information leaked are not only financial but also reputational, as customers might not trust you again if their data ends up in the wrong hands. Given that market research analysis is often performed by agencies that handle data from clients, security and privacy should be a top priority.  

To ensure the required security and privacy, it is necessary to invest in the right tools to present your research results. For instance, tools such as datapine offer enterprise-level security protocols that ensure your information is encrypted and protected at all times. Plus, the tool also offers additional security features, such as being able to share your reports through a password-protected URL or to set viewer rights to ensure only the right people can access and manipulate the data. 

• Keep on improving & evolving

Each time you gather or gain new marketing research reports or market research analysis report intel, you should aim to refine your existing dashboards to reflect the ever-changing landscape around you.

If you update your reports and dashboards according to the new research you conduct and new insights you connect with, you will squeeze maximum value from your metrics, enjoying consistent development in the process.

Types of Market Research Reports: Primary & Secondary Research

With so many market research examples and such little time, knowing how to best present your insights under pressure can prove tricky.

To squeeze every last drop of value from your market research efforts and empower everyone with access to the right information, you should arrange your information into two main groups: primary research and secondary research.

A. Primary research

Primary research is based on acquiring direct or first-hand information related to your industry or sector and the customers linked to it.

Exploratory primary research is an initial form of information collection where your team might set out to identify potential issues, opportunities, and pain points related to your business or industry. This type of research is usually carried out in the form of general surveys or open-ended consumer Q&As, which nowadays are often performed online rather than offline . 

Specific primary research is definitive, with information gathered based on the issues, information, opportunities, or pain points your business has already uncovered. When doing this kind of research, you can drill down into a specific segment of your customers and seek answers to the opportunities, issues, or pain points in question.

When you’re conducting primary research to feed into your market research reporting efforts, it’s important to find reliable information sources. The most effective primary research sources include:

• Consumer-based statistical data
• Social media content
• Polls and Q&A
• Trend-based insights
• Competitor research
• First-hand interviews

B. Secondary research

Secondary research refers to every strand of relevant data or public records you have to gain a deeper insight into your market and target consumers. These sources include trend reports, market stats, industry-centric content, and sales insights you have at your disposal.  Secondary research is an effective way of gathering valuable intelligence about your competitors. 

You can gather very precise, insightful secondary market research insights from:

• Public records and resources like Census data, governmental reports, or labor stats
• Commercial resources like Gartner, Statista, or Forrester
• Articles, documentaries, and interview transcripts

Another essential branch of both primary and secondary research is internal intelligence. When it comes to efficient market research reporting examples that will benefit your organization, looking inward is a powerful move. 

Existing sales, demographic, or marketing performance insights will lead you to valuable conclusions. Curating internal information will ensure your market research discoveries are well-rounded while helping you connect with the information that will ultimately give you a panoramic view of your target market. 

By understanding both types of research and how they can offer value to your business, you can carefully choose the right informational sources, gather a wide range of intelligence related to your specific niche, and, ultimately, choose the right market research report sample for your specific needs.

If you tailor your market research report format to the type of research you conduct, you will present your visualizations in a way that provides the right people with the right insights, rather than throwing bundles of facts and figures on the wall, hoping that some of them stick.

Taking ample time to explore a range of primary and secondary sources will give your discoveries genuine context. By doing so, you will have a wealth of actionable consumer and competitor insights at your disposal at every stage of your organization’s development (a priceless weapon in an increasingly competitive digital age). 

Dynamic market research is the cornerstone of business development, and a dashboard builder is the vessel that brings these all-important insights to life. Once you get into that mindset, you will ensure that your research results always deliver maximum value.

Common Challenges & Mistakes Of Market Research Reporting & Analysis

We’ve explored different types of market research analysis examples and considered how to conduct effective research. Now, it’s time to look at the key mistakes of market research reporting.  Let’s start with the mistakes.

The mistakes

One of the biggest mistakes that stunt the success of a company’s market research efforts is strategy. Without taking the time to gather an adequate mix of insights from various sources and define your key aims or goals, your processes will become disjointed. You will also suffer from a severe lack of organizational vision.

For your market research-centric strategy to work, everyone within the company must be on the same page. Your core aims and objectives must align throughout the business, and everyone must be clear on their specific role. If you try to craft a collaborative strategy and decide on your informational sources from the very start of your journey, your strategy will deliver true growth and intelligence.

• Measurement

Another classic market research mistake is measurement – or, more accurately, a lack of precise measurement. When embarking on market intelligence gathering processes, many companies fail to select the right KPIs and set the correct benchmarks for the task at hand. Without clearly defined goals, many organizations end up with a market analysis report format that offers little or no value in terms of decision-making or market insights.

To drive growth with your market research efforts, you must set clearly defined KPIs that align with your specific goals, aims, and desired outcomes.

• Competition

A common mistake among many new or scaling companies is failing to explore and examine the competition. This will leave you with gaping informational blindspots. To truly benefit from market research, you must gather valuable nuggets of information from every key source available. Rather than solely looking at your consumers and the wider market (which is incredibly important), you should take the time to see what approach your direct competitors have adopted while getting to grips with the content and communications.

One of the most effective ways of doing so (and avoiding such a monumental market research mistake) is by signing up for your competitors’ mailing lists, downloading their apps, and examining their social media content. This will give you inspiration for your own efforts while allowing you to exploit any gaps in the market that your competitors are failing to fill.

The challenges

• Informational quality

We may have an almost infinite wealth of informational insights at our fingertips, but when it comes to market research, knowing which information to trust can prove an uphill struggle.

When working with metrics, many companies risk connecting with inaccurate insights or leading to a fruitless informational rabbit hole, wasting valuable time and resources in the process. To avoid such a mishap, working with a trusted modern market research and analysis sample is the only way forward.

• Senior buy-in

Another pressing market research challenge that stunts organizational growth is the simple case of senior buy-in. While almost every senior decision-maker knows that market research is an essential component of a successful commercial strategy, many are reluctant to invest an ample amount of time or money in the pursuit.

The best way to overcome such a challenge is by building a case that defines exactly how your market research strategies will offer a healthy ROI to every key aspect of the organization, from marketing and sales to customer experience (CX) and beyond.

• Response rates

Low interview, focus group, or poll response rates can have a serious impact on the success and value of your market research strategy. Even with adequate senior buy-in, you can’t always guarantee that you will get enough responses from early-round interviews or poll requests. If you don’t, your market research discoveries run the risk of being shallow or offering little in the way of actionable insight.

To overcome this common challenge, you can improve the incentive you offer your market research prospects while networking across various platforms to discover new contact opportunities. Changing the tone of voice of your ads or emails will also help boost your consumer or client response rates.

Bringing Your Reports a Step Further

Even if it is still widespread for market-style research results presentation, using PowerPoint at this stage is a hassle and presents many downsides and complications. When busy managers or short-on-time top executives grab a report, they want a quick overview that gives them an idea of the results and the big picture that addresses the objectives: they need a dashboard. This can be applied to all areas of a business that need fast and interactive data visualizations to support their decision-making.

We all know that a picture conveys more information than simple text or figures, so managing to bring it all together on an actionable dashboard will convey your message more efficiently. Besides, market research dashboards have the incredible advantage of always being up-to-date since they work with real-time insights: the synchronization/updating nightmare of dozens of PowerPoint slides doesn’t exist for you anymore. This is particularly helpful for tracking studies performed over time that recurrently need their data to be updated with more recent ones.

In today’s fast-paced business environment, companies must identify and grab new opportunities as they arise while staying away from threats and adapting quickly. In order to always be a step further and make the right decisions, it is critical to perform market research studies to get the information needed and make important decisions with confidence.

We’ve asked the question, “What is a market research report?”, and examined the dynamics of a modern market research report example, and one thing’s for sure: a visual market research report is the best way to understand your customer and thus increase their satisfaction by meeting their expectations head-on. 

From looking at a sample of a market research report, it’s also clear that modern dashboards help you see what is influencing your business with clarity, understand where your brand is situated in the market, and gauge the temperature of your niche or industry before a product or service launch. Once all the studies are done, you must present them efficiently to ensure everyone in the business can make the right decisions that result in real progress. Market research reports are your key allies in the matter.

To start presenting your results with efficient, interactive, dynamic research reports and win on tomorrow’s commercial battlefield, try our dashboard reporting software and test every feature with our 14-day free trial !

What is a Marketing Research Report and How to Write It?

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Enjoy reading this blog post written by our experts or partners.

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There is nothing more embarrassing for a marketer than to hear a client say “…this doesn’t quite address the business questions that we need to answer.” And unfortunately, this is a rather common occurrence in market research reporting that most marketers would care to admit.

So, why do most market research reports fail to meet client expectations? Well, in most cases, because there is more emphasis on methodology and analytic techniques used to craft the report rather than relying on data visualization, creative story-telling, and outlining actionable direction/steps.

Now, our next big question is, how do you avoid your client’s dreaded deer-in-the-headlights reaction when presenting such a report? This blog post will answer this and much more, as we go through the following:

What Is a Market Research Report?

Why is market research important, differences between primary and secondary market research, types of market research, market research reports advantages and disadvantages, how to do market research, how to prepare a market research report: 5 steps, marketing research report templates, marketing research reports best practices, bring your market research reports a step further with databox.

The purpose of creating a market research report is to make calculated decisions about business ideas. Market research is done to evaluate the feasibility of a new product or service, through research conducted with potential consumers. The information obtained from conducting market research is then documented in a formal report that should contain the following details:

• The characteristics of your ideal customers
• You customers buying habits
• The value your product or service can bring to those customers
• A list of your top competitors

Every business aims to provide the best possible product or service at the lowest cost possible. Simply said, market research is important because it helps you understand your customers and determine whether the product or service that you are about to launch is worth the effort.

Here is an example of a customer complaint that may result in more detailed market research:

Suppose you sell widgets, and you want your widget business to succeed over the long term. Over the years, you have developed many different ways of making widgets. But a couple of years ago, a customer complained that your widgets were made of a cheap kind of foam that fell apart after six months. You didn’t think at the time that this was a major problem, but now you know it.

The customer is someone you really want to keep. So, you decide to research this complaint. You set up a focus group of people who use widgets and ask them what they think about the specific problem. After the conducted survey you’ll get a better picture of customer opinions, so you can either decide to make the changes regarding widget design or just let it go.

PRO TIP: How Well Are Your Marketing KPIs Performing?

Like most marketers and marketing managers, you want to know how well your efforts are translating into results each month. How much traffic and new contact conversions do you get? How many new contacts do you get from organic sessions? How are your email campaigns performing? How well are your landing pages converting? You might have to scramble to put all of this together in a single report, but now you can have it all at your fingertips in a single Databox dashboard.

Our Marketing Overview Dashboard includes data from Google Analytics 4 and HubSpot Marketing with key performance metrics like:

• Sessions . The number of sessions can tell you how many times people are returning to your website. Obviously, the higher the better.
• New Contacts from Sessions . How well is your campaign driving new contacts and customers?
• Marketing Performance KPIs . Tracking the number of MQLs, SQLs, New Contacts and similar will help you identify how your marketing efforts contribute to sales.
• Email Performance . Measure the success of your email campaigns from HubSpot. Keep an eye on your most important email marketing metrics such as number of sent emails, number of opened emails, open rate, email click-through rate, and more.
• Blog Posts and Landing Pages . How many people have viewed your blog recently? How well are your landing pages performing?

Now you can benefit from the experience of our Google Analytics and HubSpot Marketing experts, who have put together a plug-and-play Databox template that contains all the essential metrics for monitoring your leads. It’s simple to implement and start using as a standalone dashboard or in marketing reports, and best of all, it’s free!

You can easily set it up in just a few clicks – no coding required.

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Step 2: Connect your HubSpot and Google Analytics 4 accounts with Databox. 

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Marketing research requires both primary and secondary market research. But what does that mean and what are the main differences?

Primary market research takes in information directly from customers, usually as participants in surveys. Usually, it is consisted of:

• Exploratory Primary Research – This type of research helps to identify possible problem areas, and it’s not focused on discovering specific information about customers. As with any research, exploratory primary research should be conducted carefully. Researchers need to craft an interviewing or surveying plan, and gather enough respondents to ensure reasonable levels of statistical reliability.
• Specific Primary Research – This type of research is one of the best ways to approach a problem because it relies on existing customer data. Specific research provides a deeper, more thorough understanding of the problem and its potential solutions. The greatest advantage of specific research is that it lets you explore a very specific question, and focus on a specific problem or an opportunity.

Secondary market research collects information from other sources such as databases, trend reports, market or government statistics, industry content, etc. We can divide secondary market research into 3 categories:

• Public market data – Public sources range from academic journals and government reports to tax returns and court documents. These sources aren’t always easy to find. Many are available only in print in libraries and archives. You have to look beyond search engines like Google to find public source documents.
• Commercial data – Those are typically created by specialized agencies like Pew, Gartner or Forrester. the research agencies are quite expensive, but they provide a lot of useful information.
• Internal data – Your organization’s databases are gold mines for market research. In the best cases, your salespeople can tell you what they think about customers. Your salespeople are your direct sources of information about the market. Don’t underestimate your internal data.

In general, primary research is more reliable than secondary research, because researchers have to interview people directly. But primary research is expensive and time-consuming. Secondary research can be quicker and less expensive.

There are plenty of ways to conduct marketing research reports. Mostly, the type of research done will depend on your goals. Here are some types of market research often conducted by marketers.

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.

An interview is an interactive process of asking and answering questions and observing your respondent’s responses. Interviews are one of the most commonly used tools in market research . An interview allows an organization to observe, in detail, how its consumers interact with its products and services. It also allows an organization to address specific questions.

A focus group is a group of people who get together to discuss a particular topic. A moderator leads the discussion and takes notes. The main benefit of focus groups is that they are quick and easy to conduct. You can gather a group of carefully-selected people, give them a product to try out, and get their feedback within a few hours/days.

Product or service use research helps you obtain useful information about your product or service such as:

• What your current customers do with the product/service
• Which features of the product/service are particularly important to your customers
• What they dislike about the product/service
• What they would change about the product/service

Observation-based research helps you to observe your target audience interacting with your product or service. You will see the interactions and which aspects work well and which could be improved. The main point is to directly experience the feedback from your target audience’s point of view.

Personas are an essential sales tool. By knowing your buyers’ pain points and the challenges they face, you can create better content, target messaging, and campaigns for them. Buyer persona research is based on market research, and it’s built around data that describes your customers’ demographics, behaviors, motivations, and concerns. Sales reporting software can significantly help you develop buyer personas when you gain insights after you collected all information.

Market segmentation research is carried out to better understand existing and potential market segments. The objective is to determine how to target different market segments and how they differ from each other. The three most important steps in writing a market segmentation research report are:

• Defining the problem
• Determining the solution [and]
• Defining the market

Related : 9 Customer Segmentation Tips to Personalize Ecommerce Marketing and Drive More Sales

A price that is too high, or too low, can kill a business. And without good market research, you don’t really know what is a good price for your product. Pricing research helps you define your pricing strategy.

In a competitive analysis, you define your “competition” as any other entity that competes with you in your market, whether you’re selling a widget or a piece of real estate. With competitive analysis research, you can find out things like:

• Who your competitors are
• What they’ve done in the past
• What’s working well for them
• Their weaknesses
• How they’re positioned in the market
• How they market themselves
• What they’re doing that you’re not

Related : How to Do an SEO Competitive Analysis: A Step-by-Step Guide

In today’s marketplace, companies are increasingly focused on customer loyalty. What your customers want is your product, but, more importantly, they want it delivered with a service that exceeds their expectations. Successful companies listen to their customers and respond accordingly. That’s why customer satisfaction and loyalty research is a critical component of that basic equation.

Related : 11 Tactics for Effectively Measuring Your Customer Service ROI

Who you are, what you stand for, what you offer, what you believe in, and what your audience thinks of you is all wrapped up in brand. Brand awareness research tells what your target audience knows about your brand and what’s their experience like.

A campaign research report is a detailed account of how your marketing campaign performed. It includes all the elements that went into creating the campaign: planning, implementation, and measurement.

Here are some of the top advantages and disadvantages of doing market research and crafting market research reports.

• Identify business opportunities – A market research report can be used to analyze potential markets and new products. It can give information about customer needs, preferences, and attitudes. Also, it compare products and services.
• A clear understanding of your customers – A market report gives company’s marketing department an in-depth picture about customers’ needs and wants. This knowledge can be used to improve products, prices, and advertising.
• Mitigates risks – 30% of small businesses fail within the first two years. Why is this so? The answer is that entrepreneurs are risk takers. However, there are risks that could be avoided. A good marketing research will help you identify those risks and allow you to mitigate them.
• Clear data-driven insights – Market research encompasses a wide range of activities, from determining market size and segment to forecasting demand, and from identifying competitors to monitoring pricing. All of these are quantified and measurable which means that gives you a clear path for building unique decisions based on numbers.

Disadvantages

• It’s not cheap – Although market research can be done for as little as $500, large markets like the United States can run into millions of dollars. If a research is done for a specific product, the budget may be even much higher. The budget also depends on the quality of the research. The more expensive it is, the more time the research will take.
• Some insights could be false – For example, if you are conducting a survey, data may be inadequate or inaccurate because respondents can, well, simply be dishonest and lie.

Here are the essential steps you need to take when doing market research:

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.

The job of a marketing persona is to describe your ideal customer and to tell you what they want, what motivates them, what frustrates them, and what limits them. Finding out these things means you have a better chance of designing your products, services, marketing messages, and brand around real customers. There is no one right way to create a buyer persona, though.

For example, if you’re in an industry focused on education, you could include things like:

• Educational level
• Education background

It’s recommended that you create 3-5 buyer personas for your products, based on your ideal customer.

This should be a representative sample of your target customers so you can better understand their behavior. You want to find people who fit both your target personas and who represent the broader demographic of your market. People who recently made a purchase or purposefully decided not to make one are a good sample to start with.

The questions you use determine the quality of your results. Of course, the quality of your results also depends on the quality of your participants.

Don’t ask questions that imply a yes or no answer. Instead, use open questions. For example, if you are researching customers about yogurt products, you could ask them: „ What have you heard about yogurt ?” or “ What do you think of yogurt ?“.

Avoid questions that use numbers, such as “ How many times a week do you eat yogurt ?”

Avoid questions that suggest a set of mutually exclusive answers, such as “ Do you like yogurt for breakfast, lunch, or dinner ?”

Avoid questions that imply a scale, such as “ Do you like chocolate-flavored yogurt ?”

Market researchers sometimes call one company the top competitor, another middle competitor, and the third one small competitor. However you classify them, you want to identify at least three companies in each category. Now, for each business on your list, list its key characteristics. For example, if your business sells running shoes, a key characteristic might be the product’s quality.

Next, make a list of your small business’s competitive advantages. These include the unique qualities or features of your business that make it the best choice of customers for the products or services it offers. Make a list of these competitive advantages and list them next to the key characteristics you listed for your business.

You have just finished writing your marketing research report. Everything is out there quantified or qualified. You just have to sum it up and focus on the most important details that are going to make a big impact on your decisions. Clear summary leads to a winning strategy!

Related : How to Prepare a Complete Marketing Report: The KPIs, Analysis, & Action Plan You Need

Here’s how to prepare a market research report in 5 simple steps:

Step 1: Cluster the data

Step 2: prepare an outline, step 3: mention the research methods, step 4: include visuals with narrative explanations, step 5: conclude the report with recommendations.

Your first step is to cluster all the available information into a manageable set. Clustering is the process of grouping information together in a way that emphasizes commonalities and minimizes differences. So, in market research, this will help to organize all the information you have about a product, service, or target market and identify your focus areas.

A marketing research report should be written so that other people can understand it:

• Include background information at the beginning to explain who your audience is and what problem you are trying to solve for them.
• In the body of the report, include a description of the methodology – Explain to the reader how your research was done, what was involved, and why you selected the methodology you used.
• Also in the body of the report, include the results of your market research. These may be quantitative or qualitative, but either way they should answer the questions you posed at the beginning.
• Include the executive summary – A summary of the entire report.

The market research methodology section includes details on the type of research, sample size, any limitations of the studies, research design, sample selection, data collection procedures, and statistical analyses used.

Visuals are an essential part of the presentation. Even the best-written text can be difficult to understand. Charts and graphs are easier to understand than text alone, and they help the reader see how the numbers fit the bigger picture.

But visuals are not the whole story. They are only one part of the presentation. Visuals are a cue for the reader. The narrative gives the story, not just the numbers.

Recommendations tend to follow logically from conclusions and are a response to a certain problem. The recommendation should always be relevant to the research rationale, that is, the recommendation should be based on the results of the research reported in the body of the report.

Now, let’s take a look at some dashboard reporting templates you could use to enhance your market research:

• Semrush (Position Tracking) Report

Brand Awareness Report

Sales pipeline performance report, customer success overview report, stripe (mrr & churn) report, semrush (position tracking) report template.

This free SEMRush dashboard template will help you monitor how your website’s search visibility on search engines evolves on a monthly basis. This dashboard contains all of the information you need to make changes and improve the ranking results of your business in Google Search.

This Brand Awareness Report will help you to get a sense of your brand awareness performance in Google Analytics, Google Organic Search, and Facebook. Use this dashboard to track brand awareness the same way you track other marketing campaigns.

Are your sales and marketing funnel healthy and growing? How is your sales and marketing funnel performing? What are the key conversion rates between your lifecycle stages? With a pipeline performance dashboard , you’ll get all of the answers quickly.

This Customer Success Overview Dashboard allows you to analyze how your customer service team’s responsiveness impacts your business. Use this dashboard to assess the correlation between your customer service performance and churn rate. 

This Stripe dashboard tracks your churn rate and MRR growth in real-time and shows you which customers (and how many of them) you have at any given point in time. All you have to do to get started is to connect your Stripe account.

As we said earlier, there are no strict rules when it comes to writing marketing research reports. On the other hand, you must find your focus if you want to write a report that will make a difference. Here are some best practices you should keep in mind when writing a research report.

• Objectives – The objective of a market research report is to define the problems, identify key issues, and suggest recommendations for further research. If you answer them successfully, you’re on the right way.
• Don’t worry about the format – Be creative. The report could be in a form of a PowerPoint presentation, Excel sheet, interactive dashboard or even a video. Use the format that best fits your audience, but make sure to make it easy to read.
• Include an executive summary, scorecard , or a dashboard – This is really important because time is money, and most people don’t have time to waste. So, how to put everything important in a short role? Address all of the objectives and put them in a graphic dashboard or scorecard. Also, you can write an executive summary template (heart of the report) that can be easily updated and read by managers or CEOs.
• Use storytelling –  A good story always makes a great point because it’s so memorable. Your research report results can double the effect with a catchy story.
• Keep it short – It’s not a secret that we are reading so little in the digital era. Use a lot of white space and bullet points. Too much text on a page means less focus for the reader.
• Be organized – Maintain the order of information. It’s important for the reader to navigate through the report easily. If they want to find some details or specific information it would be great to divide all sections with appropriate references.
• Methodological information – Methodological details could be boring. Include only the most important details that the reader needs to know to understand the big picture.
• Use images (or other visualizations) whenever you can – A good picture speaks for 1.000 words! If you can communicate the point visually, don’t hesitate to do it. It would be a lot easier for those who don’t like a lot of text to understand your results. But don’t push them where you can’t.
• Create readable graphs – The crown of marketing research reports is a comprehensive graph. Make sure to design precise and attractive graphs that will power up and round your story.
• Use the Appendix  – You can include all secondary information such as methodological details and other miscellaneous data in the Appendix at the end of the report.

Market research reports are all about presenting your data in an easy-to-understand way and making calculated decisions about business ideas. But this is something easier said than done.

When busy stakeholders and executives grab a report, they need something that will give them an idea of the results – the big picture that addresses company wide-business goals.

Can a PowerPoint presentation or a PDF report meet those expectations? Most likely not. But a dashboard can.

Keep in mind that even with the best market analysis in the world, your market research report won’t be actionable if you don’t present the data efficiently and in a way that everyone understands what the next steps are. Databox is your key ally in the matter.

Databox dashboards are designed to help you present your market research data with clarity – from identifying what is influencing your business, and understanding where your brand is situated in the market, to gauging the temperature of your niche or industry before a new product/service launch.

Present your research results with efficient, interactive dashboards now by signing up for a free trial .

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Industry Insights

2022 Marketing Research & Insights Salary Report: Key Trends

We approached this year’s salary data with great anticipation as the timing aligns with the economic recovery that began in Q2 of 2021. This year’s data, gathered from October 2021 through September 2022, shows that salaries for market researchers remained competitive, with mean salary increases across all levels. The strong demand for research & insights talent over the past year continued to make an impact on compensation levels in the field. Early-career researchers on the supplier-side and mid-level client-side research saw the highest jumps in compensation.While there was significant volatility in the hiring landscape in 2020 and early 2021, we were pleased to see a continued rebound of the marketing research & insights hiring market with strong activity in the past year. Understanding potential shifts in consumer behavior is more important than ever in today’s landscape and we’ve seen robust hiring across both client-and supplier-side teams. Mirroring the broader market, there was also a wave of job search activity amongst professionals, so this shake-up has led to a very competitive market for both researchers and their employers looking to hire.This post, which is based on the newly-released 2022 Salary Report for Marketing Research & Insights Professionals ( which can be downloaded for free here ), shares more about the key insights and findings from this year’s data.

Marketing Research & Insights – Candidate Sentiment Survey Results

Given the volume of professionals changing jobs along with the buzz surrounding the Great Resignation, we surveyed marketing research & insights professionals to gauge movement and priorities when considering new opportunities. At the time of fielding, over half of research & insights professionals were currently open to a move, while 46% changed jobs in the past year .

Factors lending to flexibility are still key for many job seekers. Remote work tops the list; job security and WFH flexibility are also important for many when considering a new opportunity.

The respondents of the survey spanned over 100 companies across the U.S. and included various industries. Over 43% value career growth and development road mapping when evaluating a new role, also team collaboration and leadership opportunities are important to many.

Optimizing Hiring

Given the highly competitive nature of the hiring market, it is critical for companies to implement a streamlined and transparent interview process. Clarity of the role and its responsibilities, tool usage, and day-to-day work all allow candidates to have a better understanding of role. From recent discussions with both clients and candidates, we can confidently state that the interview process has seen significant changes over the past few years as companies have begun to adopt a streamlined and effective interview process to fill open roles. We also see some research teams employing the use of preemptive retention bonuses or spot bonuses to recognize work on key projects, and even salary increases outside of the normal annual schedule. The use of Long-Term Incentive Plans, often offered to those at the managerial levels, are becoming popular, leading to the alignment of employee and company interest and the maintenance of institutional knowledge to avoid attrition. It is necessary to maintain relationships with company alumni, as we are aware of former employees returning their former companies.

The Pandemic, The Great Resignation & Ongoing Market Impact

The Research & Insights field has continued to see a shifting hiring market over the past few years. The disruption of 2020 and the initial response to the global pandemic led to professionals pausing planned job searches, while many research & insights teams experienced layoffs, furloughs, or put hiring plans on hold. As the economic recovery picked up in 2021, we saw an influx of research teams looking to hire, both backfilling vacancies as well as expanding teams to keep up with increased project load. There was also massive turnover across the labor market, dubbed the Great Resignation or the Great Reshuffle, as many professionals resumed their job searches or kicked off new job hunts as the market stabilized.This perfect storm led to the most competitive hiring market we’ve seen in years with research & insights professionals in extremely high demand throughout most of 2021-2022, and job openings outnumbering available candidates. Researchers open to new opportunities found more negotiation power when it came to salary targets, flexibility in remote/hybrid work, and many who were actively interviewing entertained numerous offers when making career decisions. After 18 months of navigating a hot hiring market, we’ve started to see things temper and regulate a bit as we approach the end of 2022. We will be interested to see what 2023 brings.

• 212 best farm names

Market Research: The Definitive Guide (2023 Update)

February 2, 2022

Starting a business is a challenging endeavor that requires time, money, and continuous learning. In our blogs, we cover how to start a business with brief overviews. In our hub, we aim to provide you with everything you need to go through each step. Our first step is conducting market research.

Throughout the steps, we’ll provide insights from Paul Akers, the owner of FastCap, and a Lean Expert who has created hundreds of products for woodworkers and cabinet makers.

There are four basic steps to conducting market research:

• Understand “what is marketing research and which type is right for my business?
• Perform market research.
• Analyze the data.
• Use the research to make decisions.

We’ll start by exploring some of the concepts involved in market research analysis to help you perform it yourself.

Step 1: What is market research in business?

Market research is the process of gathering information about target customers to better understand their views about a product or service. The primary ways of classifying market research are:

• The method of the collection
• Common types of market research

Let’s look at each.

The method of collection

Market research normally uses six methods of collection when looking for answers:

Primary market research

Secondary market research.

• Qualitative research

Quantitative research

Exploratory research.

• Specific Research

Primary research is the original research conducted directly by an organization. It is used to find out what customers are interested in. It can be done through questionnaires, interviews, or videos. Primary market research is used for understanding the underlying needs and desires of consumers.

Primary market research helps us to understand the needs, wants, and behaviors of potential buyers. It is the basis for the buyers’ persona. It helps us to formulate marketing strategies that can be used to meet those needs and wants.

Secondary market research is a process of finding information about a product or service through other sources. This includes looking up other companies that are in the same market as your company and finding out what they are doing.

A company should conduct secondary market research to find out if the product or service has been done before, which will help them figure out how they can differentiate their product from competitors.

Secondary research can be used to gain information about competitors, pricing, distribution channels, etc. It also helps the company save time by not having to conduct primary research that has already been performed.

Researching competitors before you start your business is not only crucial for success but essential for survival in the business world where everyone is trying to get ahead.

What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative research?

One is focused on themes while the other is focused on information that can be processed numerically. Let’s look at each.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is focused on finding themes that run through interviews and surveys. This type of research is more focused on opinions and is more art than statistical analysis, but in some cases, you can turn this type of research into data that can use statistical analysis.

For instance, a question like the one below converts a qualitative data point into a quantitative data point, making it easier to compare how happy someone was with their food.

You might perform qualitative research along with market validation after you have created a prototype of a new product.

This research is focused on information that can be easily processed with statistical analysis software. For instance, median household income would be easy to statistically calculate if you gather the data for the target customers’ income. Market research analysts love this kind of data because it is easier to process.

Exploratory research is market research that looks for a better understanding. For instance, you may have come to this site doing exploratory research about how to do market research for a startup. After you’ve gained broader information about marketing research methods, you might move on to more specific research.

Specific research

Specific research is when market researchers are looking to answer a very specific question using market data. This research might include searching for a specific concept or item. For example, the lowest cost statistical software for a company that will have ten users of the software. You might also want to research the history of a business location before deciding to sign a lease because some shopping centers have high turnover.

To find the answer, you’ll probably want to go with Google Workspace because Forms, Sheets, and other useful business tools are included in the same package as your email. Google is the primary email provider for small and medium-sized businesses.

Market research may include a combination of primary and secondary data, quantitative and qualitative data, exploratory and specific research. Now that you understand the market research definition, let’s look at the common market research methods and what questions they are trying to answer.

Common types of market research methods

Most companies will perform 13 types of market research:

• Literature reviews

Focus Groups

Observation, customer utilization research.

• Buyer Persona Research

Market Segmentation Research

Pricing research, competitive analysis research, customer satisfaction and loyalty research, brand awareness research, campaign research.

In each of these, market researchers attempt to answer different questions. Let’s discuss each.

Literature Reviews

One of the leanest ways to do market research is a literature review. With your laptop or cell phone, you can easily find vast amounts of data about your market through sources like:

• Statista – Provides graphs that are easy to process for most economic subjects
• Competitors’ research – Your competitors have probably already done the research. Find it so you don’t have to duplicate the effort.
• Industry trade organizations – Companies
• Think with Google – Helps marketers gather information using Google’s extensive database of consumer behaviors
• Census Bureau – The U.S. Census Bureau is a government agency that collects data on a variety of subjects including a full count of the U.S. population every decade.

After you’ve gathered everything available through market research, it’s time to create some surveys.

Surveys are the most common type of market research because they are so easy to conduct and are low-cost. With software like Google Forms and Facebook, you can easily create a survey, distribute it, and analyze the data on your own.

When creating a survey, it is important to be aware of some best principles including:

• Use a variety of style questions: scaled, multiple-choice, and open-ended questions are typically used with success.
• Avoid biased questions that lead the survey participants to a preferred answer. They will harm the validity of your research.
• Be respectful of the participants’ time. Unless you are paying them, try to keep the survey to 10 questions or less. If you are paying them, $50-$100 per hour is typically what market research firms will pay for longer surveys.
• Make sure to gather demographic data and contact information for follow-up.
• Practice proper sampling methods. In most cases, you won’t need more than 1,000 survey participants, but you can use the table below to establish how many people to include in your survey.

You can normally gather the data you need through this method for under $5 per survey participant, making it one of the most effective and lean methods of gathering market research.

Another great tool is a market research interview. They follow the same principles of surveys but have the benefit of the ability to ask follow-up questions. Using these with select survey participants who gave meaningful input might be useful.

Interviews are much more labor and capital intensive than surveys, so only use them for follow-up questions for your target market.

Keep reading to learn about focus groups.

A focus group brings 5-10 people together to discuss a product or service with a moderator. These will typically run $4K-$10K per group, and they are not conducive to being conducted by novices because of the challenges involving focus groups dynamics.

If you are going to use this type of research, we’d suggest hiring a professional market research firm to assist you in the recruiting and managing of a focus group. If you are trying to run lean market research, you should skip focus groups entirely.

Keep reading to learn about observations as a market research tool.

Observation can be an extremely powerful market research tool. Using observation, you can learn how people actually interact with your product and service, but it doesn’t allow you to actually communicate with them.

Observation is particularly powerful for software products because tools like Google Analytics and Crazy Egg help you see how people interact with the software. This makes it easier to fix areas where customers stop interacting with the application.

You can perform market research through observation in different ways. The primary ways of conducting market research through observation are covert observation and overt observation.

Covert observation is collecting market research data without the participants’ knowledge. This type of data collection can be achieved through analytics software on the web or using security cameras in stores where people can test your product.

Overt observation is when the participants are aware of the marketing research and provide feedback to questions. When you conduct market research about a product or service this way you will get more information about potential customers’ opinions, but it may be influenced by their awareness that you are conducting market research.

Effective market research can gain actionable insights from both methods. Overt observation is better when you know who your potential customers are and you want to establish whether they like your business idea, while covert observation is helpful for establishing who naturally gravitates to a product or service.

You’ll want to take notes any time someone performs a desired or undesired action. If the participant is aware of the market research analysts, you’ll also want to ask them what influenced the decision.

Cautionary Tale: During the early stages of FastCap, Paul would gain actionable insights from conventions, but he stopped conducting research at such events because he found them costly to collect data. He also found that competitors would try to steal his ideas.

To truly make the most out of this tool, you’ll need to combine it with other research methods like surveys to gain user input after the observation.

Customer utilization research is focused on how your current customers use your products or services. Marketing professionals will normally use customer surveys to perform this exploratory research. The following questions are questions that an online survey might include:

• How often do you use our product or service?
• What do you like most about our product or service?
• With 1 being highly dissatisfied and 5 being highly satisfied how would you rank our product?
• What do you like least about our product or service?
• With 1 being highly dissatisfied and 5 being highly satisfied how would you rank our customer service?
• Have you tried any of the competitors’ products? If so, which ones? How does our product compare to theirs?
• What features would you like added to our product?
• With 1 being highly dissatisfied and 5 being highly satisfied how would you rank our pricing?

You can replace “product” with “services” in any of the questions above. In addition, it would make sense to include the name of the specific product or service they bought instead of the word product or service.

These questions will help you establish what real customers think of your products and services. This type of market research data provides insight into aspects including competitive advantage and creating buyer personas for potential clients based on the data collected.

FastCap has an interesting take on this type of market research. They actually offer tradesmen a 2-5% royalty for product suggestions that they decide to take to market.

Buyer Persona: Identify Your Target Market

A user persona is a character that represents your target market. A user persona will include aspects including:

• Demographics – age, gender, location, marital status, number of kids (if applicable to your product)
• Financial Information – Employment status, job title, household income, homeowner status
• Behaviors and Interests – Hobbies, products they like, buying habits, where they get information about products and services
• Market size and market trends

You can create similar personas for B2B businesses using stats like:

• Number of employees
• Age of company
• Titles of decision-makers
• Market size

If you are using analytic tools, they collect most of this information. You can add a form to check out or that opens when the user is leaving the site to ask questions about:

• Who are they? In FastCap’s case, they would be carpenters and cabinet makers.
• What are they trying to achieve? They don’t want exposed screw holes in their cabinets.
• What is the main obstacle? The products on the market are ugly, difficult to use, and expensive.

What if you find that your buyer persona is too broad to use to identify potential clients? We’ll discuss how to address that next

A small business might need to do market segmentation research if all their clients don’t fit neatly into a single user persona. For instance, FastCap would have at least three market segments that they might want to prepare marketing materials for:

• Distributors that will be selling their products to carpenters
• Tradespeople who will be using their products
• Coffee shops that buy caps for drinks so people don’t burn themselves (it’s an ancillary use for a FastCap that he decided to market to restaurants with To-Go cups)

As you can guess, each market segment would have characteristics that make them different, and you wouldn’t want to market to them all the same. You’d use market segmentation research to identify what those key characteristics are and create a user persona for each.

The term pricing research is refers to establishing a fair price. Pricing research should be done before you open a business or launch a new product because it can impact whether the business is worth starting.

To understand the benefits of pricing research I should discuss pricing strategies first. Businesses normally use either the value-added method or the cost of doing business.

The value-added method charges a price that is based on the value that is provided to a client. An example of this pricing is how Tesla prices solar roofs. They determine the price using the cost of a comparable roof plus the net present value of 30 years of energy in the target market.

The cost of doing business is calculated by adding up all your expenses (including taxes) and adding the amount of profit you want to make, then dividing by the number of units you want to sell.

Both of these pricing strategies have issues though. In the value-added method, how do you determine the value that is added? In the cost of doing business method, what is the maximum your target market can sustain? Both of these are answered by researching comparable products.

While there may not be something identical on the market, there is always something that serves a similar purpose. For instance, when portable MP3 players were created, the cost of the MP3 player plus downloading songs should have been compared to the cost of a portable CD player plus the cost of all the CDs.

Competitive analysis research is focused on developing a thorough understanding of the market and identifying how you want to differentiate yourself in a market of comparable competitors. This type of research will be included in a business plan . You’ll want to focus on aspects of the industry including:

• Identify competitors and the products they offer. This can be done through their websites.
• Analyze sales trends. You can use industry resources and company quarterly reports.
• Research how economic indicators impact the industry. For instance, consumer staples tend to do better during a recession, while consumer discretionary products tend to do better as an expansionary cycle matures.
• Understand the impact government agencies have on the industry.
• Has the industry reached market saturation? If 9 out of 10 people have already purchased the product you are selling, you are probably late to the game. Before you spend money in an industry that is at capacity, you should review the following bullet point.
• What is the job outlook for the industry? The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) creates an occupational outlook handbook for every industry. You want to be aware of the growth prospects. If both of the last two bullet points are going in the wrong direction stay clear.

The document you create from this research should be detail-oriented, contain lots of external links to prove sources, and show analytical skills that show an understanding of the industry. This research and the communication skills used to present it are often deciding factors when applying for loans.

Customer satisfaction and loyalty research are focused on building relationships that increase the lifetime value of your existing customers. With big data and rewards programs becoming more affordable, small business owners can now offer similar types of rewards to what people see at major chains.

You’ll want to use the market research process to establish the answer to questions like:

• Should I use a point system or a number-of-purchases reward system?
• How big of a reward should I offer for repeat customers?
• Should I offer referral bonuses? If so, how much is meaningful?
• What are my competitors doing?

To answer these questions, you’ll need to establish:

• How often your average customer buys your product or services. You can find this in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. Alternatively, you can sort receipts by credit card if you don’t already have an app or loyalty program that people sign up for.
• If you have a CRM, establish what percent of customers interact with your business daily, weekly, monthly, or irregularly. Also, calculate the first two bullet points for each group to see if different promotions make sense.
• How much your average customer spends on each trip. Calculate revenue or number of receipts.

For example, you might target people differently by offering daily customers a free upgrade every $50 spent, while weekly customers you might want to offer every 5th visit they get a free product. In both scenarios, this can reward customer loyalty and encourage more spending in the future by slightly shifting their habits.

Let’s look at how to understand brand awareness.

Brand awareness research is focused on establishing what your target audience knows about your business, how they perceive it and giving you input on improving brand awareness.

Facebook has a feature for brands running ads that is really useful for establishing brand awareness called Brand Survey Tests . It is currently an experimental stage, but here’s how it works:

• Divides target market into two groups, one that is shown ads and one that is not shown ads.
• Collects data on both groups’ clicks, purchases, and other actions with your company
• Required: “Do you recall seeing an ad for [page name] online or on a mobile device in the last two days?”
• “Have you heard of [page name]?”
•  “How would you describe your overall opinion of [page name]?”
• “Are you familiar with [Page name]?”
• “Will you recommend [page name] to a friend?”
• Provides an analysis of what the market research process found.

This can be a great tool for understanding if people recognize your brand name .

Campaign research is focused on reviewing past business strategies to promote your products and services so that you can establish what worked, what didn’t, and why. In today’s marketing boom, people often forget the importance of including lessons learned when closing a project.

During this process, you’ll want to look at questions like:

• Did we reach enough people to be a representative sample? Typically, over 500 will be enough to count as a representative sample,
• What was the return on investment?
• Where did people drop out of the sales funnel?
• Did the campaign have a favorable reception?
• Should we try to duplicate the content in future campaigns?
• What should we avoid in future campaigns?

Now that you know about some of the types of market research techniques, keep reading to learn why market research is so important.

Why is market research important?

Because market research is the act of investigating consumer preferences as well as economic, social, and statistical data, it helps to better understand the customer and guides business decisions in the areas of:

• Customer insights – Market research can be used to gain insight into how customers behave, what they like and dislike about products, and what they think about different marketing strategies.
• Marketing strategy development – Market research can be used to develop a marketing strategy by identifying the needs of the market, target audience, and competitors in the industry.
• Product development – Market research is key for product development because it helps companies discover what customers want to buy or use next. It also helps companies see how their product will fare against other similar products on the market today or in the future.
• Product pricing considerations – Market research helps companies determine prices for their products by understanding expenses to continue production.

Now that you understand why market research matters so much to businesses, let’s take a look at how to conduct market research.

Step 2: Conduct market research

As you begin to get a handle on your goals and the questions you need to answer, it’s time to do the market research. At UpFlip, we are fans of Lean methodologies , so we figured we’d give you an introduction to lean market research.

• Put together the list of questions you are trying to answer based on the previous sections. Structure them in a way that answers can be analyzed easily.
• Seek out data that is already available and document the findings that impact you under each question.
• Establish the minimum number of online surveys or observations needed for a statistically accurate sample using our calculator.
• Find participants and gather data. When possible use software for collecting data.
• Proceed to analyze data.
• Implement business strategies.

Using these strategies will make it easier to do effective market research quicker and at a lower cost. No need for costly market research analysts.

If you’d like to learn more about how one of the United State’s most successful Lean practitioners approaches market research check out our interview with Paul below.

Keep reading to learn about analyzing the results

Step 3: Analyze the results

Market research analysts look for trends in data gathered from market research. The analysis involves both statistics and looking for patterns. To make it easier to analyze data, it is helpful to use software while gathering the data. If you don’t, you’ll have to input it into a spreadsheet manually.

The first step is to clean up data. This means fixing misspellings and other improper collection like zip codes where state names should be. Next, remove obvious deviations from the sample. (If someone says they buy your products 100 times per day, that’s probably not right.)

After that, you can do data analysis using functions like:

• Mean – sum divided by the number of surveys
• Median – (Number of surveys+1)/2
• Mode – Most common answer
• These can also use conditional statements such as “IF male and Under 45 mean”

With some forms of data, you might find visualization easier, so we are providing some market research examples of visualization of data. Let’s look at some common visualization methods.

The flow model is simply a visual representation of how interactions occur. Check out the behavioral flow for website visitors in Google Analytics. This model can be useful for establishing where issues occur and how processes work.

Affinity Diagram

An affinity diagram is used to group people, businesses, or other items together by a common feature. For instance, you might group by male and female, profession, or age. This can make it easier to tell whether one group tends to prefer your product or service more than another group does.

If you want to learn how to do this in Microsoft Excel, check out the video below.

Lucidcharts is another software you can use for affinity diagrams.

Customer Journey Map

A customer journey map is a visual representation of the path people take from being unaware of your product to becoming a paying customer, and eventually a potential advocate. Customer journeys are typically broken into five steps in the process:

• Awareness – The customer knows about the product
• Consideration – When the customer starts researching the product
• Purchase – The customer buys the product
• Retention –Keeping the customer happy, repeating purchases
• Advocacy – When the customer goes from being a satisfied customer to singing your praises to others.

The stages can vary for different groups of people, but awareness is typically a matter of advertising. This can be in the form of an online ad, a coming soon sign when preparing to open up a location, or even current customers (or influencers) advocating for your brand.

Consideration begins when the customer starts researching your company. This phase might  be:

• Short : Searching “gas stations near me” and immediately going to get gas
• Long : Spending hours researching the best shoe, best price, and best place to buy it.

The point of understanding a journey map is to be able to understand how many points of reference a person has before buying your product. Then you can use that to speed up the awareness and consideration phases while encouraging advocacy by your long-term customers.

Now that you understand “what is market research?” how to perform the market research, and how to analyze the research, there’s only one thing left…

Step 4: Use the info for decision making

The final and most important part of performing your own market research is converting the research into business practices to improve revenue. Depending on what you find in the research, this step may include:

• Adding new user personas and marketing campaigns
• Narrowing your target audience
• Discontinuing marketing campaigns
• Investing in software to increase customer loyalty or lifetime value
• Documenting the planned strategies for a business plan
• Rejecting the business idea completely

Thank you for reading!

Wherever the research leads you, UpFlip is here to help you run a better business. We use your feedback to create content that helps you build a better business. Which sections of this did you find beneficial and which would you like to learn more about?

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Learn from business failures and successes in 5 min or less. The stories, frameworks, and tactics that will make you a 10x better founder.

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One-Page Business Plan Template (with Examples)

One-Page Strategic Plan (OPSP)

Long Term Plan

• Strengths and Weaknesses
• People that Drive Your Reputation
• Core Values
• 3 to 5-Year Targets
• 1-Year Goals
• Struggling to meet core customer demands
• Spending too much time
• Reaching a point that you need to hire more people

People Drive Reputation (Top)

Employees (1st Question)

Customers (2nd question).

• Customer service surveys
• Beta testing
• Market research
• Requests for new product features. Craft.io has a blog on collecting feedback , and it sounds like many product managers love their feedback portals.

Owners and debt holders (3rd-6th Question)

• Shareholders
• Debt holders
• Exceeding performance goals
• Establishing a reputation as an expert, both within the company and externally
• Fitting the company's culture

Core Values (Column 1)

Purpose (Column 2)

Big Hairy Audacious Goal ®

• Numerical: Hit a specific revenue, profit, or customer number.
• Aspirational: Attempt to be like another company, for instance, become the "Nike" of backpacks.
• Market Leader: General Electric once aimed to be one of the top two companies in the industry or exit the business.
• Transformational: Change how the industry operates. For instance, Airbnb and Uber changed their industries by making it so that homeowners and restaurants can earn additional income. Both companies' main asset is tech playing the middleman between consumers and owners.

Measuring Profits

• Profit per Customer
• Profit per Transaction
• Profit per Employee
• Profit per Piece of Content

3 to 5-Year Targets (Column 3)

Brand promises (column 3, bottom).

• Product: Explain your product features, performance, efficiency, warranty, etc.
• Service: Explain how your services compare to the industry.
• Channel: Explain how you deliver your product or service to the customer.
• Relationship: Explain how your customer service differs from the competition. Are you faster or friendlier? For instance, the HVAC company One Hour Air promises "ALWAYS ON TIME...OR YOU DON'T PAY A DIME!®"
• Reputation: This can be accomplished through marketing or by combining the differentiation strategies so when people ask about your service, your clients immediately think of you.
• Price: Are you a premium brand, a low-cost provider, or priced based on client needs?

Measuring Brand Promises with Key Performance Indicators

Primary Capabilities

• Automate fulfillment
• Start using a phone app for employees to input receipts into the accounting system
• Create a database for customer feature requests

Sandbox (aka Target Market)

1 year goals (column 4).

Key Initiatives

• Research alternatives
• Plan layout for implementation
• Implement a fulfillment automation plan
• Train employees on the process

Critical Personal Numbers (Columns 4, 5, and 7)

• 50 general construction workers
• Four project managers
• Two accountants
• Four delivery drivers
• Dark green: Meets 100% of the goal
• Light green: Can successfully meet the goal, over 75%
• Yellow: 25% to 75% of the goal
• Red: Under 25% of the way to the goal

Critical Profit  and Loss Numbers (Columns 4, 5, and 7)

• Emails collected
• Requests for bids
• Phone calls received
• The number of people who click on your ads
• Anything that can be used with other data to approximate the number of sales you can expect

Process Plan

Trends (Bottom)

• Trade Organizations
• Location of searches
• Historical trends
• Related topics
• Related search terms
• Check out the picture below for what comes up with eCommerce:

Productivity Drivers (Top)

Make or buy, record and report, quarterly actions (column 5).

Quarterly and Annual Theme (Column 6)

Scoreboard design.

Celebration and Reward

Accountability (column 7).

Personal KPIs

Personal priorities.

How to Resell Shoes (And Make $350K/Month)

Get to Know the Sneaker Resale Market

Where to get cheap sneakers to resell, how to know if shoes are fake, what is the sneaker resale value.

• How Much to Pay For Used Shoes

Step 2. How to Clean Shoes

Step 3: photograph your sneakers, step 4. where can i sell shoes, step 5. shipping services are crucial, how to grow a sneaker flipping company, get started selling high quality sneakers.

• Retailers and Ecommerce Stores: A sneaker business using this model will buy shoes in bulk and sell them in their stores.
• Used Sneaker Resellers: These companies focus on used rare sneakers that they can cheaply buy and sell for more on the sneaker resale market.

How Much Money Do I Need to Start Reselling Sneakers?

What Are the Best Shoes to Resell?

• Limited Edition Sneakers
• Nike Air Jordan
• Original Air Jordans
• Yeezy’s (Kanye West Shoes)
• Nike Air Mag
• Hey Dude Shoes
• Golden Goose Shoes
• Mephisto Shoes

What Are the Most Expensive Shoes in the World?

About sneak city: from $50 to $350k/month selling sneakers, how to start reselling shoes.

• Buying Shoes
• Repairing and Cleaning Shoes
• Photographing Sneakers
• Adding Products to Instagram And Website Through Automation

Step 1. How to Buy Shoes for Resale

• Where to buy shoes
• How to tell if shoes are fake
• How much to price used shoes
• How much to pay for used sneakers

• Wholesalers/Distributors : You can buy new Nike shoes and other brands that have limited releases from wholesalers and distributors. Flipping items this way creates profit from the difference between the wholesale price and the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP).
• Reselling Apps : You can find shoes on online services like Offerup, eBay, and Facebook Marketplace. You’ll be responsible for meeting the person, assessing the shoes’ value, identifying fake ones, and negotiating price, 
• Thrift Stores : Many people get into making money reselling shoes by starting at thrift stores.
• Facebook Groups : There are multiple sneaker reselling Facebook groups with more than 1,000 people in them. You’ll be able to find some there. You can check for ones in your area as well by adding your city to the search.
• Sneaker Con : Many locations have shoe conferences and trade shows where sneaker reselling occurs. Find niche market conferences .
• Nike does not use stitch guides. If you can see the holes of a stitch guide under a black light, the shoes are fake Nikes.
• Check for a chemical smell. If it smells like chemicals, they are fake. If it smells like dirty feet, it’s harder to tell.
• Check the box. If you know what a Nike box looks like, a fake box will often be “too bright.”
• Shoes are too soft. Fake Nikes don’t use real leather, but instead use low grade materials.

How Much to Pay for Used Shoes 

• How to clean leather shoes
• Clean white shoes
• How to clean suede shoes
• How to remove odor from shoes

• Amazon : Main image should be jpeg, png, tiff, or gif with a 1600 pixel long side. The product should fill 85% of the image and the file name should be identical to the title of the listing. Learn more .
• StockX : Reselling sneakers on StockX does not require pictures because they already have the pictures, and they only allow sneaker reselling of a brand new pair. You’ll have to send the shoes to StockX for them to inspect them before you get paid.
• GOAT : Sneaker reselling on GOAT requires pictures if you have less than a 100% seller rating, the pair sold is used, or the new shoes have defects. The photos will be rejected if you can’t see both shoes clearly.
• Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and other social media
• Wholesale Channels

• The importance of a job when starting out
• How to set Up a sneaker store 
• How to grow the business
• How to increase your social media following

Start Sneaker Reselling as an Employee

How to Set Up Your Sneaker Reseller Locations

• Choose a location.
• Buy security cameras and a roll-down gate, and consider hiring an overnight security guard.
• Separate shoes between one-offs, bulk shoes, and high-value shoes.  
• Keep one-offs on one side, bulk shoes on the other side, and high-value shoes behind the counter.
• Wrap the high-value sneakers to keep them in good condition. 
• Keep each shoe brand together and sort them by size with the largest size at the top and the lowest size at the bottom. 

Importance of Growth

Social media for sneaker resellers.

Frequently Asked Questions About Selling Shoes

What is the biggest expense for shoe resellers.

How to Sell on Stock X

• Sign up for StockX
• Select a payout method and currency 
• Create a listing 
• Print a shipping label
• Ship shoes to StockX within two business days
• StockX verifies your shoes

How to Sell Shoes on GOAT

• Apply to sell on GOAT (They don’t give a timeline for approval because they only allow enough sellers to verify all transactions.)
• Wait for approval
• List items using SKU
• Take pictures of the shoes
• GOAT inspects shoes

20 Best Small-Town Business Ideas 2024

Think you live in a big city? Think again. Most Americans live in small towns. Curiously, many who think they live in big cities actually reside in one of many incorporated locations that blend together—that’s what a big city is, after all!

That’s why you should get to know the best small-town business ideas. You won’t believe how few people you need for some of these small-town business ideas to take off. Surprisingly, a cleaning company, for example, can survive with less than 300 people in a town.

We used IBIS World and the U.S. population to easily compare the best small-town business ideas. We even share experiences from small-town business owners who have already succeeded in their small businesses.

Use the links below to jump to any section in the article.

[su_note note_color="#dbeafc"]

• What Is a Good Business to Start in a Small Town?

How to Choose a Small-Town Business Idea

Best business to open in a small town, best food business ideas for a small town, best small-town businesses that thrive in smaller markets, retail business ideas for small-town shops, unique business ideas for small towns, things every town needs.

• Choose a Lucrative Business! [/su_note]

What is a Good Business to Start in a Small Town?

Lucrative small-town business ideas normally fall into a few categories:

• Businesses that people routinely go to the next town to shop at.
• Companies that can take clients from anywhere in the world.
• Industries that the current competition needs to meet the needs of the population.

It should be noted that many small-town business ideas face steep competition from major players like Walmart.

Nationwide, there’s a Walmart for every 63,000 people (calculated using U.S. population divided by number of Walmarts ), but many small towns are losing their Walmarts—so you may be able to sustain your small-town business idea even if it has to compete with Walmart.

Small-town business ideas can be harder to choose than businesses in major cities. You may need to be more creative about choosing your business idea because the population can only sustain a certain number of similar businesses.

One of the easiest ways to compare small-town business ideas is to follow this process:

Part 1: Calculate the businesses per capita in the small town.

• Look up the population of the small town.
• Use Google Business Profiles to look up the number of businesses offering the service you are considering offering in the town.
• Divide the town’s population by the number of businesses.

Part 2: Calculate the businesses per capita in the U.S.

• Use U.S. population of 331.9 million.
• Look up the number of businesses for the industry in the U.S.
• Divide the U.S. population by the number of businesses in the industry nationwide.

Part 3: Compare values using the table below.

We’ve done the calculations for you for each of the entries in our list.

Now that you know how to determine the potential success of your small-town business, let’s dig right into the best small-town business ideas!

Idea #1. Local Grocery Store

U.S. Population Per Store : 5,239 people/store Medium Success : 5,763 people/store High Success : 7,859 people/store Average Annual Revenue: $9,338,000 Average Profit Margins: 1.8% Startup Costs: $100K-$3.5M Time To Revenue: 6-18 months Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.8% Best for: Organized entrepreneurs with excellent customer service skills, effective team builders and managers, supply chain pros

Even through the disruptions of the pandemic, the grocery store market grew by 15% from 2019 to 2021. And it makes sense. Food is a basic necessity that people will keep in their budget regardless of what’s going on in the economy, and that makes a local grocery store a perfect small-town business idea.

If your local community is already saturated with standard grocery store options, consider whether a niche market could be a profitable business—for example, a store that focuses on locally grown ingredients or a specialty food shop that sells vegan, ethnic, or other specialty products people can’t find at the typical grocer.

Idea #2. Coffee Shop

U.S. Population Per Store: 4,601 people/cafe Medium Success: 5,061 people/cafe High Success: 6,902 people/cafe Average Annual Revenue: $865,800 Average Profit Margins: 5.8% Startup Costs: $1K-$3.5M Time To Revenue: 3+ months Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.2% Best for: Baristas and food service professionals, morning people, customer service and team building pros, artists, writers, musicians, and other creative folks

A neighborhood coffee shop is more than just a place to get a cup of joe. Especially in small towns, a coffee shop is often a gathering place for the local community. They give small-town residents a spot to socialize and often serve as a venue for local artists and musicians working to build their own businesses.

These factors together give a coffee shop the potential to be a successful small-town business, even in a small community. It can also be a fairly inexpensive business idea if you approach it the right way.

Maxwell Mooney started a coffee cart with just $1,800 then invested those profits to expand into a brick-and-mortar store. Hear how he did it in this interview:

Idea #3. Food Truck

U.S. Population Per Truck: 9,137 people/truck Medium Success: 10,051 people/truck High Success: 13,706 people/truck Average Annual Revenue: $41,040 Average Profit Margins: 6.4% Startup Costs: $1K-$100K Time To Revenue: 3+ months Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.2% Best for: Cooks, chefs, food service professionals with customer service and marketing expertise

One of the advantages of a food truck business over a restaurant is that you don’t need to make customers come to you—you can meet them where they are.

This flexibility puts food trucks among the top small-town business ideas, letting you serve small-town residents at festivals and local community events. You can also partner with another small-town shop like a bar, cafe, or entertainment venue to help each other attract customers.

Since it’s mobile, a taco or food truck can thrive even in rural areas. A solid business plan involves seeking out fairs, markets, and other small community events where people from across the area will gather (and need something to eat while they’re there).

Strong marketing is key to making a food truck a profitable business idea in a small town. If you want more advice, hear how Jen Gustin started her food truck, Boss Mama’s Kitchen, in this interview:

Idea #4. Ice Cream Shop

U.S. Population Per Store: 19,892 people/store Medium Success: 21,881 people/store High Success: 29,838 people/store Average Annual Revenue: $279,590 Average Profit Margins: 3.7% Startup Costs: $1K-$3.5M Time To Revenue: 6-18 months Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.7% Best for: Friendly, creative, fun-loving, and detail-oriented entrepreneurs focused on customer service

Everybody loves a sweet treat now and then. A trip to the ice cream shop is an iconic small-town summer experience, and providing that experience can be a solid business idea.

One thing to keep in mind with ice cream shops is that they’re prone to wide seasonal shifts. In most of the U.S., an ice cream shop will get most of its customers from May through August.

For some people, a seasonal business model is ideal, giving them winters off to travel or spend time with family. If you want to stay open year-round, consider other ways to attract customers during the winter.

For example, you can integrate other business ideas, like a seasonal market for the holidays or selling hot chocolate and similar warm treats when it’s cold out.

Idea #5. Sports Bar

U.S. Population Per Store: 5,147 people/bar Medium Success: 5,662 people/bar High Success: 7,721 people/bar Average Annual Revenue: $515,304 Average Profit Margins: 6.3% Startup Costs: $100K-$3.5M Time To Revenue: 6-18 months Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.9% Best for: Bartenders, sports fans, social and community-focused entrepreneurs

Similar to a coffee shop, a sports bar is more than just a place to enjoy a drink. It’s a social hub for rural areas and small-town communities, and this added draw can make it the best business to start in a small town.

While sports fans represent a niche market, they’re passionate about the home team. You can draw on that passion to grow your small-town business. There are other revenue streams you can add to a sports bar small business. The most obvious is to operate as a bar/restaurant.

If there are already a few good restaurants in your area, another option is to focus on entertainment. You can offer things like pool tables and dart boards or host local bands and other live entertainment when there aren’t big games to watch.

Idea #6. Cleaning Services

U.S. Population Per Business: 277 people/business Medium Success: 305 people/business High Success: 416 people/business Average Annual Revenue: $74,880 Average Profit Margins: 6.7% Startup Costs: $1K-$30K Time To Revenue: 1-6 months Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.2% Best for: People who like physical work and have a sharp eye for detail, system- and team-focused entrepreneurs with strong marketing skills

A cleaning service is one of those rare business ideas that’s equally viable in rural areas, small towns, large towns, and big cities.

Not only is a cleaning service a lucrative business, it’s also a fairly inexpensive business idea to start. To start a successful business as a cleaning service, all you need are basic tools like a vacuum, broom, and mop, and some way to get to your customers.

You don’t need a storefront to run this kind of small business. Just set up your own website and list your services on sites like Craigslist, Yelp, and Nextdoor. Fliers and other traditional marketing can also be effective ways to get customers for a small-town cleaning service.

The UpFlip 7-Figure Cleaning Business Blueprint is a great way to learn how to start a cleaning business. Watch this video to hear how course instructor Chris Mondragon started his small business, Queen Bee Cleaning, and grew it to $1.5 million a year:

Idea #7. Computer Services

U.S. Population Per Store: 11,113 people/store Medium Success: 12,227 people/store High Success: 16,670 people/store Average Annual Revenue: $2,305,520 Average Profit Margins: 5.5% Startup Costs: $500-$250K Time To Revenue: 3+ months Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.6% Best for: Electronics, technology, and repair pros, detail-oriented and mechanically minded entrepreneurs

The average U.S. household owned 22 connected devices in 2022. Those devices are more critical to our lives than ever before, too, with 45% of households including at least one person working from home and 23% with someone who attends school from home.

It’s no surprise, then, that computer services are among the most in-demand small-town business ideas. Small-town residents need someone to fix their devices and are less likely to have easy access to a large electronics retailer that offers these services.

Another reason a computer services business is among the best small shop ideas is that it doesn’t cost much to start or run. Joe’s Electronics Repair was started with just a few hundred dollars and in five years grew to a seven-figure business. Hear how Joe Pilat did it in this interview:

Idea #8. Pet Grooming

U.S. Population Per Store: 2,112 people/store Medium Success: 2,323 people/store High Success: 3,168 people/store Average Annual Revenue: $73,533 Average Profit Margins: 11.5% Startup Costs: $1K-$100K Time To Revenue: 3+ months Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.1% Best for: Pet owners, lovers, and experts, entrepreneurs who are patient and empathetic with strong communication skills

Pet ownership is on the rise across the United States. There were about five million more pets in 2023 than there were in 2019, and the amount people spend on these furry family members is expected to increase by 134% over the next decade.

A pet grooming shop is the perfect business idea to capitalize on this trend. It’s among the best small-town business ideas because, even though people all over the country own pets, groomers often aren’t easy to find outside of urban areas.

Other pet services can be sparse in rural areas and small towns, too. This means there are many other revenue streams you can add to your pet grooming business to boost its profits. For example, you can also have a pet store or pet supply shop or offer both grooming and boarding services for animals in the same small business.

Idea #9. Hair Salon or Barber Shop

U.S. Population Per Store: 348 people/store Medium Success: 383 people/store High Success: 522 people/store Average Annual Revenue: $51,380 Average Profit Margins: 5% Startup Costs: $1K-$100K Time To Revenue: 3+ months Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.9% Best for: Beauticians, barbers, and hair stylists with excellent customer service, communication, and organization skills

Hair salons and barber shops can be profitable businesses for small towns for the same reason as the ideas above: They provide a service everybody needs that can be tricky to find in smaller markets.

You don’t need a giant market to make money with a hair salon. The average salon works with 6 to 20 customers daily. If there are just a few salons in town (or especially if you’re the only option), those aren’t difficult numbers to reach.

Most states require hair salon owners to have a cosmetology license. If you don’t already have one, that’s something you’ll want to look into before you take any steps to open your business.

On the plus side, the start-up costs of a salon or barber shop are reasonable. Bernard Franklin opened Busy B’s Barbershop with around $15,000. Hear how he got started in this interview:

Idea #10. Handyman Business

U.S. Population Per Business: 2,048 people/business Medium Success: 2,253 people/business High Success: 3,072 people/business Average Annual Revenue: $204,700 per employee Average Profit Margins: 5.4% Startup Costs: $500-$5K Time To Revenue: 3+ months Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.7% Best for: Construction and repair professionals, people who like physical work, fixers and makers

If you’re looking for good business ideas for small towns that you can start from home, a handyman business can be a great choice. Since you’ll be working on-site at customers’ homes, you don’t need a storefront or other commercial space.

In fact, all you really need to get started are some basic tools and knowledge of how to use them. If you have that, this is one business idea guaranteed to be in demand just about anywhere.

Wondering how much you can make? Caleb Ingraham earns around $1,000 a day as a handyman. While he operates in the larger market of Seattle, the same principles can be used to open a home improvement business anywhere. Hear his advice in this interview:

Idea #11. Car Wash

U.S. Population Per Business: 5,846 people/business Medium Success: 6,431 people/business High Success: 8,769 people/business Average Annual Revenue: $73,100 Average Profit Margins: 16.1% Startup Costs: $500-$5K Time To Revenue: 3+ months Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.0% Best for: Car lovers, cleaning pros, system-oriented entrepreneurs with high attention to detail and strong customer service skills

There are a few different ways to start a car wash business. One option is to open a brick-and-mortar car wash that customers can drive through to clean their vehicles.

Another option is to open a mobile detailing or car wash business. Under this model, you go to customers and clean their cars at their homes or workplaces. That’s the model Abu Waggeh uses to bring in an average of $40,000 a month in revenue:

Either option can be a great business idea for small towns, and each approach has its advantages. A brick-and-mortar car wash can be automated to generate passive income, though that will take a large up-front investment.

A mobile detailing business, on the other hand, can be started for just a few hundred bucks, as we discovered in the interview above. Along with a low barrier to entry, the mobile model can expand your potential customer base in a small-town market.

Idea #12. Lawn and Gardening Service

U.S. Population Per Business: 511 people/business Medium Success: 562 people/business High Success: 767 people/business Average Annual Revenue: $272,790 Average Profit Margins: 8.7% Startup Costs: $2K-$10K Time To Revenue: 1-3 months Annual Market Growth Rate: 8.1% Best for: Entrepreneurs with a green thumb, landscape architects and gardening pros, people who love physical work and being outside

Lawns tend to be larger in small towns than in large cities, but that doesn’t mean small-town residents have more time to care for their outdoor spaces.

It also means ample opportunities for entrepreneurs who offer lawn and gardening services. This is another small-town business idea with a low barrier to entry.

Legends Lawn Care Services founder Russell was only 19 when he started, without any spare cash or industry experience. He grew to more than 300 customers and $100,000 in revenue by the end of his first year. Hear his advice in this interview:

Idea #13. Hardware Store

U.S. Population Per Store: 31,932 people/store Medium Success: 35,125 people/store High Success: 47,898 people/store Average Annual Revenue: $2,098,550 Average Profit Margins: 3.9% Startup Costs: $100K-$3.5M Time To Revenue: 6-18 months Annual Market Growth Rate: -0.4% Best for: Makers, construction pros, and DIYers with strong communication and customer service skills

If you’re looking for retail store ideas for a small town, a hardware store is a solid choice. It is a profitable small-town business idea because it sells things people need in a hurry to get the job done. Filling an unmet need is always a smart move when starting a new small business.

One pro of opening a hardware store is that they tend to be recession-resistant businesses. In fact, their revenue can actually see a spike during down economies since they sell supplies for DIY projects and home repairs.

This is likely why hardware stores saw an increase in revenue in 2020. The industry saw total sales of $59.2 billion that year and has continued to grow steadily since.

Idea #14. Thrift Store

U.S. Population Per Store: 11,505 people/store Medium Success: 12,655 people/store High Success: 17,258 people/store Average Annual Revenue: $453,257 Average Profit Margins: 6.7% Startup Costs: $100K-$3.5M Time To Revenue: 6-18 months Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.5% Best for: People with retail experience, customer- and community-focused entrepreneurs, fashion-lovers, collectors, and antiquers

A thrift store is a win-win for communities. It gives people a place to sell or donate things they don’t need as well as a place to buy second-hand clothes, household goods, and other items at affordable prices.

Thrift stores and second-hand shops can sell a variety of goods. Some focus on basic clothing necessities, while others are stocked mostly with toys, collectibles, or vintage and antique items.

There are a range of ways thrift stores get their inventory. Some sell items on consignment, while others source their own inventory from storage unit auctions and estate sales.

Deciding what you’ll sell (and how you’ll get it) will depend both on your interests and the needs of your area. Do some research into your local market to identify the right niche for your thrift shop.

Idea #15. Clothing Boutique

U.S. Population Per Store: 2,065 people/store Medium Success: 2,272 people/store High Success: 3,098 people/store Average Annual Revenue: $141,492 Average Profit Margins: 5.3% Startup Costs: $1K-$100K Time To Revenue: 3+ months Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.5% Best for: Stylists, designers, graphic and visual artists, fashionable entrepreneurs who excel at identifying trends

In some small towns, people need to drive for miles just to get basic clothing items—and even further if they want things that are fashionable, trendy, or unique.

A clothing boutique is among the top small-town business ideas because you won’t just get customers from your own neighborhood but can also become a convenient destination for stylish residents in surrounding communities.

Another advantage of opening a clothing boutique is that you can easily operate as both a brick-and-mortar store and an online business. Adding an eCommerce shop expands your brand and potential customer base beyond your small community.

Lee Smith used both an eCommerce store and a brick-and-mortar location to grow the revenue of his clothing boutique Urbanity to over $100,000 a month. Hear his advice in this interview:

Idea #16. Local Flower Shop

U.S. Population Per Store: 9,931 people/store Medium Success: 10,924 people/store High Success: 14,897 people/store Average Annual Revenue: $262,690 Average Profit Margins: 5.4% Startup Costs: $100K-$3.5M Time To Revenue: 6-18 months Annual Market Growth Rate: 2.8% Best for: Gardeners and plant care pros, creative entrepreneurs with strong communication skills

A flower arrangement is a beautiful, fresh-smelling way to show someone you love them or send your well wishes. Unfortunately, many small towns don’t have a place that sells fresh flowers, aside from the few bouquets sold at the supermarket. Filling that niche with a flower shop is the perfect business idea for entrepreneurs who have a green thumb or an eye for design.

One consistent challenge for a small town flower shop is inventory and waste control. Partnering with a local nursery, or starting a flower farm or greenhouse of your own, can help you to cut down on storage and shipping costs and reduce wasted product.

There are other ways to diversify your flower shop revenue streams, too. When Dylan Capshaw turned his online flower shop Stemistry into a brick-and-mortar, he added a coffee shop, giving customers more reasons to visit. Hear how he started his business in this podcast interview:

Idea #17. Health Food Store

U.S. Population Per Store: 36,878 people/store Medium Success: 40,566 people/store High Success: 55,317 people/store Average Annual Revenue: $130,133 Average Profit Margins: 5.4% Startup Costs: $100K-$3.5M Time To Revenue: 6-18 months Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.4% Best for: Wellness and nutrition professionals, athletes and fitness experts, entrepreneurs who excel at organization, sales, and customer service

People who live in large cities aren’t the only ones who want to eat healthily. Unfortunately, the organic food and nutrition supplement options at the typical small-town grocery store are limited.

A health food store is a small-town business opportunity that will provide a needed service to the community while you make a profit. It also pairs nicely with other business ideas, like a gym or other fitness business, since those are likely to appeal to the same customers.

Idea #18. Wine or Cheese Shop

U.S. Population Per Store: 8,089 people/store Medium Success: 8,897 people/store High Success: 12,134 people/store Average Annual Revenue: $1,747,080 Average Profit Margins: 3.8% Startup Costs: $100K-$3.5M Time To Revenue: 6-18 months Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.9% Best for: Foodies, chefs, and sommeliers, retail and customer service professionals, entrepreneurs who excel at marketing and community building

A specialty food shop can add a touch of luxury to the food options in a small town. Like other shops on this list, it fills an often-neglected niche, giving people a place to buy high-end, unique ingredients they can’t find at other local stores.

A wine or cheese shop can become a destination store for surrounding communities that also lack this option, expanding your potential customer base beyond the town where you’re located.

Since wine and cheese aren’t essentials, you’ll need to be active in promoting your brand. Planning events like wine and cheese tastings or hosting booths and pop-ups at farmers markets and fairs can be great ways to build your customer community.

Idea #19. Bed and Breakfast

U.S. Population Per Business: 22,743 people/business Medium Success: 25,017 people/business High Success: 34,115 people/business Average Annual Revenue: $201K Average Profit Margins: 8.1% Startup Costs: $100K-$3.5M Time To Revenue: 6-18 months Annual Market Growth Rate: 2.2% Best for: People with hospitality and customer service experience, outgoing and community-oriented entrepreneurs

Many people don’t think of investing in tourist-oriented business ideas in small towns or rural areas. This is part of what can make a bed and breakfast a very lucrative small-town business model.

One target market for a bed and breakfast are small-town ambiance patrons—in other words, people from larger cities who travel to rural areas to escape the hustle and bustle.

Bed and breakfast owners don’t only cater to travelers, either. You can attract customers who live nearby and want a spot for weekend getaways or a romantic night out. These same customers can also be regular patrons of other revenue streams you add to the business.

Idea #20. Market Research

U.S. Population Per Business: 7,833 people/business Medium Success: 8,616 people/business High Success: 11,750 people/business Average Annual Revenue: $733,200 Average Profit Margins: 10.7% Startup Costs: $500-$5K Time To Revenue: 1-3 months Annual Market Growth Rate: 2.2% Best for: Data scientists and analysts, marketing and advertising pros, entrepreneurs with strong communication, problem-solving, and analytical skills

Odds are you’re not the only person with small-town development ideas. Other people want to start small retail stores or have neighborhood business ideas. They’ll need data and advice to build a successful business, and providing that can be a great business idea.

The volume of data available to businesses has exploded over the past decade, and the need for people to make sense of it has grown, too. The market research industry more than doubled from 2008 to 2022, reaching a value of over $81 billion .

Starting a market research firm is also a fairly inexpensive business idea. While you’ll likely want to invest in some analytic tools and software, these costs are minimal compared to starting businesses that require lots of equipment, space, or inventory.

Entertainment Business Ideas for Small Towns

Every small town needs things to do for fun. When I was living in Michigan in a small town, some of my favorite things to do were:

• Go to the movies
• Go to small music events

If there aren’t small-town businesses already providing these services, you might want to look into how you can provide them.

Basic Life Necessities: Best Businesses for Small Towns

There are some services and products that people will always need no matter where they live. These include things like:

• Places to buy food and beverages
• Gas stations
• Utilities like power, heat, and water

Even if these already exist, having a new option in a more convenient location, or one that offers a different array of goods or services, can fill an unmet need for local residents.

Service Businesses Are Great Small Business Ideas for Small Towns

Online shopping gives residents of rural areas and small towns access to goods they can’t find in local stores. When it comes to service businesses, though, they need to find someone nearby.

We highlighted a few profitable service business ideas in the list above, like cleaning services, lawn care, handyman services, and computer repair. Other services that are often lacking in smaller markets include:

• Pet care services like dog walkers, pet sitters, or veterinarians
• Health and wellness services like gyms, personal trainers, or mindfulness and holistic wellness studios
• Laundry and dry cleaning services
• Home improvement services (house painting, construction, landscape design, etc.)
• Daycare, nanny, and childcare services

If these are lacking in your area, starting a business in one of these niches can be a successful venture.

Choose a Lucrative Business!

There are plenty of great small-town business ideas. You just have to be more careful about selecting which to start. We’ve given you an easy way to make that decision with the calculations above, and now it’s up to you.

What are some good business ideas for a small town that you’d like to know more about?

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What Is Market Research?

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

The Bottom Line

• Marketing Essentials

How to Do Market Research, Types, and Example

Joules Garcia / Investopedia

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

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

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

Key Takeaways

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

Market Research

How market research works.

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

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

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

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

Primary Market Research vs. Secondary Market Research

Market research usually consists of a combination of:

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

Primary Market Research

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

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

Secondary Market Research

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

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

History of Market Research

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

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

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

Types of Market Research

Face-to-face interviews.

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

Market research and surveys were adapted from these early techniques.

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

Focus Groups

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

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

Phone Research

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

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

Survey Research

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

Online Market Research

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

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

How to Conduct Market Research

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

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

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

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

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

Benefits of Market Research

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

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

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

Example of Market Research

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

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

What Are the Main Types of Market Research?

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

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

What Is Online Market Research?

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

What Are Paid Market Research Surveys?

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

What Is a Market Study?

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

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

Britannica Money. “ Market Research .”

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

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Market Research Reports

Market research reports are essential tools for businesses to understand their industry, target market, and competition. These reports provide in-depth analysis and insights into market trends, consumer behavior, and industry competition that can help businesses make informed decisions and develop effective strategies. In this article, we will explore why market research reports are crucial for business success, the types of market research reports available, their importance, key players in the market research report industry, and how to choose the right market research report for your business.

Table of Contents

Why Market Research Reports are Essential for Business Success

Market research reports are valuable resources that enable businesses to make informed decisions and develop effective strategies. These reports provide insights into consumer behavior, industry trends, and market competition, helping businesses to understand their target audience and develop effective marketing and advertising campaigns. Furthermore, market research reports can help businesses identify potential opportunities and challenges in their industry, allowing them to adapt their strategies accordingly.

Moreover, market research reports can also assist businesses in making important investment decisions. By analyzing market trends and consumer preferences, businesses can identify potential areas for growth and expansion. This information can be used to make informed decisions about where to allocate resources and invest in new products or services. Additionally, market research reports can help businesses stay ahead of the competition by providing insights into emerging trends and technologies, allowing them to innovate and stay relevant in their industry.

Types of Market Research Reports and their Importance

There are several types of market research reports, including industry analysis reports, consumer behavior reports, and competitive analysis reports. Industry analysis reports provide insights into market trends, industry growth, and the competitive landscape. Consumer behavior reports focus on consumer preferences, purchasing habits, and attitudes towards products and services. Competitive analysis reports provide insights into competitor strategies, market share, and positioning. All of these reports are essential for businesses seeking to gain a better understanding of their target market and competitors.

Another important type of market research report is the market segmentation report. This report helps businesses identify and understand different segments within their target market, such as age, gender, income, and geographic location. By understanding these segments, businesses can tailor their marketing strategies and product offerings to better meet the needs and preferences of each group.

Finally, market research reports can also include feasibility studies, which assess the viability of a new product or service. These reports analyze factors such as market demand, production costs, and potential revenue to determine whether a new product or service is worth pursuing. Feasibility studies can help businesses avoid costly mistakes and make informed decisions about new ventures.

Market Research Report Industry Overview

The market research report industry is a rapidly growing sector, fueled by the increasing demand for insights and analysis by businesses seeking to gain a competitive edge. According to a recent report by Grand View Research, the global market research report industry is expected to reach $107.05 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 5.4% from 2020 to 2027.

This growth is being driven by several factors, including the rise of e-commerce and the increasing importance of data-driven decision making. As businesses continue to expand their online presence, they require more detailed information about their customers and competitors. Market research reports provide this information, allowing businesses to make informed decisions about their marketing, product development, and overall strategy.

Key Players in the Market Research Report Industry

Some of the key players in the market research report industry include Nielsen Holdings, Kantar Group, The NPD Group, Ipsos, and GfK SE. These companies provide a range of research and consulting services, including market research reports, data analysis, and strategic consulting services.

Nielsen Holdings is a global measurement and data analytics company that provides market research, audience measurement, and advertising effectiveness solutions. They offer insights into consumer behavior and media consumption across various platforms and industries.

Kantar Group is a data, insights, and consulting company that helps clients understand their markets and customers. They offer a range of services, including brand strategy, innovation, and customer experience management.

How to Choose the Right Market Research Report for Your Business

Choosing the right market research report for your business can be a daunting task, given the vast array of reports available. Some factors to consider when selecting a report include the research methodology used, the scope of the report, the level of detail provided, and the cost. It’s also essential to consider the relevance of the report to your business and industry, ensuring that the insights provided are actionable and relevant.

Another important factor to consider when choosing a market research report is the reputation of the research firm or organization that produced the report. It’s important to select a report from a reputable source to ensure that the data and insights provided are accurate and reliable. You can research the reputation of the firm by reading reviews, checking their credentials, and looking at their track record.

Additionally, it’s important to consider the format of the report. Some reports may be presented in a traditional written format, while others may include visual aids such as graphs, charts, and infographics. Depending on your preferences and needs, you may find that a report with more visual aids is easier to understand and more engaging to read.

The Cost of Market Research Reports

The cost of market research reports can vary depending on the scope and level of detail provided. Some reports can cost several hundred or even thousands of dollars, while others may be available for free or at a lower cost. However, the cost of market research reports should be viewed as an investment in the business’s growth and success, given the insights and strategic value they provide.

It is important to note that the cost of market research reports can also be influenced by the source of the report. Reports from well-established and reputable market research firms may be more expensive, but they often provide more comprehensive and reliable data. On the other hand, reports from lesser-known or newer firms may be less expensive, but the quality and accuracy of the data may be questionable. Therefore, it is crucial to carefully evaluate the source and credibility of the report before making a purchase decision.

How to Access and Interpret Market Research Reports

Market research reports can be accessed through various channels, including research firms, industry associations, and online marketplaces. Once you have obtained a report, it’s essential to interpret the insights and data provided in a way that is relevant to your business and industry. This may involve analyzing the data, identifying trends, and developing strategic recommendations based on the insights provided.

It’s important to note that not all market research reports are created equal. Some may be more comprehensive or relevant to your business than others. Before investing in a report, it’s important to evaluate its credibility and usefulness. This can be done by researching the reputation of the research firm or organization that produced the report, as well as reviewing the methodology and sample size used in the research. By carefully selecting and interpreting market research reports, businesses can gain valuable insights that can inform their strategic decision-making and improve their competitive position in the market.

The Impact of Technology on the Market Research Report Industry

The market research report industry has been significantly impacted by technological advancements in recent years. The use of big data and artificial intelligence has enabled more in-depth analysis and insights, while online marketplaces and platforms have made it easier for businesses to access and purchase reports. These technological advancements have also led to the development of new and innovative research methods, further enhancing the value of market research reports.

One of the most significant impacts of technology on the market research report industry is the ability to collect and analyze data in real-time. With the use of mobile devices and sensors, businesses can gather data on consumer behavior and preferences as they happen, providing more accurate and up-to-date insights. This has also led to the rise of predictive analytics, which uses machine learning algorithms to forecast future trends and behaviors based on historical data. As technology continues to evolve, the market research report industry will undoubtedly continue to adapt and innovate to meet the changing needs of businesses.

Trends in the Market Research Report Industry

Some of the trends in the market research report industry include the increasing use of artificial intelligence and predictive analytics, the growing demand for real-time data and insights, the use of social media analytics, and the rise of niche research firms specializing in specific industries or markets. These trends are likely to further reshape the industry in the coming years, providing new opportunities and challenges for businesses seeking to leverage market research reports.

Top Strategies for Using Market Research Reports to Grow Your Business

There are several effective strategies for using market research reports to grow your business, including using insights to develop targeted marketing campaigns, identifying new opportunities and potential growth areas, developing competitive strategies based on competitor insights, and identifying potential risks and challenges in the industry. Adopting these strategies can help businesses to develop more effective strategies and gain a competitive edge.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Using Market Research Reports

Using market research reports can be a complex and challenging process, and there are several common mistakes that businesses should avoid. These include failing to select a relevant report, misinterpreting data or insights, using outdated reports, failing to consider the competition, and not investing adequate time and resources in analyzing and interpreting the insights provided. By avoiding these mistakes, businesses can ensure that they are getting the most value out of their market research reports.

Case Studies: Examples of Businesses that Used Market Research Reports Successfully

There are many examples of businesses that have used market research reports successfully to gain a competitive edge. For example, Apple used consumer behavior reports to understand customer preferences and develop products that met their needs and preferences. Amazon used industry analysis reports to identify potential growth areas and develop competitive strategies in the e-commerce industry. These examples highlight the importance of using market research reports to inform strategic decision-making and drive business growth.

Future Outlook for the Market Research Report Industry

The market research report industry is expected to continue growing in the coming years, driven by the increasing demand for insights and analysis by businesses seeking to gain a competitive edge. Technological advancements and the rise of niche research firms are likely to further reshape the industry, creating new opportunities and challenges. By leveraging market research reports effectively, businesses can gain insights and develop strategies that position them for success in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

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Market Research Survey: The Complete Guide

This process involves gathering primary (self-conducted) and secondary (information already researched and made available) sources, to fully assess how a business will fare within a particular market and audience.

A market research survey is typically a source of primary information that businesses can use as part of their market research campaigns. It can also exist as a secondary source, in which case, its studies and results are published online or in a print publication.

This article will take a close look at the market research survey, so that you can use it to the optimum benefit for your business.

What Can you Achieve with Market Research?

A market research survey, as its name entails, is used for research purposes. Before we dive into all the aspects of this survey, it is apt to learn how you can use market research to your full advantage.

Market research is critical for a variety of purposes, including marketing , advertising , and branding campaigns. 

Aside from providing data-based support for these macro purposes, market research gains you invaluable insight into particular markets. For example, you may consider running a research campaign for the retail market . Market research will help you gather all the relevant information pertaining to this specific market.

Aside from retail, you can conduct market research in a number of verticals, including ecommerce , technology, real estate and many others.

There are plenty of other applications for market research. Here are some of the ways to use market research to your advantage:

• Observe data to prepare for challenges in advance
• Gauge the demand for your product or service
• Learn key market trends and staples
• Discover how your competitors are winning or losing
• Uncover your target market’s desires, preferences, aversions and thoughts

The final point is remarkably crucial for market research and for generally keeping your business afloat. And so, we’ll now dig deep into the market research survey, as this tool is especially useful for this purpose.

Defining a Market Research Survey

This tool is the most commonly used market research method — and for good reason. A market research survey allows you to gather data on your target market. Moreover, it allows businesses to do so by accessing any insights they need, as long as they form corresponding questions to their investigation.

Surveys have a far-reaching history, as they date back to ancient civilizations such as Greece and Rome. There was a surge in survey use in 1930s America, in which the government sought to understand the economic and social state of the nation.

Surveys have taken up a variety of forms, including analog forms, such as paper and mail-in formats . 

Telephone surveys were the medium of choice for survey research during the 1960s-90s. But, as technological advancements would have it, those have declined in usefulness as well.

In the present day, surveys are conducted online, particularly through the use of designated software platforms. This type of software has paved the way for easy access to primary research. 

Businesses can use online survey software and tools and to carry out all their survey research (save for creating the screener and questions). Many such tools available both allow you to build surveys along with deploying them. 

To reiterate, market research surveys are powerful tools, in that they empower businesses to ask any question they choose to better understand their market and consumer base. They also can offer key insights into competitors. 

The Components of a Market Research Survey

This tool contains two major components: the screener and the questionnaire . These form the bulk of the insights your primary research will gather.

There are also two auxiliary components to incorporate to make your survey research successful. These include the call-out (introduction) and the thank you message (conclusion).

Unlike the essential components, the need to use these will vary based on your survey deployment method and campaign. For example, an emailed survey won’t require a call-out, as the email itself serves this purpose.

A web or mobile survey, on the other hand, will need a call-out to get the attention of your respondents. 

Here is a break-down of each component, beginning with the essential elements:

• These conditions often deal with demographics, which is incredibly important, as you would need to first and foremost, survey your target market. The screener will ensure it is only your target market that takes part in the survey.
• The screener is often comprised of 2-3 questions.
• The questionnaire should ask all the necessary questions you need for a particular campaign or sub-campaign. Or, if used in a preliminary stage of your market research, they can deal with questions particularly designed to segment your target market.
• If respondents are contacted via email, the call-out is in the email’s body, inviting participants to take it, listing why it’s important, its length and what it’s used for.
• If the survey exists within a website (either as a banner, or button), the call-out is the clickable element itself (the button/banner to the survey). It too should explain the survey to respondents.
• If the survey is on a website/app, the call-out has to be visible and attractive enough for users to notice it and click on it.
• The survey often routes users to another page with a thank you message. 
• It’s important, as it lets participants know that their survey has in fact been submitted.

How to Create a Market Research Survey

Here are a few steps to take into consideration when starting on a market research survey project.

Step 1: Find a topic your business needs to learn more about.

This is particularly important if it is a topic that has little to no secondary sources. In this case, opting for a survey is the best way to learn more about it firsthand, from the people who matter most: your target market. Pay attention to any problems your business may experience, as surveys should help resolve them. 

Step 2: Consider the topic in regards to your target market

When you’ve narrowed down a problem or two, think about your target market. Do you know who constitutes it? If yes, tailor your survey topic into a subtopic that they’ll be most likely to respond to. For example, if your target market is middle-aged men who watch sports, consider whether your problem/topic will be relevant to them.

If you don’t know your target market, you should conduct some secondary research about it first, then perform market segmentation (surveys can help on this front too).

Step 3: Find the larger application of the survey campaign

Now that you’ve settled on a topic/problem and decided on whether it’s fitting for your target market, consider what the parent campaign of the survey would be. Let’s hypothetically say your topic is related to a product. Would a survey on that topic benefit a branding campaign like finding your next slogan? Would it be better suited to settle on a theme for an advertising campaign? 

Once you find the most appropriate application or macro campaign to house the survey, your market research will be organized and your survey will be better set up for success.

Step 4: Calculate your margin of error

A margin of error , in simple terms, is a measurement of how effective your survey will be. Expressed as a percentage, it measures the difference between survey results and the population value.

You need to measure this unit, as surveys represent a large group of people, but are made up of a much smaller group. Therefore, the larger the margin of error, the less accurate the opinions of the survey represent an entire population. 

Step 5: Create your survey(s)

Now that you’ve calculated the margin of error, start creating your campaign. Decide on how many surveys you would need, in regard to your margin of error and your market research needs. 

Start with a broader topic and get more specific in each question. Or, create multiple surveys focused on different but closely related subtopics to your main topic.

Send out your surveys through a trusted survey platform. 

Questions to Ask for Various Campaigns

The steps laid out above are part of a simple procedure in developing a market research survey. However, there is much more to these steps, especially that of creating the survey. 

Namely, you would need the correct set of questions, as they are the lifeblood of a survey. With so many different survey research campaigns and purposes, brainstorming questions can seem almost counterintuitive. 

To avoid information overload and any confusion that creating a survey may incite, review the below question examples. They are organized per campaign type, so you can discern which questions are most suitable for which corresponding research purpose.

Questions for Branding

Branding campaigns include efforts that build the identity of your business; this includes gathering data-backed ideas on logos, imagery, messaging and core themes surrounding your brand. You can use these when embarking on a new campaign, revamping an existing one or when you’re looking to change your brand’s reputation and style.

• Which of these brands do you know?
• What do you like most/least about this brand?
• Which idea is more important? (Use an idea behind setting up your brand’s image/style)
• Which images do you find the most inspiring? (To compare images you’ll use in your marketing/ definitive to your brand)
• What do you like about [brand]? (Can be open-ended)

Questions for Advertising

Using market research for advertising will help you obtain ideas for new advertising campaigns, testing already established campaign ideas and predicting the success of new ones.

• How would you rate the motivating power of this ad?
• Which of the following ads resonate the most with you?
• Do you remember this ad? (Name and image/video of a popular ad within your industry)
• How do you feel after watching this ad?
• What kind of use do you think this product/service produces?

Questions for Comparing Yourself with Competitors 

Studying your competitors is often associated with secondary research, but you can gain intelligence on this topic through your own survey research. The great thing about surveys is that you don’t have to focus on one competitor when managing these surveys.

• How often do you use this product/service?
• Which brand do you use for this product/service? (Include one open-ended answer).
• Which of the following products (same kind, different brand) do you find the most useful?
• What about [competitor product] would you like to see change?
• Which brand has improved your life? (Include one open-ended question).

Questions for Market Segmentation

This application is possibly the most challenging, as it involves understanding who your target market already is, then further segmenting it. We understand coming to terms with your target market first, before narrowing it any further down.

Here is how to segment your target market; you’ll notice that the questions are much more granular than the typical questions associated with each topic. (Ex: demographics typically ask for race, age, gender, income, etc).

• Demographic segmentation: Which of the following groups do you identify with most closely? (It can involve anything from music, to shopping habits, to lifestyle choices)
• Geographic segmentation: Which of the following areas do you typically spend time in to make physical purchases?
• Psychographic segmentation: How do you feel about retailers who test their products on animals?
• Behavioral segmentation: How often do you buy this kind of product?
• Sentimental segmentation: How do the following [practices, images, actions] make you feel?

Securing the Most Benefits Out of Your Market Research Survey

As we can deduce from this guide, the market research survey is a critical tool for market research . There is so much to discover about your industry, competitors and chiefly, your customers. But before making any hasty decisions, it is vital to peruse all your research documents, not just the primary research ones, such as surveys.

When you combine primary and secondary research sources, you’re setting up any business move for greater success. 

That’s because market research involves studying more than one source. It may appear daunting, but with the right tools, you can design better products, innovate on existing products, appeal to a wider audience and gain more revenue from your marketing efforts. 

Thus, pair your market research survey with other research means for a lucrative market research campaign. Knowledge truly is power. 

Frequently asked questions

What is a market research survey.

A market research survey is a survey used for conducting primary market research and is the most commonly used market research method. Market research surveys help you understand your target market, gathering data necessary to make informed decisions on content creation, product development, and more.

What are the components of a market research survey?

There are 4 major components in a market research survey. First, we have the callout to get digital visitors to participate in a survey. Next is the screener which determines who is eligible to take the survey based on their demographics information and answers to screening questions. Then, there is the questionnaire—-- this is the heart of the survey, containing a set of open-ended or closed-ended questions. Lastly, there’s the callout. This introduces the survey to respondents. Next, there’s the thank you message. This acts as the conclusion to the survey.

How can you create a market research survey?

Creating a market research survey starts with identifying the topics your business needs to learn more about. Next, you consider topics within the context of your target market and find the larger application of the survey campaign. Calculate your margin of error and then create your survey using online software.

What types of questions should you ask on your market research survey?

You can ask branding related questions to gather information on how your identity of your business is perceived. You can also ask questions that spark ideas for new advertising campaigns. To supplement your secondary research on competitors, ask questions about your business’s place in the industry. Questions can also be used for market segmentation. These are questions on demographic, geographic, psychographic, behavioral and sentimental topics.

How can you get the most benefits out of your market research survey?

You can get the most out of your market research survey by using the correct online survey platform-- one with specific audience targeting for real consumers, radius targeting and quality screening questions-- you’ll get relevant answers from the right audience.

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 get free market research reports 

• May 29, 2023

Market research reports give you a perspective on your target customer’s mind and help you move on the right path. But most market research platforms and reports are costly. So, how to get free market research reports to get first-hand insights? 

This article will share valuable sources, and places to access free market research reports for your business. But before we begin, let us quickly refresh the basics. 

What are market research reports?

Market research reports offer insights, data, and information about a particular market, region, industry, or demography. Research firms prepare these reports by conducting market research surveys , interviews, statistical analysis, and compiling data from different resources. 

These reports contain information about market size, growth trends, consumer behavior patterns, interests, competitive landscape, target market, and more. 

A business can derive meaningful insights from a market research report to make data-driven marketing, positioning, pricing, or product development decisions. Market research reports can particularly help in the following: 

• Gaining a deep understanding of the target audience’s needs, preferences, and behaviors; 
• Make customer-centric product decisions to achieve product-market fit faster; 
• Standing out in a competitive market by beating the competition; 
• Pivot or adapt to changing customer demands and usage patterns; 
• Discover market opportunities and patterns to expand a business. 

Read More: Why market research is important

Reliable market research sources (with free access).   

Market research is traditionally seen as an expensive process. Fundamentally because there is a lot of legwork and effort involved in doing one-on-one interviews, creating focus groups, deriving data insights, and more. 

Remote work culture, artificial intelligence, and technology have made things more accessible (and affordable). However, sometimes, a business owner still lacks access (or resources) to conduct primary market research. In that case, here are four sources to access reliable market research reports for free: 

Government sources. 

The government collects data from different industries, businesses, and markets annually. Many agencies, like the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census, regularly publish data pertaining to consumer spending, economic trends, demographics, and more. You can use their official portals to access these reports, like:

• U.S. Census Bureau: https://www.census.gov/library/publications.html  
• U.S. Small Business Administration: https://www.sba.gov/
• National Bureau of Economic Research: https://www.nber.org/papers
• Bureau of Economic Analysis: https://www.bea.gov
• National Science Foundation: https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/reports.cfm
• U.S. Energy Information Administration: https://www.eia.gov/reports/
• National Agricultural Statistics Service: https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/
• National Center for Health Statistics: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/index.htm
• National Center for Education Statistics: https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/index.asp
• Federal Reserve Board: https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres.htm
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: https://www.noaa.gov/science-data/reports
• U.S. International Trade Commission: https://www.usitc.gov/research_and_analysis.htm
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory: https://www.nrel.gov/analysis/publications.html

Academic institutions. 

Universities, colleges, and academic departments often conduct research as a part of their regular programs and initiatives. 

They are known to publish these research findings in the form of market research reports. Usually, these reports are free for any business owner or individual. 

You can search for business schools like Harvard to access free market research reports by the institution. Here are some more academic sources for free market research reports: 

• Harvard Business School Working Knowledge  
• Wharton Research Data Services
• Stanford Graduate School of Business
• Columbia Business School
• London School of Economics and Political Science
• University of California, Berkeley
• University of Michigan Ross School of Business
• University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business
• New York University Stern School of Business

Industry associations. 

Industry associations are one of the best free sources for market research reports. These associations have real-world industry data, including trends, purchasing behaviors, spending patterns, and more, which can be a goldmine for business owners. 

If you are a part of any industry association, there is a high possibility that you will get access to detailed market research reports as a perk. Even if you are not, almost all associations periodically publish free market research reports. You can check their websites to find a relevant report. Here are some prominent industry associations and research data links: 

• National Restaurant Association
• National Retail Federation
• National Association of Home Builders
• National Association of Convenience Stores
• National Automobile Dealers Association
• National Sporting Goods Association
• American Bankers Association
• National Coffee Association
• National Association of Realtors
• National Beer Wholesalers Association

Market research firms. 

These firms specialize in conducting market research and mostly publish paid reports/ conduct research on demand. But many firms upload insightful market research reports and trend patterns periodically as a lead-generation tactic. 

You can access these free market research reports by visiting their website. Google the names of market research firms and check their download sections for the latest reports on various industries and market segments. Some major market research firms which publish free reports include: 

• Euromonitor International
• McKinsey & Company
• Forrester Research
• Frost & Sullivan  

More sources to get free market research reports. 

Here are some final resources for finding free market research reports:

• Online Database and Platforms: Lots of online platforms and websites offer free reports that can be used for market research. Some of the most credible ones include Statista, Pew Research, ProQuest, etc. You can also use Google Trends to extract trends and insights around any topic. 
• Public Libraries: If you have access to any public library in your town or community, search for market research reports in the business sections. Libraries have active subscriptions to trade publications that regularly publish many market reports. Most libraries can access the Business and Company Resource (BCRC) database with several market research reports. 
• Trade Shows and Conferences: Trade shows, exhibitions, and conferences are a great source of real-time market research reports. Most exhibitors and publishers offer free access to reports, whitepapers, and case studies that can serve as a foundation for your market research initiatives. 

Top up market research reports with real-time insights using GapScout. 

Market research reports are a good starting point for conducting market research. However, use the data within free reports cautiously, as it can be obsolete.

Gapscout can help you vet your market research assumptions and data by scanning online reviews in real-time and offer actual consumer insights. So, why not upgrade your research game by harnessing the power of AI using GapScout ?

• How to use AI for market research?
• 5 examples of market research branding done right

Ready to Automate Your Market Research? Get exclusive access to GapScout prior to release!

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What to Look for in a Market Research Report?

• Created May 26, 2023
• Author Pooja
• Category Markets
• Reading Time: 8 minutes

In this article, we will discuss

Purpose and types of market research reports, explanation of the different types of market research reports, key components of a market research report, quality and credibility of market research reports, relevance of market research reports.

Industry Analysis Reports

Market research reports, competitive analysis reports, 1. executive summary.

• Introduction to the research problem and Objectives
• Research Methodology
• Key findings and conclusions
• Recommendations for further action

2. Research Methodology

• Research design and approach
• Data collection methods (e.g., surveys, interviews, focus groups, secondary research)
• Sampling methods and sample size
• Data analysis techniques (e.g., descriptive statistics, regression analysis, factor analysis)

3. Data Analysis and Interpretation

• Descriptive statistics (e.g., mean, median, mode, standard deviation)
• Inferential statistics (e.g., hypothesis testing, confidence intervals)
• Data visualization (e.g., graphs, charts, tables)

4. Findings and Conclusions

• Overview of the research results
• Analysis of key findings
• Explanation of the significance of the findings
• Identification of any limitations or weaknesses of the research

5. Recommendations

• Identification of key areas for improvement
• Specific recommendations for improvement
• Explanation of the rationale behind the recommendations
• Discussion of potential challenges and obstacles to implementing the recommendations.

Research Methodology and Sampling Techniques

Data sources and accuracy, author credentials and expertise, consistency and completeness of the report, use of objective language, 1. the focus of the report , 2. geographic scope and target audience , 3. timeliness and currency of the data, strategies for integrating the report's insights into business decision-making, including:.

• Conducting further research to validate or supplement the report's findings
• Identifying and addressing knowledge gaps or areas of uncertainty
• Developing actionable strategies based on the report's recommendations
• Considering the context of the report
• Engaging with stakeholders

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Market Research Analyst Salary

Overall Score 5.7 / 10

• # 7 in Best Business Jobs
• # 27 in 100 Best Jobs

How Much Does a Market Research Analyst Make?

Salary outlook, best-paying cities for market research analysts, the 5 best-paying cities for market research analysts.

Best-Paying States for Market Research Analysts

The states and districts that pay Market Research Analysts the highest mean salary are District of Columbia ($103,430), Washington ($100,340), New York ($94,140), Delaware ($93,050), and New Jersey ($88,420).

Average Market Research Analyst Pay vs. Other Best Jobs

Marketing Manager

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Accounting for Market Research Expenses

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Are Fringes Included in a Gross Margin?

Are advertising and marketing expenses fixed or variable, what qualifies as general & administrative expenses in sales.

• Tax Deductions for Advertising & Promotion Costs
• Absorbed Cost vs. Full Cost

Market research helps you develop knowledge of your industry and your company's competition. Knowing your potential and current customers and their purchasing preferences allows you to modify your products and marketing campaigns to increase sales. In addition, understanding your competitors' customer base and marketing strategies can give your company a competitive edge in the industry. Successful market research can also help you identify opportunities to create a new market where one does not currently exist.

Marketing Expenses vs. Research and Development

Research expenses are incurred while performing activities intended to create new products and services or improve on the company's existing offerings. Development costs are those spent converting the knowledge gained from research into the actual improvements. Market research activities are not usually included in research and development for accounting or tax purposes, though these costs may become part of research and development if the market research leads to information that improves a product. Otherwise, market research and all other marketing costs are considered part of sales and administration. The distinction is important because research and development expenses can qualify for certain tax credits under the Economy Tax Recovery Act of 1981.

Generally accepted accounting principles specifically exclude market research expenses from the research and development category. These expenses must be recorded as part of the company's marketing costs and expensed in the current accounting period. Marketing costs are usually listed under selling, general and administrative expenses on a company's chart of accounts. The marketing expense account also includes money spent on promotional events, advertising, direct mail campaigns or press releases. To record the company's market research costs, debit the marketing expense account and credit cash or accounts receivable, depending on whether the company paid cash for the expense or received services on credit. The only exception to this rule is for companies that perform market research as a service for their customers. These companies may record market research expenses as a cost of services delivered.

Allocation to Specific Products

All expenditures should be analyzed to see if they had a positive effect on the company's bottom line. Unfortunately, market research can be difficult to quantify because it may relate to an entire product line or category instead of a specific item. Depending on your company's production methods, you can choose to allocate costs based on sales revenue, quantity sold or the number of units manufactured. For example, if the company that allocates costs based on sales revenue spends $10,000 on market research costs during an accounting period and creates two new products with sales of $40,000 and $60,000, it would apply $4,000 of the research costs to the first product and $6,000 to the second. This type of allocation may not be sufficient if you have secretaries or other staff assisting with your market research projects. For these costs, an allocation based on office space or number of hours on employee time sheets may be the most accurate.

Tax Accounting Issues

You may be able to deduct market research costs as part of your company's marketing expenses. This deduction also covers travel expenses for employees doing research in the field. The full cost of the employees' lodging and transportation may be deducted, along with 50 percent of meals and entertainment costs. The expense must be directly related to creating specific business benefits for the company and be a reasonable amount for the circumstances.

• CBS Money Watch: Understanding Research and Development Accounting
• Entrepreneur.com: Business Expenses to Deduct Now
• Nolo.com: Top Tax Deductions for Your Small Business

Denise Sullivan has been writing professionally for more than five years after a long career in business. She has been published on Yahoo! Voices and other publications. Her areas of expertise are business, law, gaming, home renovations, gardening, sports and exercise.

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Malaysia churns up delicious growth: dairy market whipped to $5.8 billion by 2027, fueled by health & convenience (2023-2027): ken research.

Malaysia dairy market whips up 7.2% CAGR, reaching $5.8 billion by 2027. Rising disposable income & urbanization fuel growth. Health & convenience trends drive demand for lactose-free, functional & single-serve products. E-commerce takes a sip of market share. This report empowers stakeholders to create a winning recipe for success.

Gurugram, India, May 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Get ready to raise a glass! Malaysia's dairy food market is churning out creamy growth! Ken Research's insightful report, Malaysia Dairy Food Market Outlook to 2027: Whipped by Health, Convenience, and Innovation , dives into this delightful landscape. The report predicts a delectable journey, with the market value expected to be whisked to a delightful $5.8 billion by 2027 , growing at a satisfying 7.2% CAGR . This press release explores the key ingredients whipping up this growth and offers valuable insights for dairy manufacturers, retailers, and investors seeking a taste of success in this dynamic market.

Rising Disposable Income Sweetens the Deal:

A significant driver of the Malaysian dairy food market is the rising disposable income of its growing middle class. With more money in their pockets, consumers are increasingly indulging in dairy products, particularly value-added options like flavored milk drinks and yogurts.

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Stat-Based Headings:

$5.8 Billion Market Churned by 2027: Malaysia's Dairy Delight Whipped Up by Rising Disposable Income: This data-driven headline emphasizes the projected market size and growth trajectory of the Malaysian dairy food industry.

7.2% CAGR Creams Up Market Growth: Rising Disposable Income Fuels Demand for Dairy Products: Highlights the crucial role of increasing disposable income in driving consumer spending on dairy products.

Urbanization Lactose Intolerance Sparks Innovation: Growing Urban Population Creates Demand for Lactose-Free Options: Focuses on the growing urban population and the rising demand for lactose-free dairy products.

Health & Wellness Trends Take Center Stage: Consumers Seek Functional Dairy Options: Shines a light on the increasing consumer preference for dairy products perceived to offer health benefits.

Convenience Reigns Supreme: Single-Serve Packaging Fuels On-the-Go Consumption: Emphasizes the growing trend of convenient single-serve packaging for dairy products.

E-commerce Takes a Sip of Market Share: Online Platforms Offer Consumers New Ways to Buy Dairy Products: Highlights the growing importance of e-commerce platforms for purchasing dairy products.

Urbanization Lactose Intolerance Sparks Innovation:

Malaysia's rapid urbanization is leading to a growing demand for lactose-free dairy products. Manufacturers are innovating to cater to this segment, offering lactose-free milk, yogurt, and cheese options.

Health & Wellness Trends Take Center Stage:

Consumers in Malaysia are becoming increasingly health-conscious, seeking out dairy products perceived to offer health benefits. This trend is driving the demand for fortified milk with added vitamins and minerals, as well as functional yogurts with probiotics.

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Convenience Reigns Supreme: Single-Serve Packaging Fuels On-the-Go Consumption:

The fast-paced lifestyle of modern Malaysians has fueled a demand for convenient and portable dairy options. Single-serve packaging has become increasingly popular, making it easier for consumers to enjoy dairy products on-the-go.

E-commerce takes a Sip of Market Share:

The rise of e-commerce platforms has significantly impacted the Malaysian dairy food industry. Consumers now have access to a wider variety of dairy products, with convenient delivery options, directly at their fingertips. This trend is expected to continue, presenting new opportunities for online retailers and manufacturers to expand their reach.

A Sweet Future Awaits:

The Malaysian dairy food industry is poised for continued growth in the coming years, driven by several key trends:

Focus on Cold Chain Infrastructure: Investments in cold chain infrastructure will be crucial to ensure product quality and reduce spoilage.

Expansion of Distribution Channels: Manufacturers will need to explore new distribution channels to reach consumers in remote areas.

Sustainability Concerns Take Hold: There will be a growing emphasis on sustainable packaging solutions and responsible sourcing practices.

Why This Report Matters:

This report empowers various stakeholders to navigate the Malaysian dairy food industry:

Dairy Manufacturers: Gain insights into evolving consumer preferences, identify high-growth segments like lactose-free and functional dairy products, and develop innovative product offerings.

Retailers: Understand the changing retail landscape and optimize shelf space to meet consumer demand for single-serve packaging and explore partnerships with e-commerce platforms.

Investors: Companies prioritizing investments in cold chain infrastructure and expansion of distribution networks are well-positioned to capitalize on future growth.

A Spoonful of Insights Makes the Market Go Round:

By leveraging the insights and opportunities outlined in this report, stakeholders can create a winning recipe for success in the Malaysian dairy food industry:

Dairy Manufacturers: Invest in research and development to formulate innovative and delicious dairy products catering to health-conscious consumers, lactose intolerance, and on-the-go convenience. Develop strong brand recognition and marketing strategies to differentiate themselves in the competitive landscape.

Retailers: Continuously update product assortments to reflect evolving consumer preferences. Integrate technology solutions to streamline inventory management and offer convenient online shopping options. Partner with local dairy producers to promote freshness and support local businesses.

Government Agencies: Implement policies that encourage the development of a robust cold chain infrastructure to minimize food waste. Collaborate with industry stakeholders to promote sustainable practices within the dairy food sector.

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A Frothy Future for All:

The Malaysian dairy food market presents a delightful opportunity for all stakeholders. By working together and leveraging the valuable insights from this report, they can contribute to a thriving dairy ecosystem that caters to the evolving needs of Malaysian consumers, encourages innovation and product diversification, and ensures a sustainable future for this delicious industry.

About Ken Research:

Ken Research is a leading provider of market research and consulting services, offering in-depth analysis and insights across various industries. With a global network of experts and a commitment to quality research, Ken Research helps businesses make informed decisions and achieve their strategic goals.

Malaysia Dairy Food Market Segmentation

Butter & Spreads

Cooking Fats

Margarine & Spreads

Flavoured Yogurt

Plain Yogurt

Drinking Yogurt

Spreadable Cheese

Soft Cheese

Hard Cheese

Processed Cheese

Take-Home Ice-Cream

Impulse Ice-Cream

Drinking Milk

Powdered Milk

Flavoured Drinking Milk

Coffee Whiteners

Condensed & Evaporated Milk

For More Insights On Market Intelligence, Refer To The Link Below: –

Malaysia Dairy Food Market

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Contact Us:- Ken Research Private Limited Ankur Gupta, Director Strategy and Growth [email protected] +91-9015378249