Market Research

Market research is a crucial process that businesses and organizations undertake to acquire and analyze information about the target market, customers, competitors, and industry trends. The basic objective of market research is to know consumer behavior, preferences, and needs, enabling companies to develop products and services that meet customer demands effectively.

What is market research?

Market research is collecting, analyzing, and interpreting information about a specific market, industry, or target audience. It includes gathering data and information to understand consumer behavior, preferences and needs. Market research is conducted to help businesses and organizations make informed decisions, develop strategies, and identify opportunities.

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Primary vs. Secondary market research: Differentiate between them?

Primary market research involves collecting original data directly from the target audience. It is conducted to address research objectives and gather information about consumer preferences, and behaviors. Primary research is usually time-consuming and costly, including designing research instruments, recruiting participants, and collecting data.

Whereas secondary market research involves the use of existing data that others have already collected. It involves data from market reports, industry publications and other publicly available. Secondary research utilizes data that has been collected by someone else. The researcher gathers and analyzes data relevant to their research from various sources. This data is pre-existing and not tailored to the researcher’s needs.

What are the types of market research?

Various types of market research are as follows:

Surveys
Focus groups
Observations
Online market research
Telephone research
Competitor analysis

Surveys: Conducting surveys is the most common market research method. Surveys can be administered in various ways, such as online surveys, phone interviews, face-to-face interviews, or mailed questionnaires. Surveys gather quantitative and qualitative data from a large sample of respondents, providing insights into customer preferences and other opinions.
Focus groups: Focus groups involve bringing together a small group of individuals to discuss specific topics related to products, services, or markets. The participants share their opinions, feedback, and perceptions, providing valuable qualitative insights for market research.
Observations: Observational research involves observing customers or target audiences in real-world settings to understand their behaviors, interactions, and decision-making processes.
Online market research: With people spending more time online, online market research refers to the process of conducting market research practices using internet-based tools. With the wide availability of the internet, online research has become a popular and effective way to gather data, reach large audiences, and obtain insights into consumer behavior and market trends.
Telephone research: Telephone research is a market research method involving surveys and gathering information over a call. It is a form of primary research that allows researchers to directly interact with respondents and collect information about their opinions.
Competitor analysis: Competitive intelligence research focuses on gathering information about competitors' strategies, products, pricing, and market positioning; it helps businesses stay informed about industry trends and competitive landscape.

How to do market research?

The steps to conduct market research are as follows:

Know your research objectives
Determine the research model
Identify the target audience
Create or tap research instruments
Collect data
Analyze the data
Conclusions and insights

Know your research objectives: Clearly outline the purpose and objectives of your market research, identify the specific questions you want to answer and the data you require to gather to make decisions.
Determine the research model: Choose the specific method based on the objectives and available resources. Decide whether you will conduct primary research or rely on secondary research.
Identify the target audience: Define the target audience or market segment you want to research. This could be your loyal customers, potential customers, or a specific demographic group relevant to your search objectives.
Create or tap research instruments: For primary research, develop the survey questionnaire, interview guide, or discussion topics. Ensure that your questions are structured and relevant.
Collect data: In conducting primary research, start collecting data using your chosen research methods. If using surveys, distribute them through various channels like email, social media or websites.
Analyze the data: After data is collected, clearly organize and analyze by using statistical software or qualitative analysis techniques to process and interpret the data, depending on the research method used.
Conclusions and insights: Analyze the data to draw conclusions and identify key insights relevant to your research objectives. Look for patterns, trends and correlations in the data.

Why is market research important?

Various important factors in marketing research are as follows:

Tap marketing opportunities
Minimizes risks
Enhanced customer experiences
Pricing trends
Understanding customer requirements
Better decision-making

Tap marketing opportunities: Market research enables businesses to determine new market opportunities and areas for growth, and by analyzing market trends and consumer behavior, businesses can uncover untapped markets and niche segments.
Minimizes risks: Adjusting to a new market and launching new products without conducting market research can be risky. Market research helps reduce uncertainty and minimizes the risks aligned with the venture.
Enhanced customer experiences: Market research helps businesses to identify pain points in the journey that allows them to improve the overall customer experience and build lasting relationships.
Pricing trends: Market research allows businesses to set competitive prices by understanding customer price sensitivity and perceptions.
Understanding customer requirements: Market research helps businesses deeply understand their customer's needs and pain points. The knowledge allows companies to develop products and services that meet customer demands, leading to higher customer satisfaction.
Better decision-making: Data-driven decision-making is crucial for business success. Market research provides the necessary data and insights to make informed decisions about development, pricing and strategies.

What is a paid market research survey?

A paid market research survey is a type of survey where participants are compensated for their time and feedback. It is a usual method by companies and market research firms to gather valuable insights from target customers or audience. In a paid market research survey, participants are typically rewarded with cash, gift cards, vouchers, and other incentives as a token of appreciation.

Employee pulse surveys:

These are short surveys that can be sent frequently to check what your employees think about an issue quickly. The survey comprises fewer questions (not more than 10) to get the information quickly. These can be administered at regular intervals (monthly/weekly/quarterly).

One-on-one meetings:

Having periodic, hour-long meetings for an informal chat with every team member is an excellent way to get a true sense of what’s happening with them. Since it is a safe and private conversation, it helps you get better details about an issue.

eNPS:

eNPS (employee Net Promoter score) is one of the simplest yet effective ways to assess your employee's opinion of your company. It includes one intriguing question that gauges loyalty. An example of eNPS questions include: How likely are you to recommend our company to others? Employees respond to the eNPS survey on a scale of 1-10, where 10 denotes they are ‘highly likely’ to recommend the company and 1 signifies they are ‘highly unlikely’ to recommend it.

Based on the responses, employees can be placed in three different categories:

Promoters
Employees who have responded positively or agreed.
Detractors
Employees who have reacted negatively or disagreed.
Passives
Employees who have stayed neutral with their responses.

What is online market research?

Online market research is conducting market research activities using internet-based platforms. It involves using online methods to gather data, analyze information, and gain insights about a particular market, industry, or target audience. Online market research is highly boosted and widely used due to the widespread availability of internet and convenience.