development market research techniques

"For example, we did a large voluntary survey of email subscribers and top readers a few years back."

While these readers gave us a long list of topics, formats, or content types they wanted to see, they sometimes engaged more with content types they didn’t select or favor as much on the surveys when we ran follow-up ‘in the wild’ tests, like A/B testing.”  

Pepsi saw similar results when it ran its iconic field experiment, “The Pepsi Challenge” for the first time in 1975.

The beverage brand set up tables at malls, beaches, and other public locations and ran a blindfolded taste test. Shoppers were given two cups of soda, one containing Pepsi, the other Coca-Cola (Pepsi’s biggest competitor). They were then asked to taste both and report which they preferred.

People overwhelmingly preferred Pepsi, and the brand has repeated the experiment multiple times over the years to the same results.

What I like: It yields qualitative and quantitative data and can make for engaging marketing content, especially in the digital age.

What I dislike: It can be very time-consuming. And, if you’re not careful, there is a high risk for scientific error.

Best for: Product testing and competitive analysis

Pro tip:  " Don’t make critical business decisions off of just one data set," advises Pamela Bump. "Use the survey, competitive intelligence, external data, or even a focus group to give you one layer of ideas or a short-list for improvements or solutions to test. Then gather your own fresh data to test in an experiment or trial and better refine your data-backed strategy."

Secondary Research

8. public domain or third-party research.

While original data is always a plus, there are plenty of external resources you can access online and even at a library when you’re limited on time or resources.

Some reputable resources you can use include:

• Pew Research Center
• McKinley Global Institute
• Relevant Global or Government Organizations (i.e United Nations or NASA)

It’s also smart to turn to reputable organizations that are specific to your industry or field. For instance, if you’re a gardening or landscaping company, you may want to pull statistics from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

If you’re a digital marketing agency, you could look to Google Research or HubSpot Research . (Hey, I know them!)

What I like: You can save time on gathering data and spend more time on analyzing. You can also rest assured the data is from a source you trust.

What I dislike: You may not find data specific to your needs.

Best for: Companies under a time or resource crunch, adding factual support to content

Pro tip: Fellow HubSpotter Iskiev suggests using third-party data to inspire your original research. “Sometimes, I use public third-party data for ideas and inspiration. Once I have written my survey and gotten all my ideas out, I read similar reports from other sources and usually end up with useful additions for my own research.”

9. Buy Research

If the data you need isn’t available publicly and you can’t do your own market research, you can also buy some. There are many reputable analytics companies that offer subscriptions to access their data. Statista is one of my favorites, but there’s also Euromonitor , Mintel , and BCC Research .

What I like: Same as public domain research

What I dislike: You may not find data specific to your needs. It also adds to your expenses.

Best for: Companies under a time or resource crunch or adding factual support to content

Which marketing research method should you use?

You’re not going to like my answer, but “it depends.” The best marketing research method for you will depend on your objective and data needs, but also your budget and timeline.

My advice? Aim for a mix of quantitative and qualitative data. If you can do your own original research, awesome. But if not, don’t beat yourself up. Lean into free or low-cost tools . You could do primary research for qualitative data, then tap public sources for quantitative data. Or perhaps the reverse is best for you.

Whatever your marketing research method mix, take the time to think it through and ensure you’re left with information that will truly help you achieve your goals.

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Market research definition

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

• Types of market research 

Different types of primary research

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

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

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

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

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

Market research generally focuses on understanding:

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

Free eBook: 2024 market research trends report

Why is market research important?

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

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

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

What happens when you don’t do market research?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How is this possible?

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

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

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

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

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

How do you measure success?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here are a few of the most common uses:

Buyer segmentation and profiling

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

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

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

Attitudes and Usage surveys

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

Marketing strategy

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

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

Product development

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

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

Pricing decisions

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

Brand tracking studies

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

Advertising and communications testing

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

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

Competitive analysis

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

Customer Story

See How Yamaha Does Product Research

Types of market research

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

Primary research

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

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

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

Secondary research

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

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

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

Primary or secondary research – which to choose?

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

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

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

• Customer surveys
• Focus groups
• Observation

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

Qualitative vs quantitative

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

Qualitative research

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

Market research techniques that would gather qualitative data include:

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

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

Quantitative research

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

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

Quantitative research methods include:

• Questionnaires
• Review scores

Exploratory and specific research

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

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

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

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

Step 1: Identify your research topic

Research topics could include:

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

Step 2: Draft a research hypothesis

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

Step 3: Determine which research methods are most effective

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

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

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

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

Step 5: Conduct your research!

This is how you can run your research using Qualtrics CoreXM

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

A helping hand

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

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

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

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

How do you know if a source is reliable?

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

How to apply secondary research

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

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

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

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

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

Related resources

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

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What Is Market Research?

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

The Bottom Line

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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: What It Is and How to Do It

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In other words, it’s the process of understanding who your business is targeting so you can better position your marketing strategy.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

• The role of market research in a marketing strategy
• When to conduct market research

Types of market research

• Market research methods and their benefits
• How to conduct market research (example included)
• Market research tools and resources

What is the role of market research in a marketing strategy?

A marketing strategy is a business’s overall game plan for reaching consumers and turning them into customers.

The key word in the above definition is “game plan”. Entering a market with a product is like starting a new game. Since you’re new to the game, you don’t know the rules, and you don’t know who you’re playing against.

This is exactly where market research comes in . Market research allows you to discover the rules of the marketing game by understanding your target audience. Moreover, it allows you to understand who your opponent is by assessing the strengths and weaknesses of your competition.

Research is what marketing pros do to plan their moves, and outperform their competition.  It’s also what marketing pros use to identify the strengths and weaknesses of their own marketing strategy .

But is market research the ultimate business oracle? Unfortunately no. Even companies that specialize in market research admit it - here’s a quote from one of them :

(…) it cannot be assumed that market research is an exact science, as it would be unrealistic and unreasonable to expect market researchers to predict the precise demand for a new concept, given that there are numerous variables that can impact demand outside of the market researchers’ remit.

That’s why market research with all of its significance is “only” a part of marketing, and it’s “only” an experiment.  It’s up to you whether you will conduct your experiment, and when you will end it.

For example, Crystal Pepsi seemed very promising in the market research phase, yet it failed when released onto the market (a similar thing happened to New Coke). Xerox’s idea for a commercial photocopier was a no-go in the eyes of research analysts; Xerox did it anyway, and the rest is history.

When should you conduct market research?

Paul N. Hauge and Peter Jackson in their book “Do Your Own Market Research” point to three specific situations when market research is really useful:

• Setting goals . Knowing things like the size of the market, or defining your potential customers can help you set your sales goals.
• Problem-solving . Low sales? Low profitability? Market research will help you understand whether your problems are internal, like a low-quality product, or external, like aggressive competition.
• Supporting company growth.  Understanding how and why consumers decide on products will help you decide what products to introduce to the market.

Another answer to the “when” is the importance of the decision that you need to make. The more important the marketing issue you’re tackling, the more market research comes in handy.

For example, launching a new car on the market is quite a big event, right? So maybe Ford could have avoided losing 350 million dollars with the Ford Edsel if they had done their research properly. I mean, with the right methods in place it shouldn’t be that hard to predict that consumers will deem the car overpriced and ugly.

That said, market research doesn’t always have to be a large, complex project. The relatively new trend of agile market research  allows you to research the market regularly and in a cost-effective way. This is where you employ bite-size, iterative, and evolutionary methods to react to fast-changing circumstances and adapt to unknown market territories.

Furthermore, if you’re working in startup conditions, especially if you’re developing an innovative product, you may be interested in customer development . In this methodology market research is at its “agilest” and it’s tightly woven into the product development process.

Take Ahrefs for example. We stick to agile market research hacks anyone can use. As you will see later in the article, we use simple (but effective!) stuff like social media polls, crowdsourcing, in-house competitive analysis, or just tracking the pricing of our competitors.

Case in point, just recently we asked our fellow marketers on Twitter how they go about researching the market. It seems that market research comes in all shapes and sizes:

Have you ever performed “market research?“ What was it for? — Tim Soulo (@timsoulo) May 3, 2021

Just because somebody does market research in a certain way doesn’t mean that you need to copy that. You should know your options, and they start with the different types of market research.

Primary research

Whenever the research is done by you or on your behalf, and you need to create the data to solve a given problem, that is called primary market research.

Examples:  Focus groups, interviews, surveys (more on those later in the article).

Key benefits: It’s specific to your brand and products or services, and you can control the quality of the data.

Secondary research

Whenever you’re using already existing data, such as that put together by other businesses and organizations, you’re doing secondary market research.

Examples: Second-party and third-party sources like articles, whitepapers, reports, industry statistics, already collected internal data.

Key benefits: Get a macro perspective of your marketplace, as secondary research includes other players in the market, and most probably utilizes a bigger set of data than your primary sources.

Primary research vs. secondary research

Primary and secondary market research are different but by no means opposite. It’s actually recommended to use both.

While primary sources will give you a focused, micro perspective of your business, secondary research will tell you how other businesses are doing and how your research findings compare to bigger research sample sizes. 

Market research subtypes

A bit more theory for all you marketing geeks out there. Professional market researchers distinguish between the following primary and secondary market research subtypes:

• Qualitative research.  Think interviews, open-ended questions, results expressed in words rather than numbers and graphs. This type of research is used to understand underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations.
• Quantitative research. Think surveys, polls, usually closed-ended questions, results expressed in numbers and statistics. This type of research is used to test or confirm hypotheses or assumptions by quantifying defined variables (such as opinions or behaviours) and generalizing results from larger data samples.

Overview of market research methods

Let’s go over some popular market research methods you can use yourself and/or outsource.

Internal data analysis

The data you’ve already collected in your company is an invaluable secondary research data source. The more time you’re in the business, the more data you have on your hands.

The best thing about your internal data is that it’s been put into practice in real-life market conditions, so you just need to find the patterns and draw conclusions.

Here are some internal data sources you can leverage :

• Website data (like Google Analytics)
• Past campaigns performance data
• Internal interviews with employees

Interviews allow for face-to-face discussions and are great for exploratory qualitative research.

In unstructured interviews, you have an informal, free-flowing conversation on a given set of topics.

In structured interviews, you prepare a detailed, rigorous interview protocol where you list every question you want to ask and you can’t divert from them.

You can also choose the “middle way” with semi-structured interviews which revolve around predefined themes or questions, but allow for open-ended discussion.

A word of advice here would be to always remain neutral and unbiased, even during unstructured interviews. Also, it’s helpful to perform a pilot test of the interview to quickly spot some defects of your protocol.

Recording the interview may influence the answers, so use it wisely.

Focus groups

Focus groups are where 5 to 10 people with common characteristics take part in an interactive discussion with a moderator. They’re used to learn how a particular group thinks about a given issue or to provide feedback on a product.

Now, you might know that Steve Jobs famously hated focus groups. He’s on record saying:

It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.

If you’re trying to create a leapfrog product like the iPhone, there’s probably some validity to this statement. But most of us aren’t wrestling with that level of ambition. We just want to know if customers will like a proposed new feature or not. For this, focus groups are super useful.

Surveys involve polling your audience. They’re usually performed online for customer satisfaction and loyalty research, and are one of the most popular and cost-effective market research methods.

Some of the tried and tested use cases of online surveys  are:

• Product feature desirability
• User satisfaction feedback
• Quantitative analysis of certain issue occurrences
• Identifying friction points in your customer journey
• Discovering the reasons to convert to or cancel your service
• During product onboarding to create a customer profile (and for marketing automation)
• Opinion about a recently made change

An interesting example of surveying the market is crowdsourcing . That’s what Ahrefs does to understand what features to build, how important they are, and what customers expect from them.

What’s unique about crowdsourcing is that it allows the users to add their own ideas, and upvote or comment on existing ideas rather than answer predetermined questions, so this method leaves less room for marketing myopia. You improve your business, and the users get a better product—everybody wins.

How we crowdsource ideas at Ahrefs

Social media is another great place to survey the marketplace.

How many of you have disavowed links in GSC this year? — Tim Soulo (@timsoulo) October 8, 2020

Market segmentation

Market segmentation is the practice of categorizing a market into homogeneous groups based on specific criteria, also called segmentation variables (like age, sex, company size, country, etc.).

If you think you’re building a product for everyone, think again. Not everyone will want to buy from you.

Smart companies pick their target audience carefully. They pinpoint groups of people or organizations that could be valuable customers for the business. That way they also discover their non-ideal customers and develop a plan to attract customer segments gradually. 

Ever wondered why Procter and Gamble creates so many, often competing, brands? You guessed it: market segmentation. P&G simply divides and conquers. Different people have different needs, so they need different products (and possibly brands).

Competitive analysis

Another powerful, yet often overlooked, market research method is the process of understanding one’s market environment. Seriously, if there’s only one thing you could do to learn what works and what doesn’t in your market, you should do a competitive analysis.

“Whenever we discuss building a certain feature, we would definitely research our competitors and see how they do it.” Tim Soulo, CMO

You’d be surprised by how much you can learn about and from your competition and how much of it can be done online. There are certain tried and tested techniques, hacks, and tools for this type of research, and you can find them in this guide .

Analyze commercial data

Secondary market research data is relatively affordable, fast to acquire, and easy to use. Think market reports, industry insights, and a ton of research data someone has already gathered and analyzed so you don’t have to.

The most reputable sources are Gartner , Forrester , and Pew . Apart from those, make sure to check if there is a trustworthy commercial data source specific to your niche.

Sites like G2, Capterra and Trust Pilot also count. Not only do they give you an overview of your industry, but you can also find some real gems in your users’ reviews and your competitors’ reviews as well. Ahrefs uses that data source regularly internally and externally, like for this section of our Ahrefs vs Semrush vs Moz  landing page:

Benefits of market research - a comparison

Let’s quickly summarize the above 7 different methods of market research by their key benefits.

How to do market research process in 5 key steps

So now we know what market research is, why and when to do it, and we’ve learned about all of the important types and methods.

Let’s see how we can use that knowledge to conduct any type of market research in 5 steps.  As an example of market research, I’ll tell you about some of my past experiences with a 3D printing company.

• Identify the market research problem
• Choose the sample and research method
• Collect the data
• Analyze the data
• Interpret and present conclusions

1. Identify the market research problem

This is where every research project starts. You will also find that market research, in general, follows the pattern of the scientific method . First, you need to establish what exactly you are researching.

Do you have a question about your business you want to answer? Maybe you see an opportunity in the market. Or maybe you’ve observed something curious about your product use and you have a hypothesis that you want to validate? State that in the first step of the market research process.

Let me share an example.

In the past, I ran marketing for a few companies, and one of them was a 3D printer manufacturer. Early on I stumbled upon two problems with that company.

First: one of our market segments was saturated with similar products of similar quality at significantly lower price (classic, right?). Second: more and more 3D printing manufacturers seemed to be drifting away from the hobby segment to tackle the professional segments with more expensive products, yet we remained in the hobby/DIY niche. So we were too expensive for hobbyists but too hobbyist for customers who could afford us.

The hypothesis that I wanted to verify was that if the marketplace was showing a trend towards more professional use cases of 3D printing, our company should follow that trend. In other words, I wanted to check the viability of shifting the brand positioning into the professional/premium sector.

2. Choose the sample and research method

We’ve already covered the main types and methods of market research. You should already have a good idea of the differences between primary and secondary research, or whether qualitative or quantitative methods would best suit your needs.

As for the sample of your research, this refers to the portion of the entire data source in question that you will use. For example, if you want to run a survey among your customers, the sample will refer to the selection of customers you will include in your survey. There are a few options for choosing a sample:

• Use the entire data source . Obviously, it’s not a sample per se. Nevertheless, if sending a survey to all of your customers is doable (and reasonable), this is a perfectly good choice.
• Choose a random sample. Systematic sampling is the easiest way to choose a random sample. This is where you select every x/nth individual for the sample, where x is the population, n is the sample. For example, if you want a sample size of 100 from a population of 1000, select every 1000/100 = 10th member of the population.
• Convenience sampling: choose respondents available and willing to take part in the survey.
• Purposive sampling: choose respondents that in your judgement will be representative or possess some other feature that is important to the research.
• Quota sampling:  choose some arbitrary quota of respondents, e.g. 10 non-paying customers, 10 paying small companies and 10 paying large companies.

Back to our example. As a method for verifying my hypotheses, I chose a mix of:

• Surveys sent to all of our resellers.  We wanted to see if they also had seen a paradigm shift in the market and what segment of clients they had encountered the most. We also wanted to know their perspective on the longevity of that trend, and whether they potentially be interested in a more premium version of our product.
• In-depth interviews  on the phone with our resellers conducted by our sales team. We used purposive sampling here. Our sample comprised resellers with which we had the best relations (we knew they would be more eager to share).
• Competitive analysis.  We were mostly interested in market players who tried to penetrate the professional/industrial segment, so this was our sample ( purposive sampling ). We were interested in stuff like: what features were they building into their 3D printers, what was their brand positioning, what was their pricing, what language they used to communicate with their target audience, etc.
• Wohler’s industry report, anything 3D printing from Gartner and the like, reports by 3D printing services providers, and basically any scrape of serious data we could find ( convenience sampling ).
• Internal data:  customer satisfaction issues, and just general current customer profile based on Google Analytics and Facebook data.

3. Collect the data

Once you’ve got your problem, method, and sample nailed, all you need to do is to gather the data. This is the step where you send out your surveys, conduct your interviews, or reach out for industry insights.

A word of advice, choose your market research tool carefully; it will greatly influence the amount of work you will have with analyzing the data. For example, Google Forms  automatically makes graphs out of quantifiable data (plus it’s free).

Here’s the data we collected for the 3D printing company:

• Reseller survey data (both quantitative and qualitative data).
• Reseller interview data (qualitative data).
• Customer satisfaction issues (qualitative data gathered through all customer support channels, we analysed about 200 issues and requests).
• Competitive analysis data (from about 10 competitors).
• We managed to gather 3 comprehensive, independent industry reports, a few smaller reports made by other 3D printing companies, and dozens of scrapes of data, like statistics and noteworthy insights. We pulled out data like: 3D printer manufacturer market share, market growth in time, market segmentation, key 3D printing applications, 3D printing adoption by region, key players’ sales numbers.
• Any demographic, sociographic and psychographic data on customers and website visitors we could find in our internal data.

4. Analyze the data

Now that you have your data collected, the next step is to look for patterns, trends, concepts, or often repeated words—all dependent on whether your method was qualitative or quantitative (or both).

Simple research performed on a small sample will be relatively easy to analyze, or even analyzed automatically, like with the aforementioned Google Forms. Sometimes you will have to use expensive and harder to master software like Tableau , NVivo , PowerBI , or SPSS . Or you can use Python or R for data analysis (if you have a data analyst or data scientist on board, you’re in luck).

Continuing the example: Google Forms made it easy for us to spot patterns in surveys since quantitative data was calculated automatically. The most time-consuming part was reading through all of the responses and manually looking for patterns (back then I wasn’t aware of any tool that could do the job). Both sales and marketing teams worked on analyzing some of the qualitative data to have more than one reference point.

When it comes to researching the competition, coming up with some kind of data structure makes the work more comprehensive (and saner). We put our competitors’ data in specific categories, like products & services (prices included), target market, benefits, values, and brand message. We also used something called a brand positioning map which looks like this:

Analyzing secondary data was probably the easiest part, as the data we needed was already prepared in ready-to-use graphs, statistics and insights. We just had to sift through the contents to look for answers to our questions.

5. Interpret and present conclusions

Analyzing the data is not enough. You need to compile your data in a communicative, actionable way for the decision makers. A good practice is to include in your report: all your information, a description of your research process, the results, conclusions, and recommended actions.

Summing up my 3D printing example, I hypothesised that our market was experiencing a major shift and that the company should follow that trend. The research we did verified that hypothesis positively:

• Our resellers were getting more and more inquiries about professional/industrial use cases and machines. As you can imagine, the budget of this kind of client was significantly higher than hobbyists but so were the expectations.
• Our resellers indicated that this phenomenon is here to stay. Moreover, they declared interest in a new 3D printer tailored to the needs of their more demanding clientele.
• Our customers were outgrowing their early-adopter habits and wanted something easier to use, something plug-and-play that just worked reliably. Tinkering with the printer was something only hardcore makers were interested in.
• The companies we were interested in had already started adapting to the professional/premium market both with their offer and smart marketing communication.
• We also found a ton of other interesting data that we used later on. For example, we found that apart from engineers and designers, an equally interesting segment was educational institutions.

Our initial market research lasted for about two months. We also came back to it whenever we had the chance (or the necessity) and reiterated it to see if we were on the right track.

Was it worth it? Let me tell you this: it saved the company. Our research showed us that this was the last call to reposition the brand and the product. Our original target segment was being gradually dominated by companies we couldn’t compete with.

It took us some time to get buy-in from key stakeholders and implement the conclusions throughout the whole company (eventually, we got it right). As a result, we increased sales, increased customer satisfaction and put ourselves on a more profitable growth track—a win-win for everyone. We even went as far as merging with another manufacturer to shorten the time to get to that sweet market spot.

Looking back, no one from our close competitors survived. They didn’t adapt as we did, and we owed everything to market research.

Whatever you do, avoid these common market research mistakes :

• Poor sampling.
• Ambiguous questions.
• Leading or loaded questions (questions that show bias or contain controversial assumptions).
• Unclear or too many research objectives.
• Mixing correlation with causation.
• Ignoring competitive analysis.
• Allowing biases to influence your research ( confirmation bias  being arguably the most common and the most dangerous one).
• Not tracking data on a regular basis.

Online market research tools and resources

Market research reaches back to the 1930s and it’s probably rooted even “deeper” than the 20th century. Everything you could do then you can do now better, faster and cheaper thanks to these online tools and resources.

SEO tools - research the market with Ahrefs

I’ve put together 3 quick wins that can help with your market research—and that’s only a taste of what you can do with Ahrefs.

1. Brand awareness

In the early 20th century, you’d have to hire market researchers to spend days or even weeks asking people “have you heard about brand X”. Today, you can simply look up the search volume for that brand.

So let’s say you run a drone manufacturing brand, and you want to check out your competitors’ brand awareness in France. Go to Ahrefs Keywords Explorer , input the names of the brands, select “France” as your market, and in a flash you get:

The branded keyword volume indicates the brand awareness of that brand in a particular market. You can also keep track of that data by performing this search regularly to see if there are significant changes over time (for example, impacted by a recent campaign).

2. Feature demand

The next game-changing feature for electric cars will concern batteries, charging time, and charging cost (and not autopilot). How do I know?

Well, I opened Ahrefs Keywords Explorer , typed in “electric cars”, and went to the Questions report to find out what people search for. This gave me an idea of what problems electric car owners have (and potential owners worry about). You can easily perform similar research for your niche.

3. Understand the language of your market

Gerald Zaltman in his popular book “How Customers Think” proposes the idea that one of the major erroneous assumptions of marketing is that consumers think in words.

On the other hand, when consumers Google something they have to think in words. And when we market to those consumers we have to think in words as well. The question is: which words?

Let’s say that you want to enter a new and innovative market in the USA, for example the synthetic fermentation-derived dairy industry, also called animal-free dairy.

To you, this set of words “animal-free dairy” may be the very center of your business and marketing efforts. But let’s see what other people think. Let’s use Keywords Explorer  to see how many people search Google in the U.S. just for that phrase:

Whoops! Looks like your product category has disappointingly low awareness. Does this mean you’re doomed? Not necessarily. 

Let’s try other words. Words that mean something different, but still closely related to your new product.

Now we’re onto something. People search for “vegan dairy” and “lactose free dairy” more often. Not the same, but closely related. Yet, look at the difference in search volume.

Words make a huge difference.  And Google knows that.

The only reason you were able to put all of those three phrases in the same bucket was that you knew the connection between those words. The problem is that your target audience may not know that connection; they may not even know that this kind of product exists. This quick analysis of search volume shows that you may want to make that connection, for example with content marketing .

If you create content around related higher volume keywords, you can potentially get more organic traffic than simply focusing on the keyword designating your product category.  Look, even though you might believe the main benefit of your animal-free product is something unrelated to lactose, e.g., cruelty-free production, you might want to address the problem of lactose intolerance to appeal to people with this condition.

But that’s not all. You may have noticed “low lactose cheese” in the bottom right corner. This refers to the nifty feature of Ahrefs’ Keyword Explorer called “Parent topic”. Parent topic indicates that Google sees a given keyword as part of a broader topic.

If we click on this Parent topic, we uncover even more search demand:

We can see that the search for the topic “low lactose cheese” exceeds the “vegan dairy” topic by almost 300% in the US. Also, uncovering that parent topic gave us 879 potential keyword ideas (some of them have even higher search volume, like “lactose free cheese”).

Want to discover even more topic associations? No problem. You can dive deeper into this research by using other features of Ahrefs’ Keyword explorer. For example,the  Also rank for  report allows you to see which other keywords (and topics) the top 100 ranking pages for your target keyword also rank for.

This market research quick-win ties into the broader topic of keyword research. If you want to uncover even more keyword ideas and learn how to analyze them, read  our keyword research guide .

Source: https://hubspot.com

Customer Relationship Management software is used to manage and track interactions between a company and its customers and prospects. Usually, it works in tandem with sales or marketing automation software (or has integrations for them). If used properly, it is a true cornucopia of market insight.

As I pointed out earlier, it’s one of those primary data sources that you can leverage to discover patterns in your customer behaviour or characteristics. Popular choices are Hubspot, Salesforce, Intercom, but there is a ton of CRM software out there, so check out a software comparison like G2  to see what best suits your needs.

User feedback tools

This type of tool allows you to carry out our aforementioned survey research method online.

Create targeted, user-specific surveys and analyze answers with tools like Google Forms , SurveyMonkey , Typeform , or Qualaroo .  

Sending out your typical email with a survey is not the only option, for example with Qualaroo you can display surveys:

• In your digital product
• In your SaaS product
• Inside your web app
• Inside your mobile app
• On your website
• On your mobile site
• On your prototypes.
• On most public URLs. Even competitor sites

Need more? No problem, check out SurveyMonkey’s Market Research solution . It taps into the agile market research models we’ve discussed. They’ve got 14 online solutions that help you stay on top of your game, including customer segmentation, monitoring market dynamics, brand, creative analysis, feature importance, finding the right price for your products, and more.

So you think you have a tough business challenge? This daring gentleman is trying to disrupt… eggs. Extremely hard, but doable with market research on his side.

Website/app analytics

Tracking your website or app traffic is absolute marketing basics. Just look at some data dimensions Google Analytics offers:

• Demographics

Sounds familiar? Yup, that sounds like good ol’ market segmentation. Here’s the best part: it’s free, quick to perform and it’s based on your primary data.

If you’ve never dug deeper into Google Analytics, or similar analytics software (e.g., Matomo , Woopra ) here are some questions that this marketing technology can answer for you: 

• What do people search for once they’re on my site?
• What differentiates customers who have made a purchase from the ones that haven’t?
• What are my top countries by revenue?
• What are my best selling products?

If you’re already using Google Analytics, see if you’re not making these Google Analytics tracking mistakes. 

User experience research tools

Commonly used by UX designers, but just listen to the value propositions of these tools:

• “See and hear real people using your website, online shop or app.” ( https://userpeek.com/ )
• “Real-time feedback. From real customers. Wherever you work. So you can create experiences that get real results.” ( https://www.usertesting.com/ )
• “Scalable & Customized User Research” ( https://www.userlytics.com/ )
• “Record video and audio of your users, so you see and hear their exact experience with your product.” ( https://www.loop11.com/ )

Again, sounds much like our market research methods, right? And it’s no joke, thousands of companies use these tools.

User experience research tools allow you to get user feedback and insights on your products, prototypes, websites, and apps.

Testing is based on tasks your test-takers perform. You can either use your own user base or define a custom base using their services. You’ll get written reports and even recorded videos that you can incorporate into your market research and make sure you’re properly taking advantage of that market opportunity.

Ad planning tools

That’s right—the Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter ad planner you already use for running ads can give you some insight into the numbers behind the market segments you’re interested in.

30+ males with higher education interested in technology gadgets? No problem. Female C-suite decision-makers from Europe? It’s all there.

Census data

The availability of this kind of data may vary based on your target market. For example, in the US the Census Bureau  offers a free resource for searching the country’s census data. You can filter the data by topics, years, geography, surveys, or industry codes. You can also access premade interactive tables (which you can also download) or simply explore certain regions of the country using their maps.

Business intelligence tools

With business intelligence tools like Tableau , Looker or Sisense , you can connect to any data source to perform data cleaning, statistical operations, and data visualization. They are designed to allow you to glean insights into your data, and communicate effectively with your stakeholders. It’s like SQL combined with R, but you don’t need coding skills and you get a user-friendly interface.

Because these tools are overflowing with functionality and because they are usually pricey, they are overkill for small companies with basic market research needs. Often you will find that the tool that you are already using for your research method comes with some data analysis and visualization functions. And if not, you can always import your data to Excel or Google Docs and use Google Data Studio for a shareable interactive presentation.

Other noteworthy tools and services

• Think with Google
• Living Facts

Final thoughts

Market research is no easy feat. If you feel intimidated by it, you’re not the only one. But don’t shy away from it. The benefits of conducting even sporadic market research can have benefits for your business you simply can’t ignore. You won’t turn into a market research pro overnight, but the good news is you don’t have to. You can go the agile way (like Ahrefs), use affordable self-service online tools and resources, or you can even outsource your research. As long as you base your marketing game plan on valid data, you dramatically improve your chances for success.

Got questions? Ping me on Twitter .

Global business

2023 Guide to Market Research: Key Strategies and Best Practices

When Steve Sasson—a Kodak engineer—invented the first digital camera in 1975, a breakthrough in photography was born. However, Kodak wasn’t interested—it was a film company, and Sasson’s digital camera threatened to disrupt its core business. Despite an extensive market research effort confirming the imminent shift from film to digital, Kodak continued to double down on its film business until it filed for bankruptcy in 2012.

The moral of the story is that strategic decisions need to be based on accurate market research in order to avoid costly mistakes, especially when they entail reinvention. Kodak is just one example—another common scenario in which a company might need to reinvent itself is when it’s looking to expand into new markets . Be it a new or adapted product or service, a new target audience, or new business models—changing tack to cater to a new market can be a make-or-break moment for businesses.

That’s why, if you’re looking to take your product global, conducting market research should be a key part of your strategy. Venturing into unfamiliar markets armed with solid market intelligence can help you make the most of opportunities and avoid pitfalls. In this article, we will discuss best practices for market research as a key component of a global expansion , and how you can make the most of it.

What is market research?

Market research is the process of collecting and analyzing data about a target market to understand consumer preferences and purchasing decisions. Companies can use this information to better inform their business strategies, such as what products or services to develop, how to adapt them to different market conditions, or what factors can affect demand.

When a company operates globally or is trying to enter new markets, market research becomes even more important. This is because culture and geography can have a big impact on consumer behavior. To be successful, you need to understand the nuances of each market and tailor your products and marketing strategies accordingly.

Market research vs marketing research

It’s common to see the terms “market research” and “marketing research” used interchangeably, but they actually refer to two different things.

Market research is a broad category that includes all types of data collection and analysis related to a target market. The aim is to understand the market, including the needs of consumers and the dynamics of competition.

Marketing research, on the other hand, is more specific and refers to the process of collecting and analyzing data to assess and identify the changing elements of the marketing mix (product, price, place, and promotion).

For example, if you want to launch a new product in the Spanish market, you would first conduct market research to assess whether there is a demand for it, what the market size, what market trends are, and what the competition looks like.

Once you have this information, you can then move on to marketing research for concept testing and to determine how to market the product , what channels to use for distribution, and what kind of marketing campaigns will be most effective.

Both activities do share some similarities, though: They may use the same data sources and methods, and the line between them can sometimes be blurry. Ultimately, the goal of both is to generate insights that can be used to make better business decisions.

Why is market research important?

There are many reasons why market research is important, but perhaps the most important is that it helps you reduce risk. When you have a clear understanding of your target market and what they want, you are much less likely to make costly mistakes.

In the context of globalization , market research can help you assess the potential of new markets and make informed decisions about where to allocate resources. It can also help you develop strategies for entering new markets, such as identifying the most effective channels for marketing and distribution.

When you’re expanding your business into new markets informed by market research, you’re much more likely to:

• Develop successful products and services: By understanding your customers’ needs , you can develop products and services that they will actually want to buy.
• Increase sales: By understanding your target market’s buying habits, pain points, and motivators, you can develop marketing campaigns that are more likely to resonate and result in sales.
• Improve customer satisfaction: If you know what your customers want, you can deliver it to them, resulting in happier customers who are more likely to continue doing business with you.
• Reduce costs by avoiding duplicate effort: Market intelligence allows you to allocate resources strategically and get it right the first time. For example, you can avoid spending money on conventional translation for marketing campaigns that require more creative adaptation to be effective in a new market.
• Get localization right: A good localization strategy is a key to success in any new market. But without market intelligence, it can be difficult to know how to adapt your products and marketing materials for a new culture. For example, you might not realize that certain colors have different connotations in different cultures, or that video content gives you a higher return on investment in one market but not another.

Arming yourself with nothing but assumptions can lead to less-than-optimal results—and this is especially true when expanding into new markets. When legal systems, consumer preferences, and business practices differ from country to country, the risks are even greater, and so should your commitment to market research.

Market analytics vs market research

A common misconception is that market research and analytics mean the same. In reality, they’re two distinct ways of doing consumer investigation, and they serve different purposes.

Market analytics is the process of collecting and analyzing data to unveil patterns and trends. This data can come from a variety of sources, including surveys, social media, transactional data, and web analytics. For example, you might use market analytics to track how often certain foreign-language keywords are being searched for on Google or to understand which demographics are most likely to purchase your product outside your home market.

Market research, on the other hand, captures data to answer specific questions. For example, a company might want to know what factors influence its customers’ purchase decisions in a particular market, or what the barriers to entry are for a new product.

Market analytics can help generate hypotheses that you can then test through market research. You can think of analytics as the inward-looking “what” (What happens? What are the trends?) and market research as the outward-looking “why” (Why does it happen? Why do people want this?).

When you leverage market analytics and market research together, you can get a well-rounded view of your target market and what they want. This, in turn, helps you make better business decisions and avoid costly mistakes.

What types of market research are there?

There are several types of market research depending on the questions you want to answer, the type of data you need, the resources that you have available, and the timeline that you are working with.

Primary market research vs secondary market research

Primary research is the first-hand research that you conduct yourself. This could involve surveys, interviews, focus groups, or any other type of research method where you directly interact with consumers.

Secondary research is the intelligence that someone else has already gathered and published. This includes data from government reports, trade associations, industry journals, commercial data providers, and other published sources.

Quantitative market research vs qualitative market research

Quantitative research focuses on numbers and statistics. For example, if you want what percentage of people in a certain age group prefer your product over a competitor’s, you would use quantitative research. Polls, surveys, desk research, web statistics, and consumer panels are all quantitative research methods.

Qualitative research, on the other hand, focuses on understanding people’s opinions, motivations, and behaviors. Multilingual sentiment analysis, ethnography, and in-depth interviews are all qualitative research methods.

Exploratory market research vs conclusive market research

You use exploratory research to generate hypotheses and identify key variables. This type of research is frequent at the beginning of a project to get a better understanding of the problem. For example, if you want to know why customers are leaving your website in a foreign market, you might use exploratory research to generate hypotheses that you can then test through further market research.

Conclusive research is used to test hypotheses and measure relationships. This type of research usually comes after exploratory research. For example, if your exploratory research suggests that customers are leaving your website because the current user experience isn’t considering their cultural preferences—think things like imagery or payment methods—you could use conclusive research to measure the impact of a new user interface that takes these cultural preferences into account.

Branding research

Branding research helps you create, manage, and measure the success of your brand. This type of research can help you understand how customers perceive your brand, what associations they have with it, and how well your brand is positioned in the market.

When expanding globally, branding research can help you strike the right balance between global brand consistency and local brand relevance. It can also help you understand how to adapt your brand messaging and identity to different cultures.

Product development research

Product development research helps you establish if there is a market for your product or service and what features or benefits customers are looking for. This type of research can help you understand the viability of your product, optimize its characteristics, and ensure it performs well before taking it to market.

Most global companies adapt their product offering to local markets. Product development research can help you understand what features or benefits are most important to customers in different countries so you can out-compete local companies.

Customer research

Customer research is a type of market research that can serve different purposes, from segmenting your customer base to measuring customer satisfaction. In the context of international operations, customer research can help you understand how to appeal to different customer segments in different countries.

For example, when you know that 64% of Asian-Pacific customers are willing to share personal data for a tailored online experience, you can use this information to improve your website design and user experience in the region.

The main types of customer research are:

• Customer satisfaction research: Also known as customer experience research, this type of research helps you understand how customers feel about your product or service. This includes understanding what they like and don’t like, their unmet needs, and how likely they are to recommend your product or service to others.
• Customer segmentation research: Segmentation research helps you understand how to divide your customer base into smaller groups with shared characteristics. This type of research can help you better target your marketing efforts and create more personalized experiences for your customers.
• Consumer insights: Consumer insights are actionable, research-based observations about your customers. They go beyond demographic information to include things like customer values, preferences, and behaviors. For example, if you want to understand why customers in a certain market are choosing your competitor’s product over yours, consumer insights research could help you uncover the reasons.

Competitive market research

Competitive market research helps you understand what your competitors are doing. This can include things like their marketing strategies, product offerings, pricing, and distribution channels. Understanding your competitor’s strengths and weaknesses can help you make informed decisions about how to position your own product or service in the market.

How to do market research?

Like every complex process, you can break market research down into smaller, more manageable steps. Here’s a high-level overview of how to do market research:

Identify your target audience

The first step in any market research project is to identify your target audience. This will help you focus your research efforts and ensure that you’re gathering information that’s relevant to your business. For example, if you’re planning an expansion to the Brazilian market, an example of a target audience you might identify would be “Brazilian upper-middle-class women ages 25-40.”

Define your research objectives

Identify an issue, problem, or opportunity that you want to understand better. For example: “I want to understand what payment methods Brazilian upper-middle-class women ages 25-40 prefer when shopping online so we can optimize our checkout process.”

Select your research methods

Once you’ve identified your target audience and objectives, you’ll need to select the research methods that will help you gather the data you need. There are many different market research methods, some of which are quantitative and some of which are qualitative. In the case above, to find out the preferred payment methods of Brazilian shoppers, you might conduct a survey.

Develop your research plan

Once you’ve selected your methods, you move on to developing your research plan. This should include a detailed description of how you’ll execute your project, including timelines, budgets, and any risks or challenges you anticipate. For example, if you’re planning to conduct interviews in Brazil, you’ll need to consider things like language barriers and cultural differences.

Collect and analyze your data

Once you’ve executed your research plan, it’s time to collect and analyze your data. This can be a complex process, depending on the methods you’ve used and the type of data you’ve gathered. In the case of a survey, you might use statistical software to analyze your results.

Present your findings

After you’ve analyzed your data, you’ll need to present your findings in a way that’s easy for others to understand. The stakeholders in your business will use these findings to make decisions about things like product development, marketing, and expansion plans. How you present your findings will depend on the type of data you’ve collected and the objectives of your research. For example, if you’re presenting the results of a survey, you might create a report or presentation that includes charts and graphs.

The above steps are a high-level overview of the market research process. In practice, each project will be unique, and you’ll need to tailor your approach to fit the specific needs of your business.

What are some key market research methods? 

We’ve briefly touched on some of the most common market research methods, but let’s take a closer look at each one:

Surveys involve collecting data from a target audience through questions administered either in person, by phone, or online. They can be used to gather data about a wide range of topics, including consumer behavior, preferences, and opinions.

• Surveys are relatively easy and inexpensive to administer.
• They can provide a great deal of immediate information.
• Their extensive reach gives you insights about a large number of people.
• Analyzing survey data is typically straightforward.
• Surveys can be time-consuming to administer and analyze.
• It can be difficult to find people who are willing to participate.
• Survey results can be skewed by the way you word questions or by the order in which you ask them .

How to do it right:

• Avoid asking too many questions so as not to overwhelm respondents
• Make sure your questions are clear and concise
• Try to ask neutral questions that don’t lead respondents to a particular answer
• Include open-ended questions to encourage respondents to give more detailed answers.

Interviews are a type of market research that involve conducting in-depth conversations with individuals from a target audience. They can be used to gather data about a wide range of topics, including attitudes, beliefs, and motivations.

• Interviews can provide a great deal of rich, detailed information about a small number of people.
• You can conduct them online if needed.
• They allow you to build empathy with your audience.
• The resources required to administer interviews (e.g., time, money, personnel) can be significant.
• It can be challenging to find people who are willing to participate (incentives might be necessary to encourage participation).
• They don’t reach an audience as extensive as surveys do.
• Choose the most appropriate format for your interview—e.g., in-person, phone, video chat, etc.
• Make sure to explain to the respondent what the interview will entail and how you will use their responses.
• Build rapport by repeating back what the respondent says and showing empathy
• Leave time for follow-up questions.

Focus groups

Many companies choose to bring together a group of potential customers to discuss a product or service before it’s launched. This type of market research is called a focus group, and it can be used to gather data about things like reactions, perceptions, and opinions.

• Focus groups can provide rich, detailed information about a small number of people.
• They can provide insights into the purchase decision-making process.
• You can easily measure customer reactions to a product’s design, packaging, price and message.
• They aren’t as in-depth as interviews.
• They can be expensive to conduct.
• They can be biased by the moderator’s questions or the group dynamics—like a dominant personality in the group who steers everyone’s opinions.
• People might not give honest feedback if you’re paying them to participate.
• Ensure the recruiting process is well-designed so you end up with a diverse and representative group of participants.
• Use skilled and experienced moderators who know how to keep the discussion on track.
• Pay attention to the nonverbal cues of participants—e.g., body language.
• Establish ground rules at the beginning of the session.
• Consider and pre-empty potential intercultural communication issues.

Observational research

When you observe people, you’re looking at their behavior in a natural setting. This type of market research can be used to gather data about a wide range of topics, including shopping habits, use of public spaces, and interactions with technology. There’s both overt and covert observational research, depending on whether or not participants are aware that they’re being watched.

• Observational research is relatively easy and inexpensive to conduct.
• Natural surroundings can provide insights that would be difficult or impossible to glean from other types of market research.
• The researcher’s own biases can skew the data.
• It can be time-consuming to observe people for extended periods of time.
• People might not behave naturally if they’re aware that someone’s watching them.
• When conducting covert observational research, be sure to follow all ethical guidelines.
• When conducting overt observational research, make sure to get the consent of participants.
• Always capture context.
• Try to avoid bias by maintaining a detached and objective attitude.
• Be sure to take detailed notes or record videos of the behavior you’re observing.
• Complete debriefing notes as soon as possible after the observation so the data is fresh in your mind.

What are some best practices for market research?

For any market research project, it’s important to keep the following best practices in mind:

Define your scope and objectives clearly

Unless you know what you’re trying to learn, it will be difficult to design an effective market research project. Based on your product offering, target market, and expansion goals, you should be able to define the scope and objectives of your project. These will help guide the rest of your decisions.

Get input from stakeholders early on

People whom the results of the market research will affect—e.g., marketing, sales, leadership—should be involved from the outset to help shape the project. Their input will ensure that the objectives of the market research are aligned with the company’s goals, and it will help ensure buy-in for the project from key stakeholders.

Consider cultural differences

If you’re expanding into new markets, it’s important to be aware of cultural differences that could affect your market research. For example, some cultures might consider it impolite to ask certain types of questions, or the interpretation of body language might be different. Working with local market research partners can help you navigate these differences.

Choose the right method

While it’s tempting to assume that any research method will eventually get you the information you need, that’s often not the case. For example, if you’re trying to learn about the associations that your content is getting in a foreign market to spot and fix any cultural missteps, a multiple-choice survey with predefined answers might not be the most optimal method.

Pilot-test your methods

Before you launch a full-scale market research project, it’s important to pilot-test your methods to make sure they’re effective. This will help you identify any potential problems so that you can fix them before they impact your data.

Analyze your results carefully

All the data in the world won’t be of any use if you don’t take the time to analyze it carefully. When reviewing your results, look for both quantitative and qualitative trends, and try to identify any potential sources of bias. Moreover, if you’ve conducted the research in a language other than your own, it’s a good idea to enlist the help of professional localizers who can help you interpret the results—they’ll be familiar with the nuances of the language and culture that you might not be.

Communicate your findings effectively

Communication can be a challenge when dealing with market research since you’re often dealing with complex data sets. However, presenting your findings in a way that’s clear and actionable for stakeholders is crucial if you want your research to have an impact.

Follow up with respondents

If you’ve collected data from respondents, it’s important to follow up with them after the fact. This shows that you value their input. Moreover, if you’ve acted on any of their feedback, be sure to let them know the results—e.g., a feature they suggested was added to the product, their feedback helped shape a new marketing campaign, etc. This can make a big impression and solidify your relationship with respondents.

Effective market research must be systematic

When done right, market research is a powerful tool that can help companies make informed decisions about their expansion strategies. However, a lack of planning and foresight can lead to wasted effort and resources.

By following a systematic process and keeping best practices in mind, you can ensure that your market research is effective and informative. The result is a stronger market expansion strategy and a better chance of success in new markets.

Last updated on August 11, 2023.

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How to Conduct Market Research: A Step-By-Step Guide

Figuring out how to do market research for the first time can be intimidating and confusing. There are so many categories and different methods to choose from. It often seems like an endless list of organizational tasks and preparations.

However cumbersome as it might seem, research has an irreplaceable value for every company, be it a startup or a big corporation. It’s an instrument that leaders must use to keep themselves informed and up-to-date with market changes and make smart choices.

By observing your customers, you gain valuable insights into their personalities, motivations, challenges, and consumer behavior.

Furthermore, the data you gather gives you a glimpse of the processes that control the marketplace. You can gain a strategic edge over seemingly random or meaningless situations by learning more about them.

To sum up, doing your research helps you make better data-based business choices. This leads to better products, satisfied customers, and crushed competition. Sounds good, right?

If you follow through with your research with precision and discipline, you will soon be able to scale your company’s success rate significantly.

Before you read this guide and start your efforts, we advise you to brush up on the basics first and go through our other articles on market research:

• Market Research 101: From Beginner to Advanced
• Conducting Market Research: 6 Methods to Explore
• 15 Essential Market Research Tips for Businesses

Digging deeper into the process will give you the necessary background and confidence to go forth without any concerns.

So, without further ado, let’s roll our sleeves and get started on how to conduct market research. Read on and take notes!

1. Define the Research Goal

The first step of the process is defining your goal. It is important to start with a clear idea of why you are doing the research and what you want to accomplish. If your motivation is vague, you risk straying from your objectives and becoming distracted by irrelevant information.

During your study, you may find other important topics that are not closely related to the problem you are addressing. You should record them and save them for later research in different projects.

Mixing questions regarding too many problems in one survey can confuse the respondents and affect the accuracy of their answers. It can also make the research results too inconsistent. And it’s hard to conclude a bunch of random facts.

By stating the purpose and the problems of your research, you can establish a clear goal guiding everyone throughout the process.

This way, you’ll concentrate your efforts, and, in the end, you’ll be able to make informed decisions based on data.

For example, if you are choosing the pricing model for a new SaaS product, you should perform market research to make sure you’ll pick out the best one for your business. In this case, it should be something like “ Find out the best pricing strategy for the product ”. Some of the objectives can be:

• Identify the target audience.
• Find out what products they are currently using.
• Learn how much they are paying for them.
• Understand how much they are willing to pay.
• Research how they are using similar products.
• Discover what features they’d pay more for.
• Compare your product to the competition, etc.

Ultimately, your goal should be what you want to see accomplished in the future. That’s why it’s best to focus on your plans and targets, rather than on your current problems. Otherwise, you risk being stuck with unsolvable issues rather than with creative solutions.

2. Create Client Personas

When doing market research, you need a group of people who’ll answer your questions and whose opinions are important to your business. To identify these people, you should first create profiles that fit your target audience.

Client personas, or buyer personas , are collective profiles representing your ideal customers’ common qualities. They can be based on your top buyers in an attempt to attract more people like them to your business, or if you are just starting, they can be the product of separate market research.

Every business should have market personas. If you have already created yours – way to go, you are one step ahead! If you have not yet done it, now is a good time.

When building the buyer persona’s profile, you should include the following basic information, and add other specific factors, if there are any:

• Demographic – Age, gender, location, etc.
• Personal Information – Family status, income, interests, etc.
• Work-related details – Company, position, decision-making level, etc.
• Pain Points – Work and personal life struggles, barriers to achieving goals, etc.

For further reference on how to build buyer persona profiles, you can read DevriX’s article:

An Advanced Guide to Creating and Using Buyer Personas to Convert Leads

3. Identify the Sample

A market research sample is a representative group of people who match your client persona profiles. Depending on the scope of the study, you might include in it people who fit one or multiple personas.

Ideally, if you want the results to be representative, you should focus on a single profile. However, if you feel that you will get more information from different types of customers, you can define separate samples for every participating persona and compare the results at the end.

Defining and identifying a representative sample is the foundation of accumulating accurate results. If your participants don’t match the profile you need, their answers will not be relevant to your goals.

Participants for samples can be identified in:

• Your customer database . Clients should be divided into groups matching your buyer persona profiles. If you haven’t already implemented the segmentation , doing it will help you sift through who to invite to participate in the research.
• Competitors’ clients. People who use products similar to yours and fit the profile, but are not currently your customers, are a great addition to your research. By learning about their opinions and preferences, you can attract them as clients in the future.
• Your lead database . Every lead you have in your email list or CRM tool can be a potential candidate for the survey sample. As with existing customers, leads should be segmented not only for research but also for better marketing.
• Social media profiles . Your network of followers on different social media platforms can be a valuable resource in every survey. By announcing the desired profiles participants should fit and encouraging people to share with acquaintances, you can reach many more potential participants.

Your sample must be large enough and also representative of the population you are targeting. Choosing an audience too small or an ill-targeted group of people can make the results of the research biased.

Although there is not a universal minimal number of people to include in your study, it is generally accepted amongst scientists that less than 100 people is insufficient to make up a statistically relevant conclusion. Therefore, to ensure you’ll reach this number, you’ll have to distribute your questions to at least 150 people.

However, if you want to research only your existing customers and they are less than 100 in total, you can still carry out your study but you’ll have to accept a larger error margin .

4. Perform Your Chosen Research Methods

Once your sample is clear, you can move forward to conducting market research. Depending on your goals, you can explore different methods, but we will be using a strategy combining a few of them for this article. This is usually the safest way to guarantee that your results will be comprehensible and on point.

Prep Your Questions

The goals and objectives you set in the initial stages of your research should be organized and formulated into questions you can ask your participants.

Although the phrasing and scope of these will probably change and be refined throughout the different stages of the research, you should consider testing them at the beginning on a small sample. This will allow you to eliminate rookie mistakes and save you some trouble further on in the research.

Do Secondary Research

Before you start studying your audience, you should consider doing secondary research to build a general idea of the market.

You can find paid and free data available in government databases, private research companies, educational institutions, and public libraries.

There is a chance that the information you go through has nothing to do with the goals of your particular research. But it can still help you identify market patterns at scale and configure your following moves.

Try Various Exploratory Methods

The next step is to dive into your specific target audience and see how things are. This can be done via different exploratory research methods.

1. Observation. At this stage, consider starting with observation. This will give you an idea of how your customers act in real-life situations in their natural environment.

2. Focus Group Meetings. You can continue by consolidating your initial impressions in focus group meetings. The moderator can ask the participants about the subjects that got their attention and the discussion that follows can give you additional insights.

3. Personal Interviews. Interviewing individual representatives of your sample will allow you to ask even more follow-up questions and have a chance to learn about your customers’ preferences, goals, and pain points.

Distribute Customer Surveys

You can leverage all the information you’ve gathered in the previous steps to design customer surveys . They will help you acquire the answers to your questions at scale and prove or disprove the hypothesis built in the exploratory stage.

The questions in the surveys should be as simple and easy to understand as possible. Avoid answers that lead the customer in the direction you’d like. This might influence their responses and compromise the results.

5. Analyze the Data and Organize It Into a Report

The data you obtain should be analyzed and organized at the end of every stage of your market research. These preliminary reports will serve you in the process of the study and will make building the final report easier.

Results from the research will be both qualitative and quantitative and should be properly visualized to make sense to everyone to whom they would be presented.

Cold statistics can be overwhelming, but presenting the data in an engaging format can make it more appealing and clear.

Some forms of reporting are customer journey maps and affinity diagrams . Even users who are not technically advanced can take advantage of modern data visualization tools and make research data interesting to the audience of their presentation.

Step-by-Step Market Research

Conducting market research is complicated. It takes a lot of preparation and can seem intimidating at first. But once you become familiar with the basics, you will be able to do it yourself and reap its success.

By using this guide, you can study different aspects of your target market, and get to know your audience on a different level. Leveraging the data and insights you gather will give you a strategic advantage and empower you to make more informed data-based decisions for your business.

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Our marketing experts specialize in the complete spectrum of inbound marketing strategies. As an accredited HubSpot Agency Partner and a Semrush Partner, we engage in meticulous research, blending our extensive experience with the unique insights of our highly skilled team.

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

Team Fratzke

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

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

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

Article Overview

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

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

What is market research?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why do market research?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Primary vs. Secondary Research

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

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

Primary Research

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

Exploratory Primary Research

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

Specific Primary Research

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

Secondary Research

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

• Public sources
• Commercial sources
• Internal sources

Public Sources

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

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

Commercial Sources

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

Internal Sources

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

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

Types of Market Research

• Interviews (in-person or remote)

Focus Groups

• Product/ Service Use Research

Observation-Based Research

Buyer persona research, market segmentation research, pricing research.

• Competitive Analysis Research

Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Research

Brand awareness research, campaign research.

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

• Family size 
• Challenges faced at work or in life 

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

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

Product/Service Use Research

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Competitive Analysis

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

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

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

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

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

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

How to Do Market Research (Detailed Roadmap)

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

1. Define the problem or objective of the research

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

2. Determine the type of data needed

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

3. Identify the sources of data

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

4. Collect the data

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

5. Analyze the data

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

6. Interpret the results

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

7. Report the findings

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

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

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

8. Take action based on the findings

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

How to Prepare for Market Research Projects

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

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

How to Identify the Right People to Engage for Market Research

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

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

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

Gather a mix of participants

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here are a few ways to build your competitor list:

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

Identifying Content Competitors

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

Once you have this list, follow these steps:

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

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

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

Market Research Examples

Mcdonald's focus on customer feedback and profiling.

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

Nike's Extensive Research and Collaboration for Running Shoes Development

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

VideoTranscript

The takeaway.

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

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

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• Market Research

Effective Market Research: A Step-by-Step Guide

Key Takeaways

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

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

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

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

Why is Market Research Crucial?

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

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

The Significance of Strategic Planning

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

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

Navigating Our Step-by-Step Guide

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

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

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

But Why a Step-by-Step Guide?

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

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

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

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

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

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

About AppLabx

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

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

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

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

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

1. Understanding the Basics of Market Research

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

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

Definition and Purpose

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

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

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

Types of Market Research

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

Primary Research

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

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

Secondary Research

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

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

Identifying Research Objectives

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

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

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

2. Defining Your Target Audience

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

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

Importance of Target Audience Definition

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

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

Creating Buyer Personas

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

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

Demographic and Psychographic Data Integration

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

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

Utilizing Data Analytics for Precision

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

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

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

3. Conducting Competitor Analysis

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

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

Identifying Competitors: The Starting Line

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

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

Analyzing Competitor Strengths and Weaknesses

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

Example: SWOT Analysis in Action

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

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

Leveraging Technology for Competitive Insights

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

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

Benchmarking Strategies for Success

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

4. Choosing the Right Research Methods

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

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

Surveys and Questionnaires: Tapping into Mass Perspectives

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

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

Interviews and Focus Groups: Unveiling Nuanced Perspectives

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

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

Example: Focus Groups in Product Development

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

Observational Research: Understanding Behavior in the Wild

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

Data Mining and Analytics: Unearthing Patterns in Big Data

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

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

Choosing the Right Mix for Comprehensive Insights

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

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

5. Collecting and Analyzing Data

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

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

Data Collection Tools and Techniques: Precision in Practice

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

Example: Online Surveys with Google Forms

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

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

Quantitative vs. Qualitative Data: A Balancing Act

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

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

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

Data Analysis Tools and Software: Unleashing the Power of Technology

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

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

Example: Tableau in Visual Analytics

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

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

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

Ensuring Data Accuracy and Reliability: The Bedrock of Insights

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

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

Ethical Considerations in Data Collection: Upholding Integrity

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

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

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

6. Interpreting Research Findings

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

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

Drawing Conclusions: Connecting the Dots

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

Example: Consumer Behavior Analysis

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

Making Informed Decisions: Guiding the Way Forward

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

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

Addressing Limitations and Biases: Navigating Imperfections

No research is immune to limitations and biases.

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

Leveraging Visualization Tools: Bringing Data to Life

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

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

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

7. Implementing Changes Based on Research

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

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

Strategic Planning: Blueprint for Success

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

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

Example: E-commerce Expansion Strategy

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

Product or Service Adjustments: Aligning with Market Needs

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

Example: Tech Product Iterations

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

Marketing and Communication Strategies: Targeted Outreach

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

Example: Strategic Marketing Campaigns

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

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

Measuring and Adapting: The Continuous Cycle

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

Example: E-commerce Conversion Rates as a KPI

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

8. Monitoring and Adapting

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

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

Continuous Monitoring: Staying Ahead of the Curve

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

Example: Real-Time Analytics in E-commerce

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

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Metrics for Success

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

Example: Customer Retention Rate

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

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

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

Adapting to Market Changes: Agility in Action

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

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

Example: Responsive Social Media Engagement

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

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

Benchmarking Against Competitors: Staying Competitive

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

Example: Competitive Pricing Benchmarking

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

Customer Feedback Loops: A Continuous Dialogue

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

Example: Feedback Integration in Software Development

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

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

9. Tips for Effective Market Research

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

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

Stay Updated on Industry Trends: The Pulse of Innovation

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

Example: Tech Companies Anticipating Trends

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

Incorporate Customer Feedback: A Goldmine of Insights

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

Example: Iterative Product Development

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

Collaborate with Cross-Functional Teams: Holistic Insights

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

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

Example: Product Launch Strategy

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

Utilize Advanced Analytics: From Data to Actionable Insights

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

Example: Predictive Analytics in Retail

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

Regularly Revisit and Refine Research Objectives: Agile Adaptation

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

Example: Quarterly Objectives Review

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

10. Additional Resources

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

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

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

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

Online Courses and Training Programs: Sharpening Research Skills

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

Professional Organizations: Networking and Insights Exchange

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

Blogs and Online Communities: Real-World Insights Sharing

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

Government and Nonprofit Resources: Reliable Data Repositories

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

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

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

The Tapestry of Insights Woven

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

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

Realizing the Potential of Understanding

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

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

Identifying the Audience: Precision in Targeting

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

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

Data-Driven Narratives: The Power of Stories

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

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

Choosing Wisely: The Art of Method Selection

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

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

Data, the Artist’s Palette: Vibrant and Varied

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

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

Interpreting Insights: The Conductor’s Baton

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

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

Visualizing the Symphony: Tools for Clarity

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

Strategic Implementation: The Grand Performance

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

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

Continuous Refinement: The Encore

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

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

Resources for Ongoing Excellence: The Library of Wisdom

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

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

The Culmination: A Symphony of Success

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

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

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

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

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People also ask

What are the 4 types of market research.

The four types of market research are:

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

What are the 4 pillars of market research?

The 4 pillars of market research are:

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

What software is used for market research?

Various software tools enhance market research processes, including:

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

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

More From Forbes

7 types of market research and how to improve them.

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By Matthew Bertram, Head of Strategy at EWR Digital & Co-Host of "The Unknown Secrets of Internet Marketing Podcast."

Data-driven decision-making (DDDM) is just a fancy term for making intelligent decisions based on what your data is telling you.

Modern market research combines DDDM with advanced technology to uncover even more granular data, which can be used to personalize market messaging and find potential areas for growth.

Traditionally, market research encompassed four major disciplines: primary, secondary, quantitative and qualitative. However, as technology and marketing have become sophisticated, we’ve divided many of these types of research and insights into individual processes that allow for more granular data collection.

So instead of relying on primary research from focus groups and surveys, we can uncover much of the same information through brand research, keyword research and competitive analysis.

We’ll talk about these forms of market research and more, as well as some tips to improve each research process to help you master the process of data collection and analysis.

1. Competitive Analysis

When businesses have nowhere else to start, they can always scrap data about their competitors.

Competitive analysis can benchmark future performance and inspire marketing, advertising, pricing and product development ideas.

In SEO, competitive research involves tracking metrics, such as keywords, online traffic, sales volume and advertising cost-per-click.

However, competitive research could include looking at your competitor’s online reputation, product pricing or any other variable important to your business.

To improve your competitive research, I suggest investing in the right tools, such as:

• SE Ranking

Nevertheless, most of the strategies and tools we outline in this guide can be used against competitors for greater detail.

2. Brand Sentiment

Brand sentiment measures how well customers perceive your brand. Generally, your brand sentiment will encompass your brand’s

• Awareness: How many people are aware of your brand?

• Loyalty: How loyal are people to your brand?

• Advocacy: How likely are people to recommend your brand?

• Penetration: How successful is your brand at penetrating its market vertical?

• Value: How valuable is your brand in nominal terms?

Again, technology is your best friend, and I recommend using tools like Hootsuite or Sprout Social that measure your brand’s sentiment on social media and across the web. Soliciting customer feedback and reading reviews are also great indicators of your brand’s perception.

Depending on the size of your brand and its age, pick the right metrics you want to track and then map out your brand visually against your competitors to see how well your brand stacks up and where weaknesses lie.

3. Customer Decision-Making

Customer journey or decision-making research tells why customers make purchases and why they don’t.

More specifically, this research speaks to their

• Purchasing habits

• Demographic information

• Hobbies and interests

• Media habits

Understanding these behavioral, demographic and psychographic parameters allows you to create personalized marketing campaigns and incentives that can increase sales.

First, gather data through a CRM like HubSpot or Salesforce that allows for customer journey mapping. Second, consult your analytics using tools like Google Analytics or Search Console that allows for on-page behavioral reporting and attribution data so you can understand what led to a buyer’s purchase.

Again, primary research tools like surveys and direct feedback can also help tremendously.

Additionally, tools like Meta’s Audience Insights have historically always been a data gold mine for segmenting and building the right audience lists for your business.

4. Customer Segmentation

This leads us to another important consideration: market segmentation. Researching the right customer segments to market to can help you increase ROI significantly.

You can use many of the same tools from the previous point to build a buyer persona based on geographic, psychographic and demographic data. For example, HubSpot and Meta’s Audience Insights are great for uncovering much of this data and building audience lists you can export to other programs.

To save time experimenting with different audience segments, use surveys to help you uncover more granular data regarding audience behavior and interests.

5. Market Messaging

Surveys and customer feedback are also incredibly important for monitoring campaign messaging from any advertising/marketing campaigns you are actively running. This research shows how well your business connects with its customers via messaging impact and reach.

For online advertising, use metrics like impressions, click-through rate, CPC and conversion ratio to show you how far your ads are reaching and how well they resonate.

On the organic side, tracking keyword rankings, on-page traffic, CTR and conversion rates can tell you if your marketing messaging is driving people to your site and whether they are making purchases.

6. Product Pricing

Finally, the last two forms of market research involve product pricing and development. Pricing is fairly straightforward and measures what customers are willing to pay for a product based on its utility.

To accurately test product pricing, conduct A/B tests with special plans, including tiered pricing that restricts some features or by scaling pricing based on different customer segments, such as separating plans between administrators and users.

Run tests and compare data with competitors to reach appropriate product pricing.

7. Product Development

Product development research tests how well a product is perceived by its intended audience. Sometimes this may incorporate usability testing, which tests how effective the product is for customers.

However, most product development research involves primary research via focus groups, surveys, one-on-one interviews and direct customer feedback. The idea is to hear how customers perceive the product directly to improve innovation and development.

The key to proper product development research is to account for every variable, such as:

• Customer research (interests, hobbies and perspectives)

• Market share (existing competition, product lifecycle, market risks, growth potential)

• Business case (problems solved, unique selling proposition)

• Marketing (promotion, pricing, proper messaging)

By harnessing the power of technology and improving your market research processes, you can position yourself to compete better and achieve more success within any given marketplace.

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The Complete Guide to Market Research Techniques

If you intend to conduct market research , you’ll need to be well versed in market research techniques. These methods will help you carry out a sufficient market research campaign, allowing you to better serve your customers and steer your business toward.

But when you are facing a concept as broad as market research, it is rather challenging to know where to begin and how to conduct the various forms of research. 

This complete guide to market research techniques will help lessen this challenge so that you can stride confidently into all your research needs.

Defining Market Research

Like several aspects of business, market research is not bound by one concept ; rather it is an umbrella term that encompasses a wide array of practices. 

Market research is the process of gathering information about your target market (the people most willing and likely to buy from a business), segmenting your buyer personas (market segmentation) and amassing knowledge on your competitors .

This category of research allows businesses to gain insights into the quantifiable aspects of their industry, along with the opinions and attitudes of past, current, potential and churned customers. 

The ultimate end goal of market research is to learn how successful your product or service is and/or will be within your industry, niche and most importantly, within your target market.

Primary Vs Secondary Research Research

The chief divider of market research involves the method of researcher participation, aka, the way the research is conducted. 

Primary research denotes an active form of research, in that researchers conduct the research themselves. This signifies that the information they are seeking has not yet been collected, or, that the research they need has been gathered, but they seek to gain their own, firsthand data.

As such, primary research involves using primary data, that is, the data that a researcher would extract themselves.

On the contrary, secondary research entails research that has already been conducted and (usually) has been made available. With this research category, the researchers aren’t required to amass their own intelligence; rather it involves aggregating knowledge that has already been collected and passed on by others.

As such, this kind of research largely involves summarizing, synthesizing and scrutinizing data and other forms of intelligence. Secondary research often involves studying the primary research that others have already conducted and packaged in their chosen form.

It is important to incorporate both styles of research for a comprehensive market research campaign . This is because there are going to be subjects that you cannot study simply through one form of research. For example, your competitors aren’t going to publish the primary studies that depict them in a negative light, no matter how accurate they are. 

Another example is your own set of customers; secondary research alone is not going to provide an adequate amount of data on them. There may not even be any data on your particular customer segment.

Primary Market Research Techniques

Here are a few techniques for completing primary market research. Researchers need not attempt all of these techniques, as some will be more useful and easier to execute than others. It all depends on your preferences and goals.

• Interviews: One of the more intimate methods, interviews can be managed over the phone or in person.
• Focus Groups: A more interactive form of interviews, this technique gathers data from a group of about 6-10 participants. Focus groups study subject matter experts. Using a moderator, these groups aim to incite discussion among the participants. This is a good method to perform to learn about a specific segment of your target market. Focus groups rely on open-ended, broad and qualitative research questions.
• Field Research: This is an observational method on subjects in their natural environment. To use this method, researchers do not interfere with the outcome or behavior of a situation. This technique grants direct observation of people and their interactions. Ex: An electronics brand seeks to observe how customers interact with a new line of products. They may do field research on in-store customers to study this. 
• Surveys: Online surveys are the best distribution method and allow you to study any topic. A strong online survey tool will enable you to set granular demographics requirements, ask a wide style of questions (multiple-selection, single selection, ratings, etc), add advanced skip logic , add media files and use multiple audiences per survey. Surveys can take many forms; business and consumer surveys alone form macro surveys that include their own survey types. 
• Test Marketing: This technique involves testing the usage and opinions of a new product by selling it to a small segment of one’s target market. For example, software brands test-market by using the “beta” versions of new features/products on a small group of likely customers. This method helps predict how a new product will fare in a larger market. 

Secondary Market Research Techniques

Secondary market research techniques require using sources specific to your industry and niche. While some sources may be general, you’ll need to gather intelligence most pertinent to your target market — or at least your industry. Here are a few citations to use for secondary research.

• The Census Bureau : Provides a portrait of the American economy, market sizes, populations, demographics and more. It includes the American FactFinder tool, which finds demographic, economic, social, household, and other data on geographic regions.
• The U.S. Small Business Administration : Captures statistics on economic matters such as employment, salary, income, sales and more. The SizeUp tool allows businesses to compare themselves against competitors. 
• The Bureau of Economic Analysis , which is a part of this department, creates economic reports on income, expenditures, and even savings data on a quarterly basis. This site shows the trends in product/service demand based on spending.
• Directory of Associations
• Encyclopedia of Associations  
• National Trade and Professional Associations Directory
• Professional Associations Directory  
• Forrester : Research in the consumer business and tech sectors.
• Statista : Statistics, reports, infographics & more on 170 industries and 150+ countries.
• Gartner : Research for senior leaders with business insights, advice and tools.
• IBISWorld : Industry reports by sector and country.
• Mintel : Market intelligence across industries and countries.
• Dun & Bradstreet : Data, analytics, and commercial insights for businesses with 120 million business records on over 1,000 industries.
• Ars Technica : A website covering news and commentary on the technology, science and politics space.
• The Business of Fashion : News and intelligence on the fashion industry.
• Grocery Drive : News that focuses on the grocery and ecommerce spaces.
• Premium Beauty News : Markets, trends, laws, new products and other news within the cosmetics industry worldwide.
• Realtor Magazine : News surrounding the real estate industry.
• Graduate student projects
• Faculty-based projects
• SEO and SEM Reporting: SEO is critical to growing your business online, as your target market won’t purchase from your business if they don’t find it. SEO/SEM sites help you gather keyword research to learn the most relevant to your niche.
• SEMrush : For SEO, PPC, content, social media and competitive research. 
• Moz : For rankings, keywords and link testing.
• ahrefs : For rankings, site audits and keywords.
• Google Keyword Planner : For finding keywords, tied with Google Ads.
• Screaming Frog : A site crawler for technical SEO site audits.

Quantitative Research vs Qualitative Research

This means you would often use both in your research campaigns.

Quantitative research is marked by measurable data that quantifies the opinions, attitudes and experiences that respondents report. It collects numerical data for producing statistics, finding prevalence and identifying patterns. 

The goal of quantitative research is to test a theory or hypothesis. Another common objective is to measure opinions in regards to a particular research topic. Quantitative research is also used to find causal relationships between variables, predict outcomes and create generalizations on broad populations.

Computing an instance or phenomenon takes precedence in this form of research, rather than gathering the reasons and motivations behind it. This kind of research works out the “who” and “what,” of a research subject.

Qualitative research stands in contrast with quantitative research, as a descriptive form of research. This form of research inquires into the depths of an attitude, opinion or phenomenon. Instead of delving into the statistical aspects around a research subject, which is known as the “what,” it works to find the reasoning behind it. 

As such, this research doesn’t seek to describe a situation, opinion or occurrence; rather it focuses on establishing the “why” behind it. 

Qualitative research was designed to take place in natural environments, i.e., places in which research participants can provide thorough answers. This environment can take place on or offline.

This form of research relies on using psychological, ethnographic and sociological approaches to study a target market. The design of a qualitative study evolves (along with the participants it studies).

In this form of research, there is no such thing as a single reality; rather it is changeable and subjective. It is highly interpretive, as it doesn’t involve simply adding or crunching numbers.

Quantitative Market Research Techniques

Quantitative research involves using methods that collate measurable data that can be encapsulated in graphs, charts, tables and other visualizations. Here are a few techniques for gathering this kind of data:

• Observations : Part of field research (as mentioned under primary research), researchers can observe customer behavior and occurrences in natural environments such as in-store behaviors. Observations can also exist online, for example, by using session replay tools found in analytics software.
• Statistics and other Published Resources : Researchers can garner quantitative data by studying secondary research. The technique involves looking at statistics websites, along with other data sources such as infographics and reports. This is a good starting point when dealing with quantitative data; it can also be used to compare findings between past and present data.
• Surveys : Perfect for discovering the “what” with multiple choice and multiple selection questions. Matrix questions help find the intensity of a phenomenon. There are swaths of different survey types you can implement, including macro ones like business surveys and consumer surveys , along with specific surveys such as the Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey or the Employee Satisfaction Survey . 

Qualitative Market Research Techniques

Quantitative research techniques necessitate being able to understand opinions in more depth to uncover motivations, reasonings and consumers’ general psyche. These methods do not require quantifying any findings. Instead, they require using exploratory and open-ended questions; the kind that fully reveal the bedrock of consumers’ attitudes. 

Here are a few techniques:

• Focus groups : These spur natural discussions by incorporating a small group of people with a moderator who prompts various conversations. Focus groups consist of people who share demographic attributes to study a target market or a segment of it. Unlike interviews, which are one-on-one, focus groups allow multiple people to speak, mimicking natural discourse and therefore having the participants influence each other.  
• Unstructured interviews : Unstructured interviews are in-depth interviews in which there are no premeditated questions. Instead, the interviewer asks open-ended questions that relate to the research topic. This way, the conversation runs like a natural exchange. The interviewer would keep questions relevant to both the research topic and the participant’s experiences.  
• Textual and visual analyses : A form of secondary research, researchers can draw analyses from qualitative research documents already available. This including looking at trade publications or research publications that focus on various consumers and other demographics.  
• Case Studies: This technique uses thorough investigations on a participant, a group, an event or a community. It merges various sources such as interviews, observations and surveys. Researchers analyze the data from these sources and put together the case study document. This is used in clinical medicine, but can be applied to numerous other industries, including the general business vertical. This method uses both information from the past (retrospective) along with present and everyday manners.  
• Surveys: Surveys can be every bit as qualitative as they are quantitative. In a qualitative survey, you would use open-ended questions. These often dovetail to quantitative questions by going more in-depth on them. Thus, you would need to use skip logic, so that if a respondent replies in one way, they would get rerouted to the appropriate follow-up question. Like with quantitative surveys, qualitative surveys can be applied to macro concepts like in cross-sectional surveys or for more specific ones, such as with community feedback surveys .

Other Forms of Market Research Techniques

Aside from the above two major types of market research classifications, there are several other major kinds of research techniques. Here are a few vital examples:

Retrospective Research

This research studies past events to see if or how they contributed to a current topic of interest. Also called historical research, this study inspects historical data. It falls under cohort studies, which follow a group of participants bound by a similar trait. This research uses observational studies that determine how often a phenomenon occurs within a targeted population. Techniques include:

• Survey panels
• Longitudinal surveys

Cross-Sectional Research

A cross-sectional study collects research on a particular population at one fixed point in time, essentially serving as a snapshot (aka cross-section) of a studied population. This type of survey does not require using a survey panel as this method follows a panel over several points in time. It is contrary to longitudinal studies, since they study participants at ongoing frequencies. Instead, it seeks to gain an overall portrait of a phenomenon during its time of study. Techniques include:

• Field research (especially recent studies)
• Surveys (Ex: community feedback surveys)

Prospective Research

Prospective research aims to predict the likelihood of a future event or issue. It is focused on outcomes and can also determine relationships between variables. A prospective study usually involves investigating a cohort of subjects over a long period. This research tends to be experimental in nature, as it seeks to uncover relationships between variables. Techniques include:

• Experiments 
• Longitudinal Surveys
• Focus groups

Wading the Waters of Market Research

While this guide covers the most pertinent and useful forms of market research technique, there are still more to explore. That is because certain techniques, such as survey research methods have many forms and subsets of methods that brands can apply to their campaigns. A strong research campaign will guide you deeper into the many techniques available, some are tried and true, while others are newer.

When you fortify your secondary research with a strong primary research tool, your campaign will be on the right track towards unique insights for all your business and market research needs.

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

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Market research trend analysis: a step-by-step guide

Last updated

23 July 2024

Reviewed by

Staying ahead of the curve can be difficult, especially in the face of technological advances like AI and new social media platforms like TikTok. Many businesses are struggling to keep ahead of their competition and understand what their customers want while retaining employees and growing their bottom line.

Market trend analysis can help you better understand what’s around the corner for your industry. You can use this knowledge to spot trends and adjust your business plan accordingly, differentiating yourself and your product offering while uncovering new ways to serve your customers.

• What is market trend analysis?

Market trend analysis means examining data to track market trends over time. The data you uncover can help you predict future market behavior and consumer patterns.

This analysis can help every facet of your business, from product development to marketing.

Market trend analysis is often done during times of financial duress and economic uncertainty, as businesses can struggle with how to remain relevant. However, it’s worth investing in this kind of data analysis at any time of the year as it enables you to identify new opportunities and figure out ways to serve customers that your competitors haven’t clocked yet.

• Why is market trend analysis so important?

Every business, regardless of size or industry, should invest in market trend analysis. Here are a few of the most significant reasons:

Reduce investment risk

Deciding whether to invest in a new product or service can be tricky—even during an economic upswing. It’s hard to know exactly which way the market will turn next or predict what your target customers will gravitate toward.

Investing in market trend analysis allows you to close that gap and get a deeper understanding of whether the new product is a good investment or one to delay.

Identify emerging trends early

One of the best ways to discover what your target customers are likely to invest in is figuring out what emerging trends are affecting the market. You can harness these trends and tailor your marketing strategies accordingly, building brand awareness as you show your customers how “on the pulse” your business is.

Improve forecasting accuracy

Meeting customer demands is the cornerstone of business growth. Market trend analysis can help improve forecasting by identifying new market segments and letting you get a closer look at customer preferences.

Maintain a competitive advantage

Examining historical consumer interest can help you calculate future demand and identify gaps in the market . When you know your growth opportunities, you can take action quickly, outmaneuvering your competition and taking advantage of exciting opportunities.

• How to conduct market trend analysis

Your team and methods for conducting the analysis might look very different from your competitor’s. This is because your goals will be unique.

That said, there’s a general five-step process for conducting the analysis that works for most organizations.

Step 1: identify emerging competitors, products, and industry terms

Identify your closest competitors and the products that are most closely aligned with yours. This is one of the first steps to take in any market trend research project.

It’s also important to figure out what trends to follow over time. You’ll want to think about whether those trends have peaked. In which case, they’ll now be static or receding. Or, you might identify trends that are exploding and have potential to grow further. The latter are trends with the best potential return on investment (ROI).

Whether you assign a team lead or several members of your team to this process (or you outsource it to an expert), allow the appropriate length of time to develop your research objectives and deliver against them. Doing this research properly can take time. Rushing through the process can lead to incomplete or inaccurate data.

Step 2: analyze quantitative data

Market size: you might size your market to calculate the potential for future growth should you take advantage of trends. In this instance, you’d look at what the path forward looks like for those trends.

Hiring trends: you might also review hiring trends relevant to market trends to get an idea of the market’s general health. If there are many new career opportunities and lots of hiring happening in that industry, it’s a good sign that the market is growing.

Funding trends: these can also provide a glimpse into the state of the market. If investment companies and venture capitalists are actively funding the market and joining forces with companies in that industry, you can count on promising growth trends.

Keep in mind that any one of these data points by itself won’t firmly indicate success or failure. However, when taken together and viewed as a quantitative whole, you can use these benchmarks as a guideline for the rest of your market trend research.

Step 3: gather qualitative secondary data around each trend

While quantitative data is a critical input for identifying and sizing trends, qualitative data gives you a deeper look at how and why your target customers feel how they do. This kind of in-depth, straight-from-the-source information can help you uncover gaps in the market and serve your customers better.

To gather qualitative data, spend time online investigating the websites and applications your target customers use most. Reading reviews is a good way to get insights since they help you get a pulse on your customer’s pain points and the general sentiments around the trends you’re researching.

Social listening is another excellent way to get insight into your target market’s thoughts and concerns. Ask a team member to scan the social media platforms your customers use most often. Reading comments, posts, and reviews can be both informative and insightful.

Social listening tools like Awario track brand mentions on social media platforms like X and TikTok. This can provide an overall sentiment analysis that can help you evaluate what your competitors are doing and plan how you should approach your sales and marketing campaigns.

Finally, consider reviewing industry forums to get a more detailed look at customer pain points and feedback surrounding certain brands and products. Reddit and Quora are active forums that invite consumers of all ages and backgrounds to share their experiences with platforms and applications. You can join specific forums if they are of interest or search for keywords and brand names to see what people are saying. Compile the feedback you find and save it along with the rest of your market research for review.

Step 4: conduct primary research to gather user feedback

Primary research is one of the best ways to go the extra mile when conducting your market research trend analysis.

Gathering user feedback through user surveys and direct responses from consumers allows you to put your finger on the pulse of exactly what your customers want. Surveying existing customers via email or a direct interview can enable you to get specific and get answers to the questions you want to know.

Live interviews can be time-consuming, but they can also be a goldmine of information and insights. You can ask more detailed, nuanced questions and follow up on any talking points that require clarification. Use the insights you gain to adjust your product strategy and inform marketing campaigns.

Step 5: create a beta offer around trends

Now it’s time to test run your data. Rather than automatically changing major strategies or goalposts, a beta offer can be a solid starting point.

A beta offer, such as a pre-order or small test run of a particular product or service, will let you see whether your target audience will actually buy the item. If your offer is a success, consider moving forward with your wider plan. If it stalls or sales don’t match your expectations, take a closer look at the data you have gathered and see if there’s anything you have missed. At this stage, there’s plenty of time to adjust your strategy before investing a lot of company resources.

• Advantages and disadvantages of trend analysis

Trend analysis has numerous advantages. It can help you and your team uncover new opportunities for marketing and sales and show you exciting new ways to serve your customers. Beyond these clear advantages, market trend research can minimize risk and enhance decision-making, giving investors and stakeholders the data they need to make more precise investments in the company.

Of course, there are some disadvantages as well. Notably, the research is only as accurate as the data you collect. If your data is inaccurate, your results could be flawed.

Market trend analysis, when done properly, can also take a long time to complete. It could require the attention of one or more team members, which can be challenging for companies with small teams. Many companies choose to outsource their market trend research to an expert group or individual. While this can enable you to save time and ensure relative accuracy, it can also be expensive. The cost could be prohibitive for many smaller businesses or startups.

• How to make your next trend analysis easy

Market trend analysis can be a powerful tool to further your business growth. It can be a challenge, but following the tips and best practices above can make the task easier.

Crucially, be sure to speak to the customers in your category. These people may be your customers or those of your competitors. Identify your target audience before you conduct trend analysis. This helps you know you’re asking the right people the right questions. A market research tool can also make the process easier, saving you and your team considerable time and resources while helping you collect and collate the necessary data.

You should also define your goals ahead of time. Even if you don’t have a particular product you’re hoping to promote, having an idea of the questions and outcomes you’re hoping for can guide the process.

With the right mindset, resources, and tools, your market trend research can be a lucrative endeavor that pays off for your organization in the short term and beyond.

How do you identify a trend?

You can identify a market trend in the following ways:

Analyze historical market data.

Track changes in consumer behavior.

Monitor industry moves and updates.

Use both statistical (quantitative) tools and qualitative analysis to spot patterns.

Regularly review competitor activities and category activities to confirm these trends.

How long does it take to conduct a thorough market analysis?

There’s no set time frame for conducting a market analysis, although it typically takes a few weeks to several months. This depends on data complexity and scope.

Businesses can opt for in-house analysis using their own data, hire market research firms for detailed insights, or use hybrid approaches combining external expertise with internal resources to tailor the analysis to specific needs and contexts.

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B2B market research methods

By Laura Ojeda Melchor | 6 min read | Updated Aug 22, 2024

Conducting market research as a business that sells products or services to other businesses is key to success. But for these business-to-business (B2B) organizations, the target audience isn’t individual people. It’s entire companies. 

This can make B2B market research challenging. How do you reach the right respondents for a study? What B2B market research methods should you use once you do have an audience lined up? 

We’ll answer these questions and more in this post. 

What is B2B market research? 

B2B market research is the process of talking to companies in your target audience to learn more about their needs. Like any other form of market research , the core goals of B2B market research are to: 

Understand the needs of your target audience: Identify the needs, pain points, and preferences of business clients.

Identify market opportunities: Learn about new market segments, niches, and growth opportunities you haven't yet considered.

Evaluate the competition: Analyze your competitors' strengths, weaknesses, market positioning, and strategies, and use this information to improve your marketing efforts.

Improve product development: Understand what users are looking for in product design and development so you can maximize the value of your products or services.

Refine marketing strategies: Develop powerful marketing and sales strategies based on insights gleaned from your target audience.

It’s tempting to focus on building something amazing that’ll get you a ton of revenue. In decades past, this was the norm. 

But in his book, Innovative B2B Marketing: New Models, Processes and Theory , Simon Hall—a University of Kent lecturer and marketing expert whose experience includes marketing roles at Dell UK, Toshiba, and Phillips—argues that even in B2B marketing, customer centricity is key.

Hall writes, “B2B marketers need to have a better grasp of organizational influences, and to better engage and communicate with businesses and stakeholders.” 

In other words, even though you’re dealing with a business, those businesses are made up of people. Individual people or groups of people sign off on purchases, after all. Building relationships throughout the B2B market research process matters, just like it does in B2C marketing.

Types of B2B research

There are four types of B2B market research to know about before you start mapping out your strategy: primary, secondary, qualitative, and quantitative. 

Here’s a closer look at each one. 

Primary research

Primary research in B2B marketing involves collecting first-hand data directly from the target audience or market. 

Businesses can collect this data from existing customers, but that's not the only way. They can also use their professional network—think LinkedIn, trade groups, and conference acquaintances—to create a custom research panel. Our guide to screener surveys can help you pick the right crowd. 

If there’s not much time to do all this work yourself, pre-recruited research panels from market research firms can work well, too. 

Popular methods for conducting primary research include:

Surveys and questionnaires: Send surveys to business clients or third-party research participants to gather data on their preferences and behaviors.

Interviews: Conduct one-on-one or group interviews in person, over the phone, or via video conferencing to gain in-depth insights.

Focus groups: Host structured group discussions moderated by a researcher to explore perceptions and opinions on specific products, services, or concepts.

Observations: Monitor and record the behavior of businesses in their natural environment to gather real-time data.

Experiments and pilots: Implement and test new products, services, or processes in a controlled setting to gauge their effectiveness—and the market response.

Case studies: Undertake detailed examinations of specific businesses or projects to understand their challenges, strategies, and outcomes.

Secondary research

In B2B market research, secondary research is all about analyzing data and information collected by other people. Here’s what it typically includes:

Industry reports: Studying reports published by research firms and market analysts can provide comprehensive data on specific industries or markets.

Company reports and publications: Businesses can learn a lot about the competition by reading financial reports, annual reports, white papers, and press releases from companies within the industry.

Government data: Statistics and data published by government agencies can help you understand your target audience. Think the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics , which provides economic indicators, performance data, and demographic information for various industries.

Online databases: Subscription-based databases and libraries can give you a wealth of information about different businesses. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has an excellent library of B2B market research database sources for all sorts of industries—including banking, tech, and healthcare—to help you get started. 

Customer reviews and feedback: You’ll find an unexpected treasure trove of secondary research on your competitors’ review aggregator profiles—and your own. Feedback from these B2B customers is one of the most valuable forms of data you can find. Those unfiltered opinions can tell you what’s working for you and your competitors—and what isn’t. 

Qualitative 

Qualitative research focuses on understanding the motivations behind your customers' behaviors. Instead of collecting numbers, your goal is to gather comments, opinions, and other expressive responses. 

In other words, qualitative research is more about quality and less about quantity. 

As in B2C market research, qualitative research helps you understand customer needs in B2B marketing. The only difference is you'll be looking for insights from people who hold specific roles at businesses in your target industry.

Remember: you're not collecting data from businesses, but from the people who run them.

Qualitative research helps you understand the nuances behind the numbers you gather with quantitative research methods. 

Quantitative

Quantitative B2B market research involves the systematic collection and analysis of numerical data. It's a lot more about cold, hard numbers and less about opinions and feelings. But the goal is the same: to understand market trends, behaviors, and patterns.

Quantitative data is ideal for drawing generalizations from a large sample population. Because of its opinion-heavy nature, quantitative data can take longer to collect. You have to set up and run focus groups, interviews, and other time-intensive research methods. Because of this, sample sizes are often small.

With quantitative methods, you can gain insights from a larger sample size. Just send out a multiple-choice or yes-or-no survey and you'll start raking in the answers from as many people as you want.

That said, quantitative data lacks the nuance you'll find with qualitative data.

Does this mean you shouldn't use it? Not at all. B2B researchers typically use a mixed-method approach that includes both types of data.

In a research article titled, “Iterative Mixed Method Approach to B2B SaaS User Personas,” published in the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Digital Library, researchers used a mixed method approach to study mixed method approaches in B2B research . 

It’s all very meta. 

In outlining their methods, the researchers write, “Survey data provided user background and insight into who to recruit while interviews provided insight into user journeys, personalities, and pain points.”

Long story short? Qualitative and quantitative data complement each other. Use them together to collect a well-rounded dataset. Use it to inform everything from product development to marketing campaign strategies .

Question examples 

We asked ChatGPT to give us a list of questions to ask businesses during B2B market research. This list is a great starting point, and you can branch off in whatever direction suits your needs best. Feel free to copy-paste this list for your own use. 

About the Business

Can you describe your business and its primary products or services?

What is the size of your company in terms of employees and revenue?

What industry does your business operate in?

Who are your main customers or client segments?

Decision-Making Process

Who is involved in the decision-making process for purchasing new products or services?

What factors are most important to your company when selecting a new vendor or supplier?

How long is your typical purchasing cycle?

What are the biggest challenges you face during the purchasing process?

Needs and Preferences

What are the top three challenges your business is currently facing?

What solutions or products are you currently using to address these challenges?

What features or benefits are most important to you in a product or service?

How do you prefer to receive information about new products or services (e.g., email, webinars, in-person meetings)?

Competitors and Market

Who are your main competitors, and how do you differentiate your business from theirs?

What trends do you see emerging in your industry over the next few years?

How do you stay informed about industry news and developments?

Satisfaction and Feedback

How satisfied are you with your current vendors or suppliers?

What improvements would you like to see in the products or services you use?

Have you faced any issues with your current vendors or suppliers? If so, how were they resolved?

What would prompt you to switch to a new vendor or supplier?

Budget and Spending

What is your budget for [specific product or service]?

How do you typically allocate your budget for [specific need or category]?

What factors influence your budget decisions?

Future Plans

What are your business goals for the next year?

Are you planning to expand or reduce your operations?

What new products or services are you considering adding to your offerings?

How to conduct B2B market research

With just 7 steps, you can conduct B2B market research to help you understand your customers on a deeper level. Here they are: 

Define your objectives: Clearly outline your research goals. Determine what you need to learn, such as market size, customer needs, competitive landscape, or product feasibility.

Identify your target audience: Specify the types of businesses you need to reach, and then look for the key decision-makers in each business. Look for relevant department heads and members of the C-suite. If you sell a B2B SaaS solution for HR teams, for instance, your target audience is decision-makers in the HR department. Segment your audience based on industry, company size, location, and other relevant criteria.

Choose the research methods: For well-rounded results, use a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods. Common methods include primary research done through surveys, interviews, focus groups, and observations, as well as secondary research pulled from industry datasets. 

Carefully design your research instruments: Work with your team to create tools like questionnaires and interview guides. Make sure your questions are clear, concise, and aligned with your research objectives. As much as possible, your goal is to avoid bias and draw valuable information out of your respondents. 

Collect data: Deploy your chosen methods to gather data from a representative sample of your target audience. Use email, phone calls, social media, third-party research panels, or professional networks to reach participants. Smaller respondent pools are ideal for qualitative research, while larger ones work well for quantitative data. 

Analyze the data: Examine the data you've collected to identify trends, patterns, and insights. For your quantitative data, use statistical analysis tools to interpret the results. More on those in a moment. For qualitative data, perform content analysis to uncover themes and key points. 

Report and act on findings: Prepare a comprehensive report that outlines your B2B market research methodology, findings, conclusions, and recommendations. Use visual aids to present the data clearly to the rest of your team. Together, you can make informed decisions based on the insights you've gained from your research.

There are all sorts of B2B market research tools to help you with primary, secondary, quantitative, and qualitative research. 

Our favorites include: 

Qualtrics: With robust survey design and distribution capabilities, Qualtrics helps researchers reach their target audience quickly, no matter the size. Its advanced analytics and real-time reporting features provide valuable insights in a snap. This means you can use the data to make decisions almost as soon as you collect it. 

Jotform: Jotform is fantastic for collecting survey data. One of its standout features is conditional logic, which allows researchers to create dynamic forms that adapt based on respondents' answers. This means participants only answer questions that are relevant to them. This, in turn, improves the accuracy and relevance of the data. 

Statista: Statista is a go-to resource for secondary research. You can browse its huge database of statistics, studies, and reports across hundreds of industries and markets. Statista gets its data from reliable sources, including market research firms, government agencies, and professional industry associations. 

Tremendous: Respondents are a lot more likely to participate in research if they receive compensation for their time. Tremendous helps you attract participants by making it easy and quick to deliver exactly the types of rewards they want. Check out our guide to sending research incentives for more tips. 

Tremendous helps your B2B market research participants feel valued with rewards they'll love. We offer 2,000+ redemption options in over 200 countries. Sign up now and send your first reward in minutes or talk to our sales team . 

Published August 22, 2024

Updated August 22, 2024

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List of Double glazing suppliers in Maykop

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Support Growing for Middle Housing

A new Zillow survey covering 26 metro areas found that residents largely support allowing middle housing in residential neighborhoods. Middle housing options are those that fall into categories between single-family lots and large multifamily buildings, such as duplexes or small apartment buildings. A clear majority of homeowners surveyed (78%) voiced support for at least one of these middle housing options, and support was higher among renters (91%).

Despite a pandemic construction boom, in 2022, there were roughly 8.09 million “missing households”: individuals or families living with nonrelatives . Compare that to 3.55 million housing units that were available for rent or for sale, and there is a housing shortage of more than 4.5 million.

There is no quick fix for the housing shortage, but Zillow research has shown that modest densification measures — such as allowing two units on 10% of single-family lots across some of the largest U.S. metros — could help boost critically needed housing supply enough to slow housing price growth in a meaningful way. This latest survey shows a growing support among homeowners and renters for adding housing to their neighborhoods.  

Accessory dwelling units enjoy broadest support

Of the types of homes we asked about, accessory dwelling units (ADUs) generally garnered the highest level of support. Among adults in the metros we surveyed, 68% said they would support allowing ADUs in their neighborhood, with higher percentages among renters (71%) and younger adults (71% among ages 18–29, 75% in their 30s and 71% in their 40s).

Duplexes, triplexes and small condo/apartment buildings (of fewer than 10 units) generally enjoyed majority support: 59% of those surveyed said they would support allowing duplexes and triplexes in their neighborhood, and 57% said the same about small condo or apartment buildings of fewer than 10 units. Medium buildings (between 10 and 49 units) saw a closer divide, with about half (50%) indicating support, 44% saying they were opposed, and 6% saying they were unsure.

Support growing for middle housing 

Among renters, support for allowing more types of homes has stayed consistently high: Starting in 2022, about 77% of renters reported their support for allowing ADUs, duplexes and/or triplexes in residential neighborhoods. When surveyed again in 2023, 82% reported the same support. In the same year, 89% of renters said they would support allowing at least one type of multifamily housing (ADU, duplex, apartment, and/or condo) in their neighborhood. In 2024, 91% of renters said the same. 

Among homeowners, we’ve seen such support grow since at least 2019, when we began surveying them. In 2019, just over half (57%) agreed at least somewhat that homeowners should be allowed to convert their homes to add housing units. That support grew to 64% in 2022, 68% in 2023 and 73% in 2024.

Most respondents report experiencing housing discrimination

Most of those surveyed reported that they had been treated differently in their search for housing for at least one of the protected identities that we asked about. About 4 in 5 LGBTQ+ adults (79%) reported experiencing this kind of housing discrimination. Renters reported experiencing discrimination (61%) at a higher rate than homeowners (53%). And younger generations, whose members are more likely to move and typically move more often, also reported experiencing discrimination at higher rates (72% of Gen Zers and 65% of millennials, higher than 55% of Gen Xers, and 38% of baby boomers and older).

Half consider housing affordability a highly important election issue

Across the 26 metros surveyed, about half of respondents (52%) said that housing affordability was very or extremely important when deciding who to vote for in this year’s federal elections. For renters, a clearer majority (59%) expressed the same importance, versus 49% of homeowners.

Younger generations, especially millennials, were more likely to place high importance on housing affordability as an election issue (59% of Gen Zers and 62% of millennials, versus 51% of Gen Xers, and 38% of baby boomers and older).

Strong support for source-of-income protections

About 73% of adults across the 26 metros we surveyed said that they agree somewhat or completely that “Landlords in my state should be required to accept rent payments from tenants that rely on government assistance, like social security or housing vouchers.” Agreement was higher among renters (78%) than homeowners (70%).

Share of adults who say they would support allowing each home type in their neighborhood OR who say that at least one multifamily condition (affordability, proximity to transit/recreation) would make them more supportive

Share of adults who say they would support allowing each type of home in their neighborhood (without conditions)

Share of adults who say allowing for more multifamily housing options in single-family neighborhoods would have a positive effect on:

Agree somewhat/completely with each statement

Methodology

In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of adults ages 18 and older, Zillow Group Population Science conducted a representative survey of more than 12,000 adults across 26 metros: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, New York (with additional sampling to produce estimates for Long Island), Philadelphia, Phoenix, Raleigh, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, Washington, D.C. metropolitan areas. The survey was fielded in March and April 2024.

Sampling & weighting

Results from this survey are representative of adults in each metropolitan area. To achieve representativeness, ZG Population Science used a two-pronged approach. First, the initial recruitment to the sample was balanced to all adults from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) on the basis of age, relationship status, income, ethnicity/race, education and sex. Additional targeted subgroups were sampled based on all key household demographic characteristics. Second, statistical raking was used to create calibration weights to ensure that the distribution of survey respondents matched each metro’s population with respect to a number of key demographic characteristics.

• New Home Sales Rebounded More Than Expected In July
• July 2024 Housing Starts: Housing Starts Fall, Single Family Starts At Lowest Level Since April 2023
• Mortgage Rates Fell Again This Week On Positive Inflation News
• One-Third of Property Managers are Offering Concessions as Rental Market Cools
• Zillow Counts: Mid-month Update in Zillow’s Existing Home SalesNowcast (July 2024)
• Zillow Home Value and Home Sales Forecast (July 2024)
• Sellers lose their advantage, but lower rates may revive market competition (July 2024 Market Report)
• Mortgage Rates Fell This Week On Exaggerated Recession Fears
• Mortgage Rates Fell This Week As Wage Inflation Moderates More Than Expected
• Luxury Home Values Are Rising Faster Than Typical Homes for the First Time in Years

2024 Ignition Awards Aim to Bring BU Science and Tech to Market

Innovations to fight cancer, repair sensitive teeth, improve kidney dialysis, and more win support from bu technology development’s annual award.

This year’s awards support six different projects and come with coaching and mentoring from industry veterans. Photo by Bob O’Connor

Kate Becker

The patient was looking for answers. For years, she had suffered from frequent sinus and respiratory infections that she just couldn’t shake. Her airways were widened and scarred. And, on top of it all, she was struggling with infertility.

Her doctor thought that all her symptoms could be traced to a malfunction in a part of her cells called the cilia. Inside the airways, they are responsible for sweeping out dirt, germs, and mucous. In the fallopian tubes, cilia help eggs move toward the uterus. Faulty cilia can cause problems with both breathing and fertility. Based on her symptoms, the patient’s doctor diagnosed her with a rare and incurable condition called primary ciliary dyskinesia, or PCD, in which the cilia are defective.

To pinpoint the cause of her disease, her physician turned to genetic testing—and pulmonologist Daniel Wallman . A regenerative medicine researcher at Boston University, he’s part of a team working to understand how genetic defects lead to PCD. Together with his colleagues, he’s developed a technology that helps scientists generate cells with PCD-related genetic mutations in the lab, which could speed the development of potential therapies. Wallman was able to not only confirm the patient’s PCD diagnosis, but also tie her symptoms to a single faulty gene that hadn’t previously been implicated in the condition. The findings could provide a new target for taking down PCD. And thanks to funding from a BU Ignition Award, Wallman’s team is ready to bring their breakthrough product to drug developers.

Awarded annually by BU Technology Development , Ignition Awards are designed to accelerate the advancement of promising new science and technology. Along with financial support, the awards come with coaching and mentoring from industry veterans.

“Ignition Awards are different from other grants,” says Michael Pratt (Questrom’13), Technology Development’s managing director. “They offer a rigorous process through which BU researchers can build new skills, like business proposal development and pitching, meet people who can help them advance their ideas, and ultimately identify a viable pathway to bring a new product to market.”

This year’s awards support six different projects—including Wallman’s—in the physical sciences, life sciences, and medical technology. Here’s a look at this year’s winners.

Strengthening Teeth against Sensitivity

If you’ve ever felt a shock of pain upon biting into your ice cream or sipping your coffee, you know that tooth sensitivity can spoil your favorite treats. But it’s more than just a nuisance, says Yuwei Fan , a BU Goldman School of Dental Medicine research associate professor of restorative sciences and biomaterials. Sensitivity can be the first sign that a tooth’s protective enamel is wearing away, leaving the tooth vulnerable to decay and infection. Today, dentists can prescribe special toothpastes formulated with numbing agents that dial down nerve pain, but these products mask the symptoms rather than fixing the real problem: they can’t bring back the lost enamel.

Made up of tiny mineral crystals, enamel is the hardest substance in the human body. It forms once, on emerging teeth, and it cannot restore or repair itself naturally if it breaks down with wear or disease. Now, Fan is developing a product that can actually grow a new, synthetic layer of enamel on damaged teeth that has the structure and characteristics of natural enamel.

With support from a previous Ignition Award , Fan and his team showed that they could grow tooth enamel crystals, under lab conditions, to create a fresh, synthetic enamel layer on real teeth. The next challenge is recreating this substance not just in the lab, but also in what Fan describes as the “hostile environment” of the mouth.

With a second Ignition Award, his team will gain insights from experts in manufacturing and commercializing dental technology on how to formulate and market the synthetic enamel formula as a treatment for tooth sensitivity. Fan will also continue to explore the many other potential uses for this platform technology.

Processing Encrypted Data in the Cloud

Today, the most private details of our lives—from bank account numbers to medical records—are all in the cloud. Encryption protects that intimate data while it’s stored and while it’s in transit, but generally, the data has to be unencrypted before it can be processed. For example, imagine asking a cloud-based AI like ChatGPT a sensitive question about your health or finances. Your query is at its most vulnerable while it is being processed—in fact, about 64 percent of attacks happen while data is being processed, representing a loss of about $6 billion a year.

Computer scientists have long known that it’s possible to process data while it’s still encrypted, but the technology for doing so is gruelingly slow: it takes 10,000 times longer than standard processing. Fortunately, Rashmi Agrawal (ENG’17,’23), a BU College of Engineering research scientist, discovered a way to process encrypted data some 1,000 times faster. She uses a type of computer chip called a field-programmable gate array, which straddles traditional boundaries between hardware and software by allowing engineers to “program” the circuitry of the chip on the fly.

With Ajay Joshi , an ENG professor of electrical and computer engineering, she formed a company, CipherSonic Labs, to commercialize the technology. So far, they have shown that it works on an academic cloud environment called Mass Open Cloud . Their Ignition Award will allow them to expand the technology to commercial cloud computing platforms like Amazon Web Services.

Monitoring Kidney Dialysis in Real Time

It’s true what you’ve heard: the human body is mostly water. And we have the kidneys to thank for keeping our bodies’ water levels just right. But kidney disease disrupts this natural equilibrium. For roughly half a million Americans with the disease, dialysis can manually restore this fluid balance while removing toxins from the body via the blood.

“Dialysis is a huge lifeline. It’s vital for these patients,” says Darren Roblyer , an ENG associate professor of biomedical engineering and of electrical and computer engineering. “But there’s a problem: it’s not totally clear how much fluid to remove from each patient.” Remove too much water, and the patient can have painful muscle cramps and perilously low blood pressure. Remove too little, and the excess fluid can overload the heart, ultimately leading to heart failure. Today, patients have to rely on trial and error to get the balance right; in roughly two-thirds of cases, dialysis removes too much or not enough fluid.

Now, Roblyer’s lab is developing a device called DialySight that can track a patient’s fluid levels in real time during dialysis. Designed as an anklet, DialySight shines infrared light at a patient’s leg, then measures the reflected light to calculate how much water the tissue contains. In the future, the results could be used to fine-tune the rate and duration of dialysis to make sure that the procedure removes exactly the right amount of fluid.

With support from an Ignition Award, Roblyer has partnered with BU kidney expert Vipul Chitalia , a BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine professor of medicine, to use the device to take readings from 50 current dialysis patients. The goal: to zero in on key measurements so that he can optimize the DialySight design and make it practical and affordable—and help as many patients as possible.

Jump-Starting a Cure for Lung Disease

Before a new medicine reaches patients—before it passes FDA review, before it goes through clinical trials—drug developers have to show that it works on living cells in the lab. When the right cells aren’t available, the drug development process may never even get started.

A team of BU pulmonologists is hoping to jump-start drug development for the inherited lung condition primary ciliary dyskinesia, or PCD, by making certain lung cells, called ciliated cells, available to researchers and drugmakers. Patients with PCD have a problem with the cilia in their airways: the tiny brush-like cell structures that are supposed to help protect and clean the respiratory tract don’t work properly. Patients suffer from breathing problems and frequent infections. Sometimes, PCD is so bad that a patient requires a lung transplant.

“Currently, there is no targetable treatment for PCD,” says team lead Daniel Wallman of the BU Center for Regenerative Medicine . He’s working with Finn Hawkins , a BU associate professor of medicine, and Andrew Berical , a BU assistant professor of pulmonary, allergy, sleep, and critical care medicine, on the lab-made ciliated cells. “Our hope is to eventually cure PCD by being able to target and replace these cells in the airway with healthy cells.”

Using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology, Wallman, Hawkins, and Berical create lung cells that are genetically customized to a patient’s unique mutation. (So far, dozens of different genes have been linked with PCD.) Through their start-up company, CilioMAP, they can offer these tailor-made cells to researchers and drug developers who will use them to link specific mutations with faulty cilia and to test out new therapies in the lab. The Ignition Award will support CilioMAP as the team works to produce dozens of different genetic variants at the volume and speed drug researchers demand.

Helping Immune Cells to Fight Pancreatic Cancer

It’s one of the biggest questions in cancer research: How can we use the immune system to stop cancer cells from growing and spreading? Drugs called checkpoint inhibitors can help the body fight cancer by blocking proteins that cancer cells use to hide from the immune system. Checkpoint therapies are effective in treating more than a dozen different types of cancer—but not pancreatic cancer. Since pancreatic cancer has one of the lowest survival rates among all cancers, even when surgically removed, figuring out how to make it responsive to checkpoint inhibitors has the potential to significantly help patients.

Victoria Herrera and Nelson Ruiz-Opazo , both professors of medicine at BU’s medical school, are developing an antibody drug that may lead to more positive outcomes. They hope it will work hand in hand with immune checkpoint inhibitors to keep cancer cells from escaping the immune system. The antibody targets a gene called DEspR, which is not present in normal adult pancreatic cells, but is present on tumor cells and seen in increased levels on cancer stem cells. The gene is also expressed on certain immune cells that, paradoxically, help cancer evade the immune system. By simultaneously shutting off these “culprit” cells that express DEspR, while leaving normal cells with no DEspR intact, their goal is to help the immune system snare cancer cells without the debilitating side effects of chemotherapy drugs.

With support from their Ignition Award, Herrera and Ruiz-Opazo, working with Matthew Kulke , BU’s Zoltan Kohn Professor of Medicine and chief of hematology/oncology at Boston Medical Center, the University’s primary teaching hospital, will test the antibody, both alone and in concert with existing immune checkpoint inhibitor drugs. “We believe that if we can figure out how to make pancreatic cancer responsive to immune checkpoint inhibitors, in combination or by itself, we can really help patients with pancreatic cancer—and potentially help patients with other cancer types, as well,” says Herrera.

We believe that if we can figure out how to make pancreatic cancer responsive to immune checkpoint inhibitors, in combination or by itself, we can really help patients with pancreatic cancer—and potentially help patients with other cancer types, as well. Victoria Herrera

New Hope for Liver Cancer

Patients diagnosed with the most common type of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, face a grim prognosis. Most are diagnosed too late or are too sick to qualify for surgery or a transplant. The average patient lives for only 11 months after being diagnosed.

Now, a team of BU biomedical engineers is developing a new way to attack proteins linked with many hepatocellular carcinomas. Their weapon: one of the body’s own proteins, retargeted to break down cancer proteins.

With support from their Ignition Award, Mark Grinstaff , a BU William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor, and PhD students Brett Tingley (ENG’25) and Kirk Pierce (ENG’21,’26) aim to show that they can program proteins to home in on cancer-causing proteins so that the body can destroy them. They think this could shrink tumors enough that they can be removed surgically. The approach could also work for other cancer types, including other liver cancers and colorectal cancer.

There are thousands of proteins in the human body that have been linked with diseases. The vast majority of these proteins are undruggable; that is, there are no drugs that target them—yet. Grinstaff and his team hope that their platform could one day be adapted to take on any disease-causing protein.

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Friday, June 20, 2014

Maykop - the capital of the republic of adygea.

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