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Market Research Guide for Advertising

Although a major subsector of marketing, advertising is often treated as a secondary task, one with a scarce backup of data to deliver outstanding ad campaign results. To add insult to injury, a sweeping 76% of marketers in 2020 did not rely on behavioral data for ad targeting.

This is dismal news, given the fact that despite being barraged with 1,700 ads per month, users only view half of them. It occurs in the face of a costly worldwide ad expenditure, which is forecasted to reach $375 billion by 2021.

Market research is therefore undoubtedly necessary. A wide-spanning umbrella term, it refers to collecting and analyzing data about your target market and your competitors, along with the traits, trends and changes in the overall market you serve.

Consequently, it is evident that advertising requires its own market research. This guide will teach you how to carry out market research for advertising.

Advertising Market Research at a Glance

Advertising market research is a form of research concentrated on advertising campaigns. As such, its ultimate aim is to identify the most effective ads within a company’s target market.

The process of market research for advertising includes pre-campaign efforts as well as post-campaign scrutiny . This includes setting up advertising campaigns, narrowing in on your target market, deducing which ads are best and measuring the success of your ad campaigns.

You’ll find that market research plays a critical role in each stage of this advertising development process. Let’s get a more thorough rundown to learn how to set up an effective advertising campaign through market research tailored specifically towards it.

Pre-Campaign Market Research: Setting Up Your Ad Campaign

We caution you to never jump headfirst into an advertising campaign. Before running a campaign, you must set it up through planning. Pre-campaign efforts include three stages, all of which are fueled by market research.

Here are the first three stages:

Stage 1: Acquire a deep understanding of your target market.

You cannot lay the groundwork for an ad campaign before you understand who your target market is, along with the different segments it encompasses. By understanding these groups, you’ll be able to create general ads that target the entirety of your target audience, along with ads tailored more towards the different segments within your target market. Here is what you will need to nail down both of these groups:

Set up a survey that covers a wide net of demographics. Ask questions to gauge which demographics show the most interest in your brand.

Determine which demographics show the most favorability towards your brand, offering or messaging. This is your target market.

Arrange psychographic surveys across the demographics most conducive to buying from you. This will give you direct insight into the psyche into specific demographics, revealing the different segments within your target market.

Stage 2: Set Up Micro and Macro Advertising Campaign Objectives

Now that you’ve nailed down your target market and have zeroed in on the different segments within it, you can begin planning your advertising campaign. Each campaign, sub-campaign and ad itself will require an objective.

Otherwise, you won’t know how to measure the performance and success of each component of your campaign(s). Here are the objectives to focus on and how to do so:

Pin down the purpose of a new campaign. Or do so with a number of campaigns. Typically, an advertising campaign seeks to:

to inform your target market about a new offering.

to persuade consumers to convert (either by buying, subscribing, signing up for the new or existing offering).

to remind your target market where and how to access the offering.

Find the proper media channels to deliver your advertisements. Think about the purpose of your campaign; can a particular channel deliver it best, or perhaps, can it do so partially?

Collect secondary research on your target market. This will help you discover which advertising channels work well across general target markets.

Collect primary research by creating surveys that unveil the messaging preferences of each segment of your target market.

Narrow down the advertising channels for your campaign. These include:

Display ads (landing pages, pop-ups, banners)

Social media ads

PLA ads (via Google Adwords or Criteo)

Stage 3: Set Up a Budget for Your Advertising Campaign

The shortest stage within the advertising research and development process — although not trivial in the slightest — setting up a budget is necessary before you do any conceptualizing.

Market Research During the Campaign

Following the first three pre-campaign, pre-planning stages, we move along to the campaign itself. Now that you’ve done the market research on your target audience, set campaign and sub-campaign objectives and set a budget, you can start conceptualizing the operation itself.

Here is how to proceed:

Stage 4: Create the Central Messaging Behind Your Campaign

Decide on a concept; it can be a theme or a central narrative to all your ads.

Make sure your idea is precisely targeted to your target market, along with the segments of your target market.

Next, create the ads themselves. An ad should possess the following qualities:

Relevance to the target audience

Value in purchasing and using

Uniqueness to set yourself apart from competitors

Credibility — your customers should believe your ad, don’t make it seem too good to be true.

Get into the nitty grid of your sub-campaigns and ads themselves

Decide which channels you chose previously work best for which ad type

Decide what to incorporate into each medium (ex: do you need a video in each medium or only copy, etc.)

Based on the surveys you’ve run, decide which ads to expose to particular segments of your target market. You can add more surveys for research purposes.

Set a frequency, ie, how many times your audience will receive your ads

Launch your advertising campaign

Post-Campaign Efforts

Market research doesn’t end after you launch your advertising campaign. Its performance gives you another great opportunity to study your target market, along with your ensuing marketing efforts.

It will also inform your new campaigns and new ads as part of your current, ongoing one. This brings us to the final stage.

Stage 5: Keep Track of Your Advertising Performance

Tracking the effectiveness of an advertising campaign will differ based on the KPIs you set. These will depend largely on the medium you use to distribute your ads.

Attribute several KPIs to monitor during your campaign. Here are some to consider:

Conversions

Return on Ad Spent (ROAS)

Cost Per 1,000 Impressions

Impressions

Cost per click (CPC)

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)

Observe these KPIs daily on a web analytics platform like Google Analytics or Adobe Analytics. Or, set up your campaign and track it on a specialized platform like Adroll .

Create surveys that target the same segments from your campaign. These can help you see how your customer base reacts to them.

Test them on images (preferences on 1 over the other).

Ask them questions to expand and refine the current campaign.

Come up with questions for new campaign ideation.

Closing off on Market Research for Ads

After Stage 5, you should have established a familiarity with your target market and your industry — at least to some extent. With all this data in tow, you can go about new ad campaigns armed with this new customer knowledge. More importantly, the market research you’ve picked up during this process will help inform all of your marketing efforts.

After all, the purpose of this research is to equip your brand with a deep understanding of your customers to make smarter business decisions. After gathering enough market research, you may try going bold in your next advertising venture.

Frequently asked questions

What is advertising market research.

Advertising market research focuses on advertising campaigns, with the purpose of improving campaign strategy by identifying the most effective campaigns.

What is the process for conducting advertising market research?

The process for advertising market research involves pre-campaign planning, continues with research while campaigns are running, and ends with post-campaign analysis.

What is pre-campaign market research?

Pre-campaign market research encompasses all the planning activities that happen before an advertising campaign is deployed. This includes gaining a deeper understanding of the target audience, establishing campaign objectives, and establishing a budget for the campaign.

What are KPIs?

KPI stands for “Key Performance Indicator.” KPIs are used to evaluate the success of a business or specific activities within that business, such as advertising campaigns.

How can advertising market research improve future campaigns?

By looking at the KPIs of campaigns, a company can determine which campaigns were most effective and repeat this type of campaign, or reuse aspects of the campaign in future advertising efforts.

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What You Need to Know About Advertising Research

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Advertising research is done to determine which advertisements will be most effective with your target audience. It's done during ad development and to analyze the effectiveness of an ad campaign while it's underway.

Learn more about advertising research.

Advertising is the part of your marketing plan that uses paid, non-personal messages. These messages are designed to reach large groups of customers and sell your products or services.

Like all forms of marketing, your advertising will be most successful if it's based on high-quality research. This should be a regular part of your market research strategy.

• Alternate names : Market research, marketing research

How Advertising Research Works

Most advertising research is conducted in one of two ways.

• In-house research : Many brands conduct research internally. You can ask clients to fill out email or web surveys or answer questions after making a purchase or track customer service interactions. This can provide information about how they located the product or service that the company is offering and whether an advertisement brought your product to their attention. This type of research can also provide information on customer satisfaction.
• Third-party research : Working with an advertising research firm ensures your information is independent and unbiased. Research firms also have the resources to conduct more extensive research. In addition to surveys, they may gather groups of customers for focus groups, show ads to individuals, ask questions to determine what impact the advertising had, or monitor what participants look up online after being exposed to an ad.

Whether you perform your research in-house or work with a third-party firm will likely depend on your budget, the size of your business, and what information you hope to learn.

Once you have the results of your advertising research, it can be used to help you refine your advertising methods, choose more effective advertising media, and craft marketing messages that will resonate more effectively with your customers. It can also tell you where and how to spend your advertising budget to get the best return on your investment.

Your advertising plan is a blueprint that outlines:

• Who your customers are
• The advertising media you will use to reach them
• Any budget and time constraints
• Your marketing message
• Benchmarks for success

Types of Advertising Research

Advertising research should be designed to tell you how effective your advertising plan is at reaching and persuading customers.

This research is beneficial no matter what form of advertising you use, including print, television, radio, and digital. Advertising research can focus on different areas of the advertising process, including:

Target Market

You may need to research the habits and preferences of your target customers before launching an advertising campaign. This helps identify who your customers are, what problems they have, what benefits they are looking for, and what kind of messaging will resonate with them.

Even if you have been in business for a while, researching your target market can be helpful if:

• You are launching a service product that will attract new customers.
• You are expanding your market.
• Your advertising is not resonating with your target market.

Response to Ads

Understanding how real people in your target demographic respond to ads can help you create a strong and effective advertising campaign. In this type of research, customers are shown different ads and are asked what they think about the products that are featured, whether they would consider purchasing them, and how well they understand the product after seeing the ad.

You can research customer responses to ads before you launch a campaign by showing competitors' ads to your target customers. This will help you understand their response to advertising and position yourself to stand out in your market.

Outcomes and Success

Use research to measure the success of each advertising campaign . Understanding the impact advertising had on sales, customer perception, and lead generation, as well as its return on investment, can help you craft stronger advertising and make more effective use of your money. You can also use it to compare advertising across different media or markets. This can help your company understand whether it needs to revise its advertising strategy.

Advertising research into the success of a campaign is most effective when that campaign has clear benchmarks for success as well as a way to track customer response, such as unique ordering codes, coupons, or web links.

Well-designed advertising research won't just impact your advertising strategy. As with any component of your marketing mix, the ultimate goal is to increase sales and grow your business.

Key Takeaways

• Advertising research is done to determine which advertisements will be most effective with your target audience. 
• It can be conducted in-house or with a third-party firm. 
• Advertising research helps you understand your customers, create stronger, more interesting ads that hold your customers' attention, and increase sales and grow your business.
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Home Market Research

Marketing research: Definition, steps, uses & advantages

What is marketing research?

Marketing research is defined as any technique or a set of practices that companies use to collect information to understand their target market better. Organizations use this data to improve their products, enhance their UX, and offer a better product to their customers. Marketing research is used to determine what the customers want, and how they react to products or features of a product.

Gather research insights

Four standard marketing research methods

The four most common marketing research methods are surveys, interviews, customer observations, and focus groups. You can research various ways without limiting yourself to just one way. Let’s dive deeper into each of these marketing research techniques.

Researchers collect responses by deploying surveys and managing data via online questionnaires or on-screen surveys at the POS. These surveys contain closed-ended and open-ended questions. They are popular and are the most widely used research techniques.

Why are online surveys popular?

Surveys are inexpensive, simple to set-up, deploy, and gather responses. It gets easy to collect multiple answers from a tailored audience group using surveys. Researchers rely on quantitative data, and online surveys provide quick responses compared to the more traditional offline methods. You can collect large amounts of data within minutes from anywhere in the world.

2. Interviews

Face-to-face or personal interviews are a more traditional way of doing marketing research. It is a slow and more expensive way of collecting responses. Researchers doing large scale marketing research do not prefer this method to collect a large number of responses. Interviews are conducted both in-person and on the telephone (CATI). 

Why are interviews important?

Personal interviews may not be widely used but play a significant role in understanding precisely what the respondent feels. You can record more than just verbal responses and understand the customer better. Often, when two humans interact with each other, more information is shared because of the dialogue. Personal interviews are useful in small-scale studies, where the researcher wants to interview a specific group of local respondents. CATI’s are helpful when the respondent base is more expansive.

3. Focus groups

Focus groups or online focus groups involve several respondents who participate in discussions about a particular topic. A researcher conducts focus groups to obtain richer information. The main reason for a focus group is to hold a dialogue between various people on a particular topic of interest. Unlike interviews, focus group members are allowed to interact with each other and influence one another.

Why are focus groups impactful?

It is no secret that focus groups are hugely impactful in decision making. Researchers gain a lot of information by organizing focus groups. Often, focus groups bring up issues not foreseen by researchers. Online or video focus groups have a broad reach, and many organizations have now started creating and nurturing research communities for better respondent handling and data gathering. Direct interaction of business groups and customers positively impacts users because they feel that their voices are heard.

4. Observation

Observation, though not popular and widely used, gives intuitive feedback. Research companies organize customer observation sessions to gather information on how they engage with the product or service (or a similar competitor product or service). Feedback from people’s behavioral attitudes is a powerful tool for researchers looking to improve their products and services.

What makes observation so powerful?

Observational market research is an excellent alternative to focus groups. It’s not only an inexpensive research tool, but you will also witness people interacting with and using your product in a natural environment. The downside is that you will have to make inferences about their feelings and reactions.

LEARN ABOUT: market research trends

How to conduct marketing research

Follow these four marketing research steps to help you understand what your users think and feel about your product, service, or business.

LEARN ABOUT: Behavioral Research

1. Create simple user personas

A user persona is nothing more than a fictional character that represents a user or a customer. Understanding user personas will help you gauge how different persons react to other products and services to understand their needs. To create a persona, your questions must answer these types questions about the user or customer:

• Who are they?
• What’s their primary goal?
• What stops them from achieving that goal?

2. Conduct observational research

Use both overt and covert observation methods to observe and take notes while users use your products or a similar one.

Overt vs. covert observation

• Overt observation asks users if they will allow you to watch them use your product. 
• Covert observation studies users in a natural environment without them knowing. This type of observation generally works only if you sell a product that consumers buy and use regularly. It brings in the purest observational research data as people act naturally while using the products. 

3. Conduct personal interviews

One-on-one conversations with your target population allow you to explore and dig deep into their concerns, revealing answers to many questions. Here are a few tips for conducting personal interviews.

• Be a journalist and not a salesperson. Ask users about their frustrations, needs, and areas where they think they need an improvement in the product. 
• Pose the ‘why’ question to dig deeper. Dive into the details to know more about their past behavior.
• Recording the conversation helps you focus on it rather than take notes simultaneously.

4. Analyze the data

The idea of conducting lean marketing research is to receive quick, actionable insight data. Analyze the information you have collected using various techniques to draw patterns into what customers like and dislike, what they want, and what they do not need. Create a simple visual representation of how people will interact with each other and the product to assess their needs in a better way.

LEARN ABOUT: Marketing Insight

Why is research so valuable?

Without research, it is impossible to gauge and understand your customers. Of course, you will have an idea of what they need and who they are and, but you must dive deeper to win their loyalty. Here is why marketing research matters:

• Attract potential customers: The primary aim of marketing research is to find ways to attract potential customers. It also helps to keep current happy and coming back for more. Understanding your customers entirely is the only way to progress. You’ll lose potential customers if you stop caring about improving your user experience.
• Answer the why’s: Marketing research gives you the answer to the ‘why.’ Make use of user analytics, big data, and reporting dashboards in marketing research to tell you what your users are thinking and why they think and act that way. For example, only marketing research can explain why customers leave you.
• Data-backed decisions: Research beats trends, assumptions, and so-called best business practices. Bad decisions are often taken due to emotional reasoning and guesswork. Focusing on customer experience by listening to your customers directs you in the right direction.
• Better planning: Research keeps you from making absurd decisions by planning in a vacuum. You might not fully gauge what your customers experience and feel while using your product. Customers may use products in a way that surprises you, and they may get confused by features that seem obvious to you. Conducting too much planning but not testing your assumptions will waste your money, time, efforts, and resources. Research helps you save up on all these factors.

LEARN ABOUT: 12 Best Tools for Researchers

Advantages of MKT research

Marketing research and user experience (UX) design help you continuously improve your product by acting on your feedback. Here are the advantages of conducting marketing research:

• Improved efficiency: Efficiency draws you closer to your users. You can improve the efficiency of delivering the product to the market and also increase its usability.
• Cost-effective: Marketing research helps you make the right decisions based on consumer demand, thus saving you costs in creating something that customers do not like or want.

LEARN ABOUT:  Test Market Demand

• Competitive edge: Quicker, more robust insights can help you place your services and products strategically, gaining a competitive advantage over others.
• Build strategies: You can quickly build, alter, or design new approaches to attract your users and consumers.
• Improved communication: Bridge the communication gap by interacting with consumers and hearing them out. This helps consumers feel wanted and special.
• LEARN ABOUT: Market research vs marketing research

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Market research is a cornerstone of all successful, strategic businesses. It can also be daunting for entrepreneurs looking to launch a startup or start a side hustle . What is market research, anyway? And how do you…do it?

We’ll walk you through absolutely everything you need to know about the market research process so that by the end of this guide, you’ll be an expert in market research too. And what’s more important: you’ll have actionable steps you can take to start collecting your own market research.

What Is Market Research?

Market research is the organized process of gathering information about your target customers and market. Market research can help you better understand customer behavior and competitor strengths and weaknesses, as well as provide insight for the best strategies in launching new businesses and products. There are different ways to approach market research, including primary and secondary research and qualitative and quantitative research. The strongest approaches will include a combination of all four.

“Virtually every business can benefit from conducting some market research,” says Niles Koenigsberg of Real FiG Advertising + Marketing . “Market research can help you piece together your [business’s] strengths and weaknesses, along with your prospective opportunities, so that you can understand where your unique differentiators may lie.” Well-honed market research will help your brand stand out from the competition and help you see what you need to do to lead the market. It can also do so much more.

The Purposes of Market Research

Why do market research? It can help you…

• Pinpoint your target market, create buyer personas, and develop a more holistic understanding of your customer base and market.
• Understand current market conditions to evaluate risks and anticipate how your product or service will perform.
• Validate a concept prior to launch.
• Identify gaps in the market that your competitors have created or overlooked.
• Solve problems that have been left unresolved by the existing product/brand offerings.
• Identify opportunities and solutions for new products or services.
• Develop killer marketing strategies .

What Are the Benefits of Market Research?

Strong market research can help your business in many ways. It can…

• Strengthen your market position.
• Help you identify your strengths and weaknesses.
• Help you identify your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses.
• Minimize risk.
• Center your customers’ experience from the get-go.
• Help you create a dynamic strategy based on market conditions and customer needs/demands.

What Are the Basic Methods of Market Research?

The basic methods of market research include surveys, personal interviews, customer observation, and the review of secondary research. In addition to these basic methods, a forward-thinking market research approach incorporates data from the digital landscape like social media analysis, SEO research, gathering feedback via forums, and more. Throughout this guide, we will cover each of the methods commonly used in market research to give you a comprehensive overview.

Primary vs. Secondary Market Research

Primary and secondary are the two main types of market research you can do. The latter relies on research conducted by others. Primary research, on the other hand, refers to the fact-finding efforts you conduct on your own.

This approach is limited, however. It’s likely that the research objectives of these secondary data points differ from your own, and it can be difficult to confirm the veracity of their findings.

Primary Market Research

Primary research is more labor intensive, but it generally yields data that is exponentially more actionable. It can be conducted through interviews, surveys, online research, and your own data collection. Every new business should engage in primary market research prior to launch. It will help you validate that your idea has traction, and it will give you the information you need to help minimize financial risk.

You can hire an agency to conduct this research on your behalf. This brings the benefit of expertise, as you’ll likely work with a market research analyst. The downside is that hiring an agency can be expensive—too expensive for many burgeoning entrepreneurs. That brings us to the second approach. You can also do the market research yourself, which substantially reduces the financial burden of starting a new business .

Secondary Market Research

Secondary research includes resources like government databases and industry-specific data and publications. It can be beneficial to start your market research with secondary sources because it’s widely available and often free-to-access. This information will help you gain a broad overview of the market conditions for your new business.

Identify Your Goals and Your Audience

Before you begin conducting interviews or sending out surveys, you need to set your market research goals. At the end of your market research process, you want to have a clear idea of who your target market is—including demographic information like age, gender, and where they live—but you also want to start with a rough idea of who your audience might be and what you’re trying to achieve with market research.

You can pinpoint your objectives by asking yourself a series of guiding questions:

• What are you hoping to discover through your research?
• Who are you hoping to serve better because of your findings?
• What do you think your market is?
• Who are your competitors?
• Are you testing the reception of a new product category or do you want to see if your product or service solves the problem left by a current gap in the market?
• Are you just…testing the waters to get a sense of how people would react to a new brand?

Once you’ve narrowed down the “what” of your market research goals, you’re ready to move onto how you can best achieve them. Think of it like algebra. Many math problems start with “solve for x.” Once you know what you’re looking for, you can get to work trying to find it. It’s a heck of a lot easier to solve a problem when you know you’re looking for “x” than if you were to say “I’m gonna throw some numbers out there and see if I find a variable.”

How to Do Market Research

This guide outlines every component of a comprehensive market research effort. Take into consideration the goals you have established for your market research, as they will influence which of these elements you’ll want to include in your market research strategy.

Secondary Data

Secondary data allows you to utilize pre-existing data to garner a sense of market conditions and opportunities. You can rely on published market studies, white papers, and public competitive information to start your market research journey.

Secondary data, while useful, is limited and cannot substitute your own primary data. It’s best used for quantitative data that can provide background to your more specific inquiries.

Find Your Customers Online

Once you’ve identified your target market, you can use online gathering spaces and forums to gain insights and give yourself a competitive advantage. Rebecca McCusker of The Creative Content Shop recommends internet recon as a vital tool for gaining a sense of customer needs and sentiment. “Read their posts and comments on forums, YouTube video comments, Facebook group [comments], and even Amazon/Goodreads book comments to get in their heads and see what people are saying.”

If you’re interested in engaging with your target demographic online, there are some general rules you should follow. First, secure the consent of any group moderators to ensure that you are acting within the group guidelines. Failure to do so could result in your eviction from the group.

Not all comments have the same research value. “Focus on the comments and posts with the most comments and highest engagement,” says McCusker. These high-engagement posts can give you a sense of what is already connecting and gaining traction within the group.

Social media can also be a great avenue for finding interview subjects. “LinkedIn is very useful if your [target customer] has a very specific job or works in a very specific industry or sector. It’s amazing the amount of people that will be willing to help,” explains Miguel González, a marketing executive at Dealers League . “My advice here is BE BRAVE, go to LinkedIn, or even to people you know and ask them, do quick interviews and ask real people that belong to that market and segment and get your buyer persona information first hand.”

Market research interviews can provide direct feedback on your brand, product, or service and give you a better understanding of consumer pain points and interests.

When organizing your market research interviews, you want to pay special attention to the sample group you’re selecting, as it will directly impact the information you receive. According to Tanya Zhang, the co-founder of Nimble Made , you want to first determine whether you want to choose a representative sample—for example, interviewing people who match each of the buyer persona/customer profiles you’ve developed—or a random sample.

“A sampling of your usual persona styles, for example, can validate details that you’ve already established about your product, while a random sampling may [help you] discover a new way people may use your product,” Zhang says.

Market Surveys

Market surveys solicit customer inclinations regarding your potential product or service through a series of open-ended questions. This direct outreach to your target audience can provide information on your customers’ preferences, attitudes, buying potential, and more.

Every expert we asked voiced unanimous support for market surveys as a powerful tool for market research. With the advent of various survey tools with accessible pricing—or free use—it’s never been easier to assemble, disseminate, and gather market surveys. While it should also be noted that surveys shouldn’t replace customer interviews , they can be used to supplement customer interviews to give you feedback from a broader audience.

Who to Include in Market Surveys

• Current customers
• Past customers
• Your existing audience (such as social media/newsletter audiences)

Example Questions to Include in Market Surveys

While the exact questions will vary for each business, here are some common, helpful questions that you may want to consider for your market survey. Demographic Questions: the questions that help you understand, demographically, who your target customers are:

• “What is your age?”
• “Where do you live?”
• “What is your gender identity?”
• “What is your household income?”
• “What is your household size?”
• “What do you do for a living?”
• “What is your highest level of education?”

Product-Based Questions: Whether you’re seeking feedback for an existing brand or an entirely new one, these questions will help you get a sense of how people feel about your business, product, or service:

• “How well does/would our product/service meet your needs?”
• “How does our product/service compare to similar products/services that you use?”
• “How long have you been a customer?” or “What is the likelihood that you would be a customer of our brand?

Personal/Informative Questions: the deeper questions that help you understand how your audience thinks and what they care about.

• “What are your biggest challenges?”
• “What’s most important to you?”
• “What do you do for fun (hobbies, interests, activities)?”
• “Where do you seek new information when researching a new product?”
• “How do you like to make purchases?”
• “What is your preferred method for interacting with a brand?”

Survey Tools

Online survey tools make it easy to distribute surveys and collect responses. The best part is that there are many free tools available. If you’re making your own online survey, you may want to consider SurveyMonkey, Typeform, Google Forms, or Zoho Survey.

Competitive Analysis

A competitive analysis is a breakdown of how your business stacks up against the competition. There are many different ways to conduct this analysis. One of the most popular methods is a SWOT analysis, which stands for “strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.” This type of analysis is helpful because it gives you a more robust understanding of why a customer might choose a competitor over your business. Seeing how you stack up against the competition can give you the direction you need to carve out your place as a market leader.

Social Media Analysis

Social media has fundamentally changed the market research landscape, making it easier than ever to engage with a wide swath of consumers. Follow your current or potential competitors on social media to see what they’re posting and how their audience is engaging with it. Social media can also give you a lower cost opportunity for testing different messaging and brand positioning.

SEO Analysis and Opportunities

SEO analysis can help you identify the digital competition for getting the word out about your brand, product, or service. You won’t want to overlook this valuable information. Search listening tools offer a novel approach to understanding the market and generating the content strategy that will drive business. Tools like Google Trends and Awario can streamline this process.

Ready to Kick Your Business Into High Gear?

Now that you’ve completed the guide to market research you know you’re ready to put on your researcher hat to give your business the best start. Still not sure how actually… launch the thing? Our free mini-course can run you through the essentials for starting your side hustle .

About Mary Kate Miller

Mary Kate Miller writes about small business, real estate, and finance. In addition to writing for Foundr, her work has been published by The Washington Post, Teen Vogue, Bustle, and more. She lives in Chicago.

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How to do market research: The complete guide for your brand

Written by by Jacqueline Zote

Published on  April 13, 2023

Reading time  10 minutes

Blindly putting out content or products and hoping for the best is a thing of the past. Not only is it a waste of time and energy, but you’re wasting valuable marketing dollars in the process. Now you have a wealth of tools and data at your disposal, allowing you to develop data-driven marketing strategies . That’s where market research comes in, allowing you to uncover valuable insights to inform your business decisions.

Conducting market research not only helps you better understand how to sell to customers but also stand out from your competition. In this guide, we break down everything you need to know about market research and how doing your homework can help you grow your business.

Table of contents:

What is market research?

Why is market research important, types of market research, where to conduct market research.

• Steps for conducting market research
• Tools to use for market research

Market research is the process of gathering information surrounding your business opportunities. It identifies key information to better understand your audience. This includes insights related to customer personas and even trends shaping your industry.

Taking time out of your schedule to conduct research is crucial for your brand health. Here are some of the key benefits of market research:

Understand your customers’ motivations and pain points

Most marketers are out of touch with what their customers want. Moreover, these marketers are missing key information on what products their audience wants to buy.

Simply put, you can’t run a business if you don’t know what motivates your customers.

And spoiler alert: Your customers’ wants and needs change. Your customers’ behaviors today might be night and day from what they were a few years ago.

Market research holds the key to understanding your customers better. It helps you uncover their key pain points and motivations and understand how they shape their interests and behavior.

Figure out how to position your brand

Positioning is becoming increasingly important as more and more brands enter the marketplace. Market research enables you to spot opportunities to define yourself against your competitors.

Maybe you’re able to emphasize a lower price point. Perhaps your product has a feature that’s one of a kind. Finding those opportunities goes hand in hand with researching your market.

Maintain a strong pulse on your industry at large

Today’s marketing world evolves at a rate that’s difficult to keep up with.

Fresh products. Up-and-coming brands. New marketing tools. Consumers get bombarded with sales messages from all angles. This can be confusing and overwhelming.

By monitoring market trends, you can figure out the best tactics for reaching your target audience.

Not everyone conducts market research for the same reason. While some may want to understand their audience better, others may want to see how their competitors are doing. As such, there are different types of market research you can conduct depending on your goal.

Interview-based market research allows for one-on-one interactions. This helps the conversation to flow naturally, making it easier to add context. Whether this takes place in person or virtually, it enables you to gather more in-depth qualitative data.

Buyer persona research

Buyer persona research lets you take a closer look at the people who make up your target audience. You can discover the needs, challenges and pain points of each buyer persona to understand what they need from your business. This will then allow you to craft products or campaigns to resonate better with each persona.

Pricing research

In this type of research, brands compare similar products or services with a particular focus on pricing. They look at how much those products or services typically sell for so they can get more competitive with their pricing strategy.

Competitive analysis research

Competitor analysis gives you a realistic understanding of where you stand in the market and how your competitors are doing. You can use this analysis to find out what’s working in your industry and which competitors to watch out for. It even gives you an idea of how well those competitors are meeting consumer needs.

Depending on the competitor analysis tool you use, you can get as granular as you need with your research. For instance, Sprout Social lets you analyze your competitors’ social strategies. You can see what types of content they’re posting and even benchmark your growth against theirs.

Brand awareness research

Conducting brand awareness research allows you to assess your brand’s standing in the market. It tells you how well-known your brand is among your target audience and what they associate with it. This can help you gauge people’s sentiments toward your brand and whether you need to rebrand or reposition.

If you don’t know where to start with your research, you’re in the right place.

There’s no shortage of market research methods out there. In this section, we’ve highlighted research channels for small and big businesses alike.

Considering that Google sees a staggering 8.5 billion searches each day, there’s perhaps no better place to start.

A quick Google search is a potential goldmine for all sorts of questions to kick off your market research. Who’s ranking for keywords related to your industry? Which products and pieces of content are the hottest right now? Who’s running ads related to your business?

For example, Google Product Listing Ads can help highlight all of the above for B2C brands.

The same applies to B2B brands looking to keep tabs on who’s running industry-related ads and ranking for keyword terms too.

There’s no denying that email represents both an aggressive and effective marketing channel for marketers today. Case in point, 44% of online shoppers consider email as the most influential channel in their buying decisions.

Looking through industry and competitor emails is a brilliant way to learn more about your market. For example, what types of offers and deals are your competitors running? How often are they sending emails?

Email is also invaluable for gathering information directly from your customers. This survey message from Asana is a great example of how to pick your customers’ brains to figure out how you can improve your quality of service.

Industry journals, reports and blogs

Don’t neglect the importance of big-picture market research when it comes to tactics and marketing channels to explore. Look to marketing resources such as reports and blogs as well as industry journals

Keeping your ear to the ground on new trends and technologies is a smart move for any business. Sites such as Statista, Marketing Charts, AdWeek and Emarketer are treasure troves of up-to-date data and news for marketers.

And of course, there’s the  Sprout Insights blog . And invaluable resources like The Sprout Social Index™  can keep you updated on the latest social trends.

Social media

If you want to learn more about your target market, look no further than social media. Social offers a place to discover what your customers want to see in future products or which brands are killin’ it. In fact, social media is become more important for businesses than ever with the level of data available.

It represents a massive repository of real-time data and insights that are instantly accessible. Brand monitoring and social listening are effective ways to conduct social media research . You can even be more direct with your approach. Ask questions directly or even poll your audience to understand their needs and preferences.

The 5 steps for how to do market research

Now that we’ve covered the why and where, it’s time to get into the practical aspects of market research. Here are five essential steps on how to do market research effectively.

Step 1: Identify your research topic

First off, what are you researching about? What do you want to find out? Narrow down on a specific research topic so you can start with a clear idea of what to look for.

For example, you may want to learn more about how well your product features are satisfying the needs of existing users. This might potentially lead to feature updates and improvements. Or it might even result in new feature introductions.

Similarly, your research topic may be related to your product or service launch or customer experience. Or you may want to conduct research for an upcoming marketing campaign.

Step 2: Choose a buyer persona to engage

If you’re planning to focus your research on a specific type of audience, decide which buyer persona you want to engage. This persona group will serve as a representative sample of your target audience.

Engaging a specific group of audience lets you streamline your research efforts. As such, it can be a much more effective and organized approach than researching thousands (if not millions) of individuals.

You may be directing your research toward existing users of your product. To get even more granular, you may want to focus on users who have been familiar with the product for at least a year, for example.

Step 3: Start collecting data

The next step is one of the most critical as it involves collecting the data you need for your research. Before you begin, make sure you’ve chosen the right research methods that will uncover the type of data you need. This largely depends on your research topic and goals.

Remember that you don’t necessarily have to stick to one research method. You may use a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches. So for example, you could use interviews to supplement the data from your surveys. Or you may stick to insights from your social listening efforts.

To keep things consistent, let’s look at this in the context of the example from earlier. Perhaps you can send out a survey to your existing users asking them a bunch of questions. This might include questions like which features they use the most and how often they use them. You can get them to choose an answer from one to five and collect quantitative data.

Plus, for qualitative insights, you could even include a few open-ended questions with the option to write their answers. For instance, you might ask them if there’s any improvement they wish to see in your product.

Step 4: Analyze results

Once you have all the data you need, it’s time to analyze it keeping your research topic in mind. This involves trying to interpret the data to look for a wider meaning, particularly in relation to your research goal.

So let’s say a large percentage of responses were four or five in the satisfaction rating. This means your existing users are mostly satisfied with your current product features. On the other hand, if the responses were mostly ones and twos, you may look for opportunities to improve. The responses to your open-ended questions can give you further context as to why people are disappointed.

Step 5: Make decisions for your business

Now it’s time to take your findings and turn them into actionable insights for your business. In this final step, you need to decide how you want to move forward with your new market insight.

What did you find in your research that would require action? How can you put those findings to good use?

The market research tools you should be using

To wrap things up, let’s talk about the various tools available to conduct speedy, in-depth market research. These tools are essential for conducting market research faster and more efficiently.

Social listening and analytics

Social analytics tools like Sprout can help you keep track of engagement across social media. This goes beyond your own engagement data but also includes that of your competitors. Considering how quickly social media moves, using a third-party analytics tool is ideal. It allows you to make sense of your social data at a glance and ensure that you’re never missing out on important trends.

Email marketing research tools

Keeping track of brand emails is a good idea for any brand looking to stand out in its audience’s inbox.

Tools such as MailCharts ,  Really Good Emails  and  Milled  can show you how different brands run their email campaigns.

Meanwhile, tools like  Owletter  allow you to monitor metrics such as frequency and send-timing. These metrics can help you understand email marketing strategies among competing brands.

Content marketing research

If you’re looking to conduct research on content marketing, tools such as  BuzzSumo  can be of great help. This tool shows you the top-performing industry content based on keywords. Here you can see relevant industry sites and influencers as well as which brands in your industry are scoring the most buzz. It shows you exactly which pieces of content are ranking well in terms of engagements and shares and on which social networks.

SEO and keyword tracking

Monitoring industry keywords is a great way to uncover competitors. It can also help you discover opportunities to advertise your products via organic search. Tools such as  Ahrefs  provide a comprehensive keyword report to help you see how your search efforts stack up against the competition.

Competitor comparison template

For the sake of organizing your market research, consider creating a competitive matrix. The idea is to highlight how you stack up side-by-side against others in your market. Use a  social media competitive analysis template  to track your competitors’ social presence. That way, you can easily compare tactics, messaging and performance. Once you understand your strengths and weaknesses next to your competitors, you’ll find opportunities as well.

Customer persona creator

Finally, customer personas represent a place where all of your market research comes together. You’d need to create a profile of your ideal customer that you can easily refer to. Tools like  Xtensio  can help in outlining your customer motivations and demographics as you zero in on your target market.

Build a solid market research strategy

Having a deeper understanding of the market gives you leverage in a sea of competitors. Use the steps and market research tools we shared above to build an effective market research strategy.

But keep in mind that the accuracy of your research findings depends on the quality of data collected. Turn to Sprout’s social media analytics tools to uncover heaps of high-quality data across social networks.

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How To Perform Market Research for Advertising Campaigns

This post explores how brands can measure the impact of their advertising campaign through quantitative A/B tests, qualitative focus groups, and more.

quantilope is the Consumer Intelligence Platform for all end-to-end research needs

Market research is often thought of as the background or prep work to launching a new product or service or checking in on a product’s performance; however, market research can also be leveraged quite beneficially for prepping or measuring the impact of advertising campaigns. 

Table of Contents: 

What is advertising market research, how can market research improve advertising, benefits of market research for advertising, how to conduct advertising campaign market research, improve your advertising through powerful market research.

Advertising market research is research specifically designed to test advertising concepts or campaigns. Concepts can be first-draft ideas on storyboards, mocked-up animations, printed advertisements, or polished campaigns. Advertising market research can be done before advertising is launched in order to identify concepts that are likely to be most effective, while the campaign is live to measure the impact of the advertising on consumer perceptions, or after the campaign is finished to understand its full effect.

Back to Table of Contents

Market research is any form of data collection that gathers metrics from your target audience or potential new customers on how a product, service, or campaign is performing. There are two main types of market research: quantitative and qualitative.

Quantitative research focuses on the numeric side of data collection, often done through online survey questionnaires with research methods such as MaxDiff , market segmentation , or another methodology that provides advanced findings to standard usage and attitude questions. Qualitative research, on the other hand, collects more in-depth feedback from a customer base through the use of focus groups, video surveys, or ethnography (i.e. observation) studies. Qualitative research is a great way to capture the user experience side of consumer insights - through observation or detailed description of how a customer is using a product/service.

Advertising research could take the form of quantitative or qualitative methods. Using quantitative research, brands can test their advertising concepts through A/B tests which identify the top-performing concepts among respondents. Brands might also leverage quantitative research for advertising by using a  TURF analysis to understand which media channels will result in the optimal visibility of the advertising campaign.

Brands can also use qualitative research to improve their advertising efforts by asking for in-depth feedback from respondents on certain elements of an advertising campaign - such as the music used in video concepts, the colors/logo placement in print advertising, or the choice of celebrity endorsements in brand positioning advertising.

Performing market research prior to launching an advertising campaign, or in the early stages of a campaign launch, can inform a brand how the advertising concept is perceived among their overall target audience, which demographic groups respond best to it, and where they might need to make some adjustments. Through the use of market research for advertising, brands are optimizing their marketing efforts by ensuring they are leveraging effective advertising concepts that resonate with the audience they intend to.

Using market research for advertising also helps brands with competitive analysis - understanding how a campaign stacks up overall against competitors in the space, how memorable a campaign is among a competitive set, or how respondents' reactions to advertising concepts differ from those of competitors in terms of demographics or psychographics. This informs a brand of who they should be prioritizing in their advertising reach.

To conduct market research for advertising or marketing campaigns, there are a few key steps to keep in mind during the planning, execution, and post-campaign stages.

Pre-campaign advertising market research  

Before you finalize your advertising concepts, you need to start with an understanding of who your current customer base is, and which potential customers you want to reach for the first time. Developing these personas will make your research process easier by understanding which demographics and psychographics you’re interested in and effectively catering your advertising concepts to those audiences.

Once you’ve identified the target customers you want to reach with your advertising or marketing campaign, set your campaign goals. This includes what you want to come from your campaign efforts - be it raised awareness, promotion of a new product, promotion of a new message, or some other metric that you can easily use to define success.  

Once you have an idea of your target market, you can begin pre-testing your campaign materials by showing respondents the advertising concepts you have in mind (in whatever stage they may be - maybe it's two versions of a print ad with different color palettes, two iterations of a video with various soundtracks, and so on). In testing these concept ideas, you'll have a good idea of how the advertisement will perform once it actually goes live with the official launch.

You can perform this kind of pre-testing for advertisements in a variety of ways. One of the most common ways to do so is through the use of A/B tests (aka, split tests among equally structured groups of your overall sample). This type of test is used to compare product concepts, communication ideas, or specific ads using equally structured groups of respondents to inform a brand which concept is the most visually appealing, relevant, convincing, educational, and/or easily understood. If the feedback for one concept is overall positive during the pre-testing phase, you are in a good spot to move forward with that version into the market. If feedback is negative for both concepts you’ve tested, it would be wise to take your concepts back to the brainstorming phase to make edits before wasting budget on an underperforming advertising campaign. 

As a reminder, don't wait on finalized or semi-finalized concepts to start testing campaign ideas among your audience - it’s equally advantageous to test your advertising ideas at all stages of development. For example, you can start with an online survey to test which elements of your brand positioning are most important to consumers so you can emphasize that in your advertising communication used in the final concepts (and then test them again).  

Market research during the advertising campaign 

Once you’ve confirmed the optimal market research concept from pre-testing, it’s time to set your advertising campaign live and track its performance through the use of a tracking study.

Ensure your tracker has a module dedicated to asking about respondents’ recall of seeing recent advertising, and which ads/messages stood out to them. Identifying and comparing perceptions of those that claim to be exposed by your brand's advertising against those that have not been exposed can give you a clear indication as to whether the creative is strong enough to have a lasting positive impact on consumers. Monitoring your campaign while it's still live can provide brands with an idea of whether to extend the campaign (if successful), make tweaks (if not), or pull the campaign from the market altogether if it's not generating impact at all. 

Post-campaign ad research

After your advertising research has been pre-tested and launched, quantitative research can test consumers' recall of the campaign and its overall effect on brand perceptions. Perceptions of the brand prior to the campaign (taken from a brand tracking or separate pre-study) are compared with perceptions post-campaign so brands can judge how successful the campaign has been. This type of study helps brands strategize future campaigns based on learnings, successes, and failures. 

There are many research services to use for different forms of advertising testing. Some services might excel in providing design services and others might be known for their post-campaign tracking metrics.

quantilope’s Insights Automation Platform offers both quantitative and qualitative approaches to advertising research. Using the platform, brands can monitor their advertising concept metrics in real-time through a live field tab and automatically updated insight dashboards. quantilope also offers a video research solution, inColor , where brands can gather feedback on advertisements in customers’ own words.

To better inform your business decisions when it comes to ad campaigns and overall marketing strategy, take the time to plan, test, and track advertising concept performance. To learn more on how quantilope can help with market research for advertising, get in touch below:

Get in touch to learn more about market research for advertising!

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What is Marketing Research? Examples and Best Practices

12 min read

Marketing research is essentially a method utilized by companies to collect valuable information regarding their target market. Through the common practice of conducting market research, companies gather essential information that enables them to make informed decisions and develop products that resonate with consumers. It encompasses the gathering, analysis, and interpretation of data, which aids in identifying consumer demands, anticipating market trends, and staying ahead of the competition.

Exploratory research is one of the initial steps in the marketing research process. It helps businesses gain broad insights when specific information is unknown. If you are seeking insight into how marketing research can influence the trajectory of your SaaS, then you have come to the right place!

• Market research is a systematic and objective process crucial for understanding target markets, refining business strategies, and informing decisions, which includes collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data on customers, competitors, and the industry.
• Primary market research gathers specific data directly from the target audience using tools like surveys and focus groups, while secondary market research utilizes existing data from various sources to provide broader market insights.
• Effective market research combines both qualitative methods, which explore consumer motivations, and quantitative methods, which provide measurable statistics, to create comprehensive insights that guide business strategy and decision-making.

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Defining marketing research

Launching a product without knowing what your target audience wants is like walking in the dark. Market research lights the way, helping you collect, analyze, and understand information about your target market. This allows you to refine your business strategies and make decisions based on solid evidence.

Gone are the days when just intuition or subjective judgment was enough. Objective insights from market research help avoid costly mistakes and meet consumer needs by identifying trends and changes in the market. This is crucial for assessing a product’s potential success, optimizing marketing strategies, and preparing for market shifts.

Market research is a systematic approach that provides essential information, helping businesses navigate the complexities of the commercial world. Partnering with market research companies can offer additional benefits, leveraging their expertise in understanding market demands, trends, market size, economic indicators, location, market saturation, and pricing. Whether starting a new business, developing products, or updating marketing plans, understanding how to conduct effective market research is key to success.

To conduct market research effectively, businesses must determine study goals, identify target consumers, collect and analyze data, and use the findings to make informed decisions. This process is vital for evaluating past performance, measuring changes over time, and addressing specific business needs. It guides businesses in product development, marketing strategies, and overall decision-making, ensuring a better ROI and providing an eye-opening view of the market through various research methods, whether conducted in-house or outsourced.

The purpose of marketing research

Conducting marketing research is more than just gathering data; it’s about turning that data into actionable insights to refine your business strategies. This process helps you understand what motivates your customers, enabling you to tailor your products and services to minimize risks from the start. Importantly, market research plays a pivotal role in measuring and enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty, which are critical for understanding key demographics, improving user experience, designing better products, and driving customer retention. Customer satisfaction is measured as a key outcome, directly linked to the success of marketing strategies and business activities.

For SaaS product managers, market research, including competitive analysis, is crucial. It evaluates past strategies and gauges the potential success of new offerings. This research provides essential insights into brand strength, consumer behavior, and market position, which are vital for teams focused on sales, marketing, and product development.

A key aspect of market research is analyzing customer attitudes and usage. This analysis offers detailed insights into what customers want, the choices they make, and the challenges they face. It helps identify opportunities in the market and aids in formulating effective strategies for market entry.

Overall, market research equips SaaS entrepreneurs with the knowledge to meet their target audience’s needs effectively, guiding product adjustments and innovations based on informed decisions.

Key components of market research

Conducting market research is analogous to preparing a cake, requiring precise ingredients in specific quantities to achieve the intended outcome. Within this realm, necessary components consist of primary and secondary data gathering, thorough analysis, and insightful interpretation.

Primary research techniques such as exploratory studies, product evolution inquiries, estimations of market dimensions and shares, and consumer behavior examinations play a crucial role in collecting targeted information that can be directly applied. These methods afford a deeper understanding of your target demographic, allowing for customized strategy development.

In contrast, secondary research enriches the specificity of primary findings by adding wider context. It taps into external resources encompassing works from other investigators, sector-specific reports, and demographics data, which provide an expansive yet less particularized landscape view of the marketplace.

The subsequent phase involves meticulous analysis of collated data offering unbiased perspectives critical for identifying deficiencies while recognizing emerging patterns. Technological progress now facilitates examination efforts on both structured and unstructured datasets effectively addressing large-scale analytical complexities.

Ultimately, it’s through expert-led interpretation that value transcends raw figures, yielding strategies grounded in deep comprehension. Akin to decoding recipes using selected ingredients—this interpretative step enables crafting optimal business maneuvers just as one would bake their ideal confectionery creation utilizing proper culinary guidance.

Types of market research: primary and secondary

Now that you know the importance of clear research objectives, let’s explore the different types of market research and the techniques available to achieve these goals. Market research methods can be divided into two main categories: primary research and secondary research . The choice between these depends on factors like your budget, time constraints, and whether you need exploratory data or definitive answers.

Primary research involves collecting new data directly from sources. This process is like mining for precious metals, as it requires using various methods to gather fresh insights.

• Surveys (here – in-app survey templates from Userpilot ).

• Interviews.

• Focus groups.
• Product trials.

This approach gives you first-hand insight into your target audience.

Conversely, secondary research uses already established datasets of primary data – which can add depth and reinforcement to your firsthand findings.

Conducting your own market research using primary research tools can be a cost-effective strategy, allowing businesses to gather valuable insights directly and tailor their research to specific needs.

Let’s look a bit deeper into them now.

What is primary market research?

Market research uses primary market research as an essential tool. This involves collecting new data directly from your target audience using various methods, such as surveys , focus groups, and interviews.

Each method has its benefits. For example, observational studies allow you to see how consumers interact with your product.

There are many ways to conduct primary research.

Focus Groups : Hold discussions with small groups of 5 to 10 people from your target audience. These discussions can provide valuable feedback on products, perceptions of your company’s brand name, or opinions on competitors. Additionally, these discussions can help understand the characteristics, challenges, and buying habits of target customers, optimizing brand strategy.

Interviews : Have one-on-one conversations to gather detailed information from individuals in your target audience.

Surveys : These are a common tool in primary market research and can be used instead of focus groups to understand consumer attitudes. Surveys use structured questions and can reach a broad audience efficiently.

Navigating secondary market research

While marketing research using primary methods is like discovering precious metals, secondary market research technique is like using a treasure map. This approach uses data collected by others from various sources, providing a broad industry view. These sources include market analyses from agencies like Statista, historical data such as census records, and academic studies.

Secondary research provides the basic knowledge necessary for conducting primary market research goals but may lack detail on specific business questions and could also be accessible to competitors.

To make the most of secondary market research, it’s important to analyze summarized data to identify trends, rely on reputable sources for accurate data, and remain unbiased in data collection methods.

The effectiveness of secondary research depends significantly on how well the data is interpreted, ensuring that this information complements the insights from primary research.

Qualitative vs quantitative research

Market research employs both qualitative and quantitative methods, offering distinct insights that complement each other. Qualitative research aims to understand consumer behaviors and motivations through detailed analysis, while quantitative research collects measurable data for statistical analysis.

The selection of qualitative or quantitative methods should align with your research goals. If you need to uncover initial insights or explore deep consumer motivations, qualitative techniques like surveys or interviews are ideal.

On the other hand, if you need data that can be measured and analyzed for reliability, quantitative methods are more suitable.

However, these approaches don’t have to be used separately. Combining qualitative and quantitative methods in mixed-method studies allows you to capture both detailed exploratory responses and concrete numerical data. This integration offers a comprehensive view of the market, leveraging the strengths of both approaches to provide a fuller understanding of market conditions.

Implementing market research tools: Userpilot’s role

Similar to how a compass is essential for navigation at sea, businesses need appropriate instruments to carry out effective market research. Userpilot’s suite of product analytics and in-app engagement tools are critical components for this purpose.

Acting as a Buyer Persona Research instrument, Userpilot’s product analytics provide key quantitative research capabilities. This helps clearly define and comprehend the attributes and behaviors of potential customers, providing you with insights into your ICP (Ideal Customer Persona), user preferences, and product-market fit.

Beyond product analytics, Userpilot offers robust in-app engagement features such as modals and surveys that support real time collection of market research information. These interactive features work synergistically with the analytical tools to enable companies to gather detailed data and feedback crucial for informed business decision-making.

Marketing research process: Step-by-step guide

Marketing research conists of several critical stages:

• Defining precise goals.
• Delving into the knowledge of your target demographic.
• Collecting and scrutinizing data.
• Revealing insights that can be translated into tangible actions.

Following these steps allows you to gather critical information that guides business decisions.

An effective research strategy is crucial and involves:

• Properly allocating funds.
• Formulating testable hypotheses.
• Choosing appropriate methods for the study.
• Determining the number of study participants.
• Considering external variables.

A well-planned strategy ensures that your market research is focused, efficient, and produces useful outcomes.

After collecting data, the next step is to analyze it. This involves comparing the data to your initial questions to draw conclusions relevant to your business strategies.

Userpilot makes your data analysis easier by providing handy analytics dashboards for key user metrics such as activation, engagement, core feature adoption, and retention out of the box:

Finally, you report the findings and the process, providing recommendations based on the evidence. This is like solving a puzzle: each piece helps to complete the overall picture.

Challenges and best practices in market research

Delving into market research comes with its own set of hurdles. Those conducting the research must deliver more profound insights within increasingly shorter timespans, and they need to cultivate strategic, continuous research methods to stay abreast of an ever-changing business landscape.

Ensuring high-quality data can be demanding due to issues such as disjointed tools or insufficient analytical expertise. New solutions like Userpilot are surfacing that make these obstacles less daunting by offering accessible and user-friendly options. Maintaining clear lines of communication with your market research team is crucial for achieving both punctuality and quality in outcomes.

The advantages of engaging in marketing research cannot be overstated.

Real-life examples of successful market research

Real-life examples of market research in the SaaS industry often showcase innovative approaches to understanding customer needs and product-market fit.

For instance, Slack, the communication platform, utilized extensive market research to identify gaps in communication tools and understand the workflows of teams. This led to the development of features that seamlessly integrated with other tools and catered to the needs of various team sizes and structures.

Another example is HubSpot, which conducted market research to understand the pain points of small to medium-sized businesses in managing customer relationships. The insights gained helped shape their all-in-one inbound marketing, sales, and service platform, which has become integral to their users’ daily operations. These examples demonstrate how SaaS companies can employ market research to inform product development, improve user experience, and strategically position themselves in a competitive market.

Choosing the right market research tools

For B2B SaaS product managers aiming to do market research, having the right set of tools can make a significant difference. Here’s a list of valuable SaaS tools that can be leveraged for effective market research:

• Userpilot : A comprehensive Product Growth Platform offering in-depth product analytics, a code-free in-app experience builder, bespoke in-app survey capabilities, and robust integration options with platforms like Salesforce and Hubspot. This tool is particularly useful for understanding user behavior, enhancing user engagement, and gathering targeted feedback.
• Qualtrics : Known for its powerful survey tools, Qualtrics helps businesses gather and analyze customer feedback effectively. Its advanced analytics features are ideal for testing market hypotheses and understanding customer sentiments.
• SurveyMonkey : A versatile tool that enables product managers to create, send, and analyze surveys quickly and easily. SurveyMonkey is suitable for gauging customer satisfaction and collecting feedback on potential new features.
• Mixpanel : Specializes in user behavior analytics, offering detailed insights into how users interact with your product. This is essential for identifying patterns and optimizing product features.
• Hotjar : Combines analytics and feedback tools to give teams insights into user behavior and preferences. Hotjar’s heatmaps and session recordings are invaluable for understanding the user experience on a deeper level.
• Tableau : A leading platform for business intelligence and data visualization, Tableau allows product managers to create comprehensive visual reports that can inform strategic decisions based on user data analysis.

Each of these tools provides unique functionalities that can assist SaaS product managers in conducting thorough market research, thereby ensuring that their products are perfectly aligned with user needs and market demands.

Measuring the impact of market research

The pivotal challenge for market research lies in demonstrating its return on investment (ROI) and overall influence on corporate success sufficiently enough to justify regular financial commitment from company leaders. The worth attributed to a market research firm hinges not only on their ability to deliver relevant and high-caliber information, but also on their pricing structures and their contribution towards propelling organizational growth.

To gauge how effectively business choices made based on market research findings succeed, various metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) are utilized. These numerical tools act as navigational aids directing enterprises toward achieving objectives while simultaneously verifying that efforts invested in conducting market analysis are yielding fruitful guidance.

Throughout our look at market research, we’ve seen its importance and impact. Our discussion covered the basics of market research, its key components, and different types, including both qualitative and quantitative methods, and the role of Userpilot’s tools. We’ve examined the details of the market research process, tackled challenges, identified best practices, and shared success stories. We also provided advice on choosing the right market research partner and how to measure the effectiveness of your market research.

In today’s data-driven world, comprehensive market research is crucial for companies that want to succeed. It acts like a guide, helping businesses navigate the complex market landscape. Start your own detailed research today, supported by insightful analytics to help you succeed.

Frequently asked questions

What is market research and why is it important.

Understanding your target market, honing business strategies, and making informed decisions are all essential components that depend heavily on effective market research. It offers objective insights to help avoid expensive errors and foresees the needs of customers .

What is the difference between primary and secondary market research?

Primary market research is characterized by the direct gathering of data, in contrast to secondary market research which leverages existing information from alternative sources for addressing research inquiries.

Such a distinction can guide you in selecting an approach that aligns with your precise needs for conducting specific research.

What are some examples of successful market research?

Examples of successful market research are evident in the operations of well-known companies such as Starbucks, Apple, and McDonald’s. They have harnessed this tool to fine-tune their business strategies and make decisions based on solid information.

By employing market research, these businesses have managed to gain insight into their customers’ desires and needs, which has contributed significantly to their success.

How can I choose the right market research partner?

Selecting an ideal market research ally involves identifying a firm that resonates with your project requirements, financial plan, and corporate goals while also verifying their track record of dependability and consistency via reviews from previous clients.

Best wishes on your endeavor!

How is the impact of market research measured?

The effectiveness of market research hinges on the precision, representativeness, and pertinence of its data, along with how successful business decisions are when they’re based on the findings from this research. These elements define the impact of the research conducted.

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What is marketing research? Definition and examples

Marketing Research involves systematically collecting data about consumers, rivals, and other entities. That data is analyzed to gain a better understanding of consumers’ needs and other features of the market. Marketing people then summarize the data and conclusions in a report. The report helps senior managers and business owners make informed decisions regarding future plans and strategies.

Effective marketing research also aids in identifying potential new markets or customer segments, allowing companies to expand their reach and diversify their customer base.

Moreover, marketing research continuously evolves to adapt to emerging trends and technologies, ensuring that businesses stay competitive in rapidly changing markets.

“Marketing research is the systematic gathering, recording, and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data about issues relating to marketing products and services. The goal is to identify and assess how changing elements of the marketing mix impacts customer behavior.”

Three main types of marketing research

Marketing research generally consists of three main types of research: 1. Market research . 2. Product researc h. 3. Consumer research .

Market research

Market research is a study of the market, specifically who purchase a product, why they buy it, how competitors behave, and how something is sold.

It is an organized effort to gather and analyze data about target markets. The following quote comes from our article that defines market research:

“We often use the term with the same meaning as marketing research. However, marketing research concentrates on the marketing processes, while market research is about the market in general.”

Product research

Product research involves identifying a need or want and the characteristics of the product or service that will satisfy it. In other words, if consumers have a desire or want, what features or benefits of your product satisfies them and to what extent.

This type of research helps companies determine what consumers really want or need. They can then tailor their goods or services to match those consumer wants and needs.

According to mnbaskool.com:

“Product research is the marketing research that provides information on the desired characteristics of a product or service . Product research helps companies to understand what the customers really want, so that the product can be tailored to match the needs of the customer. This research can help to refine new product ideas.”

Consumer research

Consumer research is all about identifying consumer preferences, motivations, and purchasing behaviors. Specifically, the consumers that the company is focusing on; in other words, the target consumer.

Many marketing experts say that consumer research is part of market research. Marketers gather information through published sources, direct observation, face-to-face interviews, and mail surveys. Telephone interviews are also popular.

Who performs this type of research?

Some companies perform the research themselves while others hire third-party experts or consultants.

Hiring a consulting firm has both advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage is that consultants are marketing research experts. They probably have more experience and training than employees within the company.

The main disadvantage is that they may not understand some the products or services as well as company employees do. The same may also apply to customers and potential customers.

Compound phrases with ‘marketing research’

A compound phrase consists of two or more words. In business and marketing English, there are many compound phrases with the term ‘marketing research’ in them. Let’s have a look at the give most common ones:

Marketing Research Techniques

Refers to the specific methods and tools used in conducting marketing research. As in:

“The company employed various marketing research techniques, such as surveys and focus groups, to understand consumer preferences.”

Marketing Research Analysis

The process of examining and interpreting data collected through marketing research. For example:

“After conducting surveys, the marketing research analysis revealed a growing demand for eco-friendly products among consumers.”

Marketing Research Ethics

Principles and standards guiding the conduct of marketing research to ensure honesty, fairness, and responsibility. For instance:

“Adhering to marketing research ethics, the firm ensured all participant data was kept confidential and used solely for research purposes.”

Global Marketing Research

Research conducted to understand marketing dynamics, consumer behavior, and trends in international markets. As in:

“In their global marketing research, the company discovered significant cultural differences in consumer behavior across different regions, impacting their product strategy.”

Digital Marketing Research

Involves collecting and analyzing data related to digital marketing efforts, such as online consumer behavior, social media trends, and digital advertising effectiveness. For example:

“The digital marketing research showed that the company’s target audience predominantly engaged with their brand through social media platforms, leading to an increased focus on social media advertising.”

Vide – What is Marketing Research?

This video presentation, from our YouTube partner channel – Marketing Business Network , explains what a ‘Marketing Research’ is using simple and easy-to-understand language and examples.

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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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9 Best Marketing Research Methods to Know Your Buyer Better [+ Examples]

Published: August 08, 2024

One of the most underrated skills you can have as a marketer is marketing research — which is great news for this unapologetic cyber sleuth.

From brand design and product development to buyer personas and competitive analysis, I’ve researched a number of initiatives in my decade-long marketing career.

And let me tell you: having the right marketing research methods in your toolbox is a must.

Market research is the secret to crafting a strategy that will truly help you accomplish your goals. The good news is there is no shortage of options.

How to Choose a Marketing Research Method

Thanks to the Internet, we have more marketing research (or market research) methods at our fingertips than ever, but they’re not all created equal. Let’s quickly go over how to choose the right one.

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1. Identify your objective.

What are you researching? Do you need to understand your audience better? How about your competition? Or maybe you want to know more about your customer’s feelings about a specific product.

Before starting your research, take some time to identify precisely what you’re looking for. This could be a goal you want to reach, a problem you need to solve, or a question you need to answer.

For example, an objective may be as foundational as understanding your ideal customer better to create new buyer personas for your marketing agency (pause for flashbacks to my former life).

Or if you’re an organic sode company, it could be trying to learn what flavors people are craving.

2. Determine what type of data and research you need.

Next, determine what data type will best answer the problems or questions you identified. There are primarily two types: qualitative and quantitative. (Sound familiar, right?)

• Qualitative Data is non-numerical information, like subjective characteristics, opinions, and feelings. It’s pretty open to interpretation and descriptive, but it’s also harder to measure. This type of data can be collected through interviews, observations, and open-ended questions.
• Quantitative Data , on the other hand, is numerical information, such as quantities, sizes, amounts, or percentages. It’s measurable and usually pretty hard to argue with, coming from a reputable source. It can be derived through surveys, experiments, or statistical analysis.

Understanding the differences between qualitative and quantitative data will help you pinpoint which research methods will yield the desired results.

For instance, thinking of our earlier examples, qualitative data would usually be best suited for buyer personas, while quantitative data is more useful for the soda flavors.

However, truth be told, the two really work together.

Qualitative conclusions are usually drawn from quantitative, numerical data. So, you’ll likely need both to get the complete picture of your subject.

For example, if your quantitative data says 70% of people are Team Black and only 30% are Team Green — Shout out to my fellow House of the Dragon fans — your qualitative data will say people support Black more than Green.

(As they should.)

Primary Research vs Secondary Research

You’ll also want to understand the difference between primary and secondary research.

Primary research involves collecting new, original data directly from the source (say, your target market). In other words, it’s information gathered first-hand that wasn’t found elsewhere.

Some examples include conducting experiments, surveys, interviews, observations, or focus groups.

Meanwhile, secondary research is the analysis and interpretation of existing data collected from others. Think of this like what we used to do for school projects: We would read a book, scour the internet, or pull insights from others to work from.

So, which is better?

Personally, I say any research is good research, but if you have the time and resources, primary research is hard to top. With it, you don’t have to worry about your source's credibility or how relevant it is to your specific objective.

You are in full control and best equipped to get the reliable information you need.

3. Put it all together.

Once you know your objective and what kind of data you want, you’re ready to select your marketing research method.

For instance, let’s say you’re a restaurant trying to see how attendees felt about the Speed Dating event you hosted last week.

You shouldn’t run a field experiment or download a third-party report on speed dating events; those would be useless to you. You need to conduct a survey that allows you to ask pointed questions about the event.

This would yield both qualitative and quantitative data you can use to improve and bring together more love birds next time around.

Best Market Research Methods for 2024

Now that you know what you’re looking for in a marketing research method, let’s dive into the best options.

Note: According to HubSpot’s 2024 State of Marketing report, understanding customers and their needs is one of the biggest challenges facing marketers today. The options we discuss are great consumer research methodologies , but they can also be used for other areas.

Primary Research

1. interviews.

Interviews are a form of primary research where you ask people specific questions about a topic or theme. They typically deliver qualitative information.

I’ve conducted many interviews for marketing purposes, but I’ve also done many for journalistic purposes, like this profile on comedian Zarna Garg . There’s no better way to gather candid, open-ended insights in my book, but that doesn’t mean they’re a cure-all.

What I like: Real-time conversations allow you to ask different questions if you’re not getting the information you need. They also push interviewees to respond quickly, which can result in more authentic answers.

What I dislike: They can be time-consuming and harder to measure (read: get quantitative data) unless you ask pointed yes or no questions.

Best for: Creating buyer personas or getting feedback on customer experience, a product, or content.

2. Focus Groups

Focus groups are similar to conducting interviews but on a larger scale.

In marketing and business, this typically means getting a small group together in a room (or Zoom), asking them questions about various topics you are researching. You record and/or observe their responses to then take action.

They are ideal for collecting long-form, open-ended feedback, and subjective opinions.

One well-known focus group you may remember was run by Domino’s Pizza in 2009 .

After poor ratings and dropping over $100 million in revenue, the brand conducted focus groups with real customers to learn where they could have done better.

It was met with comments like “worst excuse for pizza I’ve ever had” and “the crust tastes like cardboard.” But rather than running from the tough love, it took the hit and completely overhauled its recipes.

The team admitted their missteps and returned to the market with better food and a campaign detailing their “Pizza Turn Around.”

The result? The brand won a ton of praise for its willingness to take feedback, efforts to do right by its consumers, and clever campaign. But, most importantly, revenue for Domino’s rose by 14.3% over the previous year.

The brand continues to conduct focus groups and share real footage from them in its promotion:

What I like: Similar to interviewing, you can dig deeper and pivot as needed due to the real-time nature. They’re personal and detailed.

What I dislike: Once again, they can be time-consuming and make it difficult to get quantitative data. There is also a chance some participants may overshadow others.

Best for: Product research or development

Pro tip: Need help planning your focus group? Our free Market Research Kit includes a handy template to start organizing your thoughts in addition to a SWOT Analysis Template, Survey Template, Focus Group Template, Presentation Template, Five Forces Industry Analysis Template, and an instructional guide for all of them. Download yours here now.

3. Surveys or Polls

Surveys are a form of primary research where individuals are asked a collection of questions. It can take many different forms.

They could be in person, over the phone or video call, by email, via an online form, or even on social media. Questions can be also open-ended or closed to deliver qualitative or quantitative information.

A great example of a close-ended survey is HubSpot’s annual State of Marketing .

In the State of Marketing, HubSpot asks marketing professionals from around the world a series of multiple-choice questions to gather data on the state of the marketing industry and to identify trends.

The survey covers various topics related to marketing strategies, tactics, tools, and challenges that marketers face. It aims to provide benchmarks to help you make informed decisions about your marketing.

It also helps us understand where our customers’ heads are so we can better evolve our products to meet their needs.

Apple is no stranger to surveys, either.

In 2011, the tech giant launched Apple Customer Pulse , which it described as “an online community of Apple product users who provide input on a variety of subjects and issues concerning Apple.”

"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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Marketing Research: Meaning, Definitions, Components, Scope, Features, Importance, Advantages, Limitations

What is Marketing Research?

Marketing research can be defined as the process of gathering recording and analyzing the data related to certain products and services . This need for market research is derived from the concept that only by understanding the needs and wants of the target audience and by effectively meeting them, you will be able to achieve the organizational goals and surpass the competition in the specific market.

Market Research is any organized effort to gather information about target markets or customers. It is a very important component of business strategy. The term is commonly interchanged with marketing research , however, expert practitioners may wish to draw a distinction in that marketing research is concerned especially with marketing processes while market research is concerned specifically with markets.

However, it is the marketing manager who makes the final marketing decision and not the researcher. The second observation, that marketing research does not guarantee success, is simply a recognition of the environment within which marketing takes place.

Definition of Marketing Research

These are the following simple and understandable definitions of marketing research given by the authors:

[su_quote cite=” Richard Crisp “] MR is the systematic, objective, and exhaustive search for and study of the facts relating to any problem in the field of marketing.[/su_quote]

[su_quote cite=”A. G. Delens”] MR is the systematic study and evaluation of all factors bearing on any business operation, which involves the transfer of goods from a producer to a consumer.[/su_quote]

[su_quote cite=”The American Marketing Association (AMA)”] Marketing Research is the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information– information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process.[/su_quote]

Components of Marketing Research

The objective of marketing research is to provide management with relevant, accurate, reliable, valid, and current information. The competitive marketing environment and the ever-increasing costs attributed to poor decision-making require that marketing research provide sound information.

Sound decisions are not based on gut feeling, intuition, or even pure judgment. The following are the major components of marketing research explained below:

Market Research

Market Research is the key factor to getting an advantage over competitors. Market research provides important information to identify and analyze the market need, market size, and competition.

Product Research

Advertising research.

Advertising research is a specialized type of marketing research conducted to improve the efficiency of advertising. According to MarketConscious.com, “It may focus on a specific ad or campaign or may be directed at a more general understanding of how advertising works or how consumers use the information in advertising. It can entail a variety of research approaches, including psychological, sociological, economic, and other perspectives.”

Motivation Research

Motives: Something that compels or drives a consumer to take a particular action. Motivation research is also used to investigate the psychological reasons why individuals buy specific types of merchandise, or why they respond to specific advertising appeals, to determine the base of brand choices and product preferences.

Sales Research

For example, the identification of contact name and address changes reduces a company’s sales and marketing communications costs by eliminating phone calls and mailings to contacts who are no longer employed or who have changed positions.

Scope of Marketing Research

Following is the scope of marketing research :

Syndicate Service

Marketing information system (mkis).

This is an internal activity where standardized reports are generated on regular basis or it is generated on demand also. E.g. Sales Reports, inventory amounts, production schedules, and also purchased information. We can track the sales performance and the changing taste of consumers also through MKIS.

Decision Support System

Market research projects, features of marketing research, systematic and continuous process.

Marketing research is a continuous process. One type of research is not adequate to resolve all marketing problems. Similarly, new research projects will have to be undertaken to solve new marketing problems and challenges.

Wide in Scope Application

Emphasizes accurate data collection and critical analysis.

In marketing research , required data should be collected objectively and accurately. The data collected must be reliable. It should be analyzed in a systematic manner. This will provide a comprehensive picture of the situation and possible solutions.

Offers Benefits to Sponsoring Company and Consumer

Commercial equivalent of military intelligence.

Marketing research is a commercial intelligence activity. It is similar to military intelligence where a systematic study is made before taking any military action marketing research acts as the intelligence tool of marketing management.

Device for Managerial Decisions

Marketing research acts as a tool in the hands of management for identifying and analyzing marketing problems and finding out solutions to them. It is an aid to decision-making. It suggests possible solutions for the consideration and selection by managers. Marketing research is an aid to Judgement and never a substitute for it.

Applied Type of Research

Marketing research is applied knowledge. It is also called ‘decisional’ research as it provides specific alternative solutions to deal with a specific marketing problem. It studies specific marketing problems and suggests alternative solutions and possible ones.

Reduces the Gap between the Producers and Consumer

Not an accurate science.

Marketing research is both science and art. It collects information and studies marketing problems in a scientific manner. The information collected is also applied to real-life problems. However, marketing research is not an exact science.

Apply Different Methods

Dynamic character.

Marketing research is dynamic in nature. Its scope is fast expanding along with the new developments in the field of marketing.

In addition, development in other subjects such as economics, statistics, computer science, sociology, psychology, cultural anthropology , and behavioral sciences also bring corresponding changes in the field of marketing research. This suggests that marketing research is a dynamic and progressive subject.

Importance of Marketing Research

Planning and execution of marketing plan.

A business unit can plan and execute all activities right from manufacturing to marketing with reasonable accuracy and confidence due to the guidelines available through marketing research .

Quick and Correct Decision-Making

Effective solutions to marketing problems.

Marketing research provides effective solutions to marketing problems. Marketing research is the radiology and pathology of marketing operations of the business. It diagnoses the business ailments and suggests measures to remove them. Marketing researcher acts like business doctor and prescribes treatment for business elements.

Huge Spending on MR

Large companies spend crores (1 Crore = 10 million) of rupees on marketing research activities. New techniques and methods are used in the conduct of research activities in an accurate manner. This suggests the growing importance of marketing research.

Advantages of Marketing Research

Indicates current market trends, pinpoints deficiencies in marketing policies.

Marketing research pinpoints the deficiencies as regards products, pricing , promotion, etc. It gives proper guidance regarding different aspects of marketing. They include product development, branding , packaging, and advertising.

Explains Customer Resistance

Marketing research is useful for finding out customer resistance to the company’s products. Suitable remedial measures are also suggested by the researcher to deal with the situation. This makes the products agreeable to the consumers.

Suggests Sales Promotion Techniques

Guidance to marketing executives.

Marketing research offers information and guidance to marketing executives while framing marketing policies. Continuous research enables a company to face adverse marketing situations boldly. It acts as insurance against possible changes in the market environment.

Selection and Training of Sales Force

Marketing research is useful for the selection and training of staff in the sales Organisation. It suggests the incentives which should be offered for motivation of employees concerned with marketing.

Facilitates Business Expansion

Facilitates appraisal of marketing policies, suggests marketing opportunities.

Marketing research suggests new marketing opportunities and the manner in which they can be exploited fully. It identifies existing and emerging market opportunities.

Facilitates Inventory Study

Provides marketing information.

Marketing research provides information on various aspects of marketing. It suggests the relative strengths and weaknesses of the company. On the basis of such information, marketing executives find it easy to frame policies for the future period. Marketing research provides information, guidance, and alternative solutions to marketing problems.

Suggests Distribution Channels

Marketing research can be used to study the effectiveness of existing channels of distribution and the need of making suitable changes in the distribution system.

Creates Progressive Outlook

Social significance, limitations of marketing research.

These are some points of limitations of marketing research :

Offers Suggestions and not Decisions

Marketing research is not a substitute for the decision-making process. Ready-made decisions on marketing problems are not provided by the researcher. Marketing research does not solve any marketing problems directly. It only aids management in the decision-making and problem-solving process.

Fails to Predict Accurately

Cannot study all marketing problems, resistance to research by marketing executives.

Researchers study marketing problems and offer guidance to marketing executives in their decision-making process. However, some executives are reluctant to use the solutions suggested by the researchers. They feel that such use will act as a threat to their personal status. Marketing executives also feel that researchers give solutions that are academic in character and lack practical utility.

Time-Consuming Activity

Costly/expensive activity.

Marketing research activity is costly as research work requires the services of experts. Advanced training in economics, computer technology, sociology, etc. is also necessary on the part of the research staff. Even giving the responsibility for research work to an advertising agency or to a management consultant is costly.

Dearth of Qualified Staff

For a scientific marketing research, professional marketing researchers with proper qualifications, experience, and maturity are required. Research work is likely to be incomplete /unreliable in the absence of such expert staff.

Complexity of Subject

Uncertainty of conclusions, limitations of data used.

The marketing research process solely depends on the data collected and used for analyzing the marketing problem, drawing conclusions, and making recommendations. However, the whole process will come in danger if the data collected are inadequate and unreliable.

Limited Practical Utility

Miscellaneous limitations.

The limitations of marketing research (noted above) do not suggest that it is a redundant activity. It only suggests that the marketing research activity should be conducted with proper care and caution. This will make research activity meaningful and result-oriented.

FAQ Related to Marketing Research

What is the meaning of marketing research, what is the definition of marketing research, what are the components of marketing research.

These are the major components of marketing research explained below: 1. Market Research 2. Product Research 3. Advertising Research 4. Motivation Research 5. Sales Research.

What are the scopes of marketing research?

What are the features of marketing research, what is the importance of marketing research.

The following points of the importance of marketing research: 1. Planning and Execution of Marketing Plan 2. Quick and Correct Decision-Making 3. Effective Solutions to Marketing Problems 4. Huge Spending on MR.

What are the advantages of marketing research?

What are the limitations of marketing research, leave a reply cancel reply.

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9 Applications of Marketing Research

Meaning of marketing research, application of marketing research.

Demand Forecasting

Sales analysis, advertising research, positioning research, market segmentation, product research, pricing research, distribution research, customer satisfaction research, related posts:, add commercemates to your homescreen.

ADV 208: The Big Idea in Advertising (Fall 2024)

• More Advertising Databases
• Advertising Examples
• MRI-Simmons
• Locating Books on Advertising
• Industry & Market Research Databases
• Psychology of Advertising
• Digital New York Times
• Digital Washington Post
• Digital Wall Street Journal
• Syracuse.com

  Market/Industry Research - Additional Core Databases

Those researching advertising topics may benefit from review of one or more these various business oriented resources and publications. The focus here is on learning more about specific industries and markets:

• Business Insights Articles about business, company histories and profiles, financial and industry reports, SWOT analyses, and more.
• IBISWorld Industry and company reports, industry outlook and risk rating reports, market share, and business environment profiles, and more, searchable by keyword or NAICS code.
• SAGE Business Cases Case studies related to business integrated with SAGE’s journal, book, video, and reference content. To access the teaching notes (available only to instructors), please request the instructor code from Brenna Helmstutler at [email protected].
• MarketLine Company, country, industry and product -related reports, analysis, news and case studies .
• MarketResearch.com Academic Market research reports covering services, demographics, the food and beverage industry, medical and health care industry, technology and media and more.
• Mergent Intellect Information about U.S. and international public and private companies, company news, and key business ratios. Searchable by company, person, or industry. Includes content in D & B Million Dollar Database and offers FirstResearch industry profiles, Nielsen demographics, and residential and consumer lifestyle directories.
• Mergent Online Financial information about public companies, including EDGAR (SEC) filings, US Company Data Direct, and International Company Data Direct.
• PrivCo Users are required to register with their syr.edu email address and will be asked to login each time. Company profiles on private (non-publicly traded) companies. Includes financials, venture capital and private equity funding, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
• Hoover's Company Profiles Proprietary information about public and non-public companies, including information about the company, executives, financial, and industry analyses.
• Mintel Reports Research reports covering consumer behavior and analysis of United States markets.
• ProQuest Historical Annual Reports Annual reports on U.S. companies.
• Statista Data from both public and private sources related to a wide range of subjects, including consumers, digital markets, and companies; also includes forecasts, analysis, reports, and more.

Edison Research This organization offers a large volume of freely available reports and data about American digital media consumers, and is notable for its analysis of the podcasting industry.  This includes access to Edison’s reports called Infinite Dial , studies with commercial sponsors such as Amazon Music, Wondery, and ART19.  Infinite Dial reports track mobile behaviors, internet audio, podcasting, social media, smart speakers and more.  See also, Edison’s full subpage covering Audio Research PLEASE NOTE:  Some of Edison’s data and reports, including election polling data  - at times may not be open access, or otherwise require a direct client relationship with Edison Research.  Edison Research data on numerous topics also is viewable at times within additional third party databases, such as the statistical data aggregators, Statista and Insider Intelligence eMarketer , political polling data available via the database, Roper iPoll (where search results can be filtered to only yield data sourced from Edison Research), or at times, within any number of secondary reporting appearing in news and newspaper sources

Want to explore still further starting points for industry and market research, visit the library's Business Information Guide

• Insider Intelligence eMarketer Marketing, advertising, and consumer reports covering a range of industries, such as financial services, ecommerce, technology, and more. Includes content from both eMarketer and Business Insider Intelligence.

eMarketer is a repository of data and discussion about digital marketing, media and ecommerce. Covers information environments and technologies that some traditional industry and market research databases overlook, with a focus that includes mobile computing, online advertising, tablets, smartphones, mobile payments and more.  The eMarketer database curates a large collection of presentation friendly data visualizations, which draw upon thousands of published industry sources and leadership interviews.  Concise, single topic summary reports are included to assist with the development of media strategies, budgeting and other data driven presentations and analysis.  Digital market data for numerous countries are represented, with over 10,000 new data charts added each year.   Download options include Excel, PowerPoint, JPG and PDF.

Circulation Data

• Media Intelligence Center (Alliance for Audited Media) Data on readership, demographics, circulation and digital activity for North American newspaper and magazine publications. A helpful tool for media planning, buying and market comparisons.

Richard K. Miller & Associates Market Research Reports

In addition to powerful market research databases like Mintel and MarketResearch.com Academic , SU Libraries also makes available various electronic book titles from publisher Richard K. Miller & Associates . These offer extensive market research reports on subjects that include:

• Entertainment, Media and Advertising
• Consumer Behavior
• International Consumer Markets
• Health Care Business Market
• Leisure Market Research
• Restaurant Food & Beverage Market
• Sports Marketing
• Travel & Tourism Market Research
• << Previous: Locating Books on Advertising
• Next: Psychology of Advertising >>
• Last Updated: Aug 16, 2024 10:30 AM
• URL: https://researchguides.library.syr.edu/adv208
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• Library of Congress
• Research Guides

Marketing Industry: A Resource Guide

Trade publications.

• Introduction
• Academic Journals
• Marketing Associations
• Rankings and Awards
• Brands and Advertisements
• Manufacturers and Wholesalers
• Regulations and Ethics
• Historical Marketing Industry Data
• Subscription Databases
• Search the Library's Catalog
• Using the Library of Congress

Trade publications are excellent sources for current trends in the marketing industry, including news about brands, agencies, and marketing campaigns. While historically these publications were in print only, many now only exist in a digital format. The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog . Links to additional online content are included when available. See also the list of Historical Marketing Trade Publications  at the bottom of this page. 

The following external websites link to additional trade journals published online. 

• Digiday External Digiday publishes articles on the impact of technology on the media and marketing industries. Some articles are available only through a member subscription.
• Spin Sucks External A public relations news website that contains articles and podcasts on a variety of marketing-related topics.
• Social Media Examiner External With an explicit focus on social media marketing, they have a more practical focus, which includes their "how-to" section, expert interviews, and their podcast the Social Media Marketing Talk Show .
• eMarketer External The articles section of eMarketer covers topics in online marketing. While the articles and videos are free to access, other content on their website, including reports, require registration and/or purchase.
• Search Engine Land External Although there is a specific section for Search Engine Marketing (SEM), many of the articles, reports, and webinars across the site impact marketers that use search engine optimization strategies.

Historical Marketing Trade Publications

When doing historical research on the marketing industry, trade publications are excellent records of news and trends. The following titles are no longer actively published, but the Library holds many years of archived issues in print. The titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the  Library of Congress Online Catalog . 

• << Previous: Academic Journals
• Next: Marketing Associations >>
• Last Updated: Aug 13, 2024 9:11 AM
• URL: https://guides.loc.gov/marketing-industry

Market Research & Analytics Student Fellow

Deadline to apply: Ongoing, however, first consideration will be given to those who apply by August 26, 2024 Location: 317 Maynard St., Ann, Arbor, MI 48104 (75% in-person fellowship experience) Pay Rate:  Undergraduate $17/hr, Master’s $20/hr, Doctoral $23/hr Job Duration: 10-15 hours/week for the Fall semester, with the possibility of extending the fellowship Hiring Manager: Sean Corp ( [email protected] )

Who we’re looking for:

We are seeking a detail-oriented and analytically-minded student fellow to join our Marketing & Market Strategy (M&MS) team at the University of Michigan’s Center for Academic Innovation. The ideal candidate will have experience with marketing analytics and data visualization tools, such as Looker Studio. Additionally, you will assist in market research projects as they emerge, ensuring our team has accurate and actionable data to move forward with specific projects as they relate to online and hybrid degree programs. If you are a proactive and tech-savvy individual with a passion for marketing and data-driven decision-making, we encourage you to apply.

What You’ll Do:

• Maintain and optimize marketing analytics dashboards for the Online Teaching and Michigan Online websites
• Pull other reports as requested by the Marketing & Market Research team
• Build a Looker Studio dashboard for the Center for Academic Innovation website 
• Interpret, analyze, and synthesize quantitative and qualitative data into executive reports
• Assist with scoping and conducting additional market research projects as they arise

Skill You’ll Learn:

• Marketing data analysis and interpretation skills
• Proficiency in data visualization tools, particularly Looker Studio
• Strong market research abilities by conducting secondary research
• Expertise in synthesizing quantitative and qualitative data into clear, concise executive reports
• Ability to provide actionable insights and strategic recommendations based on data analysis

Student Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a bachelor’s or master’s degree in business (marketing), data science, statistics, or a related field 
• Proficiency in data visualization tools, such as Looker Studio, Tableau, or similar platforms
• Strong analytical skills with experience in interpreting and synthesizing quantitative and qualitative data
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present complex data in a clear and actionable manner
• Detail-oriented with strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously
• Basic understanding of marketing principles and strategies is a plus

How to apply

To apply, please click here to complete the Student Fellowship Application and upload the following supplemental document:

• A 350-word essay about the student’s experience with market research or marketing analytics and why they would like to pursue this work with CAI.
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Professor cameron shelton research finds that campaign ads confirm biases.

Photo by Anibal Ortiz

A new research paper by Claremont McKenna College Professor Cameron Shelton shows that televised campaign advertising increases the probability that viewers who identify with a particular political party will embrace its positions, prefer its candidates, and turn out to vote.

“If a Republican candidate shows an advertisement to Republican voters, they would be more likely to vote Republican after watching the ad,” said Shelton, whose research “Mobilization and Backlash: Asymmetric Updating in Response to Campaign Ads” will be published in the forthcoming Review of Economics and Statistics . “However, if the Republican candidate showed their ad to a Democrat, the voter would be emboldened to vote Democrat.”

Shelton explained that this dynamic is referred to as “mobilization and backlash.”

“Campaign ads have the power to confirm biases on both ends of the political spectrum,” he said. “As a result, a political party gains very little by showing an ad to a politically balanced audience.”

The report examined the impact of 5.68 million television advertisements from the 2012 and 2016 federal election cycles on election results.

Shelton, a leading economist who is director of the Lowe Institute of Political Economy at Claremont McKenna, found that the powerful net effects of mobilization and backlash confirm biases, leading to a balanced dynamic among voters.

“This clearly demonstrates the potential benefits of targeting in the context of television viewing,” he said. “In today’s world, political advertising focuses on the delivery via social media of spots that are micro-targeted according to age, gender, ethnicity, Zip code, and browsing habits, which typically highlight party affiliation.”

However, he added that additional research has found that social media advertising has disadvantages, including the dismissal of unwanted information, as opposed to the relatively passive, focused attention given to TV. Streaming services such as Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video, whose content is consumed like television, have collected a great deal of information about their customers and are exploring targeted advertising.

“Work by other researchers has shown that social media, while doing a great job of targeting, does not actually have strong effects when it comes to encouraging voting,” said Shelton. “If partisanship is so easily cued by political advertisements, my results might seem to suggest such ads as a source of polarization. Ultimately, targeted ads in streaming is likely the way to go—and designing an ad that mobilizes a base, while not incurring the backlash effect would be key for political operatives.”  

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11 Key Findings in Hiring Trends for H1 2024

• Posted on: August 15, 2024
• Topic: Higher Education

Are your programs meeting labor market demands?

Within a fast-changing job market, it is critical for higher education institutions to align their academic programs with the education and skills that employers are seeking in new hires. This takes on heightened importance as institutions revisit their academic portfolio in the post-pandemic environment.

Our latest report analyzes notable domestic hiring trends based on job postings data from H1 2024. Through JobsEQ, Hanover analyzes real-time job postings data to assess the extent to which current and proposed academic programs align with labor market demands. 

Our report, 11 Key Findings in Employer Hiring Trends , discusses the skills most sought-after by employers in January – June 2024 and confirms the occupations that experienced the:

• Largest number of job postings
• Highest hiring rates
• Fastest growth

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