Market Research Methods

Have you been looking for ways to develop the best products for your business? Are you looking to see how your business is portrayed by others? A little market research can get you the answers to both those questions. There are a few different market research methods available. You must choose the one that works best for the results you require if you wish to do proper consumer research. If you are unsure of which method will work for you, it’s okay. There are multiple market research examples for you to look at before making your final decision. 

Market Research Methods

Surveys are an excellent market research example when you are looking to understand brand awareness and satisfaction. Out of all the market research methods, those with market research jobs will use surveys the most. It is easy to survey a large number of people within your target audience to find the answer to what you are looking for.

Surveys

When you choose to do surveys, you must be prepared with specific questions. These questions can be close-ended or open-ended. You can perform these surveys over the phone, via email, or even an online form. You could also do surveys in person, but that can take a lot of time you may not have available.

Focus Groups

Focus groups are the perfect way to discover which advertising ideas will work the best. They can also be quite informative when determining which products you should consider more than others. This market research method only involves smaller group of people. Therefore, you will be talking to between six and twelve people.

These people will not all be within your target audience, because you want a diverse group. Since these people will not have the same opinions, you can get a larger range of opinions. While in-person focus group sessions are possible, most companies prefer video conferencing instead. The latter is cost-effective and efficient.

Test Markets

When you are looking at new marketing campaigns, you may want to conduct some research to see if you have the best campaign. Test markets are an excellent example of market research needed for testing marketing campaigns.

For this type of market research, you must create a test group, as well as a control group. Utilizing both groups will allow you to see if your new call to action button or landing page is working to bring in more customers. If you are not getting the results you desire, you will know you must make some changes immediately.

Listening Via Social Media

Social media is a major part of most peoples’ lives, so it only makes sense that you can get a lot of answers from it. You can easily determine what topics people are looking for on social media, while also viewing posts that are relevant to those topics. All the information you find is unfiltered and shows exactly what people are doing. This is key, because we all know that people can say one thing and then do something completely different.

Analyze Your Sales Data

If you are not sure where your focus should be for market research, we recommend analyzing your sales data. This sales data will help you understand your customers better. You may see that their buying habits are changing, and you must determine why.

While this data will only share information about your current customers or clients, it can be eye opening. You can easily pair the information you find with all the details from your other market research.

Competitor Benchmarks

This is one of the secondary market research methods available to you. This method will have you comparing your company to those companies who are your competitor. Some of your most valuable information will come from the specific growth metrics and key performance indicators of other companies within your industry.

We recommend using these benchmarks to determine where your company should be with revenue, profit margins, operating costs, and so much more.

Interviews

Interviews are not done as often as they used to be, because they are time consuming. There is no denying that it takes quite a bit of time to talk to people individually. However, the intricate details you can learn from a one-on-one interview can be worth the ten to thirty minutes you spend with each person.

If you decide you have complex topics that you need answers to, an interview may be the method your company needs right now. To truly get the details you need, you must interview between twenty-five and seventy-five people.

Questionnaires

Questionnaires are quite different than the surveys we discussed above. This type of market research method is used when you simply want to collect information. Surveys are normally used to draw conclusions. There isn’t really a limit to the number of questions you can ask during this type of research. However, questionnaires with fewer questions are completed more often than those with a lot of questions. We recommend trying to limit your questions to no more than ten if you want to receive the most responses.

If you are not ready for other research methods, you may want to begin with a questionnaire. You can then use the information you receive to determine what other research is necessary for your business.

It is important to know that not all these market research methods will not work for your business. Some will work well, while others will be a waste of your time. If you are unsure which method will work for your business, you must consider what information you are looking for. You can even look at market research examples to get an idea of which method will share the information you need the most. It may seem to be a lot of work in the beginning, but the results will be worth it when your business is doing better than ever.

Interested in market research jobs? We might already have your next position posted.

We at Reeve & Associates continue to innovate to provide creative recruitment ideas. For example, we introduced Budget Recruiting, which allows us to fill your positions at a more cost effective price for your budget. Give us a call and let's talk about Budget Recruiting: 203.968-2773. Relax and let us do the heavily lifting.