Getting started with Market Research can be overwhelming.
Here are some of the main methods you can use to improve your marketing campaigns.
Primary Research Methods #
1. Survey
Want to know what your customers think? Just ask them. Send a quick survey via text or email, and you’ll be surprised how candid they will be. !
✅ Cost-effective
✅ Relatively quick
✅ Easy for customers to complete
✅ Flexibility to ask relevant questions
✅ Opportunity to collect both numerical and opinion data
❌ Low Response Rates
❌ Must make sure you ask the right questions and allow respondents space to provide answers in their own words.
2. Focus Groups
A small group interacts, and a moderator watches. They may ask questions to better understand consumer lifestyles and product marketing preferences
✅ Rich data – words, opinions, and behaviours of diverse groups
✅ More cost-effective than interviews
✅ Relatively Quick
❌ Limited sample sizes
❌ Dominant voices might skew data
❌ Moderator bias can skew data
❌ People feel pressured to behave or answer in certain ways
❌ Low response rates
3. Interviews
Conducting interviews with customers means you can really dig deep into their preferences and thoughts. You’ll need to obtain consent, and incentivise their participation.
✅ Deep, meaningful insights
✅ Flexibility to ask relevant questions
✅ Ability to ask for clarification/more detail
❌ Costly
❌ Limited Time = Limited Sample Size
4. Observations
Using A/B tests to make a note of customers’ behaviours, as well as observing social media interactions, and analysing behaviour on your website.
✅ Captures natural behaviour without the pressure of ‘right answers’ etc
✅ Provides real-time insights
✅ Can be useful for studying complex customer interactions or behaviours that are hard to put into words
❌ Observer Bias
Secondary Research Methods #
1. Review-Mining
Check out customer reviews of similar products to refine your own output.
✅ Cost-effective
✅ Provides unfiltered opinions
✅ Ability to compare your work with your competitors
✅ Provides real-time insights
❌ Data quality– not all reviews are genuine
❌ Limited Context
❌ Surface-level view of the market
2. Social Media
Scrolling through socials can actually be research! Look at the ways in which your competitors interact with customers, to inspire you.
✅ Large Reach
✅ Very cheap
❌ Like reviews, you only get a surface-level view of the market
❌ Privacy and ethics – you’re observing and using people’s data; be sure you have the right permissions
❌ Needs consideration and planning
3. Government and Market Reports
Published documents from government agencies and private companies contain data on consumer behavior, economic conditions, and business strategies.
✅ Easily accessible online
✅ Broad perspectives on industry trends
✅Usually Free
✅ Ability to analyse competitors
❌ Danger of using outdated information
❌ Requires a level of statistical expertise – you may need to hire an expert
4. Competitor Analysis
Using press releases and reports, you can learn about competitors’ marketing strategies, including what works well, to evaluate your own techniques.
✅ Identify and fill in gaps in the market gaps
✅ Helps you to identify new target markets
✅ Wide availability, easy accessibility
❌ Requires an understanding of who your competitors are – extra research
Choosing the right method—or the right combination of methods—means thinking about what is right for your business right now. You will need to consider:
- your own budget and time constraints,
- the demographics of your audience,
- the availability of certain materials in your industry.
If you’re considering conducting research and would like some advice, our team is on hand to help you get results.
