Market Research

There are several ways in which to conduct market research, but let’s first consider the two main types of research, quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative research is research that is based on numbered quantities and consists of ‘primary’ research and ‘secondary’ research. Primary would include your own surveys, interviews (using standardised questions), and documentation/data review (existing business data metrics such as website analytics etc). Secondary data would refer to other peoples’ published academic research, surveys & polls, and government reports. Qualitative research is what we deem more in-depth and rounded research and is thus difficult to quantify, a perfect example being a customer interview or a focus group (to name a few), where the interview could not really be quantified as it’s a conversation. Ideally, a good market research project will include both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies (depending on a multitude of factors). 

The following demonstrate the basic steps for conducting market research.

Step 1 - What Do You Want To Know. Determine what you are trying to find out. For example, what people might think of your new proposed service, product or idea?

Step 2 - Research Plan & Budget. Consider how you want to execute the market research. This is usually where projects fall down as without the requisite hands-on experience of planning and executing a successful market research project the resulting insights could effectively be useless, so this is probably the most important part of the process where you’ll need a market research expert to advise you. The research plan more or less coincides with the budgeting of the project in that from planning you’ll know how you want to conduct the research which will in turn determine the likely costs. If the costs are too great, you’ll then have to reduce elements of the research process i.e perhaps reduce the number of respondents, or consider less locations, or reduce the incentives etc, all however will have an effect on the research process and insights obtained.

Step 3 - Design & Create the Survey and/or Discussion Guide/s. Following the research plan you’ll need to create the survey or discussion guide. For a survey, you should consider (1) how you are going to pose the questions and responses and (2) the length/duration of the survey (how many questions you are going to ask). Closed questions are usually easier and faster for the respondent to complete. Additionally the resulting data is that much easier to extrapolate and to interpret into quick, and to-the-point, insights. The downside to closed questioning is that you miss the qualitative data which would provide (1) far more descriptive answers and (2) more enlightening responses that you may not have considered when planning a closed-question type survey. Open questions, even though they can provide greater insight are (1) usually longer for the survey respondent to complete (and thus more hassle, which then questions the validity of their answers) and (2) are much harder to interpret into real data and insights (it’s generally not quantitative like closed questions so are more or less impossible to port into a spreadsheet or similar to extrapolate insights). The most effective surveys that generate swift and informative responses are those that are well thought out, short, clear and concise. For a discussion guide - usually for focus groups, one-to-one/depth interviews, or workshops - you need to consider that the guide should be a ‘guide’ and not a rigid questionnaire for the moderator (the person - usually a professional - that questions the respondents) to follow. It should only include the main areas of discussion, otherwise it can lead to a stilted discussion that does not allow for any conversational movement outside the bounds of the guide (such movement allowing for greater insight that may not have been considered in the original document).

Step 4 - Respondent Types Determine the type of people that you should be surveying/interviewing. For example, what type of person/s might be interested in said service/product/idea. Such insights are usually derived from planning the survey or discussion guide (see Step 3).

Step 5 - Respondent Screening & Selection Create a ‘screener’ (in 99% of cases via an online survey) that can be sent out to users/panels/market research companies that guides a prospective respondent through a series of short questions to determine their suitability for the research study. For example, age, location, gender, ethnicity, income, job title, job position, etc. For surveys the screener is usually included at the start of the survey to determine suitability, those screening successfully continuing on with the main survey questions (and this continues until the quota of respondents has been met), those that have screened out are quickly exited from the survey. For interviews, focus groups or workshops, respondent selection and recruitment is very different, as it requires you to know that not only does the respondent screen according to your requirements, but also (1) they are talkative and conducive to a conversation scenario, (2) are intelligible and can be understood, (3) they are available for the given time and dates, (4) they have the means to attend the interview i.e. they have transport if it’s an offline group or they have the technology that works if it’s a video discussion, and (5) the incentive is of significant interest to them. To assess these points it’s imperative that the respondents are called and spoken to on the phone (as opposed to relying purely on email communications). Again, this is an important skill that should be demonstrated through a good market research agency or a specialist market research respondent recruitment company. Point of note: it’s always worth over-recruiting respondents to cover any possible no-shows, so if you need eight in a focus group, recruit for ten. If the full ten arrive at least you can still use them to elicit more information. Also, ensure you have a reserve list of screened respondents that you can call on at a moments-notice in the event that someone cannot attend. Additionally, we’d always advise you to have at least three touch-points with potential respondents before the research date. For example, (1st) an email to assess their interest, (2nd) a follow-up call (as described above), (3rd) a second call nearer the time of the actual research (generally a day or two before), (4th) a final contact either by telephone or sms on the morning of the research.

Step 6 - Select Panels / Schedule Respondents / Book Venues For surveys you’ll need to consider the panel (effectively a database of willing respondents) that you’re going to use to distribute your survey to. These can either be (1) internal panels e.g. your own customer database (make sure you are GDPR compliant and have permission to approach them!) or (2) external panels. External panel providers are again a very specialist area of the market research industry and you should take great care when selecting a panel company. As it’s an unregulated industry there are many cow-boy firms out there, so ensure you carry out your due-diligence and make sure the panel company is legit (it goes without saying that many panels have fake respondents with some even using robot responses!). Remember if the panel is bad, your resulting insights will be worthless. For qualitative interviews, if your client would like to be in on the calls/chats, schedule their availability, as all the interviews will need to be based around these dates/times. If you’re conducting telephone or video based interviews, schedule your respondents, usually inside a spreadsheet. Ensure you leave enough time between interviews to allow for any issues that might present themselves. For focus groups or workshops, you’ll need to book the venues (meeting rooms or purpose built focus group facilities - that provide for one-way-mirror rooms). If you're using a standard meeting room, ensure you have the correct recording equipment, it’s in working order, and you know how to use it (there’s nothing worse than stalling a discussion because the equipment is not working)!

Step 7 - Carryout the Research A step that shouldn’t need explaining! Run your survey and/or carry out your interviews and/or focus groups.

Step 8 - Insights Once you have all your data, now it’s time to extrapolate some insights and create a report with the findings, which can be read and easily understood by interested stakeholders. 

Step 9 - Act upon your findings If everything’s gone smoothly (or at least as smooth as possible), you should now have some very interesting insights that either validate or contradict your initial theories (from the start ‘everyone’ has an opinion on what the research will find!) guiding you on the way forward. Well done if you’ve got this far. Give yourself a pat on the back. You should now be well aware of the importance market research should have within your business, and that it’s a complex job that needs to be carried out correctly and with expertise. Should you need a hand please do not hesitate to contact us or our Sister company MRFGR.