Market research helps you know the viability of new products or services. It can also lower investment risks, identify potential business threats and ensure strategic planning. The global market research services industry reached about $74. 4 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $91.3 billion in 2025 at a 4.2% CAGR. This is because the more a firm takes research-based decisions, the higher the chance of achieving its goals. You can also stay ahead of the competition and address customer pain points better.
There are ample ways in which market research is conducted. They can aid in discovering solutions to eradicate business challenges and ensure customer satisfaction. Your budget and the type of data you need with determine which technique will be the best suited. Read on to find out which could be the ideal choice to meet revenue targets.
Surveys
This is a cost-effective way to know the preferences of a broad audience. It is also quite simple and straightforward. Participants usually give you candid answers since they can express their views in private. You can reach out to them via:
- phone (response rate is between 50% and 60%)
- mails (response rate is between 3% to 15%)
- in-person (response rate is more than 90%)
AI-powered surveys usually help to gather useful data by refining your questions and finally churning out intricate details. Modern, tech-oriented and well-structured survey platforms can be built to encourage maximum responses.
Observation
This is the act of keeping a close watch on consumers’ purchase behavior. ‘Fly-on-the-wall’ is one of the best methods to see how people engage with your products. This is usually in an independent set-up without influencing one another. It comes with minimal design and flexible logistics and is usually people-centric in nature. This method helps you step away from the question pattern and gain insight into people, environment, objects and interactions simply by careful listening and seeing. Necessary actions can be then taken based on consumer reactions.
Focus Groups
An open-ended discussion takes place in a group of people with scripted topics. A moderator leads the conversation. It is like an interview of many at once and lasts for 1-2 hours. But know that the opinions can be highly influenced by group members. There could be a chance of peer pressure as well which ultimately leads to inaccurate results. Working with an adept market research professional can lower these risks. The best practice for focus groups would be sessions in neutral locations in observation rooms.
Field Trials
This is a final test before launching a product in the market. They are kept at stores to check customer response under a real-life selling situation. In other words, field trials are done in a buyer’s natural habitat. There are fewer possibilities of ‘demand characteristics’ affecting the results since participants may not know they are under observation.
Other efficient methods are user groups, test markets, competitive analysis, public data and social media listening. All of these cater to different needs like testing new marketing campaigns, feature testing, advertising concept or market segmentation.