These four factors need to work in harmony for a product or service to be successful in its marketplace.
A typical marketing research process is as follows:
Defining a problem is the first step in the research process. In many ways, research starts with a problem facing management. This problem needs to be understood, the cause diagnosed, and solutions developed.
However, most management problems are not always easy to research, so they must first be translated into research problems. Once you approach the problem from a research angle, you can find a solution. For example, “sales are not growing” is a management problem, but translated into a research problem, it becomes “why are sales not growing?” We can look at the expectations and experiences of several groups: potential customers, first-time buyers, and repeat purchasers. We can question whether the lack of sales is due to:
This, then, is the difference between a management problem and a research problem. Solving management problems focuses on actions: Do we advertise more? Do we change our advertising message? Do we change an under-performing product configuration? And if so, how?
Defining research problems, on the other hand, focus on the whys and hows, providing the insights you need to solve your management problem.
The scientific method is the standard for investigation. It provides an opportunity for you to use existing knowledge as a starting point, and proceed impartially.
The scientific method includes the following steps:
This terminology is similar to the stages in the research process. However, there are subtle differences in the way the steps are performed:
As well as selecting a method of inquiry (objective or subjective), you must select a research method. There are two primary methodologies that can be used to answer any research question:
Research design is a plan or framework for conducting marketing research and collecting data. It is defined as the specific methods and procedures you use to get the information you need.
There are three core types of marketing research designs: exploratory, descriptive, and causal. A thorough marketing research process incorporates elements of all of them.
This is a starting point for research. It’s used to reveal facts and opinions about a particular topic, and gain insight into the main points of an issue. Exploratory research is too much of a blunt instrument to base conclusive business decisions on, but it gives the foundation for more targeted study. You can use secondary research materials such as trade publications, books, journals and magazines and primary research using qualitative metrics, that can include open text surveys, interviews and focus groups.
This helps define the business problem or issue so that companies can make decisions, take action and monitor progress. Descriptive research is naturally quantitative – it needs to be measured and analyzed statistically, using more targeted surveys and questionnaires. You can use it to capture demographic information, evaluate a product or service for market, and monitor a target audience’s opinion and behaviors. Insights from descriptive research can inform conclusions about the market landscape and the product’s place in it.
This is useful to explore the cause and effect relationship between two or more variables. Like descriptive research, it uses quantitative methods, but it doesn’t merely report findings; it uses experiments to predict and test theories about a product or market. For example, researchers may change product packaging design or material, and measure what happens to sales as a result.
Your marketing research project will rarely examine an entire population. It’s more practical to use a sample - a smaller but accurate representation of the greater population. To design your sample, you’ll need to answer these questions:
1. Probability sampling: This relies on a random sampling of everyone within the larger population.
2. Non-probability sampling: This is based in part on the investigator’s judgment, and often uses convenience samples, or by other sampling methods that do not rely on probability.
Your research design will develop as you select techniques to use. There are many channels for collecting data, and it’s helpful to differentiate it into O-data (Operational) and X-data (Experience):
When you combine O-data with X-data, you’ll be able to build a more complete picture about success and failure - you’ll know why. Maybe you’ve seen a drop in sales (O-data) for a particular product. Maybe customer service was lacking, the product was out of stock, or advertisements weren’t impactful or different enough: X-data will reveal the reason why those sales dropped. So, while differentiating these two data sets is important, when they are combined, and work with each other, the insights become powerful.
With mobile technology, it has become easier than ever to collect data. Survey research has come a long way since market researchers conducted face-to-face, postal, or telephone surveys. You can run research through:
Another way to collect data is by observation. Observing a customer’s or company’s past or present behavior can predict future purchasing decisions. Data collection techniques for predicting past behavior can include market segmentation, customer journey mapping and brand tracking.
Regardless of how you collect data, the process introduces another essential element to your research project: the importance of clear and constant communication.
And of course, to analyze information from survey or observation techniques, you must record your results. Gone are the days of spreadsheets. Feedback from surveys and listening channels can automatically feed into AI-powered analytics engines and produce results, in real-time, on dashboards.
The words ‘statistical analysis methods’ aren’t usually guaranteed to set a room alight with excitement, but when you understand what they can do, the problems they can solve and the insights they can uncover, they seem a whole lot more compelling.
Statistical tests and data processing tools can reveal:
There are several types of statistical analysis tools used for surveys. You should make sure that the ones you choose:
Here are some of the most common tools:
Stats IQ can perform the most complicated statistical tests at the touch of a button using our online survey software, or data from other sources. Learn more about Stats iQ now.
Your marketing research process culminates in the research results. These should provide all the information the stakeholders and decision-makers need to understand the project.
The results will include:
They should also be presented in a form, language and graphics that are easy to understand, with a balance between completeness and conciseness, neither leaving important information out or allowing it to get so technical that it overwhelms the readers.
Traditionally, you would prepare two written reports:
There are now more engaging ways to present your findings than the traditional PowerPoint presentations, graphs, and face-to-face reports:
You can also make these results shareable so that decision-makers have all the information at their fingertips.
Insights are one thing, but they’re worth very little unless they inform immediate, positive action. Here are a few examples of how you can do this:
Free eBook: Quantitative and qualitative research design