ULTIMATE GUIDE

Conducting
market research
1
 Table of 3 Why do market research?

contents 7 Market research today

11 Market research in action

16 Conducting market research – a step-by-step guide

22 Take action on your market research findings

2
SECTION 1

Why do market research?

 Why do market Market research helps businesses understand who their customers are and what they want
from a product or service.
research?
Market research as we know it has been around for at least a century. It’s one of the
fundamental tools businesses use to explore the viability of their ideas and find out what
unmet needs their products can or should address. Market research helps companies
understand how they should pitch their marketing messages, which features they should
prioritize in their design, and how their customer base breaks down by age, spending
power, location and other characteristics.

Over the decades, new techniques in market research went hand in hand with new
technologies, as new communication channels opened up a wide range of options for
researchers to choose from. The first market researchers went out and approached
members of the public on the street. Then the telephone provided the option to interview
people in their homes.

4
 Today, online research platforms mean we can use sophisticated questions to drill down
efficiently to what’s relevant for individual respondents. Online research makes for a simple
data collection process and – where done right – a high-quality respondent experience.
It also makes research more accessible than ever before. Modern technologies and tools
have democratized the power of market research so that everyone can benefit.

A game-changer in business

Market research gives companies a clear view of what lies ahead when they
step into new terrain.

For example, when sports equipment leader Under Armour moved into a new product
category, they used market research tools from Qualtrics to coordinate feedback from
a huge database of athletes when testing their product, the HOVR Infinite running
shoe. Rapid feedback and iteration cycles allowed them to test, refine and improve
their product to an exceptional standard at high speed.

When it launched, the HOVR Infinite was a huge hit with runners, securing a 2019
Runner’s World Recommendation Award.

5
 LEAN MARKET RESEARCH

Until recently, market research was typically undertaken by specialist agencies or

corporate departments dedicated to in-depth research projects. But as business
accelerated, a new approach to market research – little and often, targeted and quick to
implement – began to gather momentum. Alongside major reports, this kind of lean market
research gives companies, large and small, the opportunity to do their own market research
in an integrated way that fits precisely to their requirements.

CUSTOMER-DRIVEN THINKING

Market research is integral to Experience Design and Experience Improvement, disciplines

that place customer satisfaction and user needs at the center of decisions.

Experience Design focuses on uncovering and delivering what customers want next –
breakthrough experiences that shift markets, define brands, establish cultures, and attract
new customers. These customer needs should determine how companies conceive and
execute their products and services, and how they engage with their customers.

Experience Improvement is the ongoing evaluation and development of these areas,

making sure they continue to deliver based on a comprehensive understanding of a
customer’s goals and priorities. Real-time changes to not only stay highly competitive, but
delight and disrupt.

6
SECTION 2

Market research today

 Market Market research has evolved rapidly since the early days of quantitative questionnaires
and telephone interviews.
research
today MULTI-CHANNEL LISTENING

It’s no longer just about surveys or focus groups. Companies now have at their disposal a
huge range of methods for gathering, analyzing and acting on customer feedback.

The more channels you have the ability to listen on, the clearer and more specific your
understanding will be. While survey, interview and focus group techniques remain the
bedrock of market research, multi-channel listening strategies are providing an edge to
companies who take advantage of their possibilities.

Listening tools such as Tethr make it possible to collect and analyze data from formerly
hard-to-process modalities like voice calls and chats. SMS, contextual web and app
feedback, social media and other third-party channels can all be harnessed to provide data
for your market research operations, often through low-effort automated systems. This
means you can focus on what’s really important – taking action on the insights.

8
 FAST AND FREQUENT

Market research was once synonymous with large-scale, all-encompassing projects that
required significant time and resources to conduct, and didn’t always result in the specific
information business leaders needed to make the right decision at the right time.

Today, the paradigm has shifted towards continuous iteration, not only of designs, ideas
and products but of market research activities. Research is more specific, targeted and
timely, and it’s always evolving responsively to provide what businesses need.

As well as kicking off projects with intensive research, businesses go on to listen

continuously, refine, tweak, and tune their approach in response to whatever the market
throws their way. That’s why it’s crucial to have a market research capability that’s
integrated, accessible and can be analyzed in real-time.

9
 RESULTS-DRIVEN

There is no value in spending significant money on market research, only to elicit a

“so what?” response.

While a generalized picture can provide you with background on your market, particularly
at the start of a project, just learning everything and anything about your customers and
competitors is of limited value unless you can translate it into results. Without a suitable
strategy, collecting too much data without an end-goal is an easy trap to fall into, especially
in an age where information is so easy to come by. Measure indiscriminately and you’re just
adding details that clutter rather than clarify the big picture.

Instead, smart market researchers need to link research to business goals and place an
emphasis on what’s actionable, tuning out the rest of the noise. You can use the tools
available to focus your listening and analysis on what will directly inform your decisions.

10
SECTION 3

Market research
in action
 Market What kinds of activities do market researchers do, and what questions do they answer?

research EXPERIENCE DESIGN

in action
Market research helps you define what kind of experiences to provide, and who to provide
them for. When you’re starting with a blank slate, market research helps you narrow things
down and hone the possibilities so you focus your efforts in the right direction. It gives you
the who, what and why, from your customer’s perspective.

Here are just a few of the possible use cases for market research in Experience Design:

+ Designing an employee benefits package Use market research to understand what

kinds of benefits your employees will value the most, so you can deliver what matters
to them, improve employee satisfaction and retention rates. without wasting money on
perks that don’t add much.

+ Launching a new brand Market research is crucial to a new brand’s success. Market
research will help you understand where there are gaps in the market and what’s required
to fill them. It’ll tell you about your competitors, what they offer and how their customers
feel about them.

+ Segmenting your audience Understanding the makeup of your audience, e.g. age,
family status, income and willingness to spend, will help you personalize experiences and
tailor your messaging to your customers.

12
 + Breaking into a new product category Applying your existing brand and knowledge
to a new kind of product requires intensive research, not least into your customers. How
well does your reputation carry? What are competitors doing in this space, and how can
you offer something they don’t? What needs are currently not being met, that should?

+ Taking your brand into a new country or region People and culture vary from place
to place, and these differences can really matter to your bottom line. From product
features and packages to brand colors, market research helps you get to know your new
customers and what kinds of changes you may need to make in order to appeal to them.

+ Choosing new CSR initiatives Many businesses keep up a varied portfolio of CSR
activities so they can spread their giving and address different needs in communities and
societies. Market research helps you know who is out there and which causes resonate
with your values and those of your customers.

+ Introducing a change to your business model When you adjust your business
model, for example to introduce a premium service level where you previously had a
free one, designing the new experience and communicating it to customers needs to be
strategically approached. Market research can help you test messages and find out what
customers are willing to pay for, and how much.

13
 EXPERIENCE IMPROVEMENT

Ongoing market research helps you keep your offerings fresh and current. It helps
you review and pivot when things change and keeps you abreast of new threats and
opportunities. It gives you guidance on what to do now and what you’ll do next.

A few example use cases of market research for Experience Improvement:

+ Reviewing your benefits package as your company grows Maybe you began as a
start-up with predominantly 20-somethings, and now you’ve grown into a business that
employs older people, parents and everyone in between. Market research can help you
keep your benefits package appealing and targeted.

+ Updating an in-store experience to meet changing needs Game-changing events

require a re-imagining of customer experiences that may not have significantly changed
in years. Being set up for lean market research will help you quickly understand what it
takes to help your customers adjust to new ways of doing things.

+ Adding DEI initiatives to make your company culture more inclusive

Sometimes you can’t afford not to get it right the first time. Market research can help
you develop messages and behaviors that will bring about necessary changes to
your company culture.

14
 + Repositioning your product so it appeals to a younger customer Even the most
iconic brands need to put work in to appeal to a changing society and connect with a new
generation. Continuous market research gives you the power to meet customers of all
ages, where they are.

+ Adding new feedback opportunities for customers at different touchpoints

With technologies and online behaviors changing all the time, it makes sense to keep a
listening ear out for where customers want to give feedback, and in what format.

+ Choosing which social channels you’ll have a presence on Rather than guess
where your target demographic spends their time, use market research to help you
make a data-informed decision. Social media is a high-effort investment, so it makes
sense to carefully monitor which social channels your customers use, including any
new or upcoming platforms.

15
SECTION 4

Conducting market research—

a step-by-step guide
 Conducting Here’s a breakdown of what a market research process might look like.

market 01 IDENTIFY YOUR RESEARCH SCOPE

research—
It sounds simple, but defining the scope of your research is a huge step, and one that many
a step-by-step people skip in the rush to get started. You and your team need a clear understanding of
guide what you’re going to research and why you are doing it. The scope of your research is often
formulated as a research question. Learn how to define your research question.

At this stage, it’s a good idea to identify whether your research is exploratory,
descriptive or causal.

+ Exploratory research is open-ended, used when you don’t have a hypothesis in mind, e.g.
learning about a new market

+ Descriptive research, usually quantitative, identifies scope and scale and helps you make
decisions, e.g. defining market segments

+ Causal research explores how one thing affects another, e.g. how customers feel about
changes to your packaging

Learn about exploratory, descriptive and causal research.

17
 02 DECIDE ON RESEARCH METHODS

Market research activities usually fall into two categories – primary and secondary.

+ Primary research (first party data) is the information you gather yourself, via tools
like interviews, focus groups and surveys. It also includes qualitative data from sources
like social media listening, text analysis and sentiment analysis, voice data and so on.

+ Secondary research (third party data) is information that already exists. It might
come from sources like national survey and census data, or from commercial research
bodies who offer industry reports and insights. Secondary research can also come
from inside your own organization in the form of historical data about your customers,
sales and products.

Choose your research techniques according to scope and budget, and always remember
that you’re seeking actionable data that relates directly to the question you want to answer.
Learn more about primary and secondary market research

18
 03 DESIGN YOUR RESEARCH PLAN

Now you’re ready to pin down the details of your research project. Think about the
timeframe you’ll work to and assign responsibilities within your team. Reach out to any
stakeholders whose support you may need. Get to work on creating survey questionnaires
and organizing your research panel, if you’re using one. Identify your research population
and choose the sample size you’ll need for it.

Tip: Get your sample size right

Sample size is one of the most important factors in successful survey research. Too
big, and you’re wasting resources. Too small, and your data won’t be accurate enough.
Try our sample size calculator

19
 04 DECIDE HOW YOU WILL PROCESS AND ANALYZE YOUR DATA

Market research generates qualitative data, often in the form of human language and
unstructured answers to open-ended questions. If your market research project
reaches any kind of scale, handling this type of data and synthesizing conclusions or
action points from it will become very difficult. That’s especially true if you are using
statistical analysis methods.

That’s why it can be helpful to use a market research platform that can process different
kinds of data and analyze it on a like-for-like basis. Read more: Statistical analysis for
market research

Tip: don’t forget to clean your data

Errors in your research data can throw off your analysis and lead to some
misleading conclusions. Learn how to clean your data

20
 05 CONDUCT YOUR RESEARCH

You’re ready to begin. Depending on the scale of your market research project, it can be
valuable to run a pilot test or a survey pretest before you launch it fully. Learn how to
pretest your market research survey

Tip: Avoid the ‘yes’ bias

Acquiescence bias means that respondents to surveys are more likely to

answer positively than negatively. See how to reduce acquiescence bias with
smart survey design

21
SECTION 5

Take action on your

market research findings
 Take action on As we’ve described, there is limited value in collecting information if you’re not going to
act on it – especially when it’s information that has the power to transform your business
your market outcomes and create better experiences for your customers and your people. Here are
research some key ingredients to build a culture of action around your market research.
findings
REPORTING THAT’S CLEAR, CONCISE AND ACCESSIBLE

Reports don’t have to be stacks of paper that take weeks to digest. With the right tools, you
can summarize your work and report your findings in a way that’s instantly understandable
for your audience, even if they don’t have a research background. Dashboards, interactive
presentations, infographics and short summaries are all options that remove barriers to
action. Live dashboards are especially helpful for lean market research, as they provide an
always-on source of market knowledge whenever it’s needed.

THE RIGHT INFORMATION, TO THE RIGHT TEAMS

It’s not just about how you present your findings, but who you provide them to. Using a
reporting system that allows you to specify access to anyone in your organization, you can
make sure that your results get to the people that can actually act on them.

23
 TAKE ACTION QUICKLY

When it comes to continuous, lean market research, you don’t always have to go through
every step of analyzing, reporting and making decisions. Sometimes the information
clearly indicates what needs to happen next, and you can skip straight to the action with an
automatic response.

When your research platform identifies a trigger condition – let’s say you got negative
feedback from a customer who spends $10,000 a year or more – it can send an automatic
alert to the person who needs to take action, such as the customer’s account manager or
the product owner. Or, use it for smaller everyday feedback. Perhaps a customer decides
your coffee is no longer to their liking, when you get this feedback, a voucher can be
automatically sent to the customer so they can try out your new range instead. Learn more
about automated actions

Start your market research process today GET STARTED

Access 50+ expert-designed templates

24
WANT TO SEE HOW IT ALL WORKS?
Get the research tools you need to help make
the most important decisions for your business.

BOOK A DEMO