Marketing research, like a marketing information system, involves a continuous process.
You can conduct your own marketing research. Follow these steps, add your own flair, knowledge and creativity, and you’ll have bespoke research to be proud of. Show
Marketing research is the term used to cover the concept, development, placement and evolution of your product or service, its growing customer base and its branding – starting with brand awareness, and progressing to (everyone hopes) brand equity. Like any research, it needs a robust process to be credible and useful. Marketing research uses four essential key factors known as the ‘marketing mix’, or the Four Ps of Marketing:
These four factors need to work in harmony for a product or service to be successful in its marketplace. The marketing research process – an overviewA typical marketing research process is as follows:
Step 1: Defining the marketing research problemDefining 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. Step 2: Developing a research program: method of inquiryThe 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:
Step 3: Developing a research program: research methodAs 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:
Step 4: Developing a research program: research designResearch 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. Exploratory marketing researchThis 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. Descriptive marketing researchThis 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. Causal marketing researchThis 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. Step 5: Choose your sampleYour 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.
Step 6: Gather dataYour 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. Step 7: Analysis and interpretationThe 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. Step 8: The marketing research resultsYour 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. Step 9 Turn your insights into actionInsights 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:
Does marketing research involves a continuous process?Market Research (FAR Part 10) is conducted to determine the availability of commercial products and services and to identify and evaluate market practices. It's a continuous process of finding viable sources of goods and services to meet government requirements and is mandated for all acquisition programs.
How does a marketing information system related to marketing research?A marketing information system is a combination of people, technologies, and processes for managing marketing information, overseeing market research activities, and using customer insights to guide marketing decisions and broader management and strategy decisions.
What is marketing research explain its process?The marketing research process focuses on collecting insights from your target audience, such as their opinions and attitudes that would help you evaluate current products, services, or test concepts aimed at improving them. It can also gauge customer perceptions about your company.
What are the steps involved in the marketing research process?A typical marketing research process is as follows:. Identify an issue, discuss alternatives and set out research objectives.. Develop a research program.. Choose a sample.. Gather information.. Gather data.. Organize and analyze information and data.. Present findings.. Make research-based decisions.. |