Market research guide
How to conduct market research and brief an agency to carry it out for you
How will this guide help me and my business?
Market research has a wide range of applications from reviewing demand for products; assessing brand perception; competitor benchmarking and understanding your consumers' preferences and behaviours. If you ask the right questions, using a sound methodology, then as you conduct more research, you will be better placed to develop new propositions and communications to launch them.
This guide has been created to explain the information you can gain from market research, including customer satisfaction and product feedback, and best practices for applying methods you can use to obtain it (such as focus groups, interviews, and exit surveys). Whether you work with a research agency or conduct the research yourself, we’ll ensure that you gather meaningful data that you can use to inform your future strategies.
Who is this guide for?
The guide is aimed at helping:
- Marketing managers, senior marketing executives
- CMOs interested in adopting Market Research or specific types of research
It is not for replacing MRS-related qualifications, but instead for up-skilling marketers.
How is the guide structured?
Our market research guide uses the following structure:
- Introduction: What is market research?
- Benefits of market research and how to get management buy-in
- What are your options?
- Methods of market research
- Specific aims of market research
- Research tools
- Participant recruitment
- Consent and data protection
- Analysis and interpretation
Resource Details
- Author: Robert Jones
- Format: In-depth downloadable PDF guide
About the author
Robert Jones
Robert Jones is a specialist in CRO, UX Research, insight and digital Marketing. He is CRO Analyst at Enjoy Digital. He has a Psychology Masters of Research, has run large digital marketing campaigns to build research panels and worked in insight roles for Vision Critical, ASDA and WhatUsersDo. He also managed all of Smart Insights member resources and published several guides including “How to conduct Persona Research” as well as contributing over 100 blog posts to the Smart Insights blog. When he isn’t working on marketing campaigns he is most likely eating authentic Italian food or planning his next short trip. You can connect with Robert on LinkedIn or follow him on Twitter.
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