Are you thinking of investing in market research this year?
Perhaps you’ve already seen how your competitors are using insights effectively, guiding them with intelligence, and ultimately earning a greater market share because of it.
But maybe you’re also worried that you don’t understand enough about it in order to get started.
In this article, we explore what happens when you take the first step to considering a market research project, covering some frequently asked questions we hear a lot from those embarking on their first market research project, and general insight into the way MMC works (see what we did there?).
First thing’s first: what’s your overarching question?
We always start here. An “overarching question” is the central, core enquiry that guides your entire research project.
It could be something like, “What are the key factors that will influence consumer adoption of our new product in our target market?”
Or (one of our favourites), “Would our customers recommend us, and do they intend to buy from us more or less in the next 12 months?”
Many of our clients come to us with an overarching question, sometimes in succinct, detailed form, and others a little more vague, which we then work with them on developing.
We love it when a client comes to us with an overarching question they want answering, regardless of how deeply they understand that question. It gives us something to build upon when considering the right methodology to use and how to design the questions required to get the intelligence they need. We understand that clients may not know the best way to gather the data they need to analyse and produce final insights; that’s what we’re here for, which leads to our next question…
Do we need to have an idea of research methodologies?
The simple answer is ‘No.’
The beauty of working with an independent agency run by experienced market research professionals is that we’ll work with you to understand your needs and design the best research methodology for you. We’ll consider your overarching question and how you ultimately want to use that intelligence to design something bespoke to meet your needs.
Some of the most common methodologies include:
- Questionnaires/surveys: A series of structured questions, usually completed digitally, designed to gather the information we need to provide you with the insights you need.
- Focus Groups: A facilitator-led discussion amongst a small group of relevant participants who are asked about their feelings or attitudes towards a product, service, or idea.
- Individual Interviews: Perfect for those important people (e.g. stakeholders) or when it’s more appropriate to chat individually rather than in a group.
- Desk Research: Also known as secondary research, desk research utilises existing data to inform your own research and often something we start with to see what already exists in the marketplace.
Does MMC find us participants or do we send you our lists?
The answer could be both, depending on your overarching question and target audience.
If you want to know what your customers think, it works best to send the survey directly to your own database. With our guidance and a toolkit we’ll prepare, we’ll help your marketing team craft the right messaging to get the most responses.
There are other examples where using a database of participants makes more sense. For example, if a business wants to test out its product or service with prospective clients, we may suggest that they interview 500 people who would likely buy their products, and we’ll work with our research panels to capture this data. Naturally, this is a more expensive method, but it can be incredibly effective at testing out brands and concepts on potential customers or certain demographics.
How much of our time and input will it need?
Actually, very little. We want to avoid disturbing your business-as-usual as much as possible.
We conduct an initial briefing call with every client to establish the overarching question and the finer details we need to define the best methodology for the project.
Once we’ve designed the initial survey or discussion guide, we will need your sign-off before we begin conducting the research. If you are sending out a survey yourself, we will walk you through the best process.
Other than this, we shouldn’t need to bother you until we’re ready to present you with your insights, unless you specifically ask us to.
How long does it all take?
As an agile small business, we’ve been known to turn projects around in a matter of days!
But as a rule of thumb, you should consider the following:
- A simple survey with an active list of participants to send to; factor in 2 weeks for designing and scripting the survey, and at least 2 weeks in the field, another 2 weeks for analysis and reporting. 6 weeks total.
- Focus groups and individual interviews: factor in 2 weeks to gather your invite list and for us to design your discussion guide with you, 2 weeks to recruit participants, and 2 more weeks for analysis and reporting. Again, 6 weeks.
Timing is always reliant on your schedule; we’d rather adjust to your deadlines than not work with you at all, but we will also take a measured approach and advise you on what is ideal for the best results.
What kind of output could we expect?
We’re creative and know that you want reports that are easy and enjoyable to read and that ultimately make sense to you! That’s why we’ll find out your preferred learning and reporting style before we get started. Typically we’d produce the following:
- Visual slides with analysis – think graphs and iconography.
- Written reports broken down into easy to understand ‘themes’.
- Video presentations of data alongside stats and facts.
- Easy to digest infographics to share with colleagues and board members.
While we can’t share a client report with you due to privacy, a handy example of our own study into business leaders’ mental health is here for you to look over the presentation of our insights.
In our next post, we’ll examine the outcomes of effective research and insights projects, so keep an eye out for that. If you can’t wait, our case studies provide a range of examples of successful market research and insights projects.
Ready to start exploring your own overarching question?
Feel free to get in touch for more information.
