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Step 1: Problem Definition
The first step in any marketing research project is to define the problem. In defining the problem, the researcher should take into account the purpose of the study, the relevant background information, what information is needed, and how it will be used in decision making. Problem definition involves discussion with the decision makers, interviews with industry experts, analysis of secondary data, and, perhaps, some qualitative research, such as focus groups. Once the problem has been precisely defined, the research can be designed and conducted properly.
Step 2: Development of an Approach to the Problem
Development of an approach to the problem includes formulating an objective or theoretical framework, analytical models, research questions, hypotheses, and identifying characteristics or factors that can influence the research design. This process is guided by discussions with management and industry experts, case studies and simulations, analysis of secondary data, qualitative research and pragmatic considerations.
Step 3: Research Design Formulation
A research design is a framework or blueprint for conducting the marketing research project. It details the procedures necessary for obtaining the required information, and its purpose is to design a study that will test the hypotheses of interest, determine possible answers to the research questions, and provide the information needed for decision making. Conducting exploratory research, precisely defining the variables, and designing appropriate scales to measure them are also a part of the research design. The issue of how the data should be obtained from the respondents (for example, by conducting a survey or an experiment) must be addressed. It is also necessary to design a questionnaire and a sampling plan to select respondents for the study.
More formally, formulating the research design involves the following steps
- Secondary data analysis
- Qualitative research
- Methods of collecting quantitative data (survey, observation, and experimentation)
- Definition of the information needed
- Measurement and scaling procedures
- Questionnaire design
- Sampling process and sample size
- Plan of data analysis
Step 4: Field Work or Data Collection
Data collection involves a field force or staff that operates either in the field, as in the case of personal interviewing (in-home, mall intercept, or computer-assisted personal interviewing), from an office by telephone (telephone or computer-assisted telephone interviewing), or through mail (traditional mail and mail panel surveys with pre-recruited households). Proper selection, training, supervision, and evaluation of the field force help minimize data-collection errors.
Step 5: Data Preparation and Analysis
Data preparation includes the editing, coding, transcription, and verification of data. Each questionnaire or observation form is inspected, or edited, and, if necessary, corrected. Number or letter codes are assigned to represent each response to each question in the questionnaire. The data from the questionnaires are transcribed or key-punched on to magnetic tape, or disks or input directly into the computer. Verification ensures that the data from the original questionnaires have been accurately transcribed, while data analysis, guided by the plan of data analysis, gives meaning to the data that have been collected. Uni-variate techniques are used for analyzing data when there is a single measurement of each element or unit in the sample, or, if there are several measurements of each element, each RCH variable is analyzed in isolation. On the other hand, multivariate techniques are used for analyzing data when there are two or more measurements on each element and the variables are analyzed simultaneously.
Step 6: Report Preparation and Presentation
The entire project should be documented in a written report which addresses the specific research questions identified, describes the approach, the research design, data collection, and a data analysis procedure adopted, and presents the results and the major findings. The findings should be presented in a comprehensible format so that they can be readily used in the decision making process. In addition, an oral presentation should be made to management using tables, figures, and graphs to enhance clarity and impact.
For these reasons, interviews with experts are more useful in conducting marketing research for industrial firms and for products of a technical nature, where it is relatively easy to identify and approach the experts. This method is also helpful in situations where little information is available from other sources, as in the case of radically new products.
Secondary data analysis
Secondary data are data collected for some purpose other than the problem at hand. Primary data, on the other hand, are originated by the researcher for the specific purpose of addressing the research problem. Secondary data include information made available by business and government sources, commercial marketing research firms, and computerized databases. Secondary data are an economical and quick source of background information. Analysis of available secondary data is an essential step in the problem definition process: primary data should not be collected until the available secondary data have been fully analyzed.
Qualitative research
Information, industry experts, and secondary data may not be sufficient to define the research problem. Sometimes qualitative research must be undertaken to gain a qualitative understanding of the problem and its underlying factors. Qualitative research is unstructured, exploratory in nature, based on small samples, and may utilize popular qualitative techniques such as focus groups (group interviews), word association (asking respondents to indicate their first responses to stimulus words), and depth interviews (one-on-one interviews which probe the respondents’ thoughts in detail). Other exploratory research techniques, such as pilot surveys with small samples of respondents, may also be undertaken.
Although constant change is the standard in marketing and business, there is one thing that never changes: the necessity to conduct marketing research. Marketing research is a valuable asset for businesses to identify better marketing concepts and analyze business strategies by using data. In the same way that you wouldn’t travel overseas without making plans, you shouldn’t develop marketing strategies unless you back them up with research and data.
The marketing research process is the cornerstone of sound corporate and marketing planning.
Although it is essential, marketing research often suffers budget cuts because of time and money investment. Cutting down the marketing research budget is wrong, particularly if you are planning on releasing a new product or entering a new target market. Marketing research doesn’t have to be pricey if you do it right and follow the correct steps.
Let’s take a look at the best practices in the marketing research process:
Define the Problem
The essential part of every marketing research is defining the problem. If you want to conduct research or collect data, you first need to know what you want to learn from that research. The problem of your company can be anything from launching a new product to market share loss. By defining the problem you need to solve, you will understand what information and data to collect.
You can define the problem of your business by asking detailed questions. Write down as many precise questions as you can and try answering them. For example, if you’re searching for your best target audience, ask yourself: ‘What’s my perfect customer?’ If you can answer this question based on the products you offer, it’s easy to figure out the correct marketing strategy for your brand. You can also include questions about demographics, occupation, free time activities, and age to narrow down the data research.
Develop Your Marketing Research Plan
When you realize what you need to solve, you can develop your marketing research plan. Creating a research plan can be overwhelming, but you need to confront all challenges identified in step one. Here we share some essential techniques for doing marketing research:
Interviewing potential customers is an excellent tactic of understanding your marketing focus. By going straight to the source, you will find short-cut solutions to your problem. Select the right people for the one-on-one interview by clearly defining the issue of your business.
There are plenty of online tools for conducting surveys that you can choose from to find out the opinion of the broader audience. Unlike one-on-one interviews, surveys will help you cover more people and save time. However, you need to know your target audience to get relevant results.
These short, A/B tests are located on landing pages of websites. It’s a specific way to feel the pulse of your customers and potential clients once they visit your page. People sharing first-hand feedback with you is the most valuable tool you’ll ever get for enhancing your website traffic, and most importantly, it’s cost-effective.
Collect Relevant Information & Data and Analyze the Results
No matter what the issue you want to solve is, you need to collect relevant information and data. In most cases, it’s best to run user tests as well as one-on-one interviews to get both quantitative and qualitative data. If you only conduct surveys, you might get a bunch of numbers and data that doesn’t give you realistic feedback.
Consider including all the research techniques to get optimal results for your marketing research. You need to know your customers’ needs and requirements to plan a marketing strategy that will ignite your business growth.
After gathering all data and information, you need to analyze it. No matter what the findings of your study are, try to look at them as they are no matter your previous expectations. Analyze what your customers and potential clients are pointing out as essential and write down a summary of the results.
Although this is not an official study, it’s still handy to have everything registered so you can refer to it in the future when having similar problems. Always rely on the actual results of your research than your assumptions. It’s better to prove yourself wrong than to cause a negative impact on your company.
Put Your Research into Action
In the end, you are ready to put your research into action and plan your marketing strategy. However, your research is never done because trends, business conditions, and problems are constantly changing. It means that your marketing research is only good until a new problem emerges and the business environment changes.
If your advertising agency starts improving and moving forward after applying your marketing research, you might not need a new study for at least a few months to a year. However, you and your team should always be on top of the new trends and business rules to make sure your company’s services are exactly what your target audience needs.
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Binary Blogger has spent 20 years in the Information Security space currently providing security solutions and evangelism to clients. From early web application programming, system administration, senior management to enterprise consulting I provide practical security analysis and solutions to help companies and individuals figure out HOW to be secure every day.
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