Market research backs up everything we develop for our clients, and it’s also something we provide as a standalone service. We’ve honed our techniques through countless client projects over the decades, and now organizations trust us on the competitive analyses, SWOT analyses, and customer insights that inform their marketing strategies.

What is Market Research?

At a basic level, market research involves gathering and interpreting data in order to gain insight and ultimately assist in making business decisions. Many marketers rely on market research to get an understanding of their customers’ wants and needs, but it doesn’t just look at customers; we also use it to better understand the competition and the market in general.

Types of Market Research

The two main types of market research are primary (generating data) and secondary (analyzing data). Primary research can further be divided into qualitative and quantitative research. 

Quantitative research deals with data that can be counted or quantified, hence the name. Quantitative data often has a large sample size. Examples of quantitative data collection might include:

• online surveys or polls

• telephone or text message surveys

• structured and systematic observations

Qualitative research, on the other hand, is usually more exploratory. Researchers work to identify a group’s motivations and beliefs through things like:

• focus groups

• personal interviews

• open-ended questionnaires

• unstructured observation

Quantitative data can tell you what is happening, but qualitative data can often answer why. 

What Can Market Research Help You Do, Exactly?

Once you know what types of data are available, the next step is leveraging market research to benefit your business. Here’s a breakdown of the most common ways research can assist your overall marketing game plan.

Develop a Strategy

As you plan your next business moves, solid data can help you envision the future while also evaluating the present. Before you map out your own growth strategy, take a close look at the growth outlook for your industry. Are there new technologies you should be focused on? Trends among your competitors? New insights on your target audience? We’ll help you figure it out.

Craft a Message 

You know the focus group scenes in Mad Men? Well, market researchers are actually conducting focus groups just like those all the time, and the information we glean from them can be uniquely helpful in coming up with messaging that resonates. Once we’ve gathered qualitative insights on the types of topics customers care about, we can use quantitative research to test which messages actually drive action. 

Choose Your Channels

Where is your audience spending time these days — Twitter, Instagram, some new social platform you’ve never even heard of? Do your top prospects want to receive information digitally, or would they respond better to print? Perhaps you’ve got a built-in audience, if only you would start a podcast. Market research can tell you which channels will give you the most bang for your buck — and which to skip. 

Set and Assess Goals

Whether it’s determining benchmarks or aligning your team to best practices, you can use market research to understand what good performance looks like and how best to get there. And in a world full of marketing metrics, it can help you get a clear picture of what to measure to begin with. 

Trekk’s Approach to Market Research

Trekk uses a four-phase approach to working with clients, and the first and most important phase is discovery. This is when we align with our clients on their objectives and their audience, and market research is an essential part of the process. First, we’ll work with you to identify the most helpful questions. (After all, an answer is only useful if you start with the right question!) Then, we’ll develop a research approach that includes qualitative research, quantitative research, or a combination of the two. Finally, we’ll synthesize your data and deliver it in a user-friendly format so that you can apply your new insights immediately. 

Ready to get started? Trekk is passionate about helping businesses better understand their customers, and every client partnership we embark upon begins with curiosity and ends with data-driven results. Get in touch — we can’t wait to work with you.