One of the most overlooked yet crucial skills in Irvine SEO agency is market research — which is great news for this passionate cyber sleuth.
Throughout my decade-long marketing career, I’ve delved into various aspects, from brand design and product development to crafting buyer personas and conducting competitive analysis.
And here’s the thing: having the right market research methods in your toolkit is essential.
Market research is the key to developing a strategy that truly helps you achieve your goals. The good news is that there’s no shortage of methods to choose from.
Top Market Research Methods for 2024
Now that you have a clear idea of what to look for in a market research method, let’s explore some of the best options available.
1. Interviews
Interviews are a primary research method where you ask individuals specific questions about a topic. They generally provide qualitative insights.
I’ve conducted numerous interviews for marketing purposes, and I’ve also done many for journalistic reasons, such as profiling comedian Zarna Garg. In my experience, there’s no better way to gather candid, open-ended insights. However, they’re not without their challenges.
2. Focus Groups
Focus groups are similar to interviews but involve a larger group of people.
In marketing, this typically involves gathering a small group in a room (or via Zoom) and asking them questions about various topics you’re researching. You observe and record their responses to inform your decisions.
Focus groups are excellent for collecting long-form, open-ended feedback and subjective opinions.
A famous example is Domino’s Pizza in 2009. After receiving poor ratings and losing over $100 million in revenue, Domino’s conducted focus groups to learn how to improve. They faced harsh criticism but used that feedback to overhaul their recipes and launch a successful “Pizza Turn Around” campaign, resulting in a 14.3% increase in revenue.
3. Surveys or Polls
Surveys are another form of primary research where participants answer a series of questions, which can be conducted in various ways—online, over the phone, in person, or via social media. These can provide both qualitative and quantitative data.
A notable example is HubSpot’s annual State of Marketing survey, which gathers data from marketing professionals worldwide. This helps identify industry trends and provides benchmarks for making informed marketing decisions.
Apple also used surveys with its 2011 Apple Customer Pulse, where they gathered open-ended feedback from select customers to refine their products.
Even if you’re not HubSpot or Apple, tools like SurveyMonkey, TypeForm, and Google Forms (my favorite) make creating digital surveys easy and affordable. You can also run quick polls on Instagram Stories using Poll and Questions Stickers.
4. Social Media Listening
Amid the flood of travel photos, food posts, and news discussions, people are talking about your brand. Social media listening helps you stay in the loop by monitoring and analyzing posts that mention your brand, product, competitors, or relevant industry topics.
You can gain valuable insights into public opinions, customer experiences, and your competitive landscape.
To get started, you can use built-in tools on platforms like Instagram and LinkedIn to follow relevant hashtags or mentions.
5. Observation
Observational research involves monitoring subjects in a natural or controlled environment to understand their behaviors. This can be done both digitally and in real life.
For example, “secret shopping” involves hiring people to shop at certain retailers to evaluate their staff and customer service. In the digital world, you might analyze website heatmap data or conduct user testing.
6. Internal Data Analysis
Analyzing internal data is highly effective because it’s based on real customer insights and past performance, offering both qualitative and quantitative data.
You can analyze various data points, such as sales numbers, website statistics, customer lifetime value, and product ratings.
Netflix regularly uses this method, publishing reports like “What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report,” to personalize content, improve services, and develop new original content.
If you’re just starting, tools like Google Analytics, Hotjar, and LuckyOrange can help you track and analyze customer behavior.
7. Experiments and Field Trials
Field trials are similar to observation but with a controlled variable, like traditional experiments. These trials can uncover preferences that participants might not be consciously aware of.
For example, Pepsi’s iconic “Pepsi Challenge” field experiment involved blind taste tests that revealed consumer preferences for Pepsi over Coca-Cola.
8. Public Domain or Third-Party Research
While original data is valuable, there are many external resources available if you’re short on time or resources. Reputable sources like Pew Research Center, McKinsey Global Institute, and Nielsen offer valuable data you can analyze.
You can also turn to industry-specific organizations for relevant statistics, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for gardening companies or Google Research for digital marketing agencies.
9. Buying Research
If the data you need isn’t available publicly and you can’t conduct your own research, you can purchase it from reputable analytics companies like Statista, Euromonitor, Mintel, or BCC Research.
Conclusion
The best San Diego digital marketing company depend on your objectives, data needs, budget, and timeline. My advice? Aim for a mix of quantitative and qualitative data. If you can conduct original research, that’s great. If not, lean on free or low-cost tools, use primary research for qualitative data, and tap into public sources for quantitative data, or vice versa.
