“Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.” That quote essentially sums up the heart of market research perfectly.
Every effective business decision, from launching a new product to choosing your next campaign, should be driven by data and not. Market research helps you gain a clear judgement when your goal is growth.
It helps you unlock a new perspective into what your target audience actually want, what motivates them to buy and how your product or brand fits into their lives.
Whether you’re running a start-up or planning on scaling your organisation it is crucial you know how to do and execute market research properly so you can transform the way you make decisions.
What Is Market Research (and Why It Matters)
Simply put market research is the process of collecting, analysing and interpreting information about your market. That means collecting information on your customers, competitors and overall trends relevant to your market. This won’t be a simple number crunching exercise to spot trends. It’s also a way for you to uncover why certain behaviours and trends are present and how you can do to gain from it.
When you understand the “why,” you can start getting things to click in place from your overall message, product and marketing angles. Businesses that consistently invest in market research can easily spot and anticipate trends. They can see gaps others miss and make decisions based on what’s true and rely less on what’s assumed.
To give a short summary, good and effective research leads to good decisions.
The Two Main Types of Market Research
Quantitative Research (Numbers and Data)
Quantitative research focuses on measurable data such as the “how many,” “how often,” and “how much.”
It’s all about collecting data that can be counted and compared figuratively.
Quantitative market research methods include:
- Surveys or questionnaires with multi-choice answers
- Website analytics (page views, bounce rates, conversions)
- Sales data and customer behaviour tracking
For example, if you’re testing a new pricing model, quantitative research might reveal that 62% of customers prefer a subscription option over a one time purchase.
That number gives you direction as it tells you what’s happening on a broad scale.
The power of quantitative data is shown in volume. The larger the sample sizes the more easier it becomes to identify trends, measure satisfaction and predict future outcomes.
Qualitative Research (People and Insights)
Qualitative research is the opposite and helps us uncover why.
This type of research involves conversations, observations and open ended questions that prompt us feedback. However It’s slower, smaller in scale but can produce incredibly rich in depth insights
Qualitative market research methods include:
- 1-1 interviews with customers
- Focus groups or workshops
- Social media trend observation
- Reviewing feedback from customer support interactions
These qualitative methods help you fix real world problems your market struggles with instead of aimlessly guessing. The most successful brands balance both qualitative and quantitative research to identify what’s happening and why it’s happening.
How to Do Market Research Step-by-Step
Step 1 – Start with a Hypothesis
Every effective piece of research starts with a statement or hypothesis so ask yourself what can be done to improve something within the business.
An example of a hypothesis that can prompt you to start market research may be a statement “I believe my customers are choosing competitors because they offer more flexible pricing.”
The point isn’t to be right or wrong, the main aim is to be as specific as possible. Once you have a hypothesis, your research now has a purpose behind it. You know exactly what kind of data you’re looking for and you can design your questions around it.
Without a hypothesis the research becomes a random data grab that has you chasing your own tail.
Step 2 – Choosing Your Research Type
Once your question or statement is clear you now need to decide how you will answer it. Do you need to measure numbers, opinions? or a mix of both?
If you want to measure key metrics go down the quantitative route and If you want to understand opinions and feelings go down the qualitative route.
Examples:
- Quantitative: “What percentage of our customers heard about us through social media?”
- Qualitative: “What do customers like or dislike about our brand’s social presence?”
The best approach is to use a mix of both methods of research. Start with qualitative interviews to explore ideas and then use a quantitative survey to test them on a larger scale.
For example if 10 customer interviews reveal that people love your eco-friendly packaging, you can survey 1,000 people to see if that’s a shared widespread selling point.
Step 3 – Find the Right Audience
You can’t get good insights from the wrong crowd. Choosing who to research is one of the most critical (and most overlooked) steps.
Define your target market clearly:
- Who are they (age, job, income, interests)?
- Where do they hang out (socials, forums, real world communities)?
- What problem are they trying to solve?
For broad consumer research a sample size of 1,000 – 2,000 participants works well. For micro niches or B2B audiences 50 – 200 targeted participants might be enough as long as they’re truly relevant.
If you’re running a survey make sure your participant reflects your real customers habits and demographic and not just anyone willing to click a link.
Use panels, email lists or even paid surveys to ensure you’re talking to the right people. Remember quality beats quantity as valuable information will heavily influence our decision.
Step 4 – Collect the Data (Without Screwing It Up)
This is where most market research goes wrong by using bad questions and as a result receiving bad answers.
When collecting data keep it simple. If you’re using surveys, keep them shorthand under 10 minutes. Ask one question per idea and avoid jargon and starting questions like “You love our new product, right?”
Offer clear answer options and test your survey before launching. If you’re doing interviews, create a conversational script. Start with easy, open ended questions before diving deeper. Encourage honesty and stay neutral to answers, don’t react even if you disagree.
You can use easy and free tools such as Google Forms, Typeform, or SurveyMonkey for surveys. For interviews Zoom or Otter.ai are the industry standard and tools such as Hotjar or Crazy Egg are specifically used for behavioural data.
Step 5 – Analyse and Interpret Your Results
Once you have your data we can now allocate time to make sense of it. This step is crucial as we will now know if it was good research or if it was wasted effort.
For quantitative data, look for:
- Clear patterns or trends
- Outliers that might indicate something unique
- Correlations (e.g., age group vs. buying preference)
Use visuals such as graphs, charts and tables to help spot patterns quickly.
For qualitative data, look for recurring themes or phrases. For example, If 15 participants mention that your pricing feels confusing, that’s a trend worth noting and addressing.
Group your findings into categories:
- Insights (what you discovered)
- Implications (why it matters)
- Actions (what to do next)
Step 6 – Turn Insights into Action
This is the payoff where we now start turning insights into decisions that drive growth.
When diving into your data and deciding what to do with it, ask yourself the following questions:
- What decisions does this data help me make?
- How should I adjust my product, pricing, or marketing?
- What new opportunities did I uncover?
Research without action would make this whole exercise pointless. The businesses that win are the ones that learn fast but also act fast and keep iterating.
Common Market Research Mistakes to Avoid
Even with the best tools the research can go sideways fast if you skip the basics. One major mistake is asking vague or confusing questions. Unclear questions lead to unclear answers which can negatively affect the final decision.
Another is surveying the wrong people. If your participants don’t reflect your real audience, your insights will be useless. Bias is another killer, leading questions or suggestive language can sway results before you even start analysing them.
Too little data can have the same negative effect. Some research teams also ignore results that don’t fit their expectations which defeats the entire purpose of research.
Finally, don’t overcomplicate things. Long or boring surveys drive people away and leave you with rushed low quality answers. Keep your research simple, neutral and purpose driven.
Treat market research like a mirror and it will show you what’s real and not what you want to see.
How to Use Market Research for Business Growth
Market research isn’t something you do once and move on from but an ongoing exercise that keeps your business relevant as markets are ever changing. Having regular feedback and data collection help you track consumer behaviour, spot new trends early, uncover new opportunities, and improve customer experience and satisfaction.
Combine traditional methods like interviews and surveys with digital tools such as Google Trends, SEMrush, SimilarWeb and social trend platforms. If you have the budget try and explore predictive analytics, AI can now forecast customer behaviour based on existing and previous data patterns.
The most successful brands treat research as part of their common practices and not a one off task. They evolve with their target audience instead of falling behind them.
Final Thoughts – Market Research Is Your Business Superpower
At the end of the day market research isn’t about being obsessed with data but about being obsessed with people. Real insight helps you see through the assumptions, connect with your audience and make confident decisions that actually help grow your business forward.
Start small and simple, talk to a handful of customers, and send out one short survey. Watch how people interact with your content or products. Every bit of feedback gives you a clearer picture of what your audience truly wants.
The difference between brands that grow and brands that decline, is curiosity. When you keep learning about your market you stay ahead of change instead of reacting to it.
If you’re ready to turn your gut feelings into data backed strategy, start your own research today or reach out and we’ll help you create market research that actually drives results.
Boost open rates