Successful marketing research firms in the US know more than research methods and statistical analysis; they also grasp the fundamentals of the industry or industries they serve. Today’s global market is wide enough and complex enough for research firms to maintain profitable businesses within commercial segments rather than trying to deliver something for everyone.

When auditioning market research firms, look for those that not only offer a comprehensive research package but also understand your area of operation. Three broad sectors marketing research firms specialize in include:

1. Consumer research firms working with private enterprise

2. Research firms working with non-profits

3. Research firms in the United States who handle government work

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Grow your business by collaborating with US market research firms

Rather than farm out bits and pieces of field work to a research supplier, develop an ongoing partnership with a market research firm to master the field you're in. Employ a team you trust, then let them observe how your business runs, so they can better translate research results into intelligence you can act on, rather than compile 'nice to know' data with little relevance to how you direct your company.

I recommend: TNS employs an array of proprietary "insight brands" tailored to specific research problems including customer behavior and loyalty, advertising effectiveness, brand equity and new product development. Burke is one of the leading market research firms, known for its market research training institute as well as for the research it conducts. Burke specializes in linkage analysis, such as linking results between external customer satisfaction research ad internal sales data or employee alignment studies.

Find a marketing research firm to help your non-profit walk the high wire

One of the largest non-profit sectors relates to health care. Even the largest hospitals must deliver their services to a broad, demanding customer base under stringent regulations, operating within high-profile community relations. Everyone expects non-profits such as these to operate with the efficiency of the private sector but without the financial cushion profits afford. Even if your organization is not healthcare related, it helps to locate a marketing research firm that understands the unique demands placed on 501c3's or NGOs as they strive to execute their mission statements.

I recommend: IMS Health provides intelligence for the global healthcare market. The National Committee for Quality Assurance has certified Morpace to conduct the CAHPS® Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems 4.0H surveys, for adults and children.

Develop a positive private/public partnership with market research firms in US

Contract with a MR firm when undertaking a research study to lay groundwork for new policy. Using an independent consumer research firm as a disinterested third party reduces any real or perceived bias in the reported results, which can outweigh the expense of hiring an outside agency rather than utilizing internal resources. The best market research firms specializing in public policy projects also understand the demands for stringent regulations placed on such projects for procedural and political reasons.

I recommend: Westat provides research services to federal state and local government agencies as well as foundations. Founded in 1965, Abt Associates has participated in research projects at the national, state and local levels that crafted policy concerning education, employment, housing, welfare, crime, the environment and health.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Prior to crafting a research plan, make yourself a grid that places your business's research needs within the context of the industry you're in: say, a for-profit company in your industry needing customer satisfaction or new product development. Flesh out the grid with a couple of key competitors and similar industries, to help form a sort of map of the terrain you operate in. Share this with the research firm you choose so they can understand how you see your business world.

If you doubt the importance of marketing research firms in the US, take a clue from the American Marketing Association, which adopted a new definition in 2008 to recognize marketing as a process that affects society.

Closer to home, marketing research firms can provide information that helps you guide your business from sinking to success. You have many choices on how to get this information, from asking customers to what they think to poring over stacks of reports. Another option is hiring consumer research firms to gather and deliver accurate information for you.

When you hire the best market research firms in the US, you can expect to:

1. Collect demographic information about customers
2. Learn more about competitors through marketing research firms in the US
3. Get ideas on how to effectively market your product or service

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Form objectives or goals for market research

Ask yourself what information you need and why you need it. US market research firms will research a new product differently than a company expansion. Be clear about your expectations in order to communicate that information to a market researcher.

I recommend: Get an overview of how marketing research works from the Small Business Administration. Determine the purpose of market research for your business by clarifying research needs and objectives.

Hire a marketing research firm

If you belong to a trade association, ask others for recommendations to find a firm to hire. Look for research experience and expertise providing market research in your particular industry.

I recommend: If you need a New York-based marketing research firm, look no further than the Green Book, where you can search by name, location or marketing research services. Check on leading marketing research firms through the American Marketing Association's Marketing Services Directory, called the M Guide.

Familiarize yourself with different research methods

Understand how qualitative research based on subjective information differs from demographic information found in quantitative research. US marketing research firms must demonstrate sufficient controls for accuracy.

I recommend: Understand the methodology to comprehend the results. Learn more about the different types of research available from Guideline. KnowThis provides tutorials on market research design, methods and analysis.

Analyze the information

A good market research firm should analyze the information and help you to apply it to your business goals and needs. Look for a research report that explains the results using statistics. Ideally, you should see visual representations of data in graphs or tables.

I recommend: View the research reports at the Center for Economic Studies as an example of how reports are organized.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Use consumer research firms on an ongoing basis. According to the American Marketing Association, you should budget .02% to 1% of gross annual sales for market research.
• •  If you're just starting out with limited funds, look for marketing research help from business students at nearby colleges or small business centers. The government has large amounts of research at its disposal.

Profitable marketing research firms in the US move beyond mastering the nuances of sample managements and calculating significance scores; they also translate what they find into meaningful intelligence you can act on. Rather than churn out tabulated data, they work with you to solve your problems.

Think beyond customer satisfaction polls when interviewing consumer research firms. The best market research firms can provide research methodologies and statistical modeling to analyze the whole “marketing mix.” When making the most of market research firms in the United States, consider:

1. Testing current and emergent products with new product development.

2. Running a price sensitivity model to test affects on sales forecasts.

3. Hiring retail market research firms to analyze placement and channels.

4. Reviewing promotion efforts using a research firm with an advertising focus.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Produce goods to match customer expectations through marketing research firm efforts

Combine your product development with work from consumer research firms to get end users into the process early and often. From ideation and initial design to final testing, marketing research firms can connect you with your customer in a systematic rather than ad hoc fashion.

I recommend: Applied Marketing Science conducts a particular type of product development called Quality Function Deployment that translates what your customer wants into action plans your engineers can work with in R&D. Morpace can develop trade-off models to determine which combination of attributes will lead to a best-selling or most profitable product.

Price the product to sell to your market using models from research firms

Though fixed in place by its own 'P' in the marketing mix, product and price are hard to separate. Work with leading market research firms to work up trade-off and price sensitivity models that develop a product you can sell profitably.

I recommend: Maritz Research’s focus on customer behavior can help develop the right model to measure price sensitivity or purchase intent. Gongos has worked out a Price/Feature Optimization tool that tests not only how much customers will pay for a product, but also which combination of features they want to buy in the product.

Find out where the fish are biting with US market research firms to place your product

All the cutting-edge product development and spot-on pricing modeling does no good if you don't know where people are buying. Work with a firm that can pinpoint what, when and where consumers are purchasing your product category to get into the stream.

I recommend: The NPD Group collects point-of-sale data for use by companies in retail, manufacturing and finance to measure and track consumer behavior. Click on NPD Insights for their monthly newsletter. America’s Research Group focuses on tracking retail consumer behavior patterns, for retailers and manufacturers of consumer goods.

Test promotion efforts and media channels with market research firms

In addition to traditional media, the Internet has revolutionized how you can interact with your customer: you can develop, promote, sell and service products through the same channel. Employ a market research firm that understands not only conventional message testing but also web design and content analysis.

I recommend: OTX has developed online tools to comprehensively test television, multi-media, and interactive ad testing. You can even log in to mine data from your project’s results on the fly. Harris Interactive has developed a proprietary “connections-based” research tool that measures how well your market communications builds up the bond between your customer and your brand.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Develop a rapport of mutual trust, so you can focus on your day job-your business, and they can focus on theirs-research. Furthermore, select a market research firm with a comprehensive research package so that your relationship can deepen as your business and research needs grow, rather than getting reacquainted with a new research team every time you need a different type of market research executed.

When dealing with market research firms in the United States, key terms knowledge can help you decipher consumer desires, needs, beliefs and actions as they relate to purchasing behavior. Market research always involves data collection and analysis, the results of which are presented to clients in order to help them develop, brand and market their products and services. The following are some common key terms used by market research firms in the United States.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Focus groups

Focus groups are a form of qualitative research where small groups of people are asked their opinions of or attitude toward new products, services, concepts, packaging or overall ideas on a variety of topics. Focus groups allow organizations to 'test' a product, concept or idea before it's made available to the general public, which can provide valuable insight into potential market acceptance.

I recommend: Discover all you need to know about the motivations and strategies behind focus groups at Power Decisions Group.

Ad testing

Ad testing, also referred to as advertisement testing, is a type of quantitative research generally done to measure the effectiveness, perception or targeting of an ad or series of ads in a given market. Ads can be tested in a variety of media, including print, television and radio.

I recommend: National Market Measures explains what ad testing is, why it's popular and ways to consider whether it's right for you.

Usability testing

Usability testing, as its name implies, focuses on researching the usability of a product by having potential users evaluate criteria such as ease of use, intended use, intuitiveness and clarity of instructions. This type of testing is performed most effectively by observation.

I recommend: User Centric has information about usability testing for websites.

Mystery shopping

Mystery shopping is a form of market research that uses 'shoppers' posing as normal customers to measure the levels and quality of service, typically at the retail level.

I recommend: Learn why mystery shopping is considered by many to be an invaluable market research tool from the Mystery Shopping Providers Association.

Consumer panels

Consumer panels are select groups of consumers from specific sectors who answer research questions relating to things such as product testing, taste testing and ad testing. They are most useful for quick surveys in which a specialist, rather than a probability sample, is preferred.

I recommend: Explore the value of online consumer panels and how they provide feedback that matters at NPD Group.

Intercepts

Intercepts are short consumer interviews typically conducted in shopping malls, retail stores, theme parks or any location where large numbers of a target group are likely to be found.

I recommend: Learn all about intercepts and the inherent value they provide at Market Street Research.