Market Research Data

Home » Sales and Marketing » Market Research Data

Tips & Advice to help you make your decision on Market Research Data

Many businesses rely on strong marketing campaigns to motivate consumers to purchase their products and services and reach new customers. Without the right marketing research, though, you might not have the information that you need to create effective campaigns. This might put your business at a disadvantage when you compete with other companies that have access to the information that they need to reach their target audiences.

Market research data could help you identify numerous features about your target audience. Good research could, for instance, help you determine which consumers are most interested in paying for your products and services. Market research data could also help you determine which target audiences are not interested in your product because your current campaign fails to reach them. When you have access to this data, you can make informed choices that will motivate your customers. Without the right information, though, you could find that you are only making guesses that don't have a positive impact on your business's success.

Business.com can help you learn more about the resources that you need. Follow the links that have been provided at your left to visit websites that will give you more information about the data services that might benefit your company.

Pricing and Costs of Market Research Data

In the course of running your business, you run into questions you can’t answer based on your knowledge or experience. Normally you ask business associates, or try out different scenarios to see what works -- an unofficial kind of market research survey. Occasionally you encounter problems too big to solve on your own, and acquaintances shrug their shoulders. Yet the cost of doing something wrong or not doing anything at all outweighs experts’ price tags.

When you need outside help to get results, find a market research tool to fit. Three areas to consider include:

1. Searching for market research data in the public domain

2. Diving deep into issues with exploratory market research work

3. Broadening your scope through quantitative data collection

Exercise your taxpayer rights while market research data gathering

How does free sound? Employ Uncle Sam, one of the largest data collection companies, for your market research. The federal government supplements its decennial census with numerous surveys as frequently as every month. While it's limited to national data, regional, state, and local affiliates can break data down to areas closer to home, and it provides a solid baseline to work from.
Try: The Consumer Expenditure Survey program combines the quarterly Interview Survey with the Diary Survey to provide information on consumer buying habits, including income and expenditures for both family and individuals. You also can look up the US Census Bureau's Q&A center to quickly find the more popular census searches.

Delve deep with exploratory market research

When you're unsure how to even frame a question, start by exploring the issue with qualitative research. The most cost-effective form of qualitative research is the focus group, as you can recruit in a relatively short time frame and get decent results in as little as two groups, often scheduled in one evening. Costs depend on the audience: general consumer groups cost the least both for recruiting and providing participation incentives, while executives and professionals like doctors or lawyers cost the most. Certain topics dealing with sensitive issues might be more difficult to recruit, driving field costs up. Also, don't skimp on the moderator; be willing to pay more for a thoroughly trained moderator.
Try: The name Focus 25 derives from the 25 different research strategies they’ve used to help clients find answers. They quote from $3,500 to $7,500 per group, excluding any travel fees. Established in 1985, Market Trends Research conducts both in-person and online focus groups ranging from a base of $4,000 for consumer groups to $5,000 for professional groups.

Listen to the customer's voice through data collection in market research

Once you've explored the topic and caught the audience's vocabulary, build a questionnaire and test these findings in the general population under study. Costs vary the most in quantitative research, depending on several factors such as how many people you want to talk to (fewer if you want to survey the general population, more if you want to drill down into segments) or the complexity of the topic you want to talk about. Quantitative surveys can cost as little as $5,000 and run over $150,000. Budget five figures for a comprehensive survey using a full-service firm to include professional hours for up-front consultation, analysis and final presentation. If you desire to write your own survey, provide the contact information of the people you want to talk to, and analyze the results on your own, you can save money by shopping out the questionnaire and target list to a market research data collection company that focuses exclusively on the interview process.
Try: Directions In Research offers CATI, online and an IVR survey for business and consumer surveys. C&C Market Research has 30 locations across the country for focus groups, in-depth personal interviews, mall intercepts and product testing.

Market research data companies at times quote a project on a Cost Per Interview (CPI) basis. Don't extrapolate from that figure if you change specifications. If you add on eligibility requirements or even ask for more completed interviews without a corresponding sample increase to draw from, the effort and labor hours required to execute these change orders will affect the CPI.