Pointers for Conducting Market Research Online

Market research need not be an expensive endeavour of focus-groups and two-way mirrors. With the Internet, you can conduct market research without the cost or the trouble. In fact, you may already be doing market research online without being aware of it — often a simple Web search or customer feedback form is enough to provide the data you need.

Regardless of whether you currently use it or not, market research has significant benefits to any business. Knowing your market allows you to define what kind of customer is most likely to buy, how you should craft your marketing message to appeal to them, and what kind of marketing you should use to reach them. Most importantly, it ensures that when you do reach them, you’ll look reliable and credible.

Primary Research 

Primary research is what most people think of as “market research,” it’s simply gathering original information for the purposes of your study. “Focus groups” are a form of primary research, but let’s look at some methods you can do from the comfort of your desk.

Online Surveys

They’re an effective way to gauge public opinion, even though they aren’t quite as accurate or scientific as some other methods. However, they make up for this deficiency by being low-cost and easy to run. As a rule, to get the most out of your survey, you should include no more than 25 questions and avoid open-ended questions which take a long time to answer. If people can answer the questions by checking a box for “yes, no, never, maybe, often,” they’re more likely to answer the survey.

Social Media           

Social media can be an excellent way to get marketing information and feedback. In many cases, it’s as simple as posting a query to Twitter or Facebook, but this method also has its hazards. In order to leverage the power of social media without the downsides, many market research firms have created their own social media communities. These invitation-only groups are active around the clock, allowing participants to weigh in on the discussion from wherever they are. While they act like focus groups, they have none of the cost of a physical group and there’s no visible researcher present and asking questions.

Online Polls

Polls are by far the fastest and easiest way to get a question answered, and they tend to have the best “turnout.” This is because it takes less than a second for someone to complete an online poll, so they tend to take a “why not” attitude and click. Key here is the poll being short and fast to complete.

Secondary Research       

While many people tend to think of primary research first, the fact is you should conduct secondary research beforehand in order to determine what you need to know. Secondary research is the process of gathering up the information from available sources, without directly asking any potential customers anything. Secondary research is usually much faster, since the data is available “at your fingertips” and may even have already been analysed by someone else. (Just be careful — the data may have been collected for a significantly different purpose and may not be as relevant as it looks, or it may be out of date.)

Keyword Research

While SEO experts know the importance of keyword research, it’s also a valuable tool for market research. Looking at which keywords in your industry attract the most interest may give you a new perspective on what people are actually looking for. Just as important, you see what the level of interest for each term is, in terms of how many people search for it per month.

Blogs           

Since blogs are updated more regularly than other websites, they can be a great way to understand your market. By reviewing blogs, you may stumble upon the market calling for a new kind of product or another need that people simply wouldn’t think to mention in a more formal setting.

News Stories and Public Records          

Don’t overlook the obvious. Searching through census data and official statistics can provide valuable insight into market trends, while a simple search may identify news stories that provide the information you need. Just because the information is public does not mean that your competition has taken the time to analyze it, or that they would necessarily be able to make the connections you do. There is another benefit — official data and news stories have a higher standard of accuracy than other methods.

Alex Pejak is an economist currently working on a few projects in Australia. She is interested in topics related to project management and business IT.