There are lots of different Market Research methods you can choose from. All these research methods serve the purpose of collecting customer opinions. You should carefully choose the method that best suits the purpose of your research.
Surveys:
A survey is a cost-effective research that is qualitative in nature. It contains identical questions which you can ask a group of potential customers. You can ask your respondents open and closed-ended questions. You can post a survey on your website or social media, or send it via email or text message.
Surveys are easy to conduct and analyze as well. It can help you understand if a product/service will succeed or fail among the target customers.
Social Media Research:
Social media research serves the same purpose as a survey. With the increasing use of social media platforms, it has become easier to reach a wide range of audiences and even easier to find potential customers.
Companies now use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. get fast responses from users about a product or service.
It is easy to upload a survey on social media that reaches a large customer base in little time. Social Media Research is also prompt and can help you get valuable insights from the prospective audience.
Focus Group:
Focus Group is a traditional and common form of conducting market research. The participants selected are diverse.
A group of 6 to 10 people who fit the profile of the potential customer is observed. They are asked questions about products, new launches, services, etc. The diversity in the opinion of the participants helps you receive information from a different perspective. You can record the session to examine it later.
A Focus group is a qualitative method that helps you get in-depth opinions. It helps you understand the feelings of the customers by interacting with them directly.
However, it is important to understand that Focus Group cannot represent the entire target market. It can also be expensive and time-consuming to find the right members for the research.
One-to-One Interviews:
One-on-One conversation is the best way to conduct an in-depth interview. Talking with your customers face-to-face can help you understand them more personally. Observing the body language and detection of social cues in the participant can help the interviewer gain deeper insights.
Interview Research can be conducted anytime and anywhere. You can interview your participants at their home, in a shopping mall, office, street, or any other place and record their response to analyze it in the future.
Interviews, however, can be expensive and time-consuming. The participant may also not represent the target market.
Phone Survey:
A phone survey is also a kind of one-on-one interview. Instead of meeting up with the participant you can call them and ask them a series of questions to record their responses.
There are quite a few disadvantages of conducting a phone interview.
- The participant may not be willing to reveal too much information
- It costs a lot to conduct a phone interview
- Due to high cost, you cannot conduct an in-depth interview
- It is time-consuming to call participant one-by-one and ask questions
- You cannot target a huge audience so the participant may not represent the target market
Observation:
Observation does not require you to talk to the customers. The purpose is to observe your users engage with the products from your company or similar products from your competitor and note their behavior. You can observe your customers in your shops or restaurants. You don’t have to bring them into a room and see them engage with your product.
Covert Observation is ideal for conducting such research. It is cost-effective and you can see your customers in their natural setting. They are not influenced by your presence.
However, observation cannot help you understand what is going on in their mind. You cannot understand their thought process or their reason for their purchase decision.
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