Using Surveys to Conduct Market Research: The Basics

Surveys can be an invaluable tool to continuously capture your target customer. In the past, surveys were often considered a mixed-bag when it came to results. The paper-based nature of them, limited their reach. Today, companies that specialize in survey software can create surveys that are logically dynamic - not only responding to answers, but also modifying subsequent questions, in response to each answer, to produce more engaging questions throughout the survey. Survey software can even check the validity of data given and incorporate your demographic or customer behavior patterns into each individual questionnaire.

Market research, in general, may seem like a luxury you can't afford (if you have a small or start-up business), but in reality it's you can't afford not to invest in it. Fortunately there are a range of very reasonable methods for generating in-depth and value-added surveys, which can substantially improve your understanding of your customers and how to engage them better. To get started, the following steps will help you in maximizing your surveys.

Step One: Establishing Goals

The first step to creating an effective survey is deciding what you hope to achieve from it. This will give scale and scope to it, determining who you survey and what you'll ask of them. The clearer your goals before you design the survey, the clearer and more relevant the insights you'll gain through it. In the case of survey design, it's a case of getting it right the first time. Possible learnings for your survey might include:

The potential market for a new product or service

Ratings of current products or services

Employee attitudes

Customer/patient satisfaction levels

Reader/viewer/listener opinions, and,

Association member opinions

Step Two: Identify Your Audience

There are two ways to do this: primary and secondary research. Each has its strengths and weaknesses, but combined they make for a highly viable pool of data. Primary research looks at qualitative and quantitative data; the former looks at your potential customer on a small scale through individual consumer interviews or focus groups, the latter studies larger groups required for broad statistical analysis and predictions. Through secondary data you'll be able to see who makes up your target market, their needs, and the size of your potential market. Nonprofit agencies, government bureaus (www.fedstats.gov, is an ample directory of these), web-based directories, and trade jou
als are good sources for secondary research. Surveys are useful for both types of primary research.

Step Three and Four: Write and Conduct the Survey

To start, keep the questions simple, but be very specific. Use a medium that fits that survey questions in nature and aesthetically. Incentivized surveys encourage larger response rates, so consider attaching a contest, product sample, or some other incentive for completing them. For best results, unless you have a dedicated market researcher in-house, outsource the actual brunt of the survey conducting to a research firm that specializes in this service.

Surveys can be conducted several ways, by phone, email, mail, individually, or through a focus group. In person interviews tend to be the most expensive and emails the least. Which method you choose will depend upon the nature of the data you're attempting to collect. For something like a movie review, an in-person interview will be more effective immediately outside of the theater that is showing the film than a telephone interview. For food taste tests, in-person focus groups are necessary to record the experience people have with the food product. But for other data where being face-to-face isn't critical, you might choose to use telephone interviews (which in general enable you to reach customers more quickly), snail mail (for older customers or more sensitive data collection) or email.

If your pool is extremely small and niched, you might be able to conduct your own data analysis. But, if you are looking at analyzing a large consumer group, it is highly recommended that you avail yourself of the services of a data analysis provider.