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What Is Market Research?

• How It Works
• Primary vs. Secondary
• How to Conduct Research

The Bottom Line

• Marketing Essentials

How to Do Market Research, Types, and Example

Joules Garcia / Investopedia

Market research examines consumer behavior and trends in the economy to help a business develop and fine-tune its business idea and strategy. It helps a business understand its target market by gathering and analyzing data.

Market research is the process of evaluating the viability of a new service or product through research conducted directly with potential customers. It allows a company to define its target market and get opinions and other feedback from consumers about their interest in a product or service.

Research may be conducted in-house or by a third party that specializes in market research. It can be done through surveys and focus groups, among other ways. Test subjects are usually compensated with product samples or a small stipend for their time.

Key Takeaways

• Companies conduct market research before introducing new products to determine their appeal to potential customers.
• Tools include focus groups, telephone interviews, and questionnaires.
• The results of market research inform the final design of the product and determine how it will be positioned in the marketplace.
• Market research usually combines primary information, gathered directly from consumers, and secondary information, which is data available from external sources.

Market Research

How market research works.

Market research is used to determine the viability of a new product or service. The results may be used to revise the product design and fine-tune the strategy for introducing it to the public. This can include information gathered for the purpose of determining market segmentation . It also informs product differentiation , which is used to tailor advertising.

A business engages in various tasks to complete the market research process. It gathers information based on the market sector being targeted by the product. This information is then analyzed and relevant data points are interpreted to draw conclusions about how the product may be optimally designed and marketed to the market segment for which it is intended.

It is a critical component in the research and development (R&D) phase of a new product or service introduction. Market research can be conducted in many different ways, including surveys, product testing, interviews, and focus groups.

Market research is a critical tool that companies use to understand what consumers want, develop products that those consumers will use, and maintain a competitive advantage over other companies in their industry.

Primary Market Research vs. Secondary Market Research

Market research usually consists of a combination of:

• Primary research, gathered by the company or by an outside company that it hires
• Secondary research, which draws on external sources of data

Primary Market Research

Primary research generally falls into two categories: exploratory and specific research.

• Exploratory research is less structured and functions via open-ended questions. The questions may be posed in a focus group setting, telephone interviews, or questionnaires. It results in questions or issues that the company needs to address about a product that it has under development.
• Specific research delves more deeply into the problems or issues identified in exploratory research.

Secondary Market Research

All market research is informed by the findings of other researchers about the needs and wants of consumers. Today, much of this research can be found online.

Secondary research can include population information from government census data , trade association research reports , polling results, and research from other businesses operating in the same market sector.

History of Market Research

Formal market research began in Germany during the 1920s. In the United States, it soon took off with the advent of the Golden Age of Radio.

Companies that created advertisements for this new entertainment medium began to look at the demographics of the audiences who listened to each of the radio plays, music programs, and comedy skits that were presented.

They had once tried to reach the widest possible audience by placing their messages on billboards or in the most popular magazines. With radio programming, they had the chance to target rural or urban consumers, teenagers or families, and judge the results by the sales numbers that followed.

Types of Market Research

Face-to-face interviews.

From their earliest days, market research companies would interview people on the street about the newspapers and magazines that they read regularly and ask whether they recalled any of the ads or brands that were published in them. Data collected from these interviews were compared to the circulation of the publication to determine the effectiveness of those ads.

Market research and surveys were adapted from these early techniques.

To get a strong understanding of your market, it’s essential to understand demand, market size, economic indicators, location, market saturation, and pricing.

Focus Groups

A focus group is a small number of representative consumers chosen to try a product or watch an advertisement.

Afterward, the group is asked for feedback on their perceptions of the product, the company’s brand, or competing products. The company then takes that information and makes decisions about what to do with the product or service, whether that's releasing it, making changes, or abandoning it altogether.

Phone Research

The man-on-the-street interview technique soon gave way to the telephone interview. A telephone interviewer could collect information in a more efficient and cost-effective fashion.

Telephone research was a preferred tactic of market researchers for many years. It has become much more difficult in recent years as landline phone service dwindles and is replaced by less accessible mobile phones.

Survey Research

As an alternative to focus groups, surveys represent a cost-effective way to determine consumer attitudes without having to interview anyone in person. Consumers are sent surveys in the mail, usually with a coupon or voucher to incentivize participation. These surveys help determine how consumers feel about the product, brand, and price point.

Online Market Research

With people spending more time online, market research activities have shifted online as well. Data collection still uses a survey-style form. But instead of companies actively seeking participants by finding them on the street or cold calling them on the phone, people can choose to sign up, take surveys, and offer opinions when they have time.

This makes the process far less intrusive and less rushed, since people can participate on their own time and of their own volition.

How to Conduct Market Research

The first step to effective market research is to determine the goals of the study. Each study should seek to answer a clear, well-defined problem. For example, a company might seek to identify consumer preferences, brand recognition, or the comparative effectiveness of different types of ad campaigns.

After that, the next step is to determine who will be included in the research. Market research is an expensive process, and a company cannot waste resources collecting unnecessary data. The firm should decide in advance which types of consumers will be included in the research, and how the data will be collected. They should also account for the probability of statistical errors or sampling bias .

The next step is to collect the data and analyze the results. If the two previous steps have been completed accurately, this should be straightforward. The researchers will collect the results of their study, keeping track of the ages, gender, and other relevant data of each respondent. This is then analyzed in a marketing report that explains the results of their research.

The last step is for company executives to use their market research to make business decisions. Depending on the results of their research, they may choose to target a different group of consumers, or they may change their price point or some product features.

The results of these changes may eventually be measured in further market research, and the process will begin all over again.

Benefits of Market Research

Market research is essential for developing brand loyalty and customer satisfaction. Since it is unlikely for a product to appeal equally to every consumer, a strong market research program can help identify the key demographics and market segments that are most likely to use a given product.

Market research is also important for developing a company’s advertising efforts. For example, if a company’s market research determines that its consumers are more likely to use Facebook than X (formerly Twitter), it can then target its advertisements to one platform instead of another. Or, if they determine that their target market is value-sensitive rather than price-sensitive, they can work on improving the product rather than reducing their prices.

Market research only works when subjects are honest and open to participating.

Example of Market Research

Many companies use market research to test new products or get information from consumers about what kinds of products or services they need and don’t currently have.

For example, a company that’s considering starting a business might conduct market research to test the viability of its product or service. If the market research confirms consumer interest, the business can proceed confidently with its business plan . If not, the company can use the results of the market research to make adjustments to the product to bring it in line with customer desires.

What Are the Main Types of Market Research?

The main types of market research are primary research and secondary research. Primary research includes focus groups, polls, and surveys. Secondary research includes academic articles, infographics, and white papers.

Qualitative research gives insights into how customers feel and think. Quantitative research uses data and statistics such as website views, social media engagement, and subscriber numbers.

What Is Online Market Research?

Online market research uses the same strategies and techniques as traditional primary and secondary market research, but it is conducted on the Internet. Potential customers may be asked to participate in a survey or give feedback on a product. The responses may help the researchers create a profile of the likely customer for a new product.

What Are Paid Market Research Surveys?

Paid market research involves rewarding individuals who agree to participate in a study. They may be offered a small payment for their time or a discount coupon in return for filling out a questionnaire or participating in a focus group.

What Is a Market Study?

A market study is an analysis of consumer demand for a product or service. It looks at all of the factors that influence demand for a product or service. These include the product’s price, location, competition, and substitutes as well as general economic factors that could influence the new product’s adoption, for better or worse.

Market research is a key component of a company’s research and development (R&D) stage. It helps companies understand in advance the viability of a new product that they have in development and to see how it might perform in the real world.

Britannica Money. “ Market Research .”

U.S. Small Business Administration. “ Market Research and Competitive Analysis .”

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Market Research: A How-To Guide and Template

Discover the different types of market research, how to conduct your own market research, and use a free template to help you along the way.

MARKET RESEARCH KIT

5 Research and Planning Templates + a Free Guide on How to Use Them in Your Market Research

Updated: 02/21/24

Published: 02/21/24

Today's consumers have a lot of power. As a business, you must have a deep understanding of who your buyers are and what influences their purchase decisions.

Enter: Market Research.

Whether you're new to market research or not, I created this guide to help you conduct a thorough study of your market, target audience, competition, and more. Let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

What is market research?

Primary vs. secondary research, types of market research, how to do market research, market research report template, market research examples.

Market research is the process of gathering information about your target market and customers to verify the success of a new product, help your team iterate on an existing product, or understand brand perception to ensure your team is effectively communicating your company's value effectively.

Market research can answer various questions about the state of an industry. But if you ask me, it's hardly a crystal ball that marketers can rely on for insights on their customers.

Market researchers investigate several areas of the market, and it can take weeks or even months to paint an accurate picture of the business landscape.

However, researching just one of those areas can make you more intuitive to who your buyers are and how to deliver value that no other business is offering them right now.

How? Consider these two things:

• Your competitors also have experienced individuals in the industry and a customer base. It‘s very possible that your immediate resources are, in many ways, equal to those of your competition’s immediate resources. Seeking a larger sample size for answers can provide a better edge.
• Your customers don't represent the attitudes of an entire market. They represent the attitudes of the part of the market that is already drawn to your brand.

The market research services market is growing rapidly, which signifies a strong interest in market research as we enter 2024. The market is expected to grow from roughly $75 billion in 2021 to $90.79 billion in 2025 .

Free Market Research Kit

• SWOT Analysis Template
• Survey Template
• Focus Group Template

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

Why do market research?

Market research allows you to meet your buyer where they are.

As our world becomes louder and demands more of our attention, this proves invaluable.

By understanding your buyer's problems, pain points, and desired solutions, you can aptly craft your product or service to naturally appeal to them.

Market research also provides insight into the following:

• Where your target audience and current customers conduct their product or service research
• Which of your competitors your target audience looks to for information, options, or purchases
• What's trending in your industry and in the eyes of your buyer
• Who makes up your market and what their challenges are
• What influences purchases and conversions among your target audience
• Consumer attitudes about a particular topic, pain, product, or brand
• Whether there‘s demand for the business initiatives you’re investing in
• Unaddressed or underserved customer needs that can be flipped into selling opportunity
• Attitudes about pricing for a particular product or service

Ultimately, market research allows you to get information from a larger sample size of your target audience, eliminating bias and assumptions so that you can get to the heart of consumer attitudes.

As a result, you can make better business decisions.

To give you an idea of how extensive market research can get , consider that it can either be qualitative or quantitative in nature — depending on the studies you conduct and what you're trying to learn about your industry.

Qualitative research is concerned with public opinion, and explores how the market feels about the products currently available in that market.

Quantitative research is concerned with data, and looks for relevant trends in the information that's gathered from public records.

That said, there are two main types of market research that your business can conduct to collect actionable information on your products: primary research and secondary research.

Primary Research

Primary research is the pursuit of first-hand information about your market and the customers within your market.

It's useful when segmenting your market and establishing your buyer personas.

Primary market research tends to fall into one of two buckets:

• Exploratory Primary Research: This kind of primary market research normally takes place as a first step — before any specific research has been performed — and may involve open-ended interviews or surveys with small numbers of people.
• Specific Primary Research: This type of research often follows exploratory research. In specific research, you take a smaller or more precise segment of your audience and ask questions aimed at solving a suspected problem.

Secondary Research

Secondary research is all the data and public records you have at your disposal to draw conclusions from (e.g. trend reports, market statistics, industry content, and sales data you already have on your business).

Secondary research is particularly useful for analyzing your competitors . The main buckets your secondary market research will fall into include:

• Public Sources: These sources are your first and most-accessible layer of material when conducting secondary market research. They're often free to find and review — like government statistics (e.g., from the U.S. Census Bureau ).
• Commercial Sources: These sources often come in the form of pay-to-access market reports, consisting of industry insight compiled by a research agency like Pew , Gartner , or Forrester .
• Internal Sources: This is the market data your organization already has like average revenue per sale, customer retention rates, and other historical data that can help you draw conclusions on buyer needs.
• Focus Groups
• Product/ Service Use Research
• Observation-Based Research
• Buyer Persona Research
• Market Segmentation Research
• Pricing Research
• Competitive Analysis Research
• Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Research
• Brand Awareness Research
• Campaign Research

1. Interviews

Interviews allow for face-to-face discussions so you can allow for a natural flow of conversation. Your interviewees can answer questions about themselves to help you design your buyer personas and shape your entire marketing strategy.

2. Focus Groups

Focus groups provide you with a handful of carefully-selected people that can test out your product and provide feedback. This type of market research can give you ideas for product differentiation.

3. Product/Service Use Research

Product or service use research offers insight into how and why your audience uses your product or service. This type of market research also gives you an idea of the product or service's usability for your target audience.

4. Observation-Based Research

Observation-based research allows you to sit back and watch the ways in which your target audience members go about using your product or service, what works well in terms of UX , and which aspects of it could be improved.

5. Buyer Persona Research

Buyer persona research gives you a realistic look at who makes up your target audience, what their challenges are, why they want your product or service, and what they need from your business or brand.

6. Market Segmentation Research

Market segmentation research allows you to categorize your target audience into different groups (or segments) based on specific and defining characteristics. This way, you can determine effective ways to meet their needs.

7. Pricing Research

Pricing research helps you define your pricing strategy . It gives you an idea of what similar products or services in your market sell for and what your target audience is willing to pay.

8. Competitive Analysis

Competitive analyses give you a deep understanding of the competition in your market and industry. You can learn about what's doing well in your industry and how you can separate yourself from the competition .

9. Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Research

Customer satisfaction and loyalty research gives you a look into how you can get current customers to return for more business and what will motivate them to do so (e.g., loyalty programs , rewards, remarkable customer service).

10. Brand Awareness Research

Brand awareness research tells you what your target audience knows about and recognizes from your brand. It tells you about the associations people make when they think about your business.

11. Campaign Research

Campaign research entails looking into your past campaigns and analyzing their success among your target audience and current customers. The goal is to use these learnings to inform future campaigns.

• Define your buyer persona.
• Identify a persona group to engage.
• Prepare research questions for your market research participants.
• List your primary competitors.
• Summarize your findings.

1. Define your buyer persona.

You have to understand who your customers are and how customers in your industry make buying decisions.

This is where your buyer personas come in handy. Buyer personas — sometimes referred to as marketing personas — are fictional, generalized representations of your ideal customers.

Use a free tool to create a buyer persona that your entire company can use to market, sell, and serve better.

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9 Key stages in your marketing research process

You can conduct your own marketing research. Follow these steps, add your own flair, knowledge and creativity, and you’ll have bespoke research to be proud of.

Marketing research is the term used to cover the concept, development, placement and evolution of your product or service, its growing customer base and its branding – starting with brand awareness , and progressing to (everyone hopes) brand equity . Like any research, it needs a robust process to be credible and useful.

Marketing research uses four essential key factors known as the ‘marketing mix’ , or the Four Ps of Marketing :

• Product (goods or service)
• Price ( how much the customer pays )
• Place (where the product is marketed)
• Promotion (such as advertising and PR)

These four factors need to work in harmony for a product or service to be successful in its marketplace.

The marketing research process – an overview

A typical marketing research process is as follows:

• Identify an issue, discuss alternatives and set out research objectives
• Develop a research program
• Choose a sample
• Gather information
• Gather data
• Organize and analyze information and data
• Present findings
• Make research-based decisions
• Take action based on insights

Step 1: Defining the marketing research problem

Defining a problem is the first step in the research process. In many ways, research starts with a problem facing management. This problem needs to be understood, the cause diagnosed, and solutions developed.

However, most management problems are not always easy to research, so they must first be translated into research problems. Once you approach the problem from a research angle, you can find a solution. For example, “sales are not growing” is a management problem, but translated into a research problem, it becomes “ why are sales not growing?” We can look at the expectations and experiences of several groups : potential customers, first-time buyers, and repeat purchasers. We can question whether the lack of sales is due to:

• Poor expectations that lead to a general lack of desire to buy, or
• Poor performance experience and a lack of desire to repurchase.

This, then, is the difference between a management problem and a research problem. Solving management problems focuses on actions: Do we advertise more? Do we change our advertising message? Do we change an under-performing product configuration? And if so, how?

Defining research problems, on the other hand, focus on the whys and hows, providing the insights you need to solve your management problem.

Step 2: Developing a research program: method of inquiry

The scientific method is the standard for investigation. It provides an opportunity for you to use existing knowledge as a starting point, and proceed impartially.

The scientific method includes the following steps:

• Define a problem
• Develop a hypothesis
• Make predictions based on the hypothesis
• Devise a test of the hypothesis
• Conduct the test
• Analyze the results

This terminology is similar to the stages in the research process. However, there are subtle differences in the way the steps are performed:

• the scientific research method is objective and fact-based, using quantitative research and impartial analysis
• the marketing research process can be subjective, using opinion and qualitative research, as well as personal judgment as you collect and analyze data

Step 3: Developing a research program: research method

As well as selecting a method of inquiry (objective or subjective), you must select a research method . There are two primary methodologies that can be used to answer any research question:

• Experimental research : gives you the advantage of controlling extraneous variables and manipulating one or more variables that influence the process being implemented.
• Non-experimental research : allows observation but not intervention – all you do is observe and report on your findings.

Step 4: Developing a research program: research design

Research design is a plan or framework for conducting marketing research and collecting data. It is defined as the specific methods and procedures you use to get the information you need.

There are three core types of marketing research designs: exploratory, descriptive, and causal . A thorough marketing research process incorporates elements of all of them.

Exploratory marketing research

This is a starting point for research. It’s used to reveal facts and opinions about a particular topic, and gain insight into the main points of an issue. Exploratory research is too much of a blunt instrument to base conclusive business decisions on, but it gives the foundation for more targeted study. You can use secondary research materials such as trade publications, books, journals and magazines and primary research using qualitative metrics, that can include open text surveys, interviews and focus groups.

Descriptive marketing research

This helps define the business problem or issue so that companies can make decisions, take action and monitor progress. Descriptive research is naturally quantitative – it needs to be measured and analyzed statistically , using more targeted surveys and questionnaires. You can use it to capture demographic information , evaluate a product or service for market, and monitor a target audience’s opinion and behaviors. Insights from descriptive research can inform conclusions about the market landscape and the product’s place in it.

Causal marketing research

This is useful to explore the cause and effect relationship between two or more variables. Like descriptive research , it uses quantitative methods, but it doesn’t merely report findings; it uses experiments to predict and test theories about a product or market. For example, researchers may change product packaging design or material, and measure what happens to sales as a result.

Step 5: Choose your sample

Your marketing research project will rarely examine an entire population. It’s more practical to use a sample - a smaller but accurate representation of the greater population. To design your sample, you’ll need to answer these questions:

• Which base population is the sample to be selected from? Once you’ve established who your relevant population is (your research design process will have revealed this), you have a base for your sample. This will allow you to make inferences about a larger population.
• What is the method (process) for sample selection? There are two methods of selecting a sample from a population:

1. Probability sampling : This relies on a random sampling of everyone within the larger population.

2. Non-probability sampling : This is based in part on the investigator’s judgment, and often uses convenience samples, or by other sampling methods that do not rely on probability.

• What is your sample size? This important step involves cost and accuracy decisions. Larger samples generally reduce sampling error and increase accuracy, but also increase costs. Find out your perfect sample size with our calculator .

Step 6: Gather data

Your research design will develop as you select techniques to use. There are many channels for collecting data, and it’s helpful to differentiate it into O-data (Operational) and X-data (Experience):

• O-data is your business’s hard numbers like costs, accounting, and sales. It tells you what has happened, but not why.
• X-data gives you insights into the thoughts and emotions of the people involved: employees, customers, brand advocates.

When you combine O-data with X-data, you’ll be able to build a more complete picture about success and failure - you’ll know why. Maybe you’ve seen a drop in sales (O-data) for a particular product. Maybe customer service was lacking, the product was out of stock, or advertisements weren’t impactful or different enough: X-data will reveal the reason why those sales dropped. So, while differentiating these two data sets is important, when they are combined, and work with each other, the insights become powerful.

With mobile technology, it has become easier than ever to collect data. Survey research has come a long way since market researchers conducted face-to-face, postal, or telephone surveys. You can run research through:

• Social media ( polls and listening )

Another way to collect data is by observation. Observing a customer’s or company’s past or present behavior can predict future purchasing decisions. Data collection techniques for predicting past behavior can include market segmentation , customer journey mapping and brand tracking .

Regardless of how you collect data, the process introduces another essential element to your research project: the importance of clear and constant communication .

And of course, to analyze information from survey or observation techniques, you must record your results . Gone are the days of spreadsheets. Feedback from surveys and listening channels can automatically feed into AI-powered analytics engines and produce results, in real-time, on dashboards.

Step 7: Analysis and interpretation

The words ‘ statistical analysis methods ’ aren’t usually guaranteed to set a room alight with excitement, but when you understand what they can do, the problems they can solve and the insights they can uncover, they seem a whole lot more compelling.

Statistical tests and data processing tools can reveal:

• Whether data trends you see are meaningful or are just chance results
• Your results in the context of other information you have
• Whether one thing affecting your business is more significant than others
• What your next research area should be
• Insights that lead to meaningful changes

There are several types of statistical analysis tools used for surveys. You should make sure that the ones you choose:

• Work on any platform - mobile, desktop, tablet etc.
• Integrate with your existing systems
• Are easy to use with user-friendly interfaces, straightforward menus, and automated data analysis
• Incorporate statistical analysis so you don’t just process and present your data, but refine it, and generate insights and predictions.

Here are some of the most common tools:

• Benchmarking : a way of taking outside factors into account so that you can adjust the parameters of your research. It ‘levels the playing field’ – so that your data and results are more meaningful in context. And gives you a more precise understanding of what’s happening.
• Regression analysis : this is used for working out the relationship between two (or more) variables. It is useful for identifying the precise impact of a change in an independent variable.
• T-test is used for comparing two data groups which have different mean values. For example, do women and men have different mean heights?
• Analysis of variance (ANOVA) Similar to the T-test, ANOVA is a way of testing the differences between three or more independent groups to see if they’re statistically significant.
• Cluster analysis : This organizes items into groups, or clusters, based on how closely associated they are.
• Factor analysis: This is a way of condensing many variables into just a few, so that your research data is less unwieldy to work with.
• Conjoint analysis : this will help you understand and predict why people make the choices they do. It asks people to make trade-offs when making decisions, just as they do in the real world, then analyzes the results to give the most popular outcome.
• Crosstab analysis : this is a quantitative market research tool used to analyze ‘categorical data’ - variables that are different and mutually exclusive, such as: ‘men’ and ‘women’, or ‘under 30’ and ‘over 30’.
• Text analysis and sentiment analysis : Analyzing human language and emotions is a rapidly-developing form of data processing, assigning positive, negative or neutral sentiment to customer messages and feedback.

Stats IQ can perform the most complicated statistical tests at the touch of a button using our online survey software , or data from other sources. Learn more about Stats iQ now .

Step 8: The marketing research results

Your marketing research process culminates in the research results. These should provide all the information the stakeholders and decision-makers need to understand the project.

The results will include:

• all your information
• a description of your research process
• the results
• conclusions
• recommended courses of action

They should also be presented in a form, language and graphics that are easy to understand, with a balance between completeness and conciseness, neither leaving important information out or allowing it to get so technical that it overwhelms the readers.

Traditionally, you would prepare two written reports:

• a technical report , discussing the methods, underlying assumptions and the detailed findings of the research project
• a summary report , that summarizes the research process and presents the findings and conclusions simply.

There are now more engaging ways to present your findings than the traditional PowerPoint presentations, graphs, and face-to-face reports:

• Live, interactive dashboards for sharing the most important information, as well as tracking a project in real time.
• Results-reports visualizations – tables or graphs with data visuals on a shareable slide deck
• Online presentation technology, such as Prezi
• Visual storytelling with infographics
• A single-page executive summary with key insights
• A single-page stat sheet with the top-line stats

You can also make these results shareable so that decision-makers have all the information at their fingertips.

Step 9 Turn your insights into action

Insights are one thing, but they’re worth very little unless they inform immediate, positive action. Here are a few examples of how you can do this:

• Stop customers leaving – negative sentiment among VIP customers gets picked up; the customer service team contacts the customers, resolves their issues, and avoids churn .
• Act on important employee concerns – you can set certain topics, such as safety, or diversity and inclusion to trigger an automated notification or Slack message to HR. They can rapidly act to rectify the issue.
• Address product issues – maybe deliveries are late, maybe too many products are faulty. When product feedback gets picked up through Smart Conversations, messages can be triggered to the delivery or product teams to jump on the problems immediately.
• Improve your marketing effectiveness - Understand how your marketing is being received by potential customers, so you can find ways to better meet their needs
• Grow your brand - Understand exactly what consumers are looking for, so you can make sure that you’re meeting their expectations

Download now: 8 Innovations to Modernize Market Research

Scott Smith

Scott Smith, Ph.D. is a contributor to the Qualtrics blog.

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How to do market research in 4 steps: a lean approach to marketing research

From pinpointing your target audience and assessing your competitive advantage, to ongoing product development and customer satisfaction efforts, market research is a practice your business can only benefit from.

Learn how to conduct quick and effective market research using a lean approach in this article full of strategies and practical examples. 

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A comprehensive (and successful) business strategy is not complete without some form of market research—you can’t make informed and profitable business decisions without truly understanding your customer base and the current market trends that drive your business.

In this article, you’ll learn how to conduct quick, effective market research  using an approach called 'lean market research'. It’s easier than you might think, and it can be done at any stage in a product’s lifecycle.

How to conduct lean market research in 4 steps

What is market research, why is market research so valuable, advantages of lean market research, 4 common market research methods, 5 common market research questions, market research faqs.

We’ll jump right into our 4-step approach to lean market research. To show you how it’s done in the real world, each step includes a practical example from Smallpdf , a Swiss company that used lean market research to reduce their tool’s error rate by 75% and boost their Net Promoter Score® (NPS) by 1%.

Research your market the lean way...

From on-page surveys to user interviews, Hotjar has the tools to help you scope out your market and get to know your customers—without breaking the bank.

The following four steps and practical examples will give you a solid market research plan for understanding who your users are and what they want from a company like yours.

1. Create simple user personas

A user persona is a semi-fictional character based on psychographic and demographic data from people who use websites and products similar to your own. Start by defining broad user categories, then elaborate on them later to further segment your customer base and determine your ideal customer profile .

How to get the data: use on-page or emailed surveys and interviews to understand your users and what drives them to your business.

How to do it right: whatever survey or interview questions you ask, they should answer the following questions about the customer:

Who are they?

What is their main goal?

What is their main barrier to achieving this goal?

Pitfalls to avoid:

Don’t ask too many questions! Keep it to five or less, otherwise you’ll inundate them and they’ll stop answering thoughtfully.

Don’t worry too much about typical demographic questions like age or background. Instead, focus on the role these people play (as it relates to your product) and their goals.

How Smallpdf did it: Smallpdf ran an on-page survey for a couple of weeks and received 1,000 replies. They learned that many of their users were administrative assistants, students, and teachers.

Next, they used the survey results to create simple user personas like this one for admins:

Who are they? Administrative Assistants.

What is their main goal? Creating Word documents from a scanned, hard-copy document or a PDF where the source file was lost.

What is their main barrier to achieving it? Converting a scanned PDF doc to a Word file.

💡Pro tip: Smallpdf used Hotjar Surveys to run their user persona survey. Our survey tool helped them avoid the pitfalls of guesswork and find out who their users really are, in their own words. 

You can design a survey and start running it in minutes with our easy-to-use drag and drop builder. Customize your survey to fit your needs, from a sleek one-question pop-up survey to a fully branded questionnaire sent via email. 

We've also created 40+ free survey templates that you can start collecting data with, including a user persona survey like the one Smallpdf used.

2. Conduct observational research

Observational research involves taking notes while watching someone use your product (or a similar product).

Overt vs. covert observation

Overt observation involves asking customers if they’ll let you watch them use your product. This method is often used for user testing and it provides a great opportunity for collecting live product or customer feedback .

Covert observation means studying users ‘in the wild’ without them knowing. This method works well if you sell a type of product that people use regularly, and it offers the purest observational data because people often behave differently when they know they’re being watched. 

Tips to do it right:

Record an entry in your field notes, along with a timestamp, each time an action or event occurs.

Make note of the users' workflow, capturing the ‘what,’ ‘why,’ and ‘for whom’ of each action.

Don’t record identifiable video or audio data without consent. If recording people using your product is helpful for achieving your research goal, make sure all participants are informed and agree to the terms.

Don’t forget to explain why you’d like to observe them (for overt observation). People are more likely to cooperate if you tell them you want to improve the product.

💡Pro tip: while conducting field research out in the wild can wield rewarding results, you can also conduct observational research remotely. Hotjar Recordings is a tool that lets you capture anonymized user sessions of real people interacting with your website. 

Observe how customers navigate your pages and products to gain an inside look into their user behavior . This method is great for conducting exploratory research with the purpose of identifying more specific issues to investigate further, like pain points along the customer journey and opportunities for optimizing conversion .

With Hotjar Recordings you can observe real people using your site without capturing their sensitive information

How Smallpdf did it: here’s how Smallpdf observed two different user personas both covertly and overtly.

Observing students (covert): Kristina Wagner, Principle Product Manager at Smallpdf, went to cafes and libraries at two local universities and waited until she saw students doing PDF-related activities. Then she watched and took notes from a distance. One thing that struck her was the difference between how students self-reported their activities vs. how they behaved (i.e, the self-reporting bias). Students, she found, spent hours talking, listening to music, or simply staring at a blank screen rather than working. When she did find students who were working, she recorded the task they were performing and the software they were using (if she recognized it).

Observing administrative assistants (overt): Kristina sent emails to admins explaining that she’d like to observe them at work, and she asked those who agreed to try to batch their PDF work for her observation day. While watching admins work, she learned that they frequently needed to scan documents into PDF-format and then convert those PDFs into Word docs. By observing the challenges admins faced, Smallpdf knew which products to target for improvement.

“Data is really good for discovery and validation, but there is a bit in the middle where you have to go and find the human.”

3. Conduct individual interviews

Interviews are one-on-one conversations with members of your target market. They allow you to dig deep and explore their concerns, which can lead to all sorts of revelations.

Listen more, talk less. Be curious.

Act like a journalist, not a salesperson. Rather than trying to talk your company up, ask people about their lives, their needs, their frustrations, and how a product like yours could help.

Ask "why?" so you can dig deeper. Get into the specifics and learn about their past behavior.

Record the conversation. Focus on the conversation and avoid relying solely on notes by recording the interview. There are plenty of services that will transcribe recorded conversations for a good price (including Hotjar!).

Avoid asking leading questions , which reveal bias on your part and pushes respondents to answer in a certain direction (e.g. “Have you taken advantage of the amazing new features we just released?).

Don't ask loaded questions , which sneak in an assumption which, if untrue, would make it impossible to answer honestly. For example, we can’t ask you, “What did you find most useful about this article?” without asking whether you found the article useful in the first place.

Be cautious when asking opinions about the future (or predictions of future behavior). Studies suggest that people aren’t very good at predicting their future behavior. This is due to several cognitive biases, from the misguided exceptionalism bias (we’re good at guessing what others will do, but we somehow think we’re different), to the optimism bias (which makes us see things with rose-colored glasses), to the ‘illusion of control’ (which makes us forget the role of randomness in future events).

How Smallpdf did it: Kristina explored her teacher user persona by speaking with university professors at a local graduate school. She learned that the school was mostly paperless and rarely used PDFs, so for the sake of time, she moved on to the admins.

A bit of a letdown? Sure. But this story highlights an important lesson: sometimes you follow a lead and come up short, so you have to make adjustments on the fly. Lean market research is about getting solid, actionable insights quickly so you can tweak things and see what works.

💡Pro tip: to save even more time, conduct remote interviews using an online user research service like Hotjar Engage , which automates the entire interview process, from recruitment and scheduling to hosting and recording.

You can interview your own customers or connect with people from our diverse pool of 200,000+ participants from 130+ countries and 25 industries. And no need to fret about taking meticulous notes—Engage will automatically transcribe the interview for you.

4. Analyze the data (without drowning in it)

The following techniques will help you wrap your head around the market data you collect without losing yourself in it. Remember, the point of lean market research is to find quick, actionable insights.

A flow model is a diagram that tracks the flow of information within a system. By creating a simple visual representation of how users interact with your product and each other, you can better assess their needs.

You’ll notice that admins are at the center of Smallpdf’s flow model, which represents the flow of PDF-related documents throughout a school. This flow model shows the challenges that admins face as they work to satisfy their own internal and external customers.

Affinity diagram

An affinity diagram is a way of sorting large amounts of data into groups to better understand the big picture. For example, if you ask your users about their profession, you’ll notice some general themes start to form, even though the individual responses differ. Depending on your needs, you could group them by profession, or more generally by industry.

We wrote a guide about how to analyze open-ended questions to help you sort through and categorize large volumes of response data. You can also do this by hand by clipping up survey responses or interview notes and grouping them (which is what Kristina does).

“For an interview, you will have somewhere between 30 and 60 notes, and those notes are usually direct phrases. And when you literally cut them up into separate pieces of paper and group them, they should make sense by themselves.”

Pro tip: if you’re conducting an online survey with Hotjar, keep your team in the loop by sharing survey responses automatically via our Slack and Microsoft Team integrations. Reading answers as they come in lets you digest the data in pieces and can help prepare you for identifying common themes when it comes time for analysis.

Hotjar lets you easily share survey responses with your team

Customer journey map

A customer journey map is a diagram that shows the way a typical prospect becomes a paying customer. It outlines their first interaction with your brand and every step in the sales cycle, from awareness to repurchase (and hopefully advocacy).

The above  customer journey map , created by our team at Hotjar, shows many ways a customer might engage with our tool. Your map will be based on your own data and business model.

📚 Read more: if you’re new to customer journey maps, we wrote this step-by-step guide to creating your first customer journey map in 2 and 1/2 days with free templates you can download and start using immediately.

Next steps: from research to results

So, how do you turn market research insights into tangible business results? Let’s look at the actions Smallpdf took after conducting their lean market research: first they implemented changes, then measured the impact.

Implement changes

Based on what Smallpdf learned about the challenges that one key user segment (admins) face when trying to convert PDFs into Word files, they improved their ‘PDF to Word’ conversion tool.

We won’t go into the details here because it involves a lot of technical jargon, but they made the entire process simpler and more straightforward for users. Plus, they made it so that their system recognized when you drop a PDF file into their ‘Word to PDF’ converter instead of the ‘PDF to Word’ converter, so users wouldn’t have to redo the task when they made that mistake. 

In other words: simple market segmentation for admins showed a business need that had to be accounted for, and customers are happier overall after Smallpdf implemented an informed change to their product.

Measure results

According to the Lean UX model, product and UX changes aren’t retained unless they achieve results.

Smallpdf’s changes produced:

A 75% reduction in error rate for the ‘PDF to Word’ converter

A 1% increase in NPS

Greater confidence in the team’s marketing efforts

"With all the changes said and done, we've cut our original error rate in four, which is huge. We increased our NPS by +1%, which isn't huge, but it means that of the users who received a file, they were still slightly happier than before, even if they didn't notice that anything special happened at all.”

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Market research (or marketing research) is any set of techniques used to gather information and better understand a company’s target market. This might include primary research on brand awareness and customer satisfaction or secondary market research on market size and competitive analysis. Businesses use this information to design better products, improve user experience, and craft a marketing strategy that attracts quality leads and improves conversion rates.

David Darmanin, one of Hotjar’s founders, launched two startups before Hotjar took off—but both companies crashed and burned. Each time, he and his team spent months trying to design an amazing new product and user experience, but they failed because they didn’t have a clear understanding of what the market demanded.

With Hotjar, they did things differently . Long story short, they conducted market research in the early stages to figure out what consumers really wanted, and the team made (and continues to make) constant improvements based on market and user research.

Without market research, it’s impossible to understand your users. Sure, you might have a general idea of who they are and what they need, but you have to dig deep if you want to win their loyalty.

Here’s why research matters:

Obsessing over your users is the only way to win. If you don’t care deeply about them, you’ll lose potential customers to someone who does.

Analytics gives you the ‘what’, while research gives you the ‘why’. Big data, user analytics , and dashboards can tell you what people do at scale, but only research can tell you what they’re thinking and why they do what they do. For example, analytics can tell you that customers leave when they reach your pricing page, but only research can explain why.

Research beats assumptions, trends, and so-called best practices. Have you ever watched your colleagues rally behind a terrible decision? Bad ideas are often the result of guesswork, emotional reasoning, death by best practices , and defaulting to the Highest Paid Person’s Opinion (HiPPO). By listening to your users and focusing on their customer experience , you’re less likely to get pulled in the wrong direction.

Research keeps you from planning in a vacuum. Your team might be amazing, but you and your colleagues simply can’t experience your product the way your customers do. Customers might use your product in a way that surprises you, and product features that seem obvious to you might confuse them. Over-planning and refusing to test your assumptions is a waste of time, money, and effort because you’ll likely need to make changes once your untested business plan gets put into practice.

Lean User Experience (UX) design is a model for continuous improvement that relies on quick, efficient research to understand customer needs and test new product features.

Lean market research can help you become more...

Efficient: it gets you closer to your customers, faster.

Cost-effective: no need to hire an expensive marketing firm to get things started.

Competitive: quick, powerful insights can place your products on the cutting edge.

As a small business or sole proprietor, conducting lean market research is an attractive option when investing in a full-blown research project might seem out of scope or budget.

There are lots of different ways you could conduct market research and collect customer data, but you don’t have to limit yourself to just one research method. Four common types of market research techniques include surveys, interviews, focus groups, and customer observation.

Which method you use may vary based on your business type: ecommerce business owners have different goals from SaaS businesses, so it’s typically prudent to mix and match these methods based on your particular goals and what you need to know.

1. Surveys: the most commonly used

Surveys are a form of qualitative research that ask respondents a short series of open- or closed-ended questions, which can be delivered as an on-screen questionnaire or via email. When we asked 2,000 Customer Experience (CX) professionals about their company’s approach to research , surveys proved to be the most commonly used market research technique.

What makes online surveys so popular?  

They’re easy and inexpensive to conduct, and you can do a lot of data collection quickly. Plus, the data is pretty straightforward to analyze, even when you have to analyze open-ended questions whose answers might initially appear difficult to categorize.

We've built a number of survey templates ready and waiting for you. Grab a template and share with your customers in just a few clicks.

💡 Pro tip: you can also get started with Hotjar AI for Surveys to create a survey in mere seconds . Just enter your market research goal and watch as the AI generates a survey and populates it with relevant questions. 

Once you’re ready for data analysis, the AI will prepare an automated research report that succinctly summarizes key findings, quotes, and suggested next steps.

An example research report generated by Hotjar AI for Surveys

2. Interviews: the most insightful

Interviews are one-on-one conversations with members of your target market. Nothing beats a face-to-face interview for diving deep (and reading non-verbal cues), but if an in-person meeting isn’t possible, video conferencing is a solid second choice.

Regardless of how you conduct it, any type of in-depth interview will produce big benefits in understanding your target customers.

What makes interviews so insightful?

By speaking directly with an ideal customer, you’ll gain greater empathy for their experience , and you can follow insightful threads that can produce plenty of 'Aha!' moments.

3. Focus groups: the most unreliable

Focus groups bring together a carefully selected group of people who fit a company’s target market. A trained moderator leads a conversation surrounding the product, user experience, or marketing message to gain deeper insights.

What makes focus groups so unreliable?

If you’re new to market research, we wouldn’t recommend starting with focus groups. Doing it right is expensive , and if you cut corners, your research could fall victim to all kinds of errors. Dominance bias (when a forceful participant influences the group) and moderator style bias (when different moderator personalities bring about different results in the same study) are two of the many ways your focus group data could get skewed.

4. Observation: the most powerful

During a customer observation session, someone from the company takes notes while they watch an ideal user engage with their product (or a similar product from a competitor).

What makes observation so clever and powerful?

‘Fly-on-the-wall’ observation is a great alternative to focus groups. It’s not only less expensive, but you’ll see people interact with your product in a natural setting without influencing each other. The only downside is that you can’t get inside their heads, so observation still isn't a recommended replacement for customer surveys and interviews.

The following questions will help you get to know your users on a deeper level when you interview them. They’re general questions, of course, so don’t be afraid to make them your own.

1. Who are you and what do you do?

How you ask this question, and what you want to know, will vary depending on your business model (e.g. business-to-business marketing is usually more focused on someone’s profession than business-to-consumer marketing).

It’s a great question to start with, and it’ll help you understand what’s relevant about your user demographics (age, race, gender, profession, education, etc.), but it’s not the be-all-end-all of market research. The more specific questions come later.

2. What does your day look like?

This question helps you understand your users’ day-to-day life and the challenges they face. It will help you gain empathy for them, and you may stumble across something relevant to their buying habits.

3. Do you ever purchase [product/service type]?

This is a ‘yes or no’ question. A ‘yes’ will lead you to the next question.

4. What problem were you trying to solve or what goal were you trying to achieve?

This question strikes to the core of what someone’s trying to accomplish and why they might be willing to pay for your solution.

5. Take me back to the day when you first decided you needed to solve this kind of problem or achieve this goal.

This is the golden question, and it comes from Adele Revella, Founder and CEO of Buyer Persona Institute . It helps you get in the heads of your users and figure out what they were thinking the day they decided to spend money to solve a problem.

If you take your time with this question, digging deeper where it makes sense, you should be able to answer all the relevant information you need to understand their perspective.

“The only scripted question I want you to ask them is this one: take me back to the day when you first decided that you needed to solve this kind of problem or achieve this kind of a goal. Not to buy my product, that’s not the day. We want to go back to the day that when you thought it was urgent and compelling to go spend money to solve a particular problem or achieve a goal. Just tell me what happened.”

— Adele Revella , Founder/CEO at Buyer Persona Institute

Bonus question: is there anything else you’d like to tell me?

This question isn’t just a nice way to wrap it up—it might just give participants the opportunity they need to tell you something you really need to know.

That’s why Sarah Doody, author of UX Notebook , adds it to the end of her written surveys.

“I always have a last question, which is just open-ended: “Is there anything else you would like to tell me?” And sometimes, that’s where you get four paragraphs of amazing content that you would never have gotten if it was just a Net Promoter Score [survey] or something like that.”

What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative research?

Qualitative research asks questions that can’t be reduced to a number, such as, “What is your job title?” or “What did you like most about your customer service experience?” 

Quantitative research asks questions that can be answered with a numeric value, such as, “What is your annual salary?” or “How was your customer service experience on a scale of 1-5?”

 → Read more about the differences between qualitative and quantitative user research .

How do I do my own market research?

You can do your own quick and effective market research by 

Surveying your customers

Building user personas

Studying your users through interviews and observation

Wrapping your head around your data with tools like flow models, affinity diagrams, and customer journey maps

What is the difference between market research and user research?

Market research takes a broad look at potential customers—what problems they’re trying to solve, their buying experience, and overall demand. User research, on the other hand, is more narrowly focused on the use (and usability ) of specific products.

What are the main criticisms of market research?

Many marketing professionals are critical of market research because it can be expensive and time-consuming. It’s often easier to convince your CEO or CMO to let you do lean market research rather than something more extensive because you can do it yourself. It also gives you quick answers so you can stay ahead of the competition.

Do I need a market research firm to get reliable data?

Absolutely not! In fact, we recommend that you start small and do it yourself in the beginning. By following a lean market research strategy, you can uncover some solid insights about your clients. Then you can make changes, test them out, and see whether the results are positive. This is an excellent strategy for making quick changes and remaining competitive.

Net Promoter, Net Promoter System, Net Promoter Score, NPS, and the NPS-related emoticons are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., Fred Reichheld, and Satmetrix Systems, Inc.

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Market research is a cornerstone of all successful, strategic businesses. It can also be daunting for entrepreneurs looking to launch a startup or start a side hustle . What is market research, anyway? And how do you…do it?

We’ll walk you through absolutely everything you need to know about the market research process so that by the end of this guide, you’ll be an expert in market research too. And what’s more important: you’ll have actionable steps you can take to start collecting your own market research.

What Is Market Research?

Market research is the organized process of gathering information about your target customers and market. Market research can help you better understand customer behavior and competitor strengths and weaknesses, as well as provide insight for the best strategies in launching new businesses and products. There are different ways to approach market research, including primary and secondary research and qualitative and quantitative research. The strongest approaches will include a combination of all four.

“Virtually every business can benefit from conducting some market research,” says Niles Koenigsberg of Real FiG Advertising + Marketing . “Market research can help you piece together your [business’s] strengths and weaknesses, along with your prospective opportunities, so that you can understand where your unique differentiators may lie.” Well-honed market research will help your brand stand out from the competition and help you see what you need to do to lead the market. It can also do so much more.

The Purposes of Market Research

Why do market research? It can help you…

• Pinpoint your target market, create buyer personas, and develop a more holistic understanding of your customer base and market.
• Understand current market conditions to evaluate risks and anticipate how your product or service will perform.
• Validate a concept prior to launch.
• Identify gaps in the market that your competitors have created or overlooked.
• Solve problems that have been left unresolved by the existing product/brand offerings.
• Identify opportunities and solutions for new products or services.
• Develop killer marketing strategies .

What Are the Benefits of Market Research?

Strong market research can help your business in many ways. It can…

• Strengthen your market position.
• Help you identify your strengths and weaknesses.
• Help you identify your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses.
• Minimize risk.
• Center your customers’ experience from the get-go.
• Help you create a dynamic strategy based on market conditions and customer needs/demands.

What Are the Basic Methods of Market Research?

The basic methods of market research include surveys, personal interviews, customer observation, and the review of secondary research. In addition to these basic methods, a forward-thinking market research approach incorporates data from the digital landscape like social media analysis, SEO research, gathering feedback via forums, and more. Throughout this guide, we will cover each of the methods commonly used in market research to give you a comprehensive overview.

Primary vs. Secondary Market Research

Primary and secondary are the two main types of market research you can do. The latter relies on research conducted by others. Primary research, on the other hand, refers to the fact-finding efforts you conduct on your own.

This approach is limited, however. It’s likely that the research objectives of these secondary data points differ from your own, and it can be difficult to confirm the veracity of their findings.

Primary Market Research

Primary research is more labor intensive, but it generally yields data that is exponentially more actionable. It can be conducted through interviews, surveys, online research, and your own data collection. Every new business should engage in primary market research prior to launch. It will help you validate that your idea has traction, and it will give you the information you need to help minimize financial risk.

You can hire an agency to conduct this research on your behalf. This brings the benefit of expertise, as you’ll likely work with a market research analyst. The downside is that hiring an agency can be expensive—too expensive for many burgeoning entrepreneurs. That brings us to the second approach. You can also do the market research yourself, which substantially reduces the financial burden of starting a new business .

Secondary Market Research

Secondary research includes resources like government databases and industry-specific data and publications. It can be beneficial to start your market research with secondary sources because it’s widely available and often free-to-access. This information will help you gain a broad overview of the market conditions for your new business.

Identify Your Goals and Your Audience

Before you begin conducting interviews or sending out surveys, you need to set your market research goals. At the end of your market research process, you want to have a clear idea of who your target market is—including demographic information like age, gender, and where they live—but you also want to start with a rough idea of who your audience might be and what you’re trying to achieve with market research.

You can pinpoint your objectives by asking yourself a series of guiding questions:

• What are you hoping to discover through your research?
• Who are you hoping to serve better because of your findings?
• What do you think your market is?
• Who are your competitors?
• Are you testing the reception of a new product category or do you want to see if your product or service solves the problem left by a current gap in the market?
• Are you just…testing the waters to get a sense of how people would react to a new brand?

Once you’ve narrowed down the “what” of your market research goals, you’re ready to move onto how you can best achieve them. Think of it like algebra. Many math problems start with “solve for x.” Once you know what you’re looking for, you can get to work trying to find it. It’s a heck of a lot easier to solve a problem when you know you’re looking for “x” than if you were to say “I’m gonna throw some numbers out there and see if I find a variable.”

How to Do Market Research

This guide outlines every component of a comprehensive market research effort. Take into consideration the goals you have established for your market research, as they will influence which of these elements you’ll want to include in your market research strategy.

Secondary Data

Secondary data allows you to utilize pre-existing data to garner a sense of market conditions and opportunities. You can rely on published market studies, white papers, and public competitive information to start your market research journey.

Secondary data, while useful, is limited and cannot substitute your own primary data. It’s best used for quantitative data that can provide background to your more specific inquiries.

Find Your Customers Online

Once you’ve identified your target market, you can use online gathering spaces and forums to gain insights and give yourself a competitive advantage. Rebecca McCusker of The Creative Content Shop recommends internet recon as a vital tool for gaining a sense of customer needs and sentiment. “Read their posts and comments on forums, YouTube video comments, Facebook group [comments], and even Amazon/Goodreads book comments to get in their heads and see what people are saying.”

If you’re interested in engaging with your target demographic online, there are some general rules you should follow. First, secure the consent of any group moderators to ensure that you are acting within the group guidelines. Failure to do so could result in your eviction from the group.

Not all comments have the same research value. “Focus on the comments and posts with the most comments and highest engagement,” says McCusker. These high-engagement posts can give you a sense of what is already connecting and gaining traction within the group.

Social media can also be a great avenue for finding interview subjects. “LinkedIn is very useful if your [target customer] has a very specific job or works in a very specific industry or sector. It’s amazing the amount of people that will be willing to help,” explains Miguel González, a marketing executive at Dealers League . “My advice here is BE BRAVE, go to LinkedIn, or even to people you know and ask them, do quick interviews and ask real people that belong to that market and segment and get your buyer persona information first hand.”

Market research interviews can provide direct feedback on your brand, product, or service and give you a better understanding of consumer pain points and interests.

When organizing your market research interviews, you want to pay special attention to the sample group you’re selecting, as it will directly impact the information you receive. According to Tanya Zhang, the co-founder of Nimble Made , you want to first determine whether you want to choose a representative sample—for example, interviewing people who match each of the buyer persona/customer profiles you’ve developed—or a random sample.

“A sampling of your usual persona styles, for example, can validate details that you’ve already established about your product, while a random sampling may [help you] discover a new way people may use your product,” Zhang says.

Market Surveys

Market surveys solicit customer inclinations regarding your potential product or service through a series of open-ended questions. This direct outreach to your target audience can provide information on your customers’ preferences, attitudes, buying potential, and more.

Every expert we asked voiced unanimous support for market surveys as a powerful tool for market research. With the advent of various survey tools with accessible pricing—or free use—it’s never been easier to assemble, disseminate, and gather market surveys. While it should also be noted that surveys shouldn’t replace customer interviews , they can be used to supplement customer interviews to give you feedback from a broader audience.

Who to Include in Market Surveys

• Current customers
• Past customers
• Your existing audience (such as social media/newsletter audiences)

Example Questions to Include in Market Surveys

While the exact questions will vary for each business, here are some common, helpful questions that you may want to consider for your market survey. Demographic Questions: the questions that help you understand, demographically, who your target customers are:

• “What is your age?”
• “Where do you live?”
• “What is your gender identity?”
• “What is your household income?”
• “What is your household size?”
• “What do you do for a living?”
• “What is your highest level of education?”

Product-Based Questions: Whether you’re seeking feedback for an existing brand or an entirely new one, these questions will help you get a sense of how people feel about your business, product, or service:

• “How well does/would our product/service meet your needs?”
• “How does our product/service compare to similar products/services that you use?”
• “How long have you been a customer?” or “What is the likelihood that you would be a customer of our brand?

Personal/Informative Questions: the deeper questions that help you understand how your audience thinks and what they care about.

• “What are your biggest challenges?”
• “What’s most important to you?”
• “What do you do for fun (hobbies, interests, activities)?”
• “Where do you seek new information when researching a new product?”
• “How do you like to make purchases?”
• “What is your preferred method for interacting with a brand?”

Survey Tools

Online survey tools make it easy to distribute surveys and collect responses. The best part is that there are many free tools available. If you’re making your own online survey, you may want to consider SurveyMonkey, Typeform, Google Forms, or Zoho Survey.

Competitive Analysis

A competitive analysis is a breakdown of how your business stacks up against the competition. There are many different ways to conduct this analysis. One of the most popular methods is a SWOT analysis, which stands for “strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.” This type of analysis is helpful because it gives you a more robust understanding of why a customer might choose a competitor over your business. Seeing how you stack up against the competition can give you the direction you need to carve out your place as a market leader.

Social Media Analysis

Social media has fundamentally changed the market research landscape, making it easier than ever to engage with a wide swath of consumers. Follow your current or potential competitors on social media to see what they’re posting and how their audience is engaging with it. Social media can also give you a lower cost opportunity for testing different messaging and brand positioning.

SEO Analysis and Opportunities

SEO analysis can help you identify the digital competition for getting the word out about your brand, product, or service. You won’t want to overlook this valuable information. Search listening tools offer a novel approach to understanding the market and generating the content strategy that will drive business. Tools like Google Trends and Awario can streamline this process.

Ready to Kick Your Business Into High Gear?

Now that you’ve completed the guide to market research you know you’re ready to put on your researcher hat to give your business the best start. Still not sure how actually… launch the thing? Our free mini-course can run you through the essentials for starting your side hustle .

About Mary Kate Miller

Mary Kate Miller writes about small business, real estate, and finance. In addition to writing for Foundr, her work has been published by The Washington Post, Teen Vogue, Bustle, and more. She lives in Chicago.

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Essentials of Marketing Research Putting Research Into Practice

• Kenneth E. Clow - University of Louisiana at Monroe
• Karen E. James - Louisiana State University, Shreveport
• Description

This exciting new text offers a hands-on, applied approach to developing the fundamental data analysis skills necessary for making better management decisions using marketing research results. Each chapter opens by describing an actual research study related to the chapter content, with rich examples of contemporary research practices skillfully drawn from interviews with marketing research professionals and published practitioner studies. Clow and James explore the latest research techniques, including social media and other online methodologies, and they examine current statistical methods of analyzing data. With emphasis on how to interpret marketing research results and how to use those findings to make effective management decisions, the authors offer a unique learning-by-doing approach to understanding data analysis, interpreting data, and applying results to decision-making.  

Covering key statistical concepts, the book includes exercises especially designed to teach students how to interpret and apply marketing research results. To make teaching and learning easier, numerous data sets and case studies are offered through the online resources for instructors and students, which also offer step-by-step SPSS instructions. In addition, the easy-to-follow composition of the text and its accompanying learning aids make it an excellent choice for online courses as well as those taught face-to-face.

Plus a blog with additional material to help you succeed in the classroom!-   http://blogclowjames.net/

See what’s new to this edition by selecting the Features tab on this page. Should you need additional information or have questions regarding the HEOA information provided for this title, including what is new to this edition, please email [email protected] . Please include your name, contact information, and the name of the title for which you would like more information. For information on the HEOA, please go to http://ed.gov/policy/highered/leg/hea08/index.html .

For assistance with your order: Please email us at [email protected] or connect with your SAGE representative.

SAGE 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, CA 91320 www.sagepub.com

Supplements

“Strengths: well written, comprehensive, easy to read, covers all the major topics. I like it as is!”

“The book definitely meets my teaching style and needs. I really do think the book will complement what I and other applied marketing researchers are trying to accomplish.”

Did not receive timely response to inquiry.

Very practicle book and easy to understand. I found new and interesting approaches to market research.

I believe this is a very good textbook and I strongly recommend it to the module leaders of Research methods for adoption.

Good book, easy to follow, will be recommending this book as additional reading.

• Recent real life marketing research examples offer a better understanding of how research results guide decision making.
• An emphasis on current and traditional research practices demonstrate the ways practitioners use research techniques to analyze, interpret, and report results.
• A Dealing with Data section , supplemented with step-by-step instructions for running analyses in SPSS on the Web, gives readers practice in interpreting and applying results to marketing decisions, while a Stat Review section helps readers make the connection between statistical theory and the practical uses of statistics.
• The “Lakeside Grill” comprehensive case gives readers an extended example of research implementation, including the potential trade-offs, difficulties, and flaws that can occur during the research process.
• A Research Portfolio section provides readers with challenging opportunities to apply chapter knowledge, honing both critical thinking and secondary research skills.
• numerous data sets, one of which features the “Lakeside Grill” continuing case.
• step-by-step SPSS instructions and other helpful resources
• test bank, PowerPoint slides, video links, and more!

Sample Materials & Chapters

Table of Contents

Chapters 1 & 2

For instructors

Select a purchasing option.

This title is also available on SAGE Research Methods , the ultimate digital methods library. If your library doesn’t have access, ask your librarian to start a trial .

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Home Market Research

Marketing research: Definition, steps, uses & advantages

What is marketing research?

Marketing research is defined as any technique or a set of practices that companies use to collect information to understand their target market better. Organizations use this data to improve their products, enhance their UX, and offer a better product to their customers. Marketing research is used to determine what the customers want, and how they react to products or features of a product.

Gather research insights

Four standard marketing research methods

The four most common marketing research methods are surveys, interviews, customer observations, and focus groups. You can research various ways without limiting yourself to just one way. Let’s dive deeper into each of these marketing research techniques.

Researchers collect responses by deploying surveys and managing data via online questionnaires or on-screen surveys at the POS. These surveys contain closed-ended and open-ended questions. They are popular and are the most widely used research techniques.

Why are online surveys popular?

Surveys are inexpensive, simple to set-up, deploy, and gather responses. It gets easy to collect multiple answers from a tailored audience group using surveys. Researchers rely on quantitative data, and online surveys provide quick responses compared to the more traditional offline methods. You can collect large amounts of data within minutes from anywhere in the world.

2. Interviews

Face-to-face or personal interviews are a more traditional way of doing marketing research. It is a slow and more expensive way of collecting responses. Researchers doing large scale marketing research do not prefer this method to collect a large number of responses. Interviews are conducted both in-person and on the telephone (CATI). 

Why are interviews important?

Personal interviews may not be widely used but play a significant role in understanding precisely what the respondent feels. You can record more than just verbal responses and understand the customer better. Often, when two humans interact with each other, more information is shared because of the dialogue. Personal interviews are useful in small-scale studies, where the researcher wants to interview a specific group of local respondents. CATI’s are helpful when the respondent base is more expansive.

3. Focus groups

Focus groups or online focus groups involve several respondents who participate in discussions about a particular topic. A researcher conducts focus groups to obtain richer information. The main reason for a focus group is to hold a dialogue between various people on a particular topic of interest. Unlike interviews, focus group members are allowed to interact with each other and influence one another.

Why are focus groups impactful?

It is no secret that focus groups are hugely impactful in decision making. Researchers gain a lot of information by organizing focus groups. Often, focus groups bring up issues not foreseen by researchers. Online or video focus groups have a broad reach, and many organizations have now started creating and nurturing research communities for better respondent handling and data gathering. Direct interaction of business groups and customers positively impacts users because they feel that their voices are heard.

4. Observation

Observation, though not popular and widely used, gives intuitive feedback. Research companies organize customer observation sessions to gather information on how they engage with the product or service (or a similar competitor product or service). Feedback from people’s behavioral attitudes is a powerful tool for researchers looking to improve their products and services.

What makes observation so powerful?

Observational market research is an excellent alternative to focus groups. It’s not only an inexpensive research tool, but you will also witness people interacting with and using your product in a natural environment. The downside is that you will have to make inferences about their feelings and reactions.

LEARN ABOUT: market research trends

How to conduct marketing research

Follow these four marketing research steps to help you understand what your users think and feel about your product, service, or business.

LEARN ABOUT: Behavioral Research

1. Create simple user personas

A user persona is nothing more than a fictional character that represents a user or a customer. Understanding user personas will help you gauge how different persons react to other products and services to understand their needs. To create a persona, your questions must answer these types questions about the user or customer:

• Who are they?
• What’s their primary goal?
• What stops them from achieving that goal?

2. Conduct observational research

Use both overt and covert observation methods to observe and take notes while users use your products or a similar one.

Overt vs. covert observation

• Overt observation asks users if they will allow you to watch them use your product. 
• Covert observation studies users in a natural environment without them knowing. This type of observation generally works only if you sell a product that consumers buy and use regularly. It brings in the purest observational research data as people act naturally while using the products. 

3. Conduct personal interviews

One-on-one conversations with your target population allow you to explore and dig deep into their concerns, revealing answers to many questions. Here are a few tips for conducting personal interviews.

• Be a journalist and not a salesperson. Ask users about their frustrations, needs, and areas where they think they need an improvement in the product. 
• Pose the ‘why’ question to dig deeper. Dive into the details to know more about their past behavior.
• Recording the conversation helps you focus on it rather than take notes simultaneously.

4. Analyze the data

The idea of conducting lean marketing research is to receive quick, actionable insight data. Analyze the information you have collected using various techniques to draw patterns into what customers like and dislike, what they want, and what they do not need. Create a simple visual representation of how people will interact with each other and the product to assess their needs in a better way.

LEARN ABOUT: Marketing Insight

Why is research so valuable?

Without research, it is impossible to gauge and understand your customers. Of course, you will have an idea of what they need and who they are and, but you must dive deeper to win their loyalty. Here is why marketing research matters:

• Attract potential customers: The primary aim of marketing research is to find ways to attract potential customers. It also helps to keep current happy and coming back for more. Understanding your customers entirely is the only way to progress. You’ll lose potential customers if you stop caring about improving your user experience.
• Answer the why’s: Marketing research gives you the answer to the ‘why.’ Make use of user analytics, big data, and reporting dashboards in marketing research to tell you what your users are thinking and why they think and act that way. For example, only marketing research can explain why customers leave you.
• Data-backed decisions: Research beats trends, assumptions, and so-called best business practices. Bad decisions are often taken due to emotional reasoning and guesswork. Focusing on customer experience by listening to your customers directs you in the right direction.
• Better planning: Research keeps you from making absurd decisions by planning in a vacuum. You might not fully gauge what your customers experience and feel while using your product. Customers may use products in a way that surprises you, and they may get confused by features that seem obvious to you. Conducting too much planning but not testing your assumptions will waste your money, time, efforts, and resources. Research helps you save up on all these factors.

LEARN ABOUT: 12 Best Tools for Researchers

Advantages of MKT research

Marketing research and user experience (UX) design help you continuously improve your product by acting on your feedback. Here are the advantages of conducting marketing research:

• Improved efficiency: Efficiency draws you closer to your users. You can improve the efficiency of delivering the product to the market and also increase its usability.
• Cost-effective: Marketing research helps you make the right decisions based on consumer demand, thus saving you costs in creating something that customers do not like or want.

LEARN ABOUT:  Test Market Demand

• Competitive edge: Quicker, more robust insights can help you place your services and products strategically, gaining a competitive advantage over others.
• Build strategies: You can quickly build, alter, or design new approaches to attract your users and consumers.
• Improved communication: Bridge the communication gap by interacting with consumers and hearing them out. This helps consumers feel wanted and special.
• LEARN ABOUT: Market research vs marketing research

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• BCC Research This link opens in a new window BCC Research provides in-depth market research reports covering technology, science, and healthcare sectors. Reports provide market size forecasts and projections as well as information on major players in the industry. more... less... BCC Research provides in-depth market research reports covering technology, science, and healthcare sectors. Reports provide market size forecasts and projections as well as information on major players in the industry. The analyses of these markets will be especially useful to student and faculty entrepreneurs and researchers in Penn State's tech transfer units. Once the database loads, users should click the "Member Login" button on the main screen and then click "IP Authenticate" in order to access reports.
• eMarketer This link opens in a new window eMarketer provides the most complete view of digital marketing available. Every report openly references studies and interviews that are handpicked from more than 4,000 research sources. Content is provided in the format of analyst reports, charts, articles, interviews/case studies, PowerPoint presentations, comparative estimates, forecasts, webinars and more. High level topics include: Advertising & Marketing, B2B, Consumers & eCommerce, Demographics, Email, Media Usage, Mobile, Search, Social Media and Video. These topics cut across all industries and geographies. more... less... eMarketer research helps marketers answer three essential questions: how consumers spend their time, how consumers spend their money, and what marketers are doing to reach them. By gathering data from thousands of sources and putting it into context, eMarketer provides the world's top brands, agencies and media companies with the most complete view of digital marketing available. Every report openly references studies and interviews that are handpicked from more than 4,000 research sources. Content is provided in the format of analyst reports, charts, articles, interviews/case studies, PowerPoint presentations, comparative estimates, forecasts, webinars and more. High level topics include: Advertising & Marketing, B2B, Consumers & eCommerce, Demographics, Email, Media Usage, Mobile, Search, Social Media and Video. These topics cut across all industries and geographies.
• Mintel This link opens in a new window Mintel Academic provides unique insights into customers, including social, cultural, economic and psychological influences; critical information about market share, market forecasting data and market environment awareness; and important trends relating to companies and brands. These market research reports are built on solid research compiled using sound research and survey methodology. Appendices of data are supplied to support the research and findings reported. more... less... Provides access to two products. Mintel Academic publishes 600 market research reports each year for the U.S. and European consumer markets. Reports analyze market drivers, trends, market forecasts, market segmentations, demographics, and consumer attitudes and purchasing behaviors. The Trends module in Mintel Academic tracks cutting edge trends and shifts in consumer behavior. Mintel Market Sizes provides market size, market share and segmentation data for global consumer packaged goods industries. No walk-ins allowed.
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• Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) This link opens in a new window Look for the following relevant titles and others in the Business section: * Gale Business Insights Handbook of Social Media Marketing * Gale Business Insights Handbook of Global Marketing * Encyclopedia of Major Marketing Strategies more... less... A collection of over 2000 reference resources.
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6.4 Ethical Issues in Marketing Research

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• 1 Describe ethical issues relating to marketing research.
• 2 Discuss ways to avoid unethical research practices.

The Use of Deceptive Practices

In marketing research, there are many potential areas of ethical concern. Each day people share personal information on social media, through company databases, and on mobile devices. So how do companies make sure to remain ethical in decisions when it comes to this vast amount of research data? It is essential that marketers balance the benefits of having access to this data with the privacy of and concern for all people they can impact.

Too many times, we have heard about the lack of ethical decision-making when it comes to marketing research or personal data. Companies are hacked, share or sell personal information, or use promotion disguised as research. Each of these can be considered unethical.

Link to Learning

The insights association.

There is an organization devoted to the support and integrity of quality marketing research. This organization, called The Insights Association (IA) , “protects and creates demand for the evolving insights and analytics industry by promoting the indisputable role of insights in driving business impact.” 21 Having a solid understanding of ethical practices is critical for any marketing professional. Become familiar with terminology, responsibilities, enforcements, and sanctions of the IA’s code of standards and ethics .

First, let’s look at some deceptive practices that might be conducted through research. The first is representing something as research when it is really an attempt to sell a product. This is called sugging. Sugging happens when an individual identifies themselves as a researcher, collects some data, and then uses the data to suggest specific purchases. 22 According to the Insights Association Code of Marketing Research Standards, researchers should always separate selling of products from the research process. 23

Other deceptive research practices include using persuasive language to encourage a participant to select a particular answer, misrepresenting research data subjectively rather than objectively while presenting the results, and padding research data with fabricated answers in order to increase response rate or create a specific outcome.

Invasion of Privacy

Privacy is another concern when it comes to marketing research data. For researchers, privacy is maintaining the data of research participants discretely and holding confidentiality. Many participants are hesitant to give out identifying information for fear that the information will leak, be tied back to them personally, or be used to steal their identity. To help respondents overcome these concerns, researchers can identify the research as being either confidential or anonymous.

Confidential data is when respondents share their identifying information with the researcher, but the researcher does not share it beyond that point. In this situation, the research may need some identifier in order to match up previous information with the new content—for instance, a customer number or membership number. Anonymous data is when a respondent does not provide identifying information at all, so there is no chance of being identified. Researchers should always be careful with personal information, keeping it behind a firewall, behind a password-protected screen, or physically locked away.

Breaches of Confidentiality

One of the most important ethical considerations for marketing researchers is the concept of confidentiality of respondents’ information. In order to have a rich data set of information, very personal information may be gathered. When a researcher uses that information in an unethical manner, it is a breach of confidentiality . Many research studies start with a statement of how the respondent’s information will be used and how the researcher will maintain confidentiality. Companies may sell personal information, share contact information of the respondents, or tie specific answers to a respondent. These are all breaches of the confidentiality that researchers are held accountable for. 24

Although we hear about how companies are utilizing customers’ data unethically, many companies operate in an ethical manner. One example is the search engine DuckDuckGo . The search industry generates millions of pieces of user data daily; most of the providers of searches capitalize on this data by tracking and selling this information. Alternatively, DuckDuckGo has decided NOT to track its users. Instead, it has built its business model on the fact that no user information is stored—ever. Ethically, DuckDuckGo offers users private searches, tracker blocking, and site encryption. In an industry that is continuously collecting and selling personal search information, DuckDuckGo is the exception. There is no concern with being hacked because no data is collected. 25

Companies with a Conscience

The Gallup Organization is a market research firm that specializes in understanding market sentiment (see Figure 6.11 ). Every year among its numerous polls, Gallup completes an assessment of the honesty and ethical approach of different professions. In the 2021 survey, nursing was the top profession regarding these two measures. 26

Gallup’s research led additional findings about the state of ethics for businesses. “Ethical standards need to be at the core of an organization’s purpose, brand and culture.” 27 But what about Gallup’s own ethical standards? Gallup is “a global analytics and advice firm that helps leaders and organizations solve their most pressing problems.” 28 In order to be proficient and well-informed on the variety of topics Gallup investigates, it must hold itself and its employees to a high ethical standard.

Gallup completes multiple polls and research continuously. In order to meet the high standards of its public, Gallup must perform these practices in an ethical manner. Each step of the research process is completed with diligence and intention. For those reasons, Gallup is recognized for its ethically backed data. Gallup is a global leader in market insights and has locations in seven cities within the United States and an additional 27 locations internationally. According to Chuck Hagel, former Secretary of Defense of the United States, “Gallup is truly an island of independence—it possesses a credibility and trust that hardly any institution has. A reputation for impartial, fair, honest and superb work.” 29

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Next-gen B2B sales: How three game changers grabbed the opportunity

Driven by digitalized operating models, B2B sales have seen sweeping changes over the recent period amid rising customer demand for more seamless and transparent services. 1 “ The multiplier effect: How B2B winners grow ,” McKinsey, April 13, 2023. However, many industrial companies are failing to keep pace with their more commercially focused peers and, as a result, are becoming less competitive in terms of performance and customer services.

The most successful B2B players employ five key tactics to sharpen their sales capabilities: omnichannel sales teams; advanced sales technology and automation; data analytics and hyperpersonalization; tailored strategies on third-party marketplaces; and e-commerce excellence across the full marketing and sales funnel. 2 “ The multiplier effect: How B2B winners grow ,” McKinsey, April 13, 2023.

Companies using all of these tactics are twice as likely to see more than 10 percent market share growth than companies focusing on just one. 3 “ The multiplier effect: How B2B winners grow ,” McKinsey, April 13, 2023. However, implementation is not as simple, requiring a strategic vision, a full commitment, and the right capabilities to drive change throughout the organization. Various leading European industrial companies—part of McKinsey’s Industrial Gamechangers on Go-to-Market disruption in Europe—have achieved success by implementing the first three of these five sales tactics.

Omnichannel sales teams

The clearest rationale for accelerating the transition to omnichannel go-to-market is that industry players demand it. In 2017, only about 20 percent of industrial companies said they preferred digital interactions and purchases. 4 Global B2B Pulse Survey, McKinsey, April 30, 2023. Currently, that proportion is around 67 percent. In 2016, B2B companies had an average of five distinct channels; by 2021, that figure had risen to ten (Exhibit 1).

Excelling in omnichannel means enabling customers to move easily between channels without losing context or needing to repeat information. Companies that achieve these service levels report increased customer satisfaction and loyalty, faster growth rates, lower costs, and easier tracking and analysis of customer data. Across most of these metrics, the contrast with analogue approaches is striking. For example, B2B companies that successfully embed omnichannel show EBIT growth of 13.5 percent, compared to the 1.8 percent achieved by less digitally enabled peers. Next to purely digital channels, inside sales and hybrid sales are the most important channels to deliver an omnichannel experience.

Differentiating inside versus hybrid sales

Best-in-class B2B sellers have achieved up to 20 percent revenue gains by redefining go-to-market through inside and hybrid sales. The inside sales model cannot be defined as customer service, nor is it a call center or a sales support role—rather, it is a customer facing, quota bearing, remote sales function. It relies on qualified account managers and leverages data analytics and digital solutions to optimize sales strategy and outreach through a range of channels (Exhibit 2).

The adoption of inside sales is often an advantageous move, especially in terms of productivity. In fact, inside sales reps can typically cover four times the prospects at 50 percent of the cost of a traditional field rep, allowing the team to serve many customers without sacrificing quality of service. 5 McKinsey analysis. Top performing B2B companies are 50 percent more likely to leverage inside sales.

Up to 80 percent of a company’s accounts—often smaller and medium-sized customers, accounting for about half of revenues—can be covered by inside sales teams. 6 Industry expert interviews; McKinsey analysis. The remaining 20 percent often require in-person interactions, triggering the need for hybrid sales. This pertains to highly attractive leads as well.

Hybrid sales is an innovative model combining inside sales with traditional in-person interactions. Some 85 percent of companies expect hybrid sales will be the most common job role within three years. 7 Global B2B Pulse Survey, McKinsey, December 2022. Hybrid is often optimal for bigger accounts, as it is flexible in utilizing a combination of channels, serving customers where they prefer to buy. It is scalable, thanks to the use of remote and online sales, and it is effective because of the multiplier effect of numerous potential interactions. Of companies that grew more than 10 percent in 2022, 57 percent had adopted a hybrid sales model. 8 Global B2B Pulse, April 2023.

How an industrial automation solution player implemented game-changing inside sales

In 2019, amid soaring digital demand, a global leader in industrial digital and automation solutions saw an opportunity to deliver a cutting-edge approach to sales engagement.

As a starting point, the company took time to clearly define the focus and role of the inside sales team, based on product range, customer needs, and touchpoints. For simple products, where limited customer interaction was required, inside sales was the preferred go-to-market model. For more complex products that still did not require many physical touchpoints, the company paired inside sales teams with technical sales people, and the inside sales group supported fields reps. Where product complexity was high and customers preferred many touch points, the inside sales team adopted an orchestration role, bringing technical functions and field sales together (Exhibit 3).

The company laid the foundations in four key areas. First, it took time to sketch out the model, as well as to set targets and ensure the team was on board. As in any change program, there was some early resistance. The antidote was to hire external talent to help shape the program and highlight the benefits. To foster buy-in, the company also spent time creating visualizations. Once the team was up and running, early signs of success created a snowball effect, fostering enthusiasm among both inside sales teams and field reps.

Second, the company adopted a mantra: inside sales should not—and could not—be cost saving from day one. Instead, a significant part of the budget was allocated to build a tech stack and implement the tools to manage client relationships. One of the company’s leaders said, “As inside sales is all about using tech to obtain better outcomes, this was a vital step.”

The third foundational element was talent. The company realized that inside sales is not easy and is not for everyone—so finding the right people was imperative. As a result, it put in place a career development plan and recognized that many inside sales reps would see the job as a stepping stone in their careers. Demonstrating this understanding provided a great source of motivation for employees.

Finally, finding the right mix of incentives was key. The company chose a system based on compensation and KPI leading and lagging indicators. Individual incentives were a function of whether individuals were more involved with closing deals or supporting others, so a mix of KPIs was employed. The result was a more motivated salesforce and productive cooperation across the organization.

Advanced sales technology and automation

Automation is a key area of advanced sales technology, as it is critical to optimizing non-value adding activities that currently account for about two-thirds of sales teams’ time. More than 30 percent of sales tasks and processes are estimated to be partially automatable, from sales planning through lead management, quotation, order management, and post-sales activities. Indeed, automation leaders not only boost revenues and reduce cost to serve—both by as much as 20 percent—but also foster customer and employee satisfaction. (Exhibit 4). Not surprisingly, nine out of ten industrial companies have embarked on go-to-market automation journeys. Still, only a third say the effort has achieved the anticipated impact. 9 McKinsey analysis.

Leading companies have shown that effective automation focuses on four areas:

• Lead management: Advanced analytics helps teams prioritize leads, while AI-powered chatbots contact prospective customers via text or email and schedule follow-up calls at promising times—for example, at the beginning or end of the working day.
• Contract drafting: AI tools automate responses to request for proposal (RFP) inquiries, based on a predefined content set.
• Invoice generation: Companies use robotic process automation to process and generate invoices, as well as update databases.
• Sales commission planning: Machine learning algorithms provide structural support, for example, to optimize sales commission forecasting, leading up to a 50 percent decline in time spent on compensation planning.

How GEA seized the automation opportunity

GEA is one of the world’s most advanced suppliers of processing machinery for food, beverages, and pharmaceuticals. To provide customers with tailored quotes and services, the company launched a dedicated configure, price, quote (CPQ) system. The aim of the system was to enable automated quote creation that would free up frontline sales teams to operate independently from their back office colleagues. This, in turn, would boost customer interaction and take customer care to the next level.

The work began with a bottom-up review of the company’s configuration protocols, ensuring there was sufficient standardization for the new system to operate effectively. GEA also needed to ensure price consistency—especially important during the recent supply chain volatility. For quotations, the right template with the correct conditions and legal terms needed to be created, a change that eventually allowed the company to cut its quotation times by about 50 percent, as well as boost cross-selling activities.

The company combined the tools with a guided selling approach, in which sales teams focused on the customers’ goals. The teams then leveraged the tools to find the most appropriate product and pricing, leading to a quote that could be enhanced with add-ons, such as service agreements or digital offerings. Once the quote was sent and agreed upon, the data automatically would be transferred from customer relationship management to enterprise resource planning to create the order. In this way, duplication was completely eliminated. The company found that the sales teams welcomed the new approach, as it reduced the time to quote (Exhibit 5).

Data analytics and hyperpersonalization

Data are vital enablers of any go-to-market transformation, informing KPIs and decision making across operations and the customer journey. Key application areas include:

• lead acquisition, including identification and prioritization
• share of wallet development, including upselling and cross-selling, assortment optimization, and microsegmentation
• pricing optimization, including market driven and tailored pricing, deal scoring, and contract optimization
• churn prediction and prevention
• sales effectiveness, so that sales rep time allocations (both in-person and virtual) are optimized, while training time is reduced

How Hilti uses machine data to drive sales

Hilti is a globally leading provider of power tools, services, and software to the construction industry. The company wanted to understand its customers better and forge closer relationships with them. Its Nuron battery platform, which harvests usage data from tools to transform the customer experience and create customer-specific insights, provided the solution.

One in three of Hilti’s frontline staff is in daily contact with the company’s customers, offering advice and support to ensure the best and most efficient use of equipment. The company broke new ground with its intelligent battery charging platform. As tool batteries are recharged, they transfer data to the platform and then to the Hilti cloud, where the data are analyzed to produce actionable insights on usage, pricing, add-ons, consumables, and maintenance. The system will be able to analyze at least 58 million data points every day.

Armed with this type of data, Hilti provides customers with advanced services, offering unique insights so that companies can optimize their tool parks, ensuring that the best tools are available and redundant tools are returned. In the meantime, sales teams use the same information to create deep insights—for example, suggesting that companies rent rather than buy tools, change the composition of tool parks, or upgrade.

To achieve its analytics-based approach, Hilti went on a multiyear journey, moving from unstructured analysis to a fully digitized approach. Still, one of the biggest learnings from its experience was that analytics tools are most effective when backed by human interactions on job sites. The last mile, comprising customer behavior, cannot be second guessed (Exhibit 6).

In the background, the company worked hard to put the right foundations in place. That meant cleaning its data (for example, at the start there were 370 different ways of measuring “run time”) and ensuring that measures were standardized. It developed the ability to understand which use cases were most important to customers, realizing that it was better to focus on a few impactful ones and thus create a convincing offering that was simple to use and effective.

A key element of the rollout was to ensure that employees received sufficient training— which often meant weeks of engagement, rather than just a few hours. The work paid off, with account managers now routinely supported by insights that enrich their interactions with customers. Again, optimization was key, ensuring the information they had at their fingertips was truly useful.

Levers for a successful transformation

The three company examples highlighted here illustrate how embracing omnichannel, sales technology, and data analytics create market leading B2B sales operations. However, the success of any initiative will be contingent on managing change. Our experience in working with leading industrial companies shows that the most successful digital sales and analytics transformations are built on three elements:

• Strategy: As a first step, companies develop strategies starting from deep customer insights. With these, they can better understand their customers’ problems and identify what customers truly value. Advanced analytics can support the process, informing insights around factors such as propensity to buy and churn. These can enrich the company’s understanding of how it wants its go-to-market model to evolve.
• Tailored solutions: Customers appreciate offerings tailored to their needs. 10 “ The multiplier effect: How B2B winners grow ,” McKinsey, April 13, 2023. This starts with offerings and services, extends to pricing structures and schemes, and ways of serving and servicing. For example, dynamic pricing engines that model willingness to pay (by segment, type of deal, and route to market) may better meet the exact customer demand, while serving a customer completely remotely might better suit their interaction needs, and not contacting them too frequently might prevent churn more than frequent outreaches. Analytics on data gained across all channels serves to uncover these needs and become hyperpersonalized.
• Single source of truth: Best-in-class data and analytics capabilities leverage a variety of internal and external data types and sources (transaction data, customer data, product data, and external data) and technical approaches. To ensure a consistent output, companies can establish a central data repository as a “single source of truth.” This can facilitate easy access to multiple users and systems, thereby boosting efficiency and collaboration. A central repository also supports easier backup, as well as data management and maintenance. The chances of data errors are reduced and security is tightened.

Many companies think they need perfect data to get started. However, to make productive progress, a use case based approach is needed. That means selecting the most promising use cases and then scaling data across those cases through speedy testing.

And with talent, leading companies start with small but highly skilled analytics teams, rather than amassing talent too early—this can allow them to create an agile culture of continual improvement and cost efficiency.

As shown by the three companies discussed in this article, most successful B2B players employ various strategies to sharpen their sales capabilities, including omnichannel sales teams; advanced sales technology and automation; and data analytics and hyperpersonalization. A strategic vision, a full commitment, and the right capabilities can help B2B companies deploy these strategies successfully.

Paolo Cencioni is a consultant in McKinsey’s Brussels office, where Jacopo Gibertini is also a consultant; David Sprengel is a partner in the Munich office; and Martina Yanni is an associate partner in the Frankfurt office.

The authors wish to thank Christopher Beisecker, Kate Piwonski, Alexander Schult, Lucas Willcke, and the B2B Pulse team for their contributions to this article.

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A Research-Proven Way to Build a Bigger Social Audience: Target Followers of Followers

Jacob Goldenberg, Andreas Lanz, Daniel Shapira and Florian Stahl

“The best way to gain meaningful followers is to be one yourself.”

SoundCloud explicitly mentions this approach in its help center for content creators. Like Soundcloud, user-generated content platforms such as Instagram, LinkedIn, and X (formerly Twitter) understand not only that individuals and firms seek to build and expand their follower base to increase the reach of the content they upload, but also that they apply the follow-for-follow approach for this purpose.

Existing research has largely focused on the follower base of influencers (e.g., low vs. high status). However, there has been scant attention paid to the follower base of the individual or firm (i.e., of the content creators). This is a missed opportunity due to the tendency of the follow-for-follow approach to attract somewhat remote followers who do not necessarily fit in well with the creator’s follower base.

In a new Journal of Marketing study , we consider the case of unpaid endorsements, also known as the follow-for-follow approach, which is a popular way of building a follower base. “When you follow a user on Instagram, there’s a good chance they will check out your feed and consider following you back,” writer Christina Newberry wrote on Hootsuite , a major platform management tool. 

Along these lines, our study proposes leveraging first-degree followers as interconnectors to target second-degree followers––that is, the nearby (low-status) influencers (who are interconnected with the focal content creator)––and provides both empirical and experimental evidence for why this could work.

In our study, we explore how such a creator may capitalize on natural network formation in the immediate vicinity to support seeding efforts. We maintain that the creator’s own follower base is an overlooked area in the network for finding surprisingly valuable influencers.

The Importance of Triadic Closure

One of the fundamental processes of natural network formation is triadic closure: the tendency to become friends with those with whom one has mutual friends. Our study investigates how unknown, emerging content creators can accelerate this process.

Consider a focal creator A as well as users B and C. Since C follows B, and B follows the focal creator A, the first-degree follower B is an “interconnector” between A (the creator) and the second-degree follower C (the influencer). Now, if A targets C with an outbound activity (e.g., a follow, comment, like, or private message) and C subsequently follows A back, it results in triadic closure––which was accelerated due to the outbound activity.

Along these lines, given an outbound activity from an unknown content creator A, the a priori probability that a nearby influencer C (who is interconnected with A through B) will follow back A should be substantially higher compared to the chance of a remote influencer (who is not interconnected with A) following A.

Using secondary data from a worldwide leading audio platform, we study unknown creators who seek to increase the reach of the content they upload—songs and podcasts—by expanding their follower base through directing outbound activities such as follows, comments, likes, or private messages to other users of the platform.

Our results show that leveraging interconnectors to close triangles is more effective. We find that the a priori follow-back probability of nearby low-status influencers—the ones who are second-degree followers—more than doubles, from 6.68% to 14.37%. Additionally, we find that exclusively targeting nearby low-status influencers outperforms targeting remote (and nearby) high-status influencers—which is the traditional influencer marketing approach—by 2,300% within two years.

For the worldwide leading audio platform that is the focus of our study, our results show that likes and follows are the most effective outbound activities to trigger follow-backs; that is, the mere presence of an interconnector is most effective if the outbound activity type is either a like or a follow. The most straightforward way to build a follower base by leveraging interconnectors is to follow second-degree followers.

Lessons for Chief Marketing Officers

The way networks are naturally built—via the closing of triangles—is most effective for influencer marketing. Firms can keep in mind the following lessons when formulating their social media strategy: 

• To build and expand the follower base, firms may be better off targeting followers of followers, or nearby influencers, rather than cherry-picking remote influencers––most probably also in paid endorsements (when paying influencers to endorse the firm). This means that nearby nano influencers are most effective.
• Firms that are using work-related platforms such as LinkedIn as a means for new customer acquisition may benefit from leveraging interconnectors for access to companies that they want to sell their services to. This means that promising sales leads in such companies should be interconnected with the firm, or followers of followers.

Read the Full Study for Complete Details

From: Jacob Goldenberg, Andreas Lanz, Daniel Shapira, and Florian Stahl, “ Targeting Nearby Influencers: The Acceleration of Natural Triadic Closure by Leveraging Interconnectors ,” Journal of Marketing .

Go to the  Journal of Marketing

Influencer Marketing ROI: Research Shows Influencers with Smaller Followings Are More Cost-Effective

Striking the Right Balance Between Big and Small Influencers in Livestream Commerce

AMAZING, INCREDIBLE, SUPERB: How Influencers’ High-Arousal Language Can Boost—Or Hurt—Engagement

Jacob Goldenberg is Full Professor of Marketing, Reichman University, Israel, and Visiting Professor, Columbia University, USA.

Andreas Lanz is Assistant Professor of Digital Marketing Analytics, University of Basel, Switzerland.

Daniel Shapira is Senior Lecturer, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, and Permanent Adjunct Research Faculty, University of Mannheim, Germany.

Florian Stahl is Chair of Quantitative Marketing and Consumer Analytics, University of Mannheim, Germany.

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TikTok Shop joins the social commerce boom but Meta is still on top

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The merging of shopping and social media is more than a trend; it’s a response to evolving consumer behavior. Social commerce is fueled by the significant amount of time that consumers spend on social media —US adults will spend 11.4% of their total daily media time and 17.9% of their digital media time with social platforms in 2024, per EMARKETER’s June 2023 forecast. 

With social commerce, every interaction on social platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram is a revenue-driving opportunity without the friction of leaving that digital environment. 

In this guide, we’ll explore the state of social commerce , examining the most popular platforms so retailers and advertisers can make the most of this dynamic digital shopping journey.

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Overview of social commerce

Social commerce fuses social media with ecommerce, allowing purchases to be made directly within a social platform. Social commerce enables consumers to not only discover products and engage with a brand’s greater community, but also to shop from brands without switching platforms and disrupting the customer experience. 

For marketers, the ability to advertise and sell in the same space streamlines the buying journey and gives them access to a host of benefits, including direct access to customers, more transparent return on ad spend, and new opportunities to take advantage of peer recommendations and the creator economy .

Social commerce thrives on inspiration, trends, and generating demand for products users may not have considered. Unlike ecommerce, where people often shop with specific products in mind, social commerce excels in promoting discretionary items like fashion and beauty products.

Who engages in social commerce?

Although early social commerce adopters have included younger generations who are more comfortable with navigating digital spaces, older generations are also embracing it as social media platforms become more user-friendly. 

• Nearly a quarter (23.1%) of US social buyers are between the ages of 25 and 34, per a September 2023 EMARKETER forecast, and more than two-thirds (66.5%) are under 44.
• US digital buyers ages 18 to 34 have made purchases on Instagram (28%), Facebook (26%), and TikTok (22%), per an October 2023 EMARKETER survey conducted by Bizrate Insights. 
• More than half (53%) of US shoppers ages 18 to 29 planned to use TikTok for holiday shopping in 2023, compared with just 36% of adults overall, according to September 2023 ESW data. 

Swayed by endorsements, peer reviews, and social connections, shoppers who follow influencers also make up a large social commerce audience. 

• A third (33%) of Gen Zers have purchased a product from an influencer-founded brand in the last year, per a November 2023 Morning Consult survey. 
• Gen Z is more likely than any other generation to purchase a product after watching a review from an influencer they follow, per November 2022 data from Deloitte. 

Top social commerce platforms

Major social media platforms have evolved, seamlessly integrating commerce into their core experience. These platforms have not only redefined manners of social interaction—they’ve also established themselves as modern digital storefronts. 

Facebook Marketplace

Facebook leads with the largest number of social commerce buyers, expected to reach 64.6 million in 2024, according to a September 2023 EMARKETER forecast. Its massive user base allows brands to reach a diverse, global audience, while extensive storefront features and insights-collecting capabilities add to a competitive ecosystem for online shopping. 

Facebook Marketplace is a dedicated platform for buying and selling secondhand items. Although the platform allows businesses to sell products and place ads, its roots are in local, community-based listings. Marketplace is a major reason why Facebook has such a strong lead in social commerce. In fact, Instagram would take the top spot with the biggest social buyer audience among platforms if Marketplace was excluded from social commerce data, according to third-party research cited in EMARKETER’s Social Commerce Forecast 2023 report. 

Facebook Shops

Unlike the peer-to-peer nature of Facebook Marketplace, Facebook Shops enables businesses to set up digital storefronts, where customers can explore and purchase products without leaving the platform. 

The storefront functionality allows richer product catalogs, visuals, and descriptions. For immersive, customizable experiences, businesses can also showcase featured products, seasonal collections and launches, promotions, and bundles.

Instagram Shopping

In 2024, Instagram will see 46.8 million US social buyers, per EMARKETER’s September 2023 forecast.

At its core is Instagram Shopping, which allows businesses to tag products in their posts and stories. When users click on a tagged item, they can view product details, prices, and a direct link to make a purchase.

Instagram and Facebook parent Meta is mandating all Meta Shops in the US to use Checkout on Facebook and Instagram in 2024. While frustrations have arisen regarding the in-app checkout tool’s effectiveness among both sellers and buyers, Meta is pushing forward as a way to compensate for the losses incurred due to iOS 14.5 changes, which reduced access to tracking data for advertisers and publishers. By making Checkout mandatory, Meta aims to boost adoption, particularly on Instagram, which plays a vital role in social commerce strategies. This move will also limit consumers’ options, as they won’t have the choice to complete their purchases on a retailer’s website.

TikTok Shop

With its Gen Z stronghold, the TikTok user base alone—which passed 100 million in the US in 2023 (102.3 million), according to EMARKETER’s May 2023 forecast—is enough to make it a competitive social commerce platform. We predict TikTok will reach 107.8 million users in 2024. In 2023, 35.3 million of those users were social buyers; during that time, TikTok gained more shoppers (11.6 million) than the net increase of Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest combined (6.4 million), per a September 2023 EMARKETER forecast. We predict TikTok will continue adding social buyers in 2024, reaching 40.7 million. 

However, uncertainty looms over the viability of the platform’s integrated commerce solution, TikTok Shop , given the slow adoption by US merchants, lukewarm reception to live shopping, and a potential nationwide ban.

TikTok Shop enables brands and creators to offer products directly to their viewers. Starting from short videos or livestreams, TikTok Shop aims to own the full buyer journey. A standout feature is the ability for users to consolidate products from various brands into a single cart and finalize their purchase without navigating away from the app.

The shopping service’s US journey seems to have encountered early turbulence:

• TikTok Shop was projected to lose more than $500 million in the US in 2023, per The Information, due to major investments—in its staff, building out a fulfillment network, and seller incentivizations—that hadn’t paid off. 
• In the summer of 2023, US consumers were spending around $3 million to $4 million per day on TikTok. The platform expected that figure to exceed $10 million by the end of 2023.

Social commerce stats and growth 

Continued growth for social shopping is on the horizon, with sales growing well into the double digits through the end of EMARKETER’s forecast period in 2027. Although converting non-buyer social media users into buyers is becoming more challenging, the overall landscape remains robust. One significant trend is the increasing spending per buyer, which is expected to nearly double between 2023 and 2027, per an October 2023 EMARKETER forecast. This is expected to drive most of the sales growth, rather than the acquisition of new buyers.

Consumers aren’t sold yet on social commerce.

• Almost 4 in 10 shoppers hold back from shopping on social media over concerns about how platforms manage personal data, per a May 2023 PYMNTS.com survey.
• Younger consumers don’t want to use a social platform’s in-app checkout tools. In fact, about three-quarters of US social shoppers ages 16 to 24 prefer purchasing through established retailers that handle transactions, shipping, and delivery, per an October 2022 SimplicityDX survey.
• UK shoppers have reported counterfeit goods and poor shipping experiences on TikTok Shop, according to the Financial Times, which could trigger more apprehension in other markets. 

Still, social commerce is on an upward trajectory. 

• US retail social commerce sales will pass the $100 billion milestone in 2025, representing a 22.4% growth from the year prior, per EMARKETER’s September 2023 forecast. 
• In 2024, there will be 110.4 million US social buyers, accounting for 42.0% of all internet users and nearly half (50.3%) of all social media users.  
• US social commerce sales will claim 6.6% of total ecommerce sales in 2024.
• For now, most social commerce transactions take place off platform, by clicking links to retailer product pages. 

The rise in new buyers is only marginally ahead of the growth in the total social media user population, resulting in a relatively consistent percentage of users engaging in purchasing activities, holding steady at around 50% through 2027, per a September 2023 forecast.

Marketing strategies for social commerce 

User-generated content (UGC) and influencer marketing are two effective strategies that brands can harness to connect with consumers authentically.

UGC is generally created by consumers, showcasing their experiences without direct brand involvement, whereas influencer marketing involves brand collaboration and incentives to ensure the content aligns with the correct messaging and goals.  

User-generated content 

UGC is a powerful tool that taps into authenticity and trust. Forty-six percent of US consumers are more likely to trust a brand if an online content creator they trust has reviewed it, according to a November 2022 Deloitte survey. Encouraging users to create and share content featuring their experiences with products or services cultivates a sense of community and credibility. 

Brands can initiate UGC campaigns, prompting customers to share testimonials, unboxing videos, or creative uses of their purchases. By showcasing real-life experiences, UGC bolsters brand authenticity, fosters engagement, and influences potential buyers’ perceptions positively. Additionally, reposting and engaging with UGC amplifies brand reach while nurturing a loyal and involved customer base.

Influencer marketing

From large, well-known influencers with massive followings to micro-influencers with niche communities, choosing the right person to vouch for your brand can bolster your social commerce investments. 

Collaborating with influencers allows brands to tap into their audience and leverage their credibility. Influencers create engaging content, seamlessly integrating product endorsements or reviews into their posts, stories, or videos. These endorsements often resonate deeply with their audience, establishing trust and driving purchasing decisions. 

Social commerce trends in 2024 and beyond 

Tech innovations, immersive experiences, and retailer collaborations will present new opportunities in the social commerce space.

AI integration 

Social platforms are taking advantage of AI to enhance the user experience and streamline product discovery. TikTok’s product identification feature, now in its testing phase, uses AI to suggest similar or relevant items available on its ecommerce marketplace. This new shoppable feature to non-shopping content is TikTok’s attempt at fully embedding commerce into the in-app experience.

In-person events 

Events help bridge the gap between the real world and social media, and can help drive user engagement and sales. The Pinterest Predicts pop-up event held in New York City in December 2023 brought to life its anticipated trends, allowing users to draw inspiration for the year ahead and, more importantly, shop. 

Retailer partnerships 

Retailers are also getting behind social commerce, partnering with streaming platforms to have their products in front of new audiences. Walmart’s holiday-themed romantic comedy “Add to Heart” is its first shoppable video series. Available on Roku, TikTok, and YouTube, the 23-part series integrates 330 shoppable products throughout its plot, creating a new avenue for Walmart to connect with consumers through content. 

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Moscow - Comprehensive Overview of the City, PEST Analysis and Analysis of Key Industries including Technology, Tourism and Hospitality, Construction and Retail

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Moscow - Comprehensive Overview of the City, PEST Analysis and Analysis of Key Industries including Technology, Tourism and Hospitality, Construction and Retail report is published on May 7, 2021 and has 35 pages in it. This market research report provides information about Country PESTEL Analysis, Business & Government industry. It covers Russian Federation market data and forecasts. It is priced starting at USD 250.00 for Single User License (PDF) which allows one person to use this report.

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“City Profile - Moscow” provides historical and forecast data on key city level metrics along with analytical coverage of the latest political, economic, social, technological, infrastructural, legal and environmental issues affecting Moscow.

Moscow is the capital of the country and is the most populous city in Russia. The city has a significant economic and financial influence, accounting for a major of national GDP. Improvements in professional / business services and real estate are expected to be major drivers of growth.

The report contains detailed tourism, retail, construction, technology and public infrastructure data and insight into economic, social, and industry trends.

- The service sector remains the key contributor to the regional economy - and the major employer. - Moscow is a key tourist destination for both domestic and international tourists and witnessed a significant growth over the past two years. Strong performance is observed in the construction sector with increasing employment, number of building permits issued and building completions.

Reasons to Buy

- Gain a comprehensive knowledge of future economic and demographic trends and understand the performance of various sectors within the city. - Analyze and understand the business environment in the city to align your investment and expansion strategies. - The report helps to drive a conclusion in choosing a suitable city to invest or expand according to your business structure. - Explore new opportunities in the hospitality, tourism, construction, real estate and retail sectors.

Table of Contents City Snapshot PEST Analysis Political Economic Social Technology and Infrastructure Communications Internal Transport Networks Connectivity Airports Ports Business Environment Analysis Travel and Tourism Tourism Flows Hotels Attractions Events Construction and Real Estate Investment Real Estate Market Retail Retail Market Consumption, Income and Prices Appendix Sources Further Reading Ask the Analyst About MarketLine Disclaimer

List of Tables List of Tables Table 1: Moscow metropolitan area - key facts (estimates), 2020 Table 2: Moscow metropolitan area - real GDP and real GDP growth, 2000-25 Table 3: Moscow metropolitan area - economic growth comparison (Index 2010=100), 2000-25 Table 4: Moscow metropolitan area - GDP per capita comparison, 2000-25 (US$) Table 5: Moscow metropolitan area - employment structure, 2000-25 (% of total) Table 6: Moscow metropolitan area - main universities, 2020 Table 7: Moscow metropolitan area - population comparison, 2000-25 (million) Table 8: Moscow metropolitan area - population by age, 2000-25 (% of total) Table 9: Moscow city - mass transit network indicators, 2020 Table 10: Moscow metropolitan area - Sheremetyevo Alexander S. Pushkin International Airport, key indicators, 2018-20 Table 11: Moscow metropolitan area - Domodedovo Mikhail Lomonosov International Airport, key indicators, 2019-20 Table 12: Moscow metropolitan area - Vnukovo Andrei Tupolev International Airport, key indicators, 2018-20 Table 13: Moscow metropolitan area - Fortune Global 500 companies, HQ in City, 2020 Table 14: Moscow city - office rents, Q4 2020 Table 15: Moscow city - hotel KPIs, 2018-20 Table 16: Moscow city - UNESCO World Heritage Sites Table 17: Moscow metropolitan area - MICE and other events

List of Figures List of Figures Figure 1: Moscow metropolitan area - real GDP and real GDP growth, 2000-25 Figure 2: Moscow metropolitan area - economic growth comparison (Index 2010=100), 2000-25 Figure 3: Moscow metropolitan area - GDP per capita comparison, 2000-25 Figure 4: Moscow metropolitan area - employment structure, 2000-25 (% of total) Figure 5: Moscow metropolitan area - population comparison, 2000-25 Figure 6: Moscow metropolitan area - population by age, 2000-25 (% of total)

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Study: Operators urged to invest in Cloud, API services

March 26, 2024

A study from Juniper Research, a specialist in telecommunications markets, has predicted operators will find revenue growth through the monetisation of enterprise markets, such as cellular IoT, to capitalise on the $900 billion (€829.2bn) global telecommunications market this year.

Despite their significant investment in 5G networks, operators have struggled to monetise the widespread adoption of 5G by consumers. Failing to gain a significant price premium over 4G services has been a key issue.

The IoT API Opportunity

Turning to enterprises, the report recommends operators invest in cloud technologies that enable new services such as CAMARA-compliant APIs to better manage IoT services over networks. An API will enable third-party software to communicate with specific applications present in telecommunications networks.

IoT Connectivity – A $23bn Market

5G is the key enabling platform for operator growth in the IoT market; owing to the high degree of software‑defined processes allowing the swift deployment of APIs. However, to maximise this growth, operators must provide APIs that enable real-time management of devices, remote configuration and integration with third-party solutions. This will position operator networks well to capitalise on the opportunity for IoT connectivity revenue; a market forecast to grow from $10 billion in 2023, to $23 billion by 2028.

Research co-author, Benjamin Clark, commented: “Despite the investment into new technologies, strategies to monetise networks via mobile subscribers have fallen short. Future business models must create value for enterprises and new revenue streams that monetise via enterprise activities.”

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• Study: AI to limit operator revenue leakage
• Study: 3.2bn 5G connections by 2026
• Research: 5G Advanced & RedCap key for telcos
• Forecast: Cellular IoT market $61bn by 2026
• Forecast: 5G satellite networks to add $17bn revenue by 2030

Categories: 5G , Articles , IoT , Markets , Research

Tags: 5G , cloud , IOT , Juniper Research

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Want to earn nearly $100,000 within 5 years of graduating? Study engineering, new Fed research says

With college setting students back an average of $36,436 per year, young people today are banking on their college degree opening doors to more than house parties and sororities—specifically, to top-paying jobs. But whether they succeed at this depends greatly on what they choose to study.

Now, a new study from the New York Federal Reserve shows that those wishing to earn the big bucks after college may want to consider studying some form of engineering. Even though it costs the same to study psychology as it does computer science, the new research found that 80% of the top 10 college majors with the highest incomes five years after graduation are engineering degrees, highlighting the trend toward technology industries in recent years.

The New York Fed studied the labor market outcomes of college graduates depending on their major—and computer engineering grads came out on top with an annual median salary of $80,000 within five years of tossing their graduation cap in the air. 

Even within the field of engineering, not all degrees are equal; Those with more specialist engineering qualifications, like aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, and industrial engineering, end up earning slightly more than generalists. 

Meanwhile, the only non-engineering degrees to make the list are the engineering-adjacent computer science—which ranked third with a median early career wage of $80,000—and finance. Although the latter just about made the list at number 10, 22 to 27-year-old finance grads can still expect to take home an impressive $66,000 per annum.

In contrast, those majoring in the liberal arts or humanities can expect to earn around half of those studying engineering.

Within five years of graduating from college, theology and religion, performing arts and liberal arts grads—which tied for the top spot of the major which pays the worst after college—earn $38,000 a year on average. 

What’s more, although previous research has shown that a degree in the medical field is generally the golden ticket to the big bucks , miscellaneous biological science, treatment therapy and nutrition sciences are included on the list of low-paying majors—all three pay early career starters up to $40,000.

For context, the U.S. personal median income (which includes 15 year olds and those without a degree at all) is $40,480 . 

Degrees that pay the most in the five years after college

Computer engineering—$80,000 Chemical engineering—$79,000 Computer science—$78,000 Aerospace engineering—$74,000 Electrical engineering—$72,000 Industrial engineering—$71,000 Mechanical engineering—$70,000 General engineering—$68,000 Miscellaneous engineering—$68,000 Finance—$66,000

Degrees that pay the least in the five years after college

Liberal arts—$38,000 Performing arts—$38,000 Theology and religion—$38,000 Leisure and hospitality—$39,700 General social sciences—$40,000 History—$40,000 Miscellaneous biological science—$40,000 Fine arts—$40,000 Treatment therapy —$40,000 Nutrition sciences—$40,000

Even if you’re studying engineering, don’t set your standards too high

Think an engineering degree at an Ivy League college will automatically make you successful? Think again. 

Although certain degrees may increase your odds of landing a high-paying job, don’t bank on it; Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang thinks that setting your expectations too high at college actually makes it harder to succeed in the real world. 

“People with very high expectations have very low resilience—and unfortunately, resilience matters in success,” Huang said during an interview with the Stanford Graduate School of Business . “One of my great advantages is that I have very low expectations.”

“I don’t know how to do it [but] for all of you Stanford students, I wish upon you ample doses of pain and suffering,” Huang said. “Greatness comes from character and character isn’t formed out of smart people—it’s formed out of people who suffered.”

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