Market research is essential for every business. It’s a shame, however, that companies spend so much money to get such a small return.
Most companies would prefer to do their own market research, instead of just buying canned reports. But the reality is they just don’t know how, or where, to begin. So 9 times out of 10, they hire a consultant or a research firm to do their market research project for them. This ends up taking a long time, requires specialized expertise, and is typically very expensive. So after just a few outsourced projects, most of their budget for the year is gone.
Limited budgets creates another big problem: companies try to squeeze too much out of each research project. Instead of focusing on just the most critical questions, they attempt to cram in every possible question imaginable. I get it. If you only have enough money to run one or two projects a year, the natural instinct is to create a survey with dozens of questions.
The result? A terrible experience for your target audience. Imagine you’re a CIO or a physician being asked to slog through dozens of questions. You’re not going to provide thoughtful, detailed answers to most of the questions. You’re going to just rush through as quickly as you can just to get it over with.
While you certainly got “answers”, you can’t be sure they’re particularly accurate. This is the opposite of useful data. Worse, it leaves a very bad taste in people’s mouths, making them less likely to participate in research again in the future. So instead of maximizing insights, companies actually shoot themselves in the foot. They burn through goodwill, reduce data quality, and end up with research that isn’t completely reliable.
The smarter approach? Flip the model. Take a “many bites at the apple approach” instead of trying to eat the whole thing at once.
Don’t overload people with long, exhausting surveys. Instead, engage more often with shorter, more focused questions. That way, your respondents are more likely to give you accurate, thoughtful information, and you’ll be able to build an ongoing stream of insights instead of one or two painful data dumps per year.
Ultimately, the future of market research isn’t about squeezing every question into a single project. It’s about designing a better experience for your audience so they want to engage with you again and again.
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Reaction is a growth acceleration platform that companies use to easily manage client relationships, uncover new opportunities, and grow their business. Our platform is specifically designed to run client programs, manage employee feedback, gather critical market insights, increase mindshare, generate new business, and analyze existing data sources.
