Brand research

When to use it

Brand research can be used in all stages of a company’s life cycle, from creation to launching new products and re-branding. There are several types of research:

• Brand advocacy. How many of your customers are willing to recommend your brand?
• Brand awareness. Does your target market know who you are, and do they consider you a serious option?
• Brand loyalty. Do you retain customers?
• Brand Penetration. What is the share of your target market using your brand?
• Brand perception. What do people think is the identity of your company or the distinctive qualities of your business?
• Brand positioning. What’s the best way to differentiate your brand from others in the consumer’s mind and articulate it in a resonating way?
• Brand value. How many people are willing to pay to experience your brand through someone else?

How it is implemented

A researcher will use several types of market research methods to evaluate your as well as your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. Generally, they will conduct a survey of your competition to get a picture of the overall market. Focus groups and interviews can be used to learn about people’s emotions and connections with particular brands.

Market research is useful for determining features and advantages that set you apart from your competition. They are then translated into emotionally compelling consumer language.

Campaign effectiveness

When to use it

According to research, people see up to 5,000 advertising messages every day. This means that attention is a scarce resource, so research of campaign effectiveness should be used when you need to spend your money effectively.

How it is implemented

Research of campaign effectiveness depends on which stage you are using it in. Quantitative research may be conducted to create an image of how your target market views advertising and addresses weaknesses in an advertising campaign.

Competitiveness analysis

When to use it

Analysis of the company’s competition is an integral part of any business and market plan. Whether you’re just starting out, moving into a new market, or doing a business health check, competitiveness analysis will be invaluable.

How it is implemented

A researcher usually selects several major competitors and analyzes elements such as their marketing strategy, customer perception, revenue or sales volume, and so on.

Secondary sources such as articles, references and advertising are excellent sources of information about the competition. However, primary research, such as mystery shopping and focus groups, will offer valuable information about customer service and opinions of current customers.

Consumer Research

When to use it

Deeper knowledge about customers is integral to creating a strategic marketing plan. This type of market research can help you anticipate consumer needs, drive innovation, personalize marketing, solve business challenges, and much more.

How it is implemented

Research of consumer insights should be specific to your business – it’s about getting to know your customers and your target market. Different methods of market research may be used, such as interviews, ethnography, surveys, social media monitoring and research of customer experiences.

Here are some of the segments you should be able to understand through consumer research:

• Purchasing habits
• Interests, hobbies, passions
• Personal and professional information
• How they consume media and advertising

Customer satisfaction research

When to use it

Customer satisfaction is a strong indicator of customer retention and overall business performance. Successful research of customer satisfaction should help you understand what your customers like or dislike and feel should be improved. You can use this type of market research to review product quality and design; speed and timeliness of delivery; staff reliability, service, kindness; market price; and value for money.

How it is implemented

There are several ways to measure customer satisfaction, most commonly by using surveys. NPS surveys can help you measure customer loyalty. Customer engagement rating measures how satisfied people are with customer service or problem solving. CSAT is any survey that measures customer satisfaction and is usually measured using a Likert survey. They can be conducted at different points of the customer experience, giving you a deeper insight into that very moment.

Customer segmentation research

When to use it

As soon as you are ready to start providing your customers with custom experiences. Not every customer in your target market is the same. The more you understand each profile, the easier it is to focus on providing personalized marketing, building loyal relationships, effectively defining pricing of products, and predicting the success of new products in each segment.

How it is implemented

Market researchers use four features to segment customers.

• Demographics. Demographic information such as age, gender, family status, education, household income, occupation and so forth.
• Geography. Where people live, from cities and countries to residents or suburbs.
• Psychography. Socioeconomic status, class, lifestyle, personality traits, generation, interests, hobbies, etc.
• Behaviour. Brand similarity, spending and shopping habits, spending, etc.

The researcher will identify your current customers and collect information about them through various market research methods such as surveys, database research, website analytics, interviews and focus groups. The goal is to gather as much information as possible.

Product development

When to use it

Innovation is hard work. According to research results, 80 – 95% of new products fail every year. Conducting market research for development of products and applications helps reduce the risk of launching a new product or suggests changing your strategy when entering the market. There are four stages in which you can use market research:

• Creation. When you think about adding something new, market research may help you find market opportunities and provide insights into the challenges of customers or the work that they need done, so you can find a way to fill the gap.
• Formation. Once you have an idea, market researchers may help turn it into a concept that can be tested. You can learn more about pricing, advertising and packaging testing, value proposition, and so on.
• Introduction. Market research can help you evaluate attitudes towards a product after it has been launched on the market and adjust your messages as they are being broadcasted.
• Continue to promote your product or find opportunities to introduce it to new markets.

How it is implemented

Product development research will use different market research methods, depending on the objective of the research. The researcher may present focus groups with product concepts and listen to their opinions, conduct interviews to find out more about their weak points, or perform user testing to see how they interact with the app or website.

Consumption research

When to use it

Consumption testing is useful when you need to detect problems or errors in early prototypes or beta versions before launching them. It usually costs a lot less to test a product or service than to withdraw a defective product off the shelf or lose on sales due to poor functionality.

How it is implemented

There are several types of usability tests that vary depending on whether you are testing a physical or digital product.

• Experience testing involves observing the user experience when using an application or site and monitoring their performance. This type of study can be carried out online.
• View-tracking studies track which points the user is following with their eyes and which of them are getting the most attention. These are usually conducted on websites and in apps, but can also be done in stores to analyse where people look while they shop.