When you’re conducting market research, the more you plan your qualitative market research project before the start of your research, the more likely your results will be accurate and applicable for use.
So how do you go about outlining the process for your market research project? We simplified the process on how to plan your qualitative market research project:
- Define Your Problem – Before you conduct market research, you must define the problem and identify the objective of the research that you’re trying to accomplish.
- Design the Project – Keeping your identified objective in mind, you will need to determine the best method for collecting insights. Will focus groups serve as a better method? Or will in-depth interviews be more appropriate? You will likely need to perform secondary research to determine which primary research method will better suite your project.
- Identify Your Target Audience – Determine who you like to participate in your market research. You will want to speak with the right people so your results are relevant to the objective of your research. Often times, getting the types of people you want can add a new layer of difficulty to your efforts. For example, gathering 100 stay-at-home moms to do a phone survey on lunch meat will be much easier than gathering 100 heart surgeons to an in-person interview on scalpel techniques.
- Finalize Your Screening Questions – When you start researching, you need to have a list prepared of the questions you want answered before you even start. Having a well thought-out and comprehensive screener survey will weed out the applicants that do not meet your needs before you get too far into your research.
- Consider Working with a Qualitative Market Research Firm – While it can be tempting to keep all of your work “ in-house,” outside help will likely result in higher quality insights. Market research firms have extensive experience and and resources for recruiting high-quality respondents for any type of project.
- Collect and Combine the Information – Once you’ve collected all the information you need using the methods you’ve chosen, you need to pull it all together and combine it. A lot of market research is both creative and scientific, and it’s best to use both. You don’t want the research to be stifled.
- Analyze and Present – As you conduct your research, always keep in mind what you are looking for as the end result. How you plan to use the information matters a great deal. Is it going to be used internally or externally?
When you conduct market research, the most important step is to plan your qualitative market research project. Following through with a prepared plan will keep you project on track and aligned with your objective.
Ready to start your market research project? At Focus Insite, we are experienced and have ample resources that will provide you peace of mind as you go through the market research project. Request a proposal to get started!
Updated on July 20, 2023: We are committed to providing our readers with the latest information and updating our previous articles as needed. We hope that you find this updated information informative and useful. Edited by Elizabeth Zuponcic
