One of the best strategies for improving and growing your business is conducting market research. There is no cap to the effectiveness of analyzing your target audience. In fact, it is a useful tool that should be utilized throughout the lifetime of your business. Whether you have conducted market research in the past or about to conduct market research for the first time, you will want to avoid these common mistakes when conducting market research.
- Not Identifying Your Target Audience – Gathering a group of individuals for your market research study requires homework before taking steps to collect useful insights relevant to your business. Before you start market research, you must identify your target audience. Quantitative research is utilized prior to conducting qualitative research for this purpose. Performing this groundwork will greatly impact your results.
- Skipping Primary Research – Market size, performance, and other readily-available data is considered secondary research. While it is useful, insights sourced directly from your audience will provide information that is specific to your business. Focus groups and individual interviews are ample opportunities to learn the perspective of your consumers.
- Ask Leading Questions – Ensure you are asking the right questions when you conduct surveys, focus groups, and individual interviews. If you ask leading questions, your results will be negatively affected and cannot be applied to your business effectively.
- Not Properly Incentivizing Your Respondents – Valuable market research isn’t free and providing compensation to your market research participants can go a long way towards encouraging show rates and collecting high-quality results. At the end of the day, individuals are asked to take time out of their day, and in some cases take time from work or other obligations, to share their honest feedback for the benefit of your business. The compensation amount should reflect the value of time and insights contributed by the participants.
If you avoid these common mistakes when conducting market research, you will reap the many benefits that come along with conducting qualitative market research. Consumer opinions, habits, and actions constantly change, so being proactive with how your business operates around the consumer is critical in today’s ever-changing market.
Market research will always have a place in the business world. When you need to conduct market research for your business, Focus Insite is equipped to provide your project with high-quality respondents and a seamless experience. Even though market research doesn’t really ever end, Focus Insite can help you keep up.
Updated on June 8, 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
