Market research surveys are the basis for most market research. Market research surveys are used to collect information from a small sample of the market population to allow you to predict what the entire market wants. Market research can be used to improve the competitiveness of an existing business, help develop a new product and to explore a market niche for newly established businesses.

There are two types of market research surveys -quantitative and quantitative. Quantitative surveys are all about the numbers; how many people saw our ad; how many people would buy our product; and how many people recognize our product. Qualitative surveys are more open ended and try to determine what people are thinking or why people do what they do.

Quantitative survey data forecast are more or less accurate depending on sample size. A larger sample generally results in more accurate predictions. Larger samples are more expensive to survey so you have to trade off cost for accuracy. There are statistical rules that predict the accuracy of the predictions for a given sample size and a given market size.

With qualitative surveys sample size is less critical because you are more interested in discovering a general trend or sensing than a precise measurement. The keys to successful market research or product development surveys are keep it short, no more than two minutes, and easy to understand and answer.

Today the preferred delivery method for market research or product development surveys is online. There are a number of online survey tools available to help you develop an email or web based market research surveys, provide an email or web based survey and analyze the responses to the survey. Some online sites like surveymonkey.com offer free tools. These free tools generally do not include the more sophisticate statistical analysis help that you find in the online survey tools offered for sale. Just type in “online survey tools” into your favorite search engine and you will find lots of offers to consider.

The toughest part of designing market research surveys is ensure you ask the right questions. You can only get answers to the questions you ask and it is very disappointing to start to analyze your survey response data only to discover you have gaps in the information you collected. If you are piloting your first survey it would be a good idea to test it with a small group before you go live with your larger sample. A test will help you determine if the questions are clear and the responses are providing you with the data you anticipated.

Market research is important for a company or to anyone else planning to start a business to know what types of products or services would be profitable to introduce in the market. Business decisions that are based on good intelligence and good market research can minimise risk and pay dividends and by making market research part and parcel of the business process and conducting market research throughout the lifecycle of a product or service market research will bring the following benefits:

Market research will help you better communicate – Your current customers experiences are a valuable information source, not only will they allow you to gauge how well you currently meet their expectations they can also tell you where you are getting things right and more importantly where you are getting things wrong.

By asking the customer you not only show them that you care but you also take the guess work out of customer services.

Market research helps you identify opportunities – If you are planning to operate a new service and want to know the preconceived attitudes people have then market research can help, not only in evaluating the potential for a new idea, but also by identify the areas where a marketing message needs to honed.

Market research will minimise risk – Market research can help shape a new product or service, identifying what is needed and ensure that the development of a product is highly focused towards demand. Market research creates benchmarks and helps you measure your progress – Unless you measure you may not be able to gauge how well your business is performing. Early research may highlight glaring holes in your service or short falls in your product, regular market research will show if improvements are being made and, if positive, will help motivate a team.