The purpose of market research is to use targeted research methods to gain insight into the needs and preferences of your customers and it can be a useful tool when it comes to developing new ideas for your business. Given the complexity involved with effective market research, many businesses turn to a market research agency to assist.

There are a number of factors you should consider when choosing a market research agency so you can be confident that they’ll be able to deliver outcomes which will make a real difference to your business – let’s take a look.

What do you look for in a market research agency?

Collaborative Approach
When you’re looking for a market research consultant to assist you and your business, you need to find an agency with a focus on adopting a collaborative approach. Do they ask specific questions about your goals for market research? Do they maintain ongoing communication with you throughout the process? Do they asked pertinent questions to further their understanding of your business? Ensuring that your chosen agency adopts a collaborative approach means a more meaningful and productive working relationship.

Research Experience
It’s important that you determine the experience of a potential market research agency and their knowledge and application of a range of market research techniques. Ask questions about the experience of their team with qualitative and quantitative research methods and ask for examples of how these research techniques can be applied to your business.

Previous Projects
It can be helpful to gain some insight into the previous projects a marketing research agency has been involved in to get an idea of both their experience and the types of industries that they’re familiar with. Take a look at their website to see if they have any case studies and, if not, ask for some more information about projects that they’ve completed.

Ability to Offer Insights
Market research isn’t just about data collection – the next step is to collate that data to deliver insights which will assist your business into the future. To ensure that you’re getting the most out of your data, look for a market research company who has significant experience in working with businesses to develop big ideas and provide new insights into consumers.

Timelines and Cost
Prior to meeting with a potential market research agency, consider the budget that you can allocate to your project and see what the agency can offer. Remember not to just consider cost in isolation – you need to think of the value you’re getting considering the quality of the project. Also, ask questions about the timeline involved with the project so you can be confident that you’ll receive results within a reasonable time frame.

Is market research worth the investment?

In the vast majority of cases, yes. Market research offers in-depth insights into your customers from both an individual and social perspective to better identify their needs and understand their behaviour. This assists your business in a number of areas, whether it’s product development and improvement, increased brand awareness, or increasing ROI. Market research uses a range of qualitative and quantitative measures to give you information about your customers that you would otherwise not have access to.
Not only does market research provides you with data, your market research agency can also offer professional analysis to assist with developing new initiatives and ideas in your business.

What is the cost of market research?

With market research, there is no set cost – your company can set its own budget depending on the financial situation of your business and what you want to achieve through your market research. There are a number of factors which will impact on the cost of your market research, including:

Research Methodology
There are certain forms of market research, such as focus groups and interviews, which are more labour intensive and provide tailored insights into your business. For this reason, they tend to be more expensive. Generally, qualitative measures will cost more than quantitative measures so you need to get the balance right for your budget. Secondary research, which involves analysing data which has already been gathered, is the most cost effective method and can be helpful in the first instance to give you direction for your future market research.

Sample Size
The number of participants that you want to be involved in your market research has an obvious impact on cost. It’s important to get the balance between keeping the research within your budget and ensuring you have enough people in your research sample to make the results valid. Your market research consultant will be the best person to advise you on the right sample size for what you want to achieve.

Participant Recruitment
Another factor which can impact on the cost of market research is the recruitment of participants into your research. There are some options, such as surveys for existing customers, which can be highly cost effective. However, the cost can increase if you need to recruit a specific demographic or need to provide a financial incentive for participants.

Data Analysis
Once you’ve collected all of the data you require, you need to decide what you want to do with it. Are you going to use the data to allow for specialised analysis? Will you disseminate the results formally to stakeholders? The extent of the analysis which will go into your data following the research will impact on cost.

Delivering Thoughtful Insights
Kantar Australia is one of Australia’s largest customised market research companies and we have established relationships with business and government agencies across the country. Our experienced team of qualitative and quantitative researchers will deliver insights into the customer experience for improved outcomes and inspired new ideas for your business. We have people placed in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Adelaide so we are as close as possible to our clients.

If you’re ready to gain invaluable insights into your customers, Kantar Australia can help – speak with our team today.