What is market research and why is it important?

Market research is one of those terms that feels pretty self-explanatory: gather the data, get to know your audience, and make better decisions as a result. Simple, right?

Well, like many things in marketing, it's rarely that straightforward.

Done properly, it's not about gathering as much information as possible. It's getting to the bottom of who your customers really are and giving yourself something more concrete to base decisions on. 

And right now, that's harder than it sounds. Marketing teams are pulling significantly more now than they were a few years ago, yet 56% of marketers say they can't find time to analyse it properly. The sheer amount of information available makes decisions harder, not easier. 

Good market research helps us cut through all that noise, giving us a much clearer picture of what's happening and where we should be going next. 

The two core types of market research (and how they fit together)

There are many ways to categorise market research, but whatever method you use, it'll typically produce one of two types of insight: qualitative or quantitative.

They work differently, and knowing which one you need (and when) is essential to using your research well. 

Qualitative research is all about the "why". Why are customers choosing a competitor over you? Why did someone add something to their basket and then just… leave? You don't want tick-box answers - you're trying to understand what's actually going on inside someone's head, which means interviews, focus groups, and conversations.
 
Quantitative research, on the other hand, involves the numbers. Think surveys and analytics. It's what tells you if something's a pattern or simply a coincidence, and it gives you the confidence (and credibility) to act on it - or not!

Like a cup of tea (Yorkshire, obviously) and a chocolate digestive (up for debate), the two work best together. Yes, the numbers might show conversion rates are dropping, but they won't tell you why. For that, you need to speak to actual people. One tells you there's a problem; the other helps you understand what to do next. 

What to look at and when

Before you choose a method, you must be clear on the question you're trying to answer. It sounds obvious, yes, but it's easy to get carried away with looking at everything all at once. For example, if conversions are dropping, are you trying to understand where people are leaving, or why they're leaving? If one product is doing better than another, do you need to know who's buying it or what's driving the decision?

Once you know what you're looking for, shaping the research becomes much easier. Most of the time, you'll be looking in one of three places: 

What people say. Interviews, surveys and focus groups all give you direct input from your audience. These don't have to be formal or expensive - a few good conversations with the right people will often tell you more than a nationwide survey, especially when you're trying to understand the thinking behind a decision, not just the decision itself.

What people do. Analytics, search data and CRM insights all show you how people behave - which pages they visit, where they lose interest, what they respond to, etc. And unlike during a survey or interview, no one's influencing their answers - you're simply watching what happens, so this data tends to be more reliable. 

What the market looks like. Competitor analysis, social listening and industry reports can all help you understand the wider market - what's changing, where the gaps are, and what opportunities your competitors might have missed.  

One source might give you a clue, but several sources together give you an answer. Your analytics might flag that people are abandoning checkout, yes, but it takes an actual conversation to find out they didn't trust the process or that your delivery options weren't good enough.

Why it matters

The obvious answer here would be better decisions. But really, what research actually stops you from doing is more important. Launching something nobody wants. Solving the wrong problem. Doubling down on something that isn't working because it feels like it should be. You get the gist. 

Of course, instinct comes into this too - especially if you've been doing this for years. But instinct combined with actual evidence is a lot more reliable. And if something does go wrong, at least you can still back up your decisions. 

It also becomes more useful the longer you do it. As time goes on, you'll get a much clearer picture of who your customers are, how their needs are changing and where new gaps in the market might be opening up.

Final thoughts

Marketers don't skip research because they don't see its value. It's because it usually feels like a big project that requires time, budget, and probably another agency somewhere down the line. 

It really doesn't. Some of your best insights will come from just a handful of customer conversations, a quick survey, or even just spending some good old quality time with your analytics. Chances are, you've got more to work with than you think. 

The best place to start is with one question you genuinely need to answer. For example, why is a competitor suddenly getting better? Why are your customers choosing one product over another? Use that as a starting point, and then choose the research method that will help you get closer to finding an answer.

You don't need everything all at once, either. Take small steps, but do it regularly rather than waiting for when you've got a specific problem to solve. Do that, and everything will get easier - you'll start noticing things earlier on and make decisions with a lot more confidence. 

What makes a brand successful? CIM's Brand Marketing Principles training course reviews the different approaches to developing Brand guideline documents and develops an action plan for your brand.