Understanding your target market is crucial in a world that is becoming increasingly competitive.
You can gain insights from past, present, and potential customers to help improve your product or make more effective marketing messages.
These insights don't need to be difficult-won. Businesses no longer need to rely on traditional methods such as focus groups and surveys.
Are you ready to find out what your audience wants? These are the top 15 market research tools you can use.
The Benefits of Leveraging Marketing Research
The market research industry's global revenue has increased more than twice since 2008 to $76.5 billion. There are many benefits to it. It is a must-have for any business looking to launch new marketing campaigns or improve their product.
Market research puts your target audience at center of all decisions. You can tailor everything, from your product to marketing to your customer, by understanding their needs and wants. This will help you reduce customer complaints, which can lead to 66% of customers switching to competitors.
You can also use market research tools to identify new business opportunities or threats. When you speak to customers and understand their behavior, new markets are obvious. External threats and competitors can also be a threat to your business if they aren't addressed.
Market research can give you a competitive edge. This is due to the above benefits and because only 40% of marketers use consumer research to make decisions.
Marketing Research Data: How to Use It
There are many ways to leverage market research data, but the best way to use it is to optimize your marketing strategy from campaign creation through execution.
Market research, for example, can help ensure that your product launches go smoothly. Half of all product launches fail to meet their targets, and 20% are delayed. A successful product launch is simply about understanding what customers want.
You can also use market research to help you target areas where your company has a competitive advantage. Understanding what customers really want can help you identify untapped markets that have little competition for paid ads and SEO. Your ROI will soar if you focus your efforts on these areas instead of the saturated verticals.
Market research data can be used to optimize your marketing efforts following launch. You can analyze social media data and other forms of user engagement data to determine how effective each message is. This will allow you to focus your marketing efforts on what works and what doesn't.
The 5 Best Marketing Research Tools
Marketing research doesn't require you to spend anything. There are many free market research tools available. Below are five of my favorite tools.
1. Google Trends
Google Trends displays what people search for on Google. This tool tracks the popularity over time and by location of topics. It shows you how popular Taylor Swift searches in the U.S. are this year. You can also see how the searches for Brexit in the U.K. have dropped since 2019.
Google currently processes 102,000 searches per second at the time of writing. This is 88 billion searches per day, making Google the most valuable and important search data source. Google Trends allows you to access that data in both a categorized or aggregated manner.
Google will give you a score of 100 if you enter a trend. You can also compare terms.
Pros
- It is simple to use
- Visually appealing
- A huge amount of data
Cons
- It doesn't display the exact volume of searches
- Not all related topics are relevant
Price
Free.
2. Facebook Page Insights
Facebook Page Insights can be used to do market research for your business. Facebook is a great platform for marketing. It's one the most popular social media platforms for marketing with 2.9 billion active monthly users.
This tool gives insights into your audience, your post performance, as well as the health of your pages. The tool can be used to determine who likes your page, why, what posts are most popular, and how you can increase your content's reach.
Facebook offers two courses if you are struggling to get started: one on how generate insights and make data driven recommendations, and one on making the most of marketing insight.
Pros
- Unparalleled insight into your Facebook audience
- It is simple to use
- courses available
Cons
- Your Facebook pages are the only ones that will be visible
- It is not as complete as it was once
Price
Free.
3. Google is your friend!
Though Think With Google may be one of Google's less-known tools it is still very powerful. This is a resource library that you can use to boost your marketing efforts. It's free and available for anyone to use.
Google Think With Google is a fantastic starting point if you want to get a broad overview of the world. You can search the platform to discover marketing trends, learn about consumer behavior, and gain the insights that you need for your marketing strategy.
You can find the information you need by using four sections of the site (Consumer Insights, Marketing Strategies, Future of Marketing and Tools ).
Pros
- A huge amount of statistics and studies available
- It is simple to use
- great for marketing research
Cons
- Marketing studies are not permitted
Price
Free.
4. Living Facts
LivingFacts is a part of the Pew Research Center and provides an overview of American life today. It is filled with statistics, infographics and videos that will help you understand how your U.S. customers feel about everything, from religion and work to family and health.
This site draws its data from many sources, including the American Trends Panel at the Pew Research Center, the U.S Census Bureau and other reputable organizations. As if that weren't enough to reassure you, the Pew Research Center employs over 160 people and has 11 research teams. LivingFacts data can be trusted.
Pros
- great for understanding U.S. demographics
- A lot of information is available for free
- Understanding your target audience across multiple topics is key
Cons
- The U.S. is the only country that allows this.
- Some people find research too simple
Price
Free.
5. U.S. Census Bureau
You can search U.S. Census Bureau data free of charge on the U.S. Census Bureau Website. The Bureau of the Census performs more than 130 surveys per year, which are used to allocate billions of federal dollars. This makes it a reliable source of reliable data.
Filtering can be done by a variety of variables such as income, age, location and geography. You can also visualize some data sets. You can filter the data using your NAICS code to find out where your industry is most popular. This is a great way of discovering new markets.
Pros
- One of the largest online demographic resources
- Reports are easy to find
Cons
- The U.S. is the only country that allows this.
- Older census reports may quickly become out of date
Price
Free.
Top 10 Paid Marketing Research Tools
Market research tools that are free can be a great way for you to get to know the industry. There will always be limitations if you don't pay for data. Premium access is a must if you are serious about market research. These are the best market research tools you can use.
1. SurveyMonkey
We've discussed only secondary data sources so far. Surveys and polls are the best way to gather market research data. SurveyMonkey is a popular tool that has over 20 million users answering questions each day.
It is easy to create, send, and analyze surveys using the company's enterprise-grade platform. You can send surveys via email, link, social media or embedding them into a webpage. To view data, you can either browse individual responses or use the tool’s custom reports and charts.
Pros
- It is simple to use
- Good selection of templates
- Great free plan
Cons
- Analytics could be improved
- Inadequate customer support
Price
The basic plan is completely free. Standard plan is $99 per month.
2. Statista
Statista is a central hub for visual data, market research reports and statistics. Statista collects data from many reliable sources and converts most of it into easy-to-read graphs and charts. Statista's data are constantly updated so you can continue to refer to the same chart year after année to see how trends change.
This site provides data on virtually any topic that you can think of, making it an excellent way to find consumer behavior and market trends regardless of your business.
Statista can be used to search for specific topics. Statista's search function is great and will return hundreds upon scores of dashboards and reports that you can use for marketing support or influence.
Pros
- One of the most reliable online statistical resources
- Great UX
- It is easy to search data
Cons
- Limited time offer
- Visuals aren’t the best
Price
Basic account is completely free. Premium accounts cost $59 per month.
3. Typeform
Typeform, a survey-based market research tool, is an alternative to SurveyMonkey. It has a user-friendly interface and a variety of templates that make it easy to create surveys or forms online. Typeform is able to integrate with hundreds of apps and drives over 500 million digital interactions each year.
There are many ways to format questions, including multiple-choice and scale ratings. These formats are great for collecting qualitative and quantitative data. Conditional logic can be used to modify the survey structure based on responses from respondents.
It is also different for respondents. Respondents are only shown one question per time, unlike other survey tools. This allows for more responses and makes it easier to use.
Pros
- It is simple to use
- respondent-friendly
- Strong data visualization
- mobile-optimized
Cons
- Inadequate customer support
- data reporting isn't amazing
Price
Only a limited number of free plans are available. Premium plans start at $25 per month and are billed annually.
4. Buzzsumo
Buzzsumo is the social media marketing and market research tool for content marketing. It analyzes more than 8 billion articles and 300 trillion engagements on social media. This allows you to see what topics and types of content are receiving the most engagement and what is being shared on social media. You can also find influencers that can help increase your content's reach.
Buzzsumo is an extremely effective market research tool that can be used by marketers to help them create a content marketing strategy. Buzzsumo makes it easy to find out what is gaining traction and ranking well.
Buzzsumo can be used in many ways. You can use Buzzsumo's Content Analyzer tool to search for topics and find the articles that are most popular. To monitor mentions of specific keywords or optics, you can set up alerts.
Pros
- accurate social share counts
- great for competitor research
Cons
- doesn't include every social media channel
- Filtering could be more effective
Price
Free plan available. Premium plans starting at $99 per Month
5. Qualtrics
Qualtrics can be used as a market research tool. Qualtrics can do everything, from creating advanced surveys to segmenting markets or analyzing data. Qualtrics can help you create your survey or upload data. Qualtrics will then run statistical tests and provide visualizations to assist in gathering insights.
You don't have to spend time looking for respondents for your surveys. The platform can be used to locate a representative sample from your target audience, and then have them complete your survey.
You can even get on-demand training to maximize the benefits of the platform.
Pros
- Surveys are easy to create
- excellent data reporting
Cons
- Software has a steep learning curve
- Surveys can be customized in a limited way
Price
Plans starting at $1500 per year
6. Qualaroo
Qualaroo allows you to ask the right questions at just the right time. Qualaroo is different than other survey tools in that you can embed surveys on your website, which allows you to capture users in real time, with context. This makes their answers much more valuable and informative.
A wide variety of templates and customization options make it easy to create surveys. The platform's AI-powered analytics tools make it easy to analyze and report results. You will also find tons of additional features, such as branching questions and multiple answer types.
Pros
- Surveys are easy to create and implement
- Analytics reduces reporting time
- It is easy to learn
Cons
- Pre-built templates are easily modified to be generic.
- Dashboards could be made more user-friendly
Price
Plans starting at $80 per Month
7. BrandMentions
BrandMentions, a social media monitoring platform that is similar to Buzzsumo, focuses more on social media. It currently analyses billions of mentions on social media for more than 10,000 companies.
The tool allows you to quickly analyze the opinions of social media users on virtually any topic. BrandMentions can be used to search for keywords and will show you the most recent posts, as well as the context where they were posted. You can see the sentiment surrounding the topic and also what people are saying.
It also displays a variety of metrics such as how many people view the topic every day, how many people interact with it, and what days the topic is trending on.
Pros
- great for social media research
- Can also be used to monitor brands
- Intutive UX
Cons
- It can take time to automate reports
- Only analyzes data from social media
Price
Plans starting at $99 per Month
8. Gartner
Gartner, a global research and advisory firm, is a major player in market research. The company offers three core services: trusted insights, strategic advice and practical tools. Here, we will only be focusing on the trusted insights offering.
Trusted insight offers a wealth of peer-driven, detailed and verified research. It is a great way to spot trends in your industry and uncover other insights that can help you grow your business.
These reports are superior to those of other research teams. Gartner has over 2,000 research professionals and a variety of proprietary research methods to provide objective and unmatched insights.
Pros
- Unmatched insights
- Unbiased data
Cons
- Very expensive
Price
Plans starting at $30,000.
9. Tableau
Tableau is a business intelligence tool that focuses on data visualization. Tableau can connect to any data source, and transform it into stunning visual reports that are easy to share with stakeholders.
Tableau doesn't require you to know any programming to use it. The tool also allows for data analysis that is as detailed or as broad as you want. You can import data from many different sources such as spreadsheets, PDFs and Google Analytics.
Tableau is trusted by some of the nation's largest companies like Verizon, Lenovo and Charles Schwab as a market research tool.
Pros
- Best visual data reporting tool
- Acts as a central repository of data
- Analyzing data is simple
Cons
- Large data sources can take a while to upload
- You will need to source your data
Price
Tableau Explorer starts at $42.
10. Ubersuggest
Ubersuggest is a great tool for SEO- and PPC-focused market research. You can enter a keyword into the search bar to get a list of related keywords, search volume, and difficulty scores. To identify areas of improvement, you can enter either your domain or the domain of a competitor.
It is a great tool to identify the market size, competitiveness and potential ranking opportunities in that market. It can be used to find out about a competitor or which audience they are targeting.
Pros
- Great UX
- One of the most powerful tools for digital marketing market research
- A wide variety of plans available at affordable prices
Cons
- PPC and SEO data are not available.
Price
Plans start at $29/month or $290 per year.
Market Research Tool Frequently Asked Questions
What are the main market research methods?
Primary research can be done using five methods: observational studies (one-on-one interviews), surveys, survey, field trials, focus groups and focus group.
Market research provides the best insight. It reveals relevant and actionable insights about your target market that you can use to improve or influence your marketing efforts.
Is market research worth it?
There are many free market research tools that you can use if you have a limited budget. The best market research tools are expensive, but they provide more data and other capabilities that can improve the effectiveness of your market analysis.
Market research is important.
Market research can reveal important information about your target market and business that could help you to identify opportunities that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Conclusion: Market Research Tools
Market research tools can be a great way to discover the thoughts and opinions of your target audience. You can discover a lot of valuable insights, whether you are using paid or free market research tools. These insights can be a game changer for your business.
Don't make rash decisions. Instead, take the time to get to know your customers so that you can inform your marketing strategy.
What market research tools do you prefer?
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By: Neil Patel
Title: 15 Market Research Tools That Will Help You Uncover Incredible Insights
Sourced From: neilpatel.com/blog/market-research-tools/
Published Date: Fri, 10 Jun 2022 12:26:49 +0000