You might think doing consumer and market research is an easy task. But you’d be wrong.
Doing this extensive research requires a deep knowledge and understanding of analytics, data and tools.
It requires platforms and top tools to gather data. From there, it needs to be analyzed — something your in-house team likely has little to no experience in.
But the best market research firms have these expert professionals, innate knowledge and robust ability to take these numbers and figures and turn them into award-winning strategies that put your brand on the path to success.
They do this through intense primary and secondary research. They comb online databases, use analytics tools, conduct interviews, surveys, focus groups and more.
How To Choose The Best Market Research Companies
Top Market Reseach Firms Have Full-Service Offerings
The best market research firms have full-service offerings that conduct effective, comprehensive research.
This research helps to inform your business about trends, audience, competition and more. With this knowledge, you can develop a more fluid and engaging plan of attack.
These top market research companies are full of expert teams and departments that give your brand key business and market insights so you can develop a strategy to hit your goals.
Top-Rated Market Research Agencies Have A Comprehensive Reporting Process
The best marketing research companies make a plan and stick to it. They have a strong process that they follow which allows them to report results in real time.
The information they accumulate is valuable for your brand. And the insights that can be pulled from this information aren’t insights you would necessarily be able to come up with on your own.
But the best market research company understands that time is money. Therefore, they don’t make you wait to act on the information they acquire.
Choose the market research company with the timeframe and the process that best meets your demands and objectives.
The Best Market Research Companies Have Access To The Latest Tools
In a field as heavily invested in data as market research, companies need to be using the most comprehensive, up-to-date tools in order to meet demands and reach goals.
The top marketing research companies have this access. These professional agencies have access to the greatest tools in the market for information gathering, analytics deciphering and reporting.
Whether you’re looking to take a deeper dive into your audience demographics or you’re trying to plan for upcoming upsets and changes in the competitive market, these professional agencies have the tools to give you the information to craft a winning strategy.
The Top Market Research Companies Understand Your Market
When it comes to choosing a market research company to partner with, you need to know what their top services are.
What is their specialty? And what market research do you actually need?
Whether you’re trying to learn more about the industry, your competitors, prospective consumers, key platforms or more, you need to make sure the marketing research firm you partner with has experience and expertise in this type of information.
But the best market research companies come equipped with this industry and market knowledge. They have the services you need and can pull the necessary insights to help you better hone in on your audience and drive revenue.
Reputable Research Companies Have Pricing In Your Budget
Costs matter. The price of a market research firm can certainly break your budget if you’re not careful.
But the best research companies won’t take you by surprise. These agencies will have costs well within your budget. And they won’t take you by surprise when the bill comes with unexpected charges.
Make sure you fully understand how much you’re paying and what exactly you’re paying for. Top market research companies will be transparent and upfront about what their costs are. And the best can craft a pricing plan that fits your exact needs and budget.
Market research costs vary depending on the type of research, the size of the sample, the scope of the investigation and the methods used.
As a result, market research can cost between a few thousand dollars and hundreds of thousands of dollars.
20 Questions To Ask Before Hiring A Top-Rated Market Research Agency
Ask A Top Market Research Agency How They Will Analyze Your Competition
When you work with a market research agency, you need them to innately understand who your competition. With these insights, they can hone in on their research and develop a very targeted plan of attack.
So you need to know what information these agencies will need from you and how they will use this information to boost your brand.
- How will you determine who our competitors are?
- How will you gather information and data on their strategies and performance?
- What will you do with this information and how does it aid in your strategizing?
- What information do you need from us?
Ask The Best Market Research Companies What They Know About Your Industry And Audience
Not only is it important that your agency understands your audience, but they also need to understand your industry and your audience.
This will help them filter out the entities to analyze. It will also give them a better idea as to how to formulate a process of information gathering that leads to actionable results.
Ask the best market research companies about how they analyze your audience and if they come up with strategizes for expanding.
- What access do you have to information in our industry and market?
- Do you know who our target demographic is?
- What tools do you use to learn more about who we are and who we are targeting?
- Have you worked with similar brands in the past?
Ask The Best Market Research Companies In The World If They Offer Other Marketing Services
Another added benefit of top market research companies is their ability to craft full-functioning marketing strategies.
Of course, this makes sense. They are doing research into how your brand and others market and promotes itself to the public. And with this information, they can better formulate a campaign that gives your audience what they want.
- Do you offer full-service marketing strategies?
- Do you offer campaign assistance?
- How do you use your findings to create a marketing strategy?
- What marketing tools and platforms do you have access to?
Ask A Top Market Research Firm About Their Project Timeline
A timeline is important when it comes to project completion. You want to feel like you’re being kept in the loop. You want to know what’s going on and what to expect at every stage of the game.
That means that you need to ask these market research agencies about how their process works and what their communication is like. You have deadlines and you need to make sure they are met.
- How long will it take for you to gather information and draw conclusions?
- What is your process for information gathering?
- On average, how long does it take for you to complete each phase of research?
- How will you communicate your process?
Ask A Reputable Research Company About Their Past Experience
The past experience and past work of a top market research firm can really help you decide if this agency is the right one for you.
From past projects to past clients, these insights can give you an inside look into how these agencies operate, how they invest in their relationships and how successful they are in their endeavors.
- What successful market research projects have you worked on?
- What data did you gather for that project?
- How did this data help the brand grow?
- What past success and failures have you learned from?
What Team Members Make Up Reputable Market Research Companies
The Best Research Companies Employ Project Managers
It’s important that the agency you’re working with has a power and communication structure that you can fluidly interact with.
This means that they need a project manager to act as a point of contact to facilitate easy communication and ensure the project is hitting deadlines.
A project manager’s job is to oversee the entire project — therefore you can be confident that your research isn’t being forgotten about or done haphazardly.
Successful Market Research Firms Hire Market Segmentation Experts
Market segmentation is the process of dividing up a market or group of people into separate categories.
These categories include age, education, habits, preferences, job and more.
this segmentation is vital for consumer research. And that’s why the best market research companies employ a team of market segmentation experts.
They know the proper way to segment these groups and what these different characteristics mean for outreach and engagement.
Product Testers Are Also Part Of The Market Research Team
QA directly affects the consumer experience and is poised to overtake price and product as a key differentiating factor for consumers.
Product testing is important because it helps these researchers better understand your products and how the market interacts with them.
In order for them to effectively research and dive deep into the market, they need to see how a product functions and if it functions effectively.
With this knowledge, they can offer key suggestions as to how to fix the product or better market it to your audience.
Top Market Data Research Companies Hire Marketing, Advertising And Branding Experts
“A brand does not exist within a company or organization. A brand exists in the minds of your customers.” — Lucidpress
In order for your brand to grow and succeed, it needs to market itself to its audience. Not only that — your brand needs to give off a positive presence that encourages interactivity and engagement.
That’s where the brand and marketing experts come in.
These market research firms don’t just do research and send you on your way. They use this information to establish your brand’s place in the competitive market.
And one way to do that is through comprehensive and effective digital marketing, advertising and branding initiatives.
The Best Research Companies Hire Consumer Satisfaction Analysts
Reputable market research firms also employ dedicated professionals to conduct outreach, surveys and focus groups.
This information comes directly from consumers and potential consumers. Therefore it’s much more valuable than anything a spreadsheet of numbers calculated by a computer can give you.
This one-on-one research really strengthens the insights derived from the investigation. It gives your brand a more authentic and organic set or results that you can base a strategy off of.
Successful Market Research Companies Employ Industry Research Managers
Audience and consumer research are just as niche as industry research. Therefore, market research companies need to hire specific experts trained in conducting industry research.
This includes looking up pricing, competitors, trends and evolutions in the market that can have an impact on your brand.
An Award-Winning Market Research Agency Has An Effective Process
1. The Best Market Researchers Outline Objectives
Those that set goals are 10 times more likely to achieve them.
The top market research companies in the world outline key objectives and goals that they plan on meeting. These combine the goals set out by your brand as well as the goals that their experience has proven they can accomplish.
This is the first step in the process. Because they need to understand what kind of information they are gathering and why they are gathering it.
With these objectives in mind, they can use the right tools and gather the right data to help you develop a full-functioning business plan.
Utilize top tools, tactics and strategies to gather that information accurately
The best research companies then outline what tools, tactics and strategies they will implement in order to grab the right information and pull the necessary insights from it.
These professionals are in the business of gathering accurate and informative information. Therefore, they need to know what tools they will be using and which research methods — qualitative, quantitative and so on — they will implement to get there.
2. Market Research Experts Gather Data
The next step in the market research process is analyzing the data that these teams have collected.
From here, they can identify important findings and weed out irrelevant information. There is a lot of data out there. But not all of it means anything.
So instead of bombarding your brand with useless numbers, the best market research companies in the world will go through this information with a fine-tooth comb to provide you with the information that will make an impact.
Once they’ve gathered the information and made sense out of it, it’s now time for these leading market research companies to report to the client.
These findings will be robust and comprehensive. But these researchers also take the time to condense the information into easy-to-understand snippets that make it easier for you to put to you.
With this analysis and these powerful insights, these professionals can offer strategy suggestions and business support to help you brand meet its overarching KPIs.
3. Top-Rated Marketing Research Companies Re-Test For Accuracy
Another added benefit of a market research company is their ability to weed out and correct inaccurate information.
Whether they found this information in their own search or they were given it before, you can be sure that these professionals will continue doing research even after the first round finishes.
These market research firms want to ensure accuracy. And that means spending the time to look into information new and old and see if there are any changes or discrepancies.
4. Reputable Market Research Firms Offer Comprehensive Marketing Services
Whether or not you want additional marketing help is up to your brand and your needs. But if you do enlist their marketing expertise, the next step of the process is campaign creation.
These researchers will collaborate with marketing strategies to formulate new strategies and campaigns for execution.
They will even support the execution of these strategies to ensure campaign success.
63 percent of marketers cite generating traffic and leads as their biggest challenge.
With their innate understanding of the industry, your competition and your audience, these research agencies can create collateral and highlight key platforms to engage with your audience effectively and boost these numbers.
5. Market Research Companies Continue To Gather Information And Data
The final stage of the market research process is the continued monitoring that ensures information accuracy and business growth.
Technology is evolving, trends are changing and your competitors are always coming up with new ways to beat you.
That’s why you need to keep learning and growing yourself.
These research companies help you stay at the top of your game with their innovative tools that can cut through the nonsense and connect you with the marketing, business and technical strategies to succeed.
5 Traits Of The Top Research Companies
1. Successful Research Firms Understand Objectives And Help You Formulate Goals
Any good agency wants to meet its goals. but the best market research firms understand just how important it is to surpass goals and help your brand establish new ones.
That’s how these agencies show their success — by helping their clients see results that drive them forward.
A study by Harvard shows that those that set goals are more likely to achieve success.
In the study, the three percent of the participants that outlined and wrote down their goals were more successful at achieving them than the other 97 percent combined.
Every time these agencies hit a goal, they set a new one for themselves and their clients. Because there is always room for growth. These research professionals know how quickly things can change. As a result, they plan accordingly and ensure their insights are fit for an evolving world.
That means that your brand can benefit, becoming the business entity poised to dominate the market.
2. The Best Marketing Research Firms Draw Actionable Conclusions
The best market data research companies draw actionable conclusions and insights that influence strategy.
They don’t just do some research and send over the facts and figures. For most brands, that information won’t make any sense.
And if your brand can’t decipher the information being thrown at you, why pay for it at all?
That’s why top market research firms are in such high demand. They innately understand the competitive market and use their tools to really dive deep into what they mean and that this information means for your brand.
They can help provide you with insights into what your audience is looking for in a brand’s core values, for instance. This will help you shape your branding and boost your awareness efforts.
After all, the number one benefit of branding is increased profits.
Top market research companies provide you with the information to get you there.
3. Leading Market Research Agencies Filter The Important Information You Need To Know
There’s a lot of information out there. These insights delve into the market as a whole, who your audience is, what new technologies are emerging and so on. But just because there is a lot of info, doesn’t mean it’s all relevant to your brand.
That’s where market research companies show their expertise.
They don’t waste your time with unimportant information and therefore maximize productivity and strategies. They deliver the information that is pertinent and the insights that are tailored to your brand specifically.
This means you waste less time, and so do they.
4. Top Marketing Research Companies Are Proactive And Productive
Productivity is essential in a world as fast-paced and ever-changing as ours. Your brand needs to keep growing and increasing efficiency. And the best market research firms can help.
Top-rated research firms come up with new, yet relevant, KPIs, tools, trends, and ways to gather that information accurately.
Like we’ve said, these agencies aren’t in the business of wasting time, but maximizing it. And that means that your brand will always have access to the top tools, data and insights to develop successful strategies for marketing, business and beyond.
For instance, only 3 percent of consumer packaged goods ever exceed expected launch sales.
But by investing in data research, you can unlock key characteristics of your audience and competitors in order to ensure your launch is a success.
5. Reputable Research Firms Invest In Their Clients
You want to work with an agency that invests in you. You’re investing in them after all — literally.
The best market research companies in the world invest in a transparent and honest professional relationship. And they foster a relationship that hopes to become long-term.
When they sign on to a project, they commit. They put all of their manpower and expertise into the project at hand to ensure you get the best insights and the best strategies possible.
When it comes to the best market research firms, they will invest in you to ensure that you’re happy and successful at every step of the way.
Top Market Research Companies
How Top Market Research Companies Charge Clients
The Best Marketing Research Firms Charge For Qualitative Research
Qualitative research is the method of gathering research from a number of sources and then drawing conclusions from the information provided. This type of research gathering focuses mainly on the cold hard facts and numbers and not so much on the subjective aspects of the research.
This data comes in a number of different forms from statistics and studies to mathematics and computations tools that take the information from your market, industry and audience and turn that information into actionable insights.
This is one way that top market research agencies do heavy research. And you can expect to be charged accordingly.
Successful Research Firms Charge For Quantitative Research
Quantitative research is the process of uncovering deeper meaning in the form of concepts, definitions, characteristics, symbols and themes. It is much more subjective than qualitative research.
But this is the step in the market research process that allows these agencies to give your brand insights that help to establish a business plan for growth going forward.
This is where they use their knowledge and experience to help you strategize. So you can expect to be charged for this step when it comes time for the bill.
In fact, less than 50 percent of researchers base their insights on facts and statistics alone.
Top-Rated Market Research Companies Include Market Research & Marketing Strategy In Their Pricing
There are a number of different ways and methods for gathering research. Each has their ups and downs. But when it comes to pricing, something your brand will have to take into account is the overall pricing of the market research gathered and the marketing strategy these agencies will help your brand integrate going forward.
When it comes to what these market research agencies charge for, you can be sure to find the overall insights pulled. You can also expect to see charges for the strategies put in place by these firms.
These bring your project full circle.
Why Your Brand Should Invest In Top Market Research Companies
Knowledge is power — you know the phase.
In business, that sentiment is no different. Your brand needs to do extensive research into the industry, your competitors, the market landscape, your audience and more.
From this data, the best research companies can provide your brand with actionable insights that can solidify your branding, strengthen your digital marketing efforts and give your business the infrastructure boost it needs to succeed.
Discover the best market research companies in the Agency Listing Table above.
