Market research is the process of collecting, analyzing, and making sense of data about your target market, competitors, and the industry overall. It helps businesses make smarter decisions by turning raw data into useful insights. At its core, market research answers three key questions: Who are the customers? What do they need? And how can the business meet those needs effectively?
As technology and data tools have improved, market research has evolved too. Traditional methods like focus groups and phone surveys are now joined by digital tools like social media analysis and AI-powered predictions. But the goal is still the same: to reduce uncertainty and help businesses make more confident, informed decisions.
Market research helps uncover the demographic, psychographic, and behavioral traits of your target audience. For example, surveys can highlight generational differences in buying motivations—such as millennials placing more value on a company’s ethics, while baby boomers may be more price-sensitive. When you know what different groups care about, it’s easier to create messages that connect with them.
Analyzing competitors is essential for identifying where your business stands in the market. Tools like SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) help benchmark your performance and highlight market gaps. You might find, for instance, that your customer support is slower than others in your space - something you can fix before it becomes a bigger issue.
Before launching something new, it’s smart to test your ideas with real people. Feedback on usability, pricing, and features helps ensure that offerings meet customer expectations. Meanwhile, secondary research - such as reviewing industry reports - adds valuable context around market size and growth potential, grounding innovation in actual demand.
Market research can help you avoid bad calls before they happen. Say you’re about to launch a product, but a survey shows your pricing is too high for your audience—that's something you'd want to know before investing too much. Additionally, long-term studies that track shifts in consumer sentiment can help you anticipate changes and refine your strategies proactively.
Primary research involves gathering new, first-hand data directly from relevant sources such as customers, suppliers, or industry professionals. Common methods include:
Primary research provides highly specific insights tailored to your unique business questions. For example, a cosmetics brand conducting in-depth interviews might discover strong consumer interest in sustainable packaging, helping guide a more eco-conscious product design.
Secondary research draws from existing data collected by third parties, including government databases, academic publications, trade journals, and market research firms. It is typically more cost-effective and faster to access than primary research but may not always align precisely with a company’s niche or target audience.
For instance, a startup using census data to estimate demand for a specialized product might find that the available information is too broad or outdated to support accurate targeting decisions.
Market research surveys can be broadly classified based on their purpose and the method of data collection.
Customer experience surveys
These surveys evaluate interactions at various touchpoints, from pre-purchase inquiries to post-sales support. A common example is the Net Promoter Score (NPS), which asks how likely a customer is to recommend your product or service.
T-Mobile, for example, has made NPS central to both its customer strategy and competitive benchmarking. The company regularly integrates surveys across its digital platforms - not just to assess specific interactions like support chats, but also to gather broader sentiment data that feeds into NPS.
In addition to NPS, Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and Customer Effort Score (CES) surveys can be used to measure satisfaction with specific experiences like order tracking or live chat support.
Brand perception surveys
Brand perception surveys are designed to uncover how people view your brand - what comes to mind when they hear your name, how they describe your values, and whether they trust or relate to what you offer. These surveys help companies measure awareness, associations, and sentiment, often using tools like aided and unaided recall, brand attribute ratings, and semantic scales (e.g., “reliable” vs. “untrustworthy” or “innovative” vs. “traditional”).
Brand perception surveys are also valuable in times of crisis. When Peloton faced a recall of its Tread+ treadmill following several reported accidents, the question wasn’t just about product safety - it was also about whether the brand could retain customer trust. Post-recall surveys showed that many consumers still expressed support for Peloton, crediting its strong brand reputation and quick response.
These surveys allow companies to listen at scale - providing a direct line to how people actually feel, which often differs from how companies hope to be seen.
Product development surveys
Product development surveys are essential for testing new ideas before bringing them to market. They’re particularly valuable when resources are limited, and every product decision carries more weight. Startups often use concept testing to understand how a new idea will be received, what features matter most, and what pricing the market will tolerate. For example, an early-stage health drink company might share prototypes with target users and gather survey feedback on taste, branding, and perceived health benefits. This helps reduce the risk of launching something the market doesn’t want.
Even well-known brands rely on this process. For instance, Ben & Jerry’s, during its expansion of non-dairy flavors, surveyed vegans, vegetarians, and flexitarians to evaluate a new base recipe. Feedback from these groups helped confirm whether the taste and texture met expectations and whether the product was something they’d buy again.
Market segmentation surveys
Market segmentation surveys help businesses break down a broad audience into more specific groups based on shared characteristics—like age, income, values, or buying behavior. This allows for more targeted and effective marketing, product development, and customer engagement strategies.
These surveys typically gather demographic data (e.g., age, gender, income), geographic data (location, region), psychographic traits (lifestyle, values, interests), or behavioral patterns (purchase frequency, product usage).
Startups also use segmentation surveys to identify their early adopters or most profitable niche. A subscription fitness app, for instance, might learn that it’s especially popular among urban professionals with unpredictable schedules. This could influence everything from app features (like flexible class times) to the tone of marketing campaigns (“fitness on your terms”).
Online surveys
Fast, low-cost, and scalable—online surveys are the go-to method for most businesses today. They’re easy to distribute through email, social media, or embedded in websites, and results can be analyzed quickly.
Telephone surveys
Though less common now, phone surveys allow for deeper responses through direct conversation. They’re often used when clarity and context are important, such as in financial services or healthcare research.
Face-to-face surveys
Face-to-face surveys are conducted in person, often in retail locations, trade shows, or public spaces. This method allows surveyors to capture immediate, spontaneous feedback and observe non-verbal cues like tone, facial expressions, and body language - offering a richer understanding of consumer sentiment. However, this method can be time-intensive and resource-heavy.
Mail surveys
Mail surveys involve sending printed questionnaires to a target audience via postal mail, along with a return envelope for responses. While they may seem outdated in a digital-first world, they remain valuable in specific contexts - especially when targeting older demographics or areas with limited internet access.
Start by figuring out exactly what you want to learn. Are you trying to understand how happy your customers are? Curious if a new product idea will land well? Maybe you just want to know if people remember your brand. Whatever it is, your goal should be specific and actionable. Having a clear objective helps shape the entire survey - from the questions you ask to how you interpret the results.
Next, decide who should take your survey. Think about your core audience: who’s already using your product, who’s considering it, and who you ultimately want to serve. Segment them by things like age, location, buying habits, or even where they are in the customer journey. You want a mix that actually reflects the people you're building for, so the results aren’t skewed.
Once you’ve defined your audience, the next step is figuring out how to reach a representative sample of them. That’s where sampling methods come in—they help you select the right slice of your audience to survey so your insights are meaningful and unbiased.
There are two broad types of sampling methods - probability and non-probability sampling - depending on whether everyone in your target group has a known chance of being selected. We won’t go into detail here, but here are a few common approaches:
Start by writing questions that tie directly back to your goals. Mix it up with multiple choice, rating scales, and a few open-ended questions so you get both measurable data and more detailed feedback.
Keep things simple and clear. Avoid confusing wording, loaded questions, or asking two things at once (like “How was the price and the quality?” - those should be separate). A good survey feels easy to complete and doesn’t make people second-guess what you’re asking.
If someone’s answer makes a follow-up irrelevant, don’t show it. Tools like QuestionScout let you use skip logic so the survey adapts based on what people say. That way, nobody gets stuck answering questions that don’t apply to them.
Before sending it out to everyone, do a quick test run with a small group. A soft launch helps catch anything weird - unclear wording, technical bugs, or logic that doesn’t quite work.
How you send out your survey plays a big role in who responds. -and how good those responses are. Online surveys are usually the go-to. They’re quick to set up, easy to share, and can reach a wide audience fast. Whether you post it on your website, share it on social media, or send out a link, it's an efficient way to collect data. For example, QuestionScout can simplify this process- you can embed surveys directly into your site, use popups, or generate shareable links for different channels.
Email surveys are a solid choice when you want to hear from people who already know you - like existing customers or newsletter subscribers.
Then there’s face-to-face surveying, which is more hands-on but can offer richer insights. These can be great when you're doing early product validation or trying to uncover issues people might not mention in writing. Just keep in mind they take more time and effort to conduct.
It’s important to set a clear target for how many responses you need before you start. Your sample size depends on a few things:
If you’re unsure how many responses to aim for, there are plenty of free tools that help you calculate the right sample size.
Once your survey is ready, it’s time to send it out and start collecting responses. Use the method (or mix of methods) you decided on - whether that's email, a website embed, social media, or in-person. The key is to meet people where they’re already engaged and most likely to respond.
Keep an eye on response rates as the survey goes out. If you’re not getting enough traction, try tweaking your messaging, sending a follow-up reminder, or adjusting the channels you're using. Offering a small incentive - like a discount code or chance to win a gift card - can also help boost participation, especially for longer surveys.
It’s also important to make sure your data collection process is respectful and trustworthy. Always let participants know what the survey is for, keep their responses anonymous when possible, and make sure any data you collect is stored securely. If you’re working on a larger or more high-stakes research project, you might also consider bringing in a third-party research firm. They can help validate your methodology and ensure your data is as unbiased and reliable as possible.
Once you’ve collected your survey responses, the real work begins: analyzing the data to uncover actionable insights. This step involves using statistical tools to process the data and identify patterns that align with your research objectives.
Start by looking for overall trends—what’s the general sentiment or behavior your respondents share? From there, break down the responses further by demographics, behavior, or other relevant factors. This segmentation helps you see how different groups think and behave differently.
Some of the most common techniques for analyzing survey data include:
Once you've processed and segmented your data, summarize the key findings clearly. Focus on the insights that directly support your original research objectives - whether it’s understanding customer satisfaction, identifying pain points, or validating a new product concept.
To see how market research surveys work in practice, let’s walk through a real-world example. This kind of structured approach - defining a goal, choosing the right method, identifying your audience, and analyzing the results - can help validate ideas and guide important business decisions.
Objective
To assess market interest and understand consumer preferences for a new plant-based meat alternative before launch.
Survey method
The team used conjoint analysis, a technique that helps reveal which product attributes matter most to potential customers. Respondents were presented with different combinations of features and asked to choose their preferred option. The variables tested included:
This method allowed the company to simulate real-world tradeoffs customers might make when buying a product like this.
Sample audience
A mix of health-conscious consumers, flexitarians, and vegetarians aged 18–44, was identified through social media targeting and email outreach to a pre-existing waitlist.
Key outcome
Across hundreds of responses, eco-friendly packaging emerged as the most important feature - even more than price or protein content. This surprised the team, who had initially prioritized nutritional claims in their marketing.
Result
Based on these insights, the team redesigned the packaging to emphasize sustainability, swapping out plastic trays for compostable materials and updating the messaging on the label. This pivot led to a 10% increase in pre-launch sign-ups and improved engagement in early email campaigns.
Here’s a template to help you get started with your market research survey. It includes a mix of question types - like multiple choice, rating scales, and open-ended responses - to help you gather both quantitative data and deeper insights. With QuestionScout, you can easily customize this template, apply skip logic, and style it to match your brand - making it easy to create surveys that look great and get results.
