Market research can be an effective way of developing new product ideas and can also be used as part of a PR strategy in order to attract press coverage. For example, if your company conducts a survey that generates interesting new insights into your market sector, this may be of interest to editors at the relevant trade magazines.
A great way to collect this market research is through online surveys. People are tired of being stopped in the street by people with clipboards and online surveys are much quicker, easier and give people the freedom to complete them at a time that is convenient for them. Programmes like Survey Monkey mean that creating survey is now fast, simple and very low cost.
In order to create accurate results, it is important that your survey has as many responses as possible. One way of ensuring that people click ‘yes’ when asked to take your survey is by providing an incentive. People are far more likely to fill out your survey in order to enter a prize draw, even if the prize is something small. After all, everyone loves a freebie!
Getting people to complete your survey is just half the battle. When designing your survey you must ensure that the questions you ask are angled at getting you the information you need. If it is important for you to understand how different demographics are answering your questions, it may be useful to ask a couple of questions about the age and sex of each person at the start of the survey. This way, when you come to analyse the results it will be easier to notice any trends in the way that people answered the questions.
If you are using your survey as a marketing tool it is important to produce insightful, unique information that may catch the attention of journalists. Ensure that your questions are aimed at getting this information. Avoid asking anything too general or anything that could be answered in a neutral way as this will not produce data of any interest. If you are using your survey to gain an insight for your own product development, be sure to ask people about your current products, proposed products and ask if they have any ideas for new products that they may like to see.