Market research quick start guide: Using SurveyMonkey for brand and market insights
What you’ll get from this guide
Explore market research with SurveyMonkey using powerful solutions to drive business growth. In this guide, you’ll learn market research best practices for refining your project goals, leveraging advanced tools such as AI-powered analysis and real-time dashboards and effectively communicating your findings, regardless of your experience level.
CHAPTER 1
Market research best practices
Everything you need to know to launch strong DIY market research projects.
CHAPTER 2
The do’s and don’ts of market research
The most common mistakes and workarounds for gathering feedback that inspires action.
CHAPTER 3
The best market research tools for actionable data
Expert-built market research solutions for the most common study types.
CHAPTER 1
Market research best practices
Before you start gathering feedback, take a look at our recommendations for getting the most value out of SurveyMonkey’s market research solutions throughout the insights-gathering process.
Set yourself up for success
• Define your target audience. Determine the number of responses needed for statistically significant results by using our sample size calculator. Our global panel matches your marketing survey to your target audience from over 335M people across 130+ countries.
• Customise your survey to suit your objectives. Our surveys are optimised with best practices to improve the respondent experience, keep the length concise and avoid errors such as survey bias. However, you’ll still need to customise questions to align with research goals for easier filtering and segmentation during analysis.
• Plan your analysis and reporting strategy upfront. Determine your key metrics and the comparisons that you want to make prior to launch. By planning your analysis approach in advance, you’ll be well prepared to interpret the data and extract meaningful insights.
Get the best out of your audience
• Time survey launches right. The ideal time to launch a project really depends on your goals. More responses come in during the day and on weekdays. On weekdays, desktop/laptop responses are higher during the day and mobile responses are higher at night.
• Monitor key metrics as responses come in. Keep an eye on the response rate in real time, setting up parameters to check that your criteria are met. Our rigorously maintained global panel ensures data quality with advanced fraud detection and auto-replenishing for poor responses.
• Use SurveyMonkey’s AI-driven survey guidance. Using AI, you can scan survey results for issues such as speeding, straight-lining, profanity or gibberish. AI-powered automation also filters out responses that don’t meet quality standards, ensuring clean and reliable data analysis.
Accelerate insights for agile decision-making
• Use AI to surface insights quickly. SurveyMonkey uses machine learning to identify statistically significant trends in your data that you may have missed, such as which segments are driving key metrics or prefer a specific ad or product concept.
• Use real-time, dynamic dashboards. Highlight your findings with auto-updated, interactive survey dashboards. Customise dashboards to emphasise key insights for different audiences, such as executives or clients, to enable quick, data-driven decisions.
• Streamline data exporting, sharing and collaboration. Export data in PDF, PPT, XLS or CSV format to rapidly generate a summary report. Share the results with your team or clients, allowing multiple users to access, analyse and discuss the data and take meaningful action.
CHAPTER 2
The do’s and don’ts of market research
If you’re a little new to gathering feedback, you may experience some hiccups. But don’t worry, because these mistakes are common. Follow our market research best practices for tapping into and using the voice of your audience:
Do define your goals and target audience clearly
Balance your target criteria with a sufficient sample size that suits your budget and timeline; overly specific targeting for niche audiences may lead to longer survey completion times and increased costs.
Do customise the expert-built solutions
Tailor your expert-built surveys to align with your unique research objectives and target audience. This ensures survey result accuracy and leads to more impactful findings.
Do use AI to surface insights faster
Use AI and machine learning to quickly identify statistically significant data trends in order to determine which segment may be driving certain results.
Don’t set vague goals or oversample
Avoid launching surveys without clear objectives as this can lead to irrelevant or insufficient data. Only collect the responses that you need in order to meet your goals.
Don’t overlook key attributes
Don’t forget to include key attributes that are specific to your needs, such as behavioural or psychographic characteristics, in addition to demographic questions.
Don’t compromise on data quality
Ensure high-quality, accurate and compliant data thanks to platforms that automate panel maintenance and fraud detection.
CHAPTER 3
The best market research tools for actionable data
From uncovering new market opportunities to pressure-testing ideas and building go-to-market confidence, market research solutions from SurveyMonkey empower organisations to make data-driven decisions for a range of uses. From target audience research to product development to brand building, we’ve got you covered.
Get a market pulse
Market research challenges
Hit your moving targets. Uncover new business opportunities and stay competitive in an ever-shifting market. Gaining real-time insights into consumer or user needs, preferences and pain points is critical for identifying untapped market segments and developing targeted offerings.
SurveyMonkey solutions
• MaxDiff Analysis: Make better decisions about products and marketing messages.
• Price Optimisation (Van Westendorp): Find the optimal price point and range for your product or service.
• Usage and Attitudes: Build product and marketing strategies informed by purchase behaviour and drivers.
Pressure-test ideas
Market research challenges
Every decision matters, especially when resources are limited. Gathering insights early is crucial to refine ideas, mitigate risks and gain stakeholder buy-in faster. Quickly validate ideas and make data-driven decisions by combining advanced tools, reliable data sources and efficient processes.
SurveyMonkey solutions
• Concept Testing: Test product ideas and compare against industry benchmarks.
• Idea Screening: Quickly test and prioritise early-stage product or creative ideas with your target audience.
• Package Testing: Get shopper feedback about packaging designs to maximise appeal and persuasiveness.
Go to market with confidence
Market research challenges
Know what resonates with your audience. Inform winning marketing campaigns that help teams go to market with confidence by testing and optimising advertising creative, messaging and targeting to ensure maximum impact and ROI for sales and marketing teams.
SurveyMonkey solutions
• Ad Testing: Test marketing and advertising campaigns ahead of launches.
• Message and Claims Testing: Get feedback about messages, taglines, product copy and more.
• Video Testing: Find out how videos resonate with your target audience.
Conclusion
As industries and markets continue to change, market research plays a vital role in helping businesses remain competitive and adapt to new challenges and opportunities.
Successful market research requires a combination of strategic planning, effective execution and continuous learning. With the right tools and mindset, you can uncover valuable insights that shape the future of your organisation and the markets you serve.
Expert-built market research solutions by SurveyMonkey, combined with a commitment to best practices and continuous improvement, can empower you to gain valuable insights and drive meaningful results for your organisation.