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It’s easy to conduct market research online using market research surveys. Learn how to rapidly create compelling market research surveys in minutes.

man with laptop looking at insights

Market research surveys are intuitive and easy-to-use tools for gathering information from your target markets. Whether you’re a Fortune 500 company or a small startup, you can use market research surveys to gain a better understanding of your target audience.

You can use these surveys to access key demographic information, finding out just about anything from what customers like about your business to what kind of products your market needs.

In order for you to position yourself in such as way that you retain existing customers or gain new business, you’ll need the right data to back you up. Let’s discover how to create and conduct market research surveys to get the information you need. 

A market research survey is a research method used to gather insights, information and data from your target audience. Sending out a tailored survey allows you to collect extensive feedback on a large scale. With ample responses, you can turn survey results into actionable steps to improve your business.

Here’s a glimpse of some of the information you can gather with market research surveys:

  • Demographic information: Data on your customers’ gender identification, income level, age, highest level of education, location and more.
  • Purchasing habits: You can survey people’s buying habits, questioning how often they shop with your business.
  • Opinions: You can use market research surveys to ask your audience what they think about your products and services.
  • Desires: Survey your audience to gain insight into what they would like to see your business provide in the future or what is lacking in the market.
  • Intentions: Discover whether customers would be more or less likely to shop with your brand if you provided certain services.

As a form of data collection that’s quick to deploy and easy to scale, market research surveys are by far one of the best methods of gathering insight from your customers.

Although market research and marketing research sound similar, they provide different information.

Market research gathers data that can help a business serve its customers better. Market research is vital when businesses want to enhance their offerings and improve their products.

On the other hand, marketing research identifies data that can support your marketing team’s efforts. Marketing research revolves around the four P’s of marketing: product, pricing, place and promotion. Here’s what each of these segments of marketing research hopes to discover:

  • Product: Which aspects or features of the product or service are most valuable for a customer?
  • Pricing: Is the current price too high, too low or just right for customers?
  • Place: Is the product widely available via the purchase pathways that customers want to interact with?
  • Promotion: What forms of advertising and which delivery channel are best for the customer?

Simply put, marketing research is any data that informs the customer’s purchase decision. Marketing teams can use this data to enhance packaging, optimise pricing strategies and deliver effective advertising to the customer.

Market research is a much broader form of customer data capture that spans all customer touchpoints and focuses on the customer experience (CX) with your brand as good as it can be.

Before you begin your market research survey, it’s a good idea to become familiar with the two main types of market research: primary market research and secondary market research. 

DefinitionMethodsReal-world example
Primary market researchPrimary market research is the act of gathering data that you haven’t already collected.Conducting online surveys
Running a focus group
Hosting 1-1 customer interviews
Interviewing industry experts or SMEs
A business creates a survey about purchase habits and then shares it with its customers.
Secondary market researchSecondary market research is the act of gathering data that someone has already produced.Pre-existing company data
Pre-existing market data
Public records
Government reports
Public industry reports
Consumer market trend data
A business accesses an existing study to gather data on an industry trend that interests them.

When launching market research surveys, you should have a clear intent in mind. The more specific your survey is, the more precise the data you gather will be. 

Let’s explore some of the most common types of market research surveys.

A competitor research survey allows a business to discover who its competitors are and how its customers perceive them. 

Typical questions on a competitor research survey include purchase frequency questions and open-ended questions such as “When you think of this product category, which brands come to mind?”

You can use a competitor research survey template to rapidly measure your competitor ecosystem. 

The aim of a consumer behaviour survey is to understand where each customer is on their customer journey. By surveying how they feel about your brand against their purchasing stage, you can gather more information to help move them along their journey.

Typical questions in a consumer behaviour survey are:

  • Are you the primary decision-maker in your household regarding purchasing this product category?
  • How do you typically find out about brands in this product category?
  • Which of the following brands are you aware of?

A consumer behaviour survey template will allow you to monitor how your customer sentiment changes over time.

The public image of your brand can rapidly change, with customers developing opinions based on your public actions and advertising techniques. A brand personality survey monitors how your customers perceive your brand.

Here are some typical questions on a brand personality survey:

  • When was the last time you used this product category?
  • Which words first come to mind when you think of our brand?
  • How unique is our brand?

Get started with a brand personality survey template to understand your brand associations and how they change over time. 

A typical customer demographics survey will gather information about all relevant demographic features of your clients’ customers. By getting to know who makes up your clients’ audiences, you can better help them succeed.

Common questions on a customer demographics survey are:

  • How old is your target customer?
  • What gender does your target customer typically identify as?
  • What is the highest level of education your target customer has completed?

Get started with a typical customer demographics survey template to more effectively help your clients succeed.

Price is one of the central factors that influence buying decisions. A price testing survey will help evaluate whether or not your customers are happy with the amount they pay for your products and services.

Here are three routine questions on a price testing survey:

  • How often do you purchase this product category?
  • How much do you typically pay for this product category?
  • How satisfied are you with the amount of money you typically pay for this product category?

Use the SurveyMonkey price testing template to rapidly poll your audience and get the insights you need to optimise your pricing strategy.

woman with laptop listening

Take action on your market research survey knowledge. Here are a few of the most popular ways in which businesses use market research surveys and some information about how to get the best data out of them.

Surveys are a great opportunity to get input from your target market. With market research survey results from your target market, you can implement customer-centred, data-driven campaigns and solutions that exceed customer needs and drive business profitability.

If you have trouble finding your target market, you can reach them via our panel of respondents on SurveyMonkey Audience.

A market research survey can help you understand several aspects of your target market, allowing you to improve the quality of your decisions. This includes anything from understanding the potential market size to determining the optimal price for your products.

Before you earmark funds for any marketing plans or initiatives, you need to be confident that the strategies you’re considering will drive your success.