NYS Fair – Ending the Summer on a Great Note

The following post was written by Maggy Stewart, Graphic Designer and Marketing Coordinator at RMS.

According to a recent poll of Central New Yorkers conducted by Research & Marketing Strategies, Inc. using the RMS ViewPoint panel, 62 percent of survey respondents plan to go to the State Fair one or two times this year. With 98 percent of Central New York respondents having been to the fair before, 77 percent typically purchase their tickets in advance. Although 40 percent are unsure of the dates they plan to attend the Fair, the most popular date visitors plan to attend is on Labor Day, also known as the Summer Send Off “Dollar Day.” More details, as well as the full infographic can be found below.

“In Central New York, the end of summer means the beginning of the Great New York State Fair,” said Zach Shaw, RMS ViewPoint Panel Associate. “The State Fair is a longstanding tradition throughout the entire region and is a great topic for a CNY survey.” Respondents surveyed were asked about favorite Fair attractions, preferred foods and Midway rides and games, spending habits, concert options and more. “Central New York continues to reign as a top test market in the country, and many brands and new products are exhibited at this highly anticipated and well-attended annual event,” said Sandy Baker, RMS Senior Director of Business Development & Corporate Strategy.

Drawing hundreds of thousands with a surplus of food, fun and entertainment, the New York State Fair attracts crowds locally and across the region. Sixty-three percent of respondents travel less than 20 miles to get to the State Fair, while 15 percent travel 21-30 miles, eight percent travel 31-40 miles, six percent travel 41-50 miles, seven percent travel 51-100 miles and two percent travel more than 100 miles. Respondents typically go to the Fair with one other person, and the average amount of time spent at the fair is 6.8 hours.

While spending a decent amount of daylight hours at the Fairgrounds, attendees have developed their own personal lists of “must see (and taste)” attractions and foods while visiting. When asked to pick all of their favorite Fair attractions, 75 percent of respondents yet again identified the Chevy Court as their favorite, followed by the butter sculpture (73 percent), Center of Progress Building (69 percent), sand sculpture (68 percent), Taste NY (57 percent), Horticulture Building (54 percent), beer/wine tent (45 percent), International Building (45 percent), art and craft exhibitions (38 percent), Midways rides and games (37 percent), Science and Industry Building (31 percent), and Iroquois Indian Village (29 percent). When it came to the Midway attractions, the Ferris Wheel came in as the favorite ride with 22 percent of respondents’ votes. Bumper Cars and Tilt-A-Whirl both followed with 17 percent. Also on the Midway, the water squirt race was voted the favorite game by survey respondents with 35 percent.

It’s no secret one of the biggest attractions at the State Fair is the enormous list of favorite fare and food vendors. When asked which Fair foods were favorites of respondents, pizze frite fried dough came in at number one with 49 percent, followed by milk (48 percent), Gianelli sausage (43 percent), potatoes (41 percent), BBQ (41 percent), ice cream (35 percent), Blooming Onion (34 percent), gyro (34 percent), funnel cake (29 percent), roasted ear of corn (27 percent), deep fried treats (25 percent), and fries (21 percent). Visitors spend an average of $121.36 while at the Fair, and aside from food and drink, respondents said they typically buy household items, jewelry/clothes and lottery tickets.

When asked which musical acts respondents were most excited to see this year, Chicago was top pick with 44 percent. Florida Georgia Line came in second with 29 percent, followed by Daughtry (28 percent), Keith Urban (27 percent), Air Supply (26 percent), ZZ Top and Gregg Allman (26 percent), The Commodores (21 percent), Culture Club (19 percent), Toto (17 percent), Flo Rida (15 percent), and Three Days Grace (13 percent).

When asked to describe the New York State Fair in one word, respondents’ top answers were “fun,” “awesome,” “tradition,” “interesting,” “great” and “exciting.”

The RMS ViewPoint poll was conducted from August 3, 2016 to August 10, 2016. A total of 1417 surveys were completed. Respondents consisted of RMS ViewPoint Research Panel members, as well as the general community. All respondents reside in New York State. For more information on RMS ViewPoint, visit RMSViewPoint.com.

Research & Marketing Strategies (RMS) is a full service marketing and market research firm located in Baldwinsville, NY. RMS provides an array of research methodologies that result in actionable analytics and recommendations for the client to enhance decision making. RMS is also home to QualiSight, a premier focus group and interview research facility, and RMS ViewPoint, a leading consumer research panel in Central New York. Visit our website at RMSresults.com.

 

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The Man, The Myth, The Millennial

The following post was written by Maggy Stewart, Graphic Designer and Marketing Coordinator at RMS.

It’s a common question, we hear it all the time from clients: how do we market to (and actually captivate) millennials – the now largest generation in the U.S. workforce? Stumble upon any informative, well known business website today and you’re bound to see an article dissecting the new “It” generation: the millennials. According to Time Magazine, the notorious generation has finally taken over the American labor force, and is expected to surpass the Baby Boomers as the largest living generation in the United States. And with such a large target (75.4 million people, according to Pew Research), marketers figured they couldn’t miss. But as more and more millennials came into the market with impressive (and unnoticed) purchasing power, marketers struggled even more to understand them. But why the disconnect? A lot of brands out there are continuing to sell the traditional “get married, buy a house, start a family” agenda, because that’s what older generations based a lot of their spending upon. Those tactics aren’t hooking millennials, and that’s an issue because millennials are buying, they just buy differently than marketers are familiar with.

Not only are millennials’ spending habits different, but they’re so offbeat from previous generations’ that they’re completely misunderstood. This is mainly because they’re approaching adulthood in a contrasting way when compared to their older counterparts. So why the sudden shift? One reason is the economy and the scars left behind following the recession. Milestones of adulthood—purchasing a home, tying the knot, having children—are simply not as feasible anymore, hence the delay. In addition to the economic issues, millennials grew up in a truly evolving world where options for anything were endless, in turn paving the avenues for many “adulting” alternatives. Brand strategists and marketers need to consider the fact that this powerful generation was raised in a world of choice—some moved out of mom and dad’s years ago, but became adults based on their own terms, not tradition. This is the largest population to date and some of them just graduated high school. “Brands need to stop waiting for millennials to ‘grow up’ and fall in line with what past generations have done. A lot of them already have; it just looks different than it did in the past. Brands and marketers need to shift and adapt to this reality, instead of waiting for one that won’t come true,” warns Patrick Spenner, a Forbes Contributor.

So what’s a brand strategist to do? For starters, acknowledge their lifestyles and figure out how to “amplify their reality,” writes Spenner. Market the values that drive them, not the ones that deter them: focus on social groups, not life stages. You also need to consider the medium to which you’re trying to reach them. Eighty-five percent of millennials own smartphones (according to Entrepreneur), so naturally your most aggressive marketing strategy should come from a mobile platform. Optimize your landing pages, improve your loading times, be blunt with your call to action, and then get creative. And finally, you need to be engaging. Ninety-five percent of millennials cite friends as the most trusted source of product information (according to Entrepreneur). Build a customer base of brand evangelists and you’ll see your notoriety skyrocket more than it ever did with a print ad or Facebook post. “The best way to get your message heard among millennials is to have millennials themselves spreading the word,” writes Sujan Patel, Entrepreneur contributor. As a takeaway, consider these as preemptive tactics; even if millennials aren’t part of your target audience right now, they will be soon. Very soon. Adapt now, or forever hold your peace.

RMS is a full-service market research firm located in Syracuse, NY. If you are interested in learning more about our research capabilities, please contact Sandy Baker, our Senior Director of Business Development & Corporate Strategy at SandyB@RMSresults.com or by calling 1-866-567-5422. Visit our website at www.RMSresults.com.

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Image and Awareness Focus Groups Case Study

This blog post is a summary of a recent project completed by Research & Marketing Strategies, Inc. (RMS). 

Background: An advertising firm partnered with Research & Marketing Strategies, Inc. (RMS) to conduct image and awareness focus groups for their client, an international quick service restaurant. The end-client wanted to better understand consumer perceptions of the restaurant’s menu, products, pricing, facilities, employees, and the brand overall. The market research objective was to gather the insights needed for the restaurant to improve the customer experience.

Approach: The study consisted of three 100 minute focus groups. Focus group participants were selected from the RMS ViewPoint Research Panel based upon the frequency that they visit the restaurant. The first focus group included millennials who were either current or former restaurant users. The second group was made up of current restaurant users, and the last group included only former users of the quick service restaurant. RMS staff moderated the focus groups, which were held at the RMS QualiSight Focus Group facility in Baldwinsville, NY. RMS recruited 12 participants for each group, to ultimately seat 10 to participate in the discussion. RMS completed the project in approximately six weeks.

Results: Here are some highlights of the study’s findings:

• Participants reviewed several commercials, identified their favorite, and provided feedback on how the commercials could be improved. This allowed the end-client to determine the appropriate message for each customer type.
• Research revealed what the restaurant is known for among consumers, allowing the end-client to identify brand strengths and areas of opportunity.
• Participants identified top competitors and reasons for choosing them instead of the end-client restaurant. Consumers noted that they are willing to pay slightly more for what they perceive to be fresher, higher quality ingredients.
• It was clear that the consumer definition of “fresh” has evolved in recent years. Although the client was a previous leader in the healthy eating movement, focus group participants felt that the quick service restaurant has not evolved with the perception of fresh and has thus faced steep competition by newer restaurant entrants to the healthy eating movement.
• Participant feedback revealed the need for the restaurant to update the quality and variety of ingredients, and refresh the restaurant facilities. One of the recommendations offered by RMS in the project report included the suggestion that the restaurant re-tool the commercials to demonstrate the improvements made in an effort to better meet consumer needs.

RMS is a full-service market research firm located in Baldwinsville, NY. If you are interested in learning more about our research capabilities, please contact Sandy Baker, our Senior Director of Business Development & Corporate Strategy at SandyB@RMSresults.com or by calling 1-866-567-5422. Visit our website at www.RMSresults.com.

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What Is Green Marketing?

The following post was written by Zach Shaw, Panel Coordinator at RMS.

Companies who engage in green marketing showcase their services and products based on environmental factors or awareness. These companies consider long-term environmental and social impacts of business operational practices such as processing, packaging and distribution. The goal of green marketing companies is to surpass traditional marketing strategies by promoting environmentally responsible core values; in turn connecting with consumers to drive brand awareness and  aiding in the creation of new product lines that will cater to new target markets.

Before integrating sustainable marketing into your company’s marketing plan, it’s important to review the company’s current marketing mix, also known as the four Ps of marketing. The four Ps of marketing consist of product, price, place and promotion.  Properly developing these four strategies is key to developing a sustainable marketing plan.

Product – A product is a tangible good or an intangible service that is available to consumers. Companies which employ sustainable marketing strategies to promote their product(s) should consider the materials, ingredients, and how it is manufactured.  A company should look for natural and organic materials and also sourcing locally to and through fair trade suppliers, utilizing environmentally friendly materials, and using lean manufacturing and distribution methods that minimize the company’s carbon footprint. Packaging also plays a significant role in sustainability. Companies who wish to use green marketing to promote their sustainable products often utilize the following for packaging: renewable materials, recyclable products, and ensuring the product-to-packaging ratio is a tight fit to produce no waste.

Price – A company must also investigate pricing for sustainable products. These products are often more expensive than competitor products due to the high cost of ingredients, in turn jeopardizing market acceptance. This causes a “green pricing gap,” as some consumers may want to purchase products that are better for the environment, but either do not want to, or are financially unable to pay a higher price.  Although gaining in popularity, many consumers will not pay more for these premium products if they do not perceive additional value from the product (ex: a lower electricity bill from energy efficient appliances). Companies can minimize the price barrier by either reducing the cost of the product or by implementing marketing which raises the perceived value gained by the product to justify a higher price point.

Place – A place signifies where a consumer can purchase the sustainable product or service. This can be a physical brick-and-mortar location or a virtual store.  Brick-and-mortar storefronts focusing on sustainability should consider investing in energy efficient stores. You may want to “go paperless” for billing, install energy saving electronics and lighting to power the store, and make reusable shopping bags available for consumers to reduce your carbon foot print.  Virtual stores should ensure their distribution is also using green practices. This may include using alternative fuels; planning fuel efficient delivery loads and distribution routes; and reducing packaging for delivery trucks. There is increasing trending consumer demand for companies to buy local, and engaging in this practice will allow the company to support local businesses while also decreasing the company’s carbon emissions – both of which will help enhance community and consumer perception.

Promotion – In addition to being known for quality, a company offering sustainable products or services should have strong brand recognition for the positive impact the good or service has on the environment.  To effectively promote the product or service, you’ll need to consider which strategy will be most effective with your target audience. Some promotional activities to consider include:

• Traditional advertising (television, digital, radio).
• Enticing consumers to purchase the product or service through incentives such as coupons, or charitable donations.
• Driving awareness through public relations activities such as press releases.
• Investing in digital techniques by creating a mobile-friendly website, utilizing search engine optimization, or purchasing digital advertising such as retargeting, pay-per-click, e-mail , or blogging.
• A more personal approach to selling the product or service (word-of-mouth/referrals, cold calling).
• Utilizing social media to drive engagement with the brand.
• Mobile marketing that allows customers to use digital coupons and view digital advertisements.

These four Ps will assist your company in the development of your company’s green marketing mix. RMS is a full-service market research firm located in Syracuse, NY. If you are interested in learning more about our services, please contact Sandy Baker, our Senior Director of Business Development & Corporate Strategy at SandyB@RMSresults.com or by calling 1-866-567-5422. Visit our website at www.RMSresults.com.

Sources:

• http://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/green-marketing.asp
• http://www.saylor.org/site/textbooks/The%20Sustainable%20Business%20Case%20Book.pdf

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What Does a Research Analyst & Social Media Strategist Do? A Day in the Life…

My name is Erica, and I’m a Research Analyst and Social Media Strategist at Research & Marketing Strategies, Inc. (RMS). Some of our readers may know me as a project lead, a LinkedIn connection, or former colleague or classmate. Being the advocate that I am, I fully believe in the power of social media, but a few bullet points that breeze through my job description on LinkedIn is not the best way to understand my role and daily life at RMS. Let’s break it down…

Unless I have an early morning client meeting or work function, I start most days at the office by checking email. Although there’s a plethora of research that suggests NOT checking email as soon as you get to the office is best, I find it’s a great way to ease my brain into the day to come. And I keep up with my email throughout the day, so I rarely have more than 20 emails to sift through on any given morning. Once my inbox is tidy, I switch gears and put on my social media management hat. I hop on Buffer to check the social media posts that have been uploaded for the day by our fabulous Social Media Content & Panel Coordinator. We source and create most of our content in advance, so by the time I see them in Buffer, they’ve already been “approved.” Now I’m just double checking that there are no spelling/formatting errors, ensuring that links work, and graphics are displaying properly. This is also the time when I’ll post a company blog update, if we have one scheduled that day. Once that’s ready to rock and roll, the rest of my day will consist of various meetings, client communications, and project work.

As any of my colleagues past and present will tell you – I’m a morning person. Knowing that I do my absolute BEST work in the AM hours, I purposely tackle the projects and tasks that require extra brain power first. So if I have a project that is wrapping up, I’ll dive into the reporting next, and power through data analysis or weaving together an executive summary with “next step” recommendations. Other days I might draft a business proposal and cost sheet for new work, create an online survey script or in-depth interview guide, or analyze our social media performance data and update our dashboard. I’ll head out for lunch to re-energize my brain, and jump into the next task of the day. I might be scheduling and conducting a large volume of interviews for a project, updating clients on a project via email or phone, or meeting with colleagues to brainstorm about business development opportunities or a client report. I could also be drafting my next blog post; reviewing trends in social media, market research and higher education; or reviewing and updating our social media strategy. RMS is a company that truly empowers employees to have a work-life balance, so most days I’m able to leave the office on time. I’ve found over the years that this work-life balance is a key component to employee satisfaction, efficiency, and quality of work product produced. Work to live – don’t live to work! That’s life in a nutshell at RMS for a Research Analyst and Social Media Strategist. Feel free to leave a comment with any questions you may have about working in market research, in this or similar roles, or about RMS!

If you’re interested in learning more about RMS, please visit our website. If you’d like more information about the services we offer, please contact our Senior Director of Business Development & Corporate Strategy, Sandy Baker, at SandyB@RMSresults.com or by calling 315-635-9802.

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Most Preferred Survey Incentives by Research Panel Participants

Over the past few years, Research & Marketing Strategies, Inc. (RMS) has cultivated and continually managed an internal research panel consisting of thousands of consumers.  The research panel has proven to be a cost-effective asset available to our clients. Having the panel at our disposal, we have the flexibility to recruit from a highly engaged audience at a fraction of the cost of a sample house. Since engagement with panel members is crucial, RMS recently implemented a survey to determine the incentive preferences of our panel members, and their likelihood to respond to a survey with a given incentive.

Here are 6 key takeaways we found:

1. When asked how often they prefer to receive survey opportunities, a majority of respondents (73%) suggested they would like to receive survey invitations whenever they are available. Why this is great information to know: This means there is minimal risk of overwhelming the ViewPoint Panel members with too many survey invitations.

2. The maximum amount of time our panelists are willing to spend completing a survey varies, with nearly a third of respondents willing to spend between 3 and 15 minutes or more per survey. Why this is great information to know: Industry standards point to shorter being better when it comes to survey length. However, our panel members have indicated a willingness to take longer than average surveys. Although they may be willing to participate, there is always a concern regarding burn-out with lengthier surveys, so we will still err on the side of caution with this one and avoid long surveys where possible.

3. When asked how likely they would be to complete an online survey for certain incentives, a majority of respondents (78%) are likely to respond for a chance to win a $100 gift card. Interestingly, nearly the same number of respondents (68%) are likely to respond to a survey with a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card. Why this is great information to know:  This shows that our panel members are slightly more willing to respond to a survey with a chance to win a raffle for a larger honorarium, although offering multiple smaller incentives is still a good option. The benefit of offering multiple smaller prizes is that it leaves a positive participation experience on more individuals.

4. When asked to indicate how they prefer to be rewarded for participating in research, the bulk of respondents prefer to receive money (76%) or an Amazon gift card (71%) as an incentive, and nearly half of respondents (40%) are not likely to use a code for a free movie from Redbox. Why this is great information to know: The use of Redbox codes is an affordable option which has allowed companies to reward many respondents for their participation. However, there is only value in rewarding many participants if it is an incentive that they feel is appropriate for the task. This finding tells us that for most of our research, offering Redbox codes is not the optimal choice, but cash or Amazon gift card incentives are viable options.

5. If respondents had to pick a favorite incentive, most prefer money (60%), with Amazon gift cards taking a distant second as the number one preference (25%). Why this is great information to know: Although Amazon gift cards hold value for our panelists, cash should be offered when possible, as it resonates with the majority.

6. When asked if they participate in any other research panels, 74% indicated that they do not. Why this is great information to know: Members of the RMS ViewPoint Research Panel are our neighbors, friends, family members, and community members. The members of our panel are real consumers, like you, instead of professional survey takers that can be found in larger research panels. Through our rigorous recruitment and quality assurance processes, we are able to ensure a higher level of quality for the data that result from surveys taken by our panel.

If you would like to learn more about using the RMS ViewPoint Research Panel for your next market research project, please contact Sandy Baker, Sr. Director of Business Development & Corporate Strategy at SandyB@RMSresults.com or by calling 1-866-567-5422.

Interested in learning more about joining the panel? The thoughts and opinions provided will directly influence the decisions of local, regional, and global businesses! Signing up is quick and easy at: http://www.RMSresults.com/ViewPoint

To stay up to date with all of the latest RMS ViewPoint Research Panel news and information:

Follow us on Twitter @RMS_ViewPoint!

Like us on Facebook!

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The Classic Debate: Market Research vs. Marketing Research

The terms “market research” and “marketing research” are so commonly used interchangeably that it often leaves people wondering about the difference between the two. Is there really a difference? Absolutely. Qualtrics summed it up perfectly on their blog: “market research is a subset of marketing research.” While marketing in general often revolves around products, pricing, places, and promotions; marketing research can encompass all four measures, but market research tends to focus on “places.” Market researchers are often tasked with identifying market or segment demand of something – be it a product, promotion, or other consumer-centric commodity. This is typically the initial phase of the research, which will inform the marketing research that is implemented during the later phase of a project.

Put even more simply, market research typically includes research activities relating to markets, while marketing research involves research tasks related to marketing. Below are some examples of market research projects and marketing research projects.

To understand the flow of market research to marketing research, consider this example. Client A is interested in conducting a market demand survey (market research) to determine whether the target audience of the commodity demonstrates enough interest to move forward to the product production phase. An online survey of the target audience reveals overwhelming interest in the commodity, so Client A moves forward with production. Several months later Client A returns, and wants to test several versions of the advertising that was developed for the commodity (marketing research). Focus groups comprised of individuals in the target market suggest that the current advertising may not be appropriate for the audience, so Client A goes back to the drawing board. A month later, Client A returns with a refined advertising portfolio, and an online survey suggests that the creative is effective in engaging the target market. Success! Clearly, this is a “perfect world” example, where all clients participate in both market research and marketing research as part of their strategy, but it provides a great example of the theoretical line of action between the two types of research.

Being the inquisitive type, I was not thinking solely about what is “right” in terms of terminology use for the two types of research, but what is most popular. This led me to stumble on a blog post that noted the difference in keyword popularity on Google for “market research” and “marketing research.” The blog post is somewhat outdated in today’s digital age, so I went to Google to mirror the search. Although market research is deemed a subset of marketing research, it appears that the former is used much more frequently. The term “market research” produced about 62,400,000 results, while “marketing research” resulted in 11,000,000. Logically, this could mean many things. It could be a signal that perhaps organizations are implementing market research but not marketing research (either because they did not proceed with the product/concept, or they simply did not conduct marketing research). Or it could mean that individuals are using the terms interchangeably. As a researcher, I’m rooting for the latter!

Research & Marketing Strategies (RMS) is a market research firm located in Syracuse, NY. If you are interested in learning more about our market research services, please contact the Senior Director of Business Development & Corporate Strategy, Sandy Baker at SandyB@RMSresults.com or by calling 1-866-567-5422.

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Market Research for Small Businesses | 4 Points to Consider

This blog post was written by our guest blogger Mark Dengler, President and Owner of Research & Marketing Strategies (RMS) Inc. – a market research vendor in Syracuse, NY.

As a small business owner, you may know you should do market research, you may want to do market research, but you think you can’t afford it.  While larger corporations have a larger budget, the reason they conduct market research is because the firms understand the importance of doing market research. Oftentimes, small business owners do not understand the Return on Investment (ROI) of market research.

RMS started out as a small business in 2002, so we recognize more than anyone that budgets are tight, and that marketing budgets are the first thing to be cut during tough times.  Having said that, here are some important things to keep in mind if you are part of a small or mid-size business (or starting a business) and are considering market research:

1) The Market Research Scope is Flexible – Quite often, RMS can customize the market research to fit any budget.  There are a multitude of qualitative and quantitative methodologies to gather the information you need.

2) You’ll Need to Have a Strong Understanding of the Market – Spending the money upfront on market research can easily develop into a long-term advantage for your business.  Local markets can vary, and it is important to have a good understanding of your community, local customers, and their purchasing patterns.  Understanding the needs of your potential customers is extremely important; matching those needs to your products and services will determine the success of the business.

3) Increase Your ROI for Advertising – If you are already doing advertising, you are on the right path.  In most cases, any advertising is good advertising.  However, determining the best way to allocate those advertising dollars and determining what messages would resonate most with customers could increase ROI significantly.

4) Catch Problems Before They Snowball – If your business is off to a slow start or you are three years in and still struggling to gain ground, market research can determine the problems your company is facing and make recommendations to help you gain market share.

Market research for a business is invaluable.  A business can fail for a variety of reasons, many of which can be avoided or mitigated through the use of market research.  Market research can answer many, if not all questions that a business owner has.  There is an endless amount of market research that can help small and mid-size businesses.  In the end, the short and long-term values of market research prove time and time again to be much more than the cost.

Mark Dengler is the president of Research & Marketing Strategies, Inc. (RMS) a market research firm located in Syracuse. For more information about RMS, visit www.RMSresults.com or call (315) 635-9802.

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Do We Need Market Research? | Ask RMS

All businesses engage in some form of market research.  Market research comes in all forms – both formal and informal.  One example of formalized market research would be a Fortune 50 company like Johnson & Johnson conducting a series of 16 different focus groups across the country to test three new varieties of Listerine, followed by a national online study to assess market impact of the new product.  An example of informal market research would be Flo the waitress at Bob’s Diner on Route 37 asking a customer “how were your eggs?”  The common thread to market research is simple.  Asking questions, listening to answers and solving problems.  While you may be asking yourself, “do we need market research?,”  the short answer is “yes,” but the more candid answer would be “you probably already do it.”  However, in most cases, informal and anecdotal market research is not enough and it will not give you the all-encompassing information you need.

Success often masks the need for market research.  The famous business author Peter Drucker wrote, “problems of success have ruined more organizations than has failure.”  The point he makes is that success blinds the need to constantly reinvent yourself and stay ahead of the curve.  Oftentimes businesses get complacent with their success and become too inward-looking.  It seems like one of the most basic business principles: Step 1 – find out what people think about us.  But some businesses fail in the fact they may want to find out what people think because it’s the right thing to do, but ultimately they don’t care and don’t act on the findings.

Market research enables businesses to get outside perspectives on their products and services.  By continually asking for feedback on operations, businesses are provided with data and action items to stay ahead of the curve.  Market research keeps businesses in touch with employees, customers, non-customers, competitors, the market and the industry.  It plays a vital role in identifying strengths and weaknesses of your business from an outsider’s perspective.  Market research facilitates progress.

While you may have your answer for “do we need market research,” you might be wondering “where to start” now?  If you have no experience with formal market research, a simple customer satisfaction survey is always a good first step.   However, you may have a unique problem that needs solving that is beyond what a short customer satisfaction survey could answer.  If you have a question about how market can help your business, click here to fill out a quick question form and send it to us here at Research & Marketing Strategies (RMS).  RMS is a market research consultant located in Upstate, NY.  We’ll review your message and give you our recommendation on how to best proceed.  Or if you’d like to talk to someone on our research team here at RMS, give us a call at 315-635-9802.

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Market Research Reports | Which is Better: More or Less?

As we’ve mentioned before, one of the more preferred tasks we are assigned in our role here in the Bunker at Research & Marketing Strategies (RMS) is data analysis and reporting.  The day that the fieldwork wraps up for our online survey or telephone work is the time when we kick it in gear for our clients.  The data analysis and reporting is the culmination of a lot of hard work from many parties involved in the project – and the report is the most tangible deliverable from an oftentimes intangible service like market research.  In essence, the report is the product that you’ve sold to the end-user of your service.

So, we often grapple with what is best for our client from a reporting standpoint.  Do they want just the basic, most topline and brief findings from the market research or do they want an in-depth report, with verbatims, and cross-tabs on all profiling questions and demographics?  Well, it depends on a number of factors – such as budget, for one.  Depending on the client, we have those who prefer one over the other, or even prefer both.  The RMS Analytics team likes to strive for a nice combination of the two.  Ultimately, we design customized reports to meet any need.

For the purpose of this blog post, I won’t be taking the budget factor into consideration (as it often trumps all of these other pros and cons.)  This blog post discusses the basic tradeoff of more versus less in a market research report.

A Dashboard Report (A.K.A., executive summary, topline, brief)

Pros:

• Provides a quick overview of market research – more likely to be acted upon faster by the client.
• Highlights only the key takeaways, offers quick turnaround for critical needs.
• A nice graphical way to display findings to a large audience – easy to comprehend.

 

Cons:

• Does not offer much depth or insight with regards to reading between the lines of data. 
• Does not report on all data inquired about in the market research study.
• May leave the ‘so what’ up to interpretation if not enough explanation is given by the analyst.

A Full Market Research Report (A.K.A., full deck, “the old 96er”)

Pros:

• An in-depth look at all findings from the market research, even the non-critical questions.
• Explores and digs for findings that may not be evident at first glance of the data.
• Includes full verbatims of open-ended questions with coded responses.

Cons:

• Report development time is much longer than a dashboard.
• Advanced analysis may confuse or overwhelm the reader or audience.
• May take a long time to review and result in a longer timeframe to act on results.

Should I Use a Dashboard or Full Report?

Interested in talking about how market research can help your business? Contact our Director of Business Development, Sandy Baker, at SandyB@RMSresults.com or call us at 315-635-9802.

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