Market Research Surveys – Types, Steps, Tips, & 20+ Questions

Are you tired of feeling like your business is constantly falling behind the competition?
No matter what you do, you just can’t seem to catch up!
As a business owner, it can be frustrating to watch your sales decline and not know what you’re doing wrong. The answer to this lies in a powerful tool that has helped many business owners stay ahead of the game — market research surveys.
By conducting these surveys, you can make data-driven decisions to improve your products, services, and marketing strategies.
In this guide, we’ll provide you with a quick overview of market research surveys, including what they are, why they’re important, how to conduct them, their purpose, types, benefits, actionable tips, and more.
So, let’s dive in and explore how market analysis surveys can help you grow your business in 2023.

What Is a Market Research Survey?

A market research survey is a questionnaire designed to gather data from a specific group of people about their opinions and preferences related to a particular product, service, or industry.
According to a Statista report, among all the quantitative methods used for market research, online surveys account for a major share of 89%.

Market research surveys differ from other types of surveys because they are specifically designed for a particular market or industry. They are typically more focused and targeted than general surveys.
These surveys can provide valuable insights into customer preferences, behavior, and opinions. This information can then be used to improve products and services, develop more effective marketing strategies, and stay ahead of the competition.

Purpose of Market Research Surveys

Just like it takes extensive skills to be a winner in the playing field, similarly, you need deep insights to steer any new concept or product deftly enough to win the market.

Let’s explore a few reasons why businesses employ market research surveys:

1. Gather Actionable Insights

Conducting market research surveys can help businesses make data-driven decisions, improve their products and services, and develop more effective marketing strategies.
These surveys provide businesses with objective data that can be used to make informed decisions. By gathering data directly from customers, businesses can better understand their needs and preferences.

2. Improve Product Quality

Imagine this: You are a software provider and find it challenging to understand the specific features, functionalities, and integrations that would best cater to your target customers’ needs. To ensure that you develop a product that truly meets their requirements, who better to provide valuable insights than your customers themselves?
In a situation like this, a market research survey can get you the right data on customer preferences that you can use further to develop new products that better meet their needs.

3. Validate The Demand

The probability of your product failing amplifies when you are planning to launch a product and then trying to find potential buyers.
Well, to keep such a situation at bay, validate the demand and profitability of your product before diving into the production/development process. Market research surveys could help you attain the desired customer, market, and competitor’s data to save both the cost and efforts that could end up wasted otherwise.

Read More: Product Market Fit: An Ultimate Guide

4. Make Products Cost-Effective

Budget often remains a potential concern for businesses while planning to launch a new product in the market. Hence, incorporating the survey for market research helps you avoid huge losses.
Depending on other sources, such as focus group discussions, can limit the responses to a certain number of participants and usually requires massive budgets. On the other hand, the availability of Market Survey tools makes it more effective to garner advanced market insights while saving a lot of time and money.

5. Understand Competitor Products Better

What can you do to keep your customers from switching to your competitors? Well, the foremost is to offer a better deal after analyzing your competitors’ data.
For example, if you are unaware of the competitive prices of a similar product, you might end up charging way more than the prevailing prices. In doing that, you will lose a large chunk of your potential market and eventually take your product toward failure.

Read More: What is the Purpose of Surveys & What Are Its Benefits?

How Market Research Surveys Can Help Your Business

The scope for market research services is expanding rapidly, showing a significant interest in market research as we enter 2023.
The global revenue of the market research industry exceeded 81 billion U.S. dollars in 2022 and has grown more than twofold since 2008.

If you want to stay ahead of the competition, it’s time to start investing in market research surveys. Here are some benefits of conducting these surveys:

1. Understand your customers
   Market research surveys can help you understand your customers’ needs, preferences, and behaviors. This information can help you improve your products and services and tailor your marketing strategies to better meet your customers’ needs.
2. Identify market trends
   Market research surveys can help you identify market trends and steer ahead of your peers. By understanding what’s popular and what’s not, you can adjust your products and services to cater to the changing needs of your target audience.
3. Improve customer satisfaction
   Market research surveys can help you identify areas where your customers are dissatisfied and make improvements to increase customer satisfaction. This can lead to increased customer loyalty and retention.

1. Optimize pricing strategies
   Market research surveys can help you determine the optimal price points for your products and services. By understanding what your customers are willing to pay, you can set prices that are competitive and profitable.
2. Make informed business decisions
   By gathering data and insights through market research surveys, you can make informed business decisions. This can help you minimize risks and maximize opportunities for growth and success.

Here is a quick video on how to access recent activity reports for your surveys:

How to Conduct a Market Research Survey?

While jotting down all the factors to create market research surveys, it’s best to keep your business objectives in mind. This will help you craft relevant questions that can fetch detailed and accurate insights. 

It is also important to remember that there’s no such thing as the ‘best market research survey questions’ because it is a widely subjective industry with different demands and requirements. 

Market research surveys could cover a wide range of topics to effectively gauge deep market insights, and because of the nature of your queries and business goals, the types of questions included in a survey will also differ. 

Follow through this section to discover some of the best ways to nail your market research efforts via effective surveys:

1. Determine the target audience & sample size:

Before creating a survey, determine who your target audience is and how many people you need to survey to get accurate insights. 

For example, if you’re conducting a survey about a new product, your target audience would be potential customers. Also, ensure that your sample size is large enough because a small survey pool is prone to doling out skewed results.

Read More: How to Find Survey Participants & Respondents

Here are some examples of market research goals stated as examples:

• What other products are similar to our brand?
• Who are our top competitors?
• What do customers like most about a competitor’s new product/service?
• What made people choose another company over ours?

2. Develop a set of survey questions that are clear, concise, and unbiased

The survey questions should be designed to collect the information that is relevant to your research objectives.
It’s important to use clear and concise language to avoid confusion or misinterpretation. Avoid using leading questions or questions that are biased towards a certain answer.
For example, asking a double-barreled question like “How important is it for the product to be fast and user-friendly?” will not get you separate insights on how users prefer user-friendliness or fast products. Here, asking the questions separately could get you more precise data than otherwise.

Read More: Survey Question: 250+Examples, Types & Best Practice

3. Distribute the surveys & collect responses

Once the survey is created, it’s time to distribute it to the target audience. There are several ways to distribute a survey, such as via email, social media, direct links, or embedding it on your website. It’s important to choose the appropriate distribution method that is most convenient for the target audience.
As the survey is distributed, responses will start to come in. Keep track of the responses and ensure that all responses are recorded accurately.
You can use ProProfs Survey Maker to automate this process, as the app has a feature to collect and analyze the responses in its built-in dashboard without requiring manual handling.

4. Incentivize participation to increase response rates

Offering an incentive, such as a discount or a chance to win a prize, can increase survey participation rates.
However, it should also be noted that perks such as monetary incentives could skew the results by making them speak only positively about your brand – resulting in erroneous data.
Go for an incentive that offers a free initial subscription to a premium product or service, urging the respondents to be glued to your brand for long periods rather than walking away after collecting discount coupons.

5. Ask relevant questions & follow up regularly

Ensure the survey questions are focused on gathering data that is relevant to the business’s goals. This helps increase the probability that the insights gained are actionable.
As the next step, test the survey with a small group of people to help to identify any issues with the survey questions or the survey platform.
Amidst all this, don’t forget to follow up with your targets regularly.
Following up is the gesture to gently remind people who might have missed completing your survey in their busy lives.
Once you are in the middle of your first phase, consider sending follow-ups to the participants who haven’t completed their surveys yet. Also, if you aren’t already offering incentives, include them with follow-ups to ensure better response rates.

Read More: Proven Tips to Avoid Leading and Loaded Questions in Your Survey

Types of Market Research Surveys

Considering the plausible benefits associated with market research surveys, professionals across the globe leverage several ways to garner market insights for their upcoming products.
Let’s discuss some common ways:

1. Brand Awareness Survey

Have you ever wondered how well-known your brand is among your target audience? Conduct a brand awareness survey to find it out!
This type of survey is designed to measure how familiar your target audience is with your brand and how well they recognize it.

Brand awareness surveys can be helpful in several ways. Firstly, it can help you identify any gaps in your brand awareness strategy. For example, if your target audience is not familiar with your brand, you may need to focus on increasing visibility through marketing campaigns or social media.
Secondly, it can help benchmark your performance against your competitors. This lets you understand how your brand is perceived in the market and scope out areas for improvement.
When designing a brand awareness survey, it’s important to ask questions that measure both aided and unaided brand awareness.

• Aided awareness refers to how well your target audience recognizes your brand when they are given a prompt, such as a logo or a tagline.
• Unaided awareness refers to how well your target audience recognizes your brand without any prompts. It’s important to ask both types of questions to get a complete picture of your brand awareness.

In addition, you can ask questions about your brand’s reputation and attributes. This can help you understand how your brand is perceived by your target audience and identify areas for improvement.
The business insights gleaned from such surveys are used to gauge and improve purchase decisions among both existing and potential customers.
For example, you can use these questions to make the most out of your brand awareness surveys:

• What is the first brand you think of to purchase an XYZ product? (Characters remaining 100)
• What aspects can we improve on our existing product? (Characters remaining 500)
• What words come to mind when you think of our brand? (Characters remaining 100)
• How would you describe our brand to a friend? (Characters remaining 100)

2. Customer Satisfaction Surveys

A Customer Satisfaction Survey measures how satisfied customers are with their experience of a particular product or service. It’s a great way to get feedback from customers and understand how well your business is meeting their needs and expectations.

The main goal of a Customer Satisfaction Survey is to identify areas where your business is doing well and areas where it can improve.
By measuring satisfaction and gathering feedback, businesses can identify areas for improvement and develop effective strategies to enhance the customer experience.
This can lead to increased customer loyalty, better word-of-mouth marketing, and, ultimately, more business.

But what makes a good Customer Satisfaction Survey?

Well, it’s important to ask questions that are clear, concise, and unbiased. You want to get honest feedback from your customers, so it’s important to avoid leading questions or questions that are too general. Also, make sure that the survey is easy to complete and not too time-consuming.

Read More: 15 Best Online Survey Tools & Software in 2022

3. Product Feedback Surveys

Needless to say, a lot of products exist that offer exactly the same features and cater to the similar needs of the people just as your own products. If you want to know how you are faring against your competitors, a Product Feedback survey is your best bet.

Product Feedback surveys aim to understand how customers use your products or services, what they like about them, and what they don’t like. This can help businesses make informed decisions about product development, marketing, and customer service. By listening to customer feedback, businesses can improve their products or services and create a better customer experience.
Product feedback surveys also provide you with a data-centric understanding of your existing products. This will not only help you with your new product launch but also let your customers test out your existing products to understand what’s best about them and what could be improved.

Read More: Product Feedback Surveys: Questions, Examples & Types

4. Market Segmentation Surveys

Market Segmentation Surveys are a type of survey that helps businesses divide their target market into smaller groups based on specific characteristics, such as demographics, interests, or behaviors.

It’s a great way to understand the different segments of your target audience and tailor your marketing campaigns to each group based on their unique needs and preferences. This can help your brand develop effective marketing strategies that resonate with each group and drive more sales.

To make your survey stand out, you should:

• Clearly define the specific characteristics you want to measure. This will help you tailor your questions to gather the most relevant information.
• Avoid using complex language or industry jargon that may confuse respondents. Use concise and easy-to-understand questions instead to get the data that you can actually use.
• Take the time to analyze your survey results and identify the different segments within your target audience. Use this information to tailor your marketing campaigns to each group and improve your overall business strategy.

5. Concept Testing Surveys

If you are a business owner considering launching a new product or service, you might want to consider using concept testing surveys to evaluate your ideas before launching them!
Concept testing surveys allow you to gather feedback from potential customers on your product or service concept.
Using these, you can identify potential issues or areas for improvement before investing in the development and launch of a new product or service. This feedback considerably reduces the risk of a new launch failing simply because it doesn’t resonate with your target audience.
Additionally, these surveys can help you figure out the shortcomings in your existing products. By gathering feedback on specific features or benefits, you can make changes to better meet the needs of your target audience.

They are usually conducted online or through phone interviews, where the respondents are asked to provide feedback on the features, benefits, and overall appeal of your product or service.

6. Advertising Effectiveness Surveys

As important as launching business campaigns are, it is equally important to gauge how effective they are in achieving their goals, lest your budget is squandered for nothing.

• That’s where advertising effectiveness surveys come in. These surveys are designed to measure how well your advertising is working and how it’s impacting your target audience.
• They typically gather feedback on your advertising, such as-
• How memorable it is
• How persuasive it is
• Whether it’s driving them to take action, etc.

These surveys get you in-depth feedback on how well your ad strategies are resonating with your target audience, which, in turn, can help you make informed decisions about how to improve your advertising campaigns and make them more effective.

Additionally, you can identify which advertising channels are working best for your business. For example, you might find that your social media advertising is more effective than print advertising. This will help you allocate your advertising budget more effectively and get the most out of your campaigns.

7. Pricing Research Surveys

As one of the most important types of market research surveys out there, these surveys are all about determining the right price for your product or service.
Pricing Research surveys might ask questions like, “How much would you be willing to pay for this product?” or “Do you think this product is too expensive?” to gain valuable insights into how your target audience perceives the value of your product or service.

This feedback can help you make informed decisions about how to maximize sales and profitability.
Additionally, Pricing Research surveys can help you identify which pricing strategies are most effective for your business. For example, you might find that offering a discount or bundling your product with another product is more effective than simply lowering the price.

7 Tips for Creating Effective Market Research Surveys

With so many factors to consider, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and end up with a survey that doesn’t provide the insights you need.
But fear not!
With these tips and tricks, you can create a market research survey that not only provides valuable insights but also engages your target audience.

1. Define your research objectives:

Before creating a survey, it’s important to define your research objectives. What do you want to learn from the survey? What decisions will you make based on the results? Having clear research objectives will help you create a focused and effective survey.

2. Keep it short and simple:

People are more likely to complete a survey if it’s short and easy to understand. Keep your survey concise, and avoid using technical jargon or complex language.

3. Eliminate survey bias:

Make sure your survey is free of various forms of bias, such as-

• Sampling bias
• Acceptance and dissent bias
• Question order bias
• Personal bias

4. Use clear and specific questions:

Your survey questions should be clear and specific to avoid confusion or misinterpretation. Avoid asking leading questions or questions that are too general.

5. Use a mix of question types:

Using a mix of question types, such as multiple-choice, open-ended, and rating scales, can provide more comprehensive insights into your target audience.

Read More: Different Question Types for Surveys and What They Mean

6. Test your survey:

Before distributing your survey to your target audience, test it with a small group of people to ensure it’s effective and easy to understand.

7. Consider the timing and distribution method:

Timing and distribution methods can impact response rates. Consider the best time to distribute the survey and the most effective distribution method for your target audience.

Read More: How to Fix Survey Problems: Your Ultimate Guide

20+ Market Research Questions for Your Survey Campaigns

Given are some sample market research questions for your survey campaigns, categorized by survey type.
Concept Testing Surveys:

• How appealing is the concept of our new product/service?
• Which features of our product/service are most appealing to you?
• How likely are you to purchase our product/service?
• What do you think is the main benefit of our product/service?
• How does our product/service compare to our competitors’ offerings?

Brand Awareness Surveys:

• Have you heard of our brand before?
• What do you know about our brand?
• How likely are you to recommend our brand to a friend?
• What comes to mind when you think of our brand?
• How likely are you to purchase from our brand in the future?

Customer Satisfaction Surveys:

• How satisfied are you with our product/service?
• How likely are you to purchase from us again?
• How responsive is our customer service team?
• How easy is it to use our product/service?
• How well does our product/service meet your needs?

Market Segmentation Surveys:

• What is your age?
• What is your gender?
• What is your income level?
• What is your occupation?
• What is your educational background?

Pricing Research Surveys:

• How much would you be willing to pay for our product/service?
• How does the price of our product/service compare to our competitors’ offerings?
• What pricing strategy would be most appealing to you?
• How does the price of our product/service impact your purchase decision?
• What is the maximum amount you would be willing to pay for our product/service?

Remember, these are just sample questions. You should tailor your survey questions to your specific business needs and target audience. By asking the right questions, you will be able to uncover precious data that will drive well-informed decisions for your business!

Create a Strong Market Research Survey Regime to Dominate Your Field

Have you ever wondered what your customers really want? What sets you apart from your competitors? What are the latest trends in your industry?
These are the questions that market research surveys can answer for you.
But, designing a survey that yields accurate and reliable data can be challenging. That’s why it’s essential to ensure that your survey is well-structured, relevant, and easy to understand.
Once you’ve collected the data, it’s equally important to analyze it thoroughly and use the insights gained to make informed decisions. As Peter Drucker famously said, “What gets measured, gets managed.”
market research surveys are a powerful tool for businesses of all sizes to achieve their goals and stay ahead of the competition. So, don’t wait any longer. Start your survey today with a modern market research solution such as ProProfs Survey Maker and take your business to new heights!