What the most common mistake you see orgs make when navigating market research? How can this be avoided?

Question

Sina Falaki · Accepted Answer

Focus on exactly what you're trying to achieve on the end goal for the market research. Often times inadequate questions in the survey results into poor results. Often times I see these following problems during the market research phase:

1. Inaccurate data and results - because you don't know what you're looking for, the results are often not fantastic. Not keying in on the right questions initially to test the hypothesis leads to results that are then bland and general. In order to remedy this, make sure you take the question side seriously. If you're looking to gather data or ROI, key in and narrow your question around a metric vs a general "How much time have you saved" sort of question that I see far too often.

2. Overspending on market research - Often times its super easy to throw 50k at a company to analyze the market. Typically companies can get away with pretty good research by doing it in house or my favorite, using google surveys. Google surveys allows me to hone in on customer feedback and questions pretty regularly as the cost is fairly minimal vs consulting with a traditional large firm.

3. Price & Competitors - Market research should always include how much competitors are charge, product parity, and customer journey for your competitors. Far too often I see this as overlooked which I don't understand - if you're trying to gather market share by getting the right research, looking at price, packaging, and how customers percieve the competitors brand is key.

Tracy Montour · Answer

Research is one of the most critical components of strong positioning and messaging. The most common mistake I see is that organizations approach research with a forgone conclusion. Research should be exploratory. It's something we can learn from. Organizations who conduct research purely to reinforce their beliefs are yelling into an echo chamber.