Everyone wants something different, and it can be difficult to pin down what decision will be the best one to make.

How do you approach gathering information? Is it better to make use of the findings that people have come to before, or to conduct your own studies, allowing you to dig deeper into specific and personal factors?

Whether you are researching to make a product or service better or need a better understanding of your demographic, it’s essential to know how to approach research to get the most effective results.

We have created an overview, talking about various types of research, their advantages, disadvantages and purposes.

Desk Research

Desk research, or secondary research – involves gathering information through sources not your own. This can range greatly from previous studies conducted by your company, trusted internet sources or even a trip down to the library to learn from published studies on the subject.

Since 1993, the public has been able to access the internet to streamline their research process. With unlimited access to knowledge at the end of our fingertips, it would be wrong not to make use of it for your research. There is a good chance that the information you are looking for has already been researched in some fashion. This research may have even been done to a degree of detail you may not have been able to do yourself. As opposed to beginning the extensive phase of primary research when it isn’t necessary, use desk research to your advantage.

Primary Research

Ok, now it’s time to dig in and take matters into your own hands. There are many ways you can delve deep into market research. Primary research can provide a more nuanced approach to research. You are then able to focus on finding the answers to questions you need. Having a conversation with someone about what they like and dislike about your product is bound to give you a much more insightful view on what to improve in the future.

Applying findings you read in a book from 2003, to your 2023 business just won’t cut it. You need to collect that data yourself, allowing you to find out exactly how people see your business and offerings.

There are two key roads you can take when conducting audience research for yourself: qualitative data and quantitative data

Quantitative Research

In the simplest terms, quantitative data is all about cold, hard statistics. This is very useful when people’s opinions aren’t clear enough. It’s important to see how the numbers stack up. Quantitative data is perfect for gathering data from a larger pool of people, giving a broader, but less in-depth view of what people think.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative research, however, refers to the personal, emotional and opinionated side of research. When conducting qualitative research, you are able to receive a massive range of viewpoints. These will vary from person to person. This can give you an insight to opinions of various demographics, whether that is gender, race, age, sexuality, disability, religion, culture, income level, and many more. Seeing how these different parts of someone’s identity impact their viewpoints provides detail to your research. From there, you can utilise this opinion based feedback to find common points of criticism and praise. You can then continue from there.

Surveys

An example of this would be through surveys and questionnaires. Constructing a list of specific, targeted questions based around finding details on product/service reception. There’s a reason you see surveys everywhere. Whether from being stopped in the street, attached to an e-mail, or at the end of a customer service phone call. This is because they are cheap and efficient. Plus, a primary research source you can do on your mobile device is incredibly handy.

Engaging with customers through a survey can provide valuable insights into their experience with your company, product, or service. While sending out a set of close-ended questions to a company email list requires less effort than organising a focus group, it restricts the depth and flexibility of responses, resulting in limited data derived from generic answers like ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘maybe’ and ‘not sure.’ To gain actionable insights, consider balancing structured and open-ended questions in your survey. This is for receiving ample feedback from your audience.

Tracking Analytics

Utilising tools such as Google Analytics and various social media insights within your digital marketing allow you track every interaction someone has with one of your channels. Getting the low-down on what content people respond best to is essential for learning how to recognise weaknesses and find solutions. You also don’t need to rely on people going out of their way to participate the same way you do with surveys. Everything is tracked automatically meaning you don’t have to worry about lack of participation.

Interviews

Interviews put you one-on-one with members of your target audience. Being able to directly ask questions in order to gather the specific data you are looking for. The opportunity to ask an open-ended question can help you dive deeper into reasoning and emotion that can’t be achieved  through surveys. It allows you to get a more personal representation for a more involved understanding of how to approach your research project.

Focus Groups

Focus Groups are almost like the step-up from interviews. You still ask open-ended questions, however, they are aimed towards a group of people from varying demographics and in a moderated setting. The fact they are in a group, however, encourages conversation. The discussion of varying ideas and opinions can produce more detailed and distinct views on a given topic, all stemming from one question.

Research can help you identify what may have gone wrong when engaging with your main audiences. From there, you can develop new ideas, avoiding the missteps you made previously.

It also lets you know where you succeeded. Being able to re-use and expand on what you know works can guarantee a portion of success based on how well it did last time.

Understand what you need to find out, get relevant questions out to an audience, and use your findings to grow.