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Questions to Ask Yourself Before Starting a New Market Research Project

• How can the research results help us decide what specific actions must be taken? How else will the results be used?
• Does the information we seek already exist? What type (or combination of types) of research holds the answers? Does secondary research exist, such as cost-free industry or sales data that someone else created, or information about our competition or market trends? Exhaust all opportunities for free information before purchasing primary research.
• Do we still need to conduct primary research?
• What should be the primary focus of our research? Is the information we seek qualitative or quantitative in nature? Should we conduct focus groups, in-depth interviews, or phone, mail, or electronic surveys? Which format will work best?
• How many people must respond to the research to capture the level of confidence and reliability we want in our findings?
• What demographic data already exists? How might we code surveys to gain more information through cross-tabulation of responses based on known demographics?
• How best can we use our limited resources of time and money? How should we budget for immediate and ongoing market research and member assessments?
• What methodologies stand the best chance of reaching our intended audience and garnering a high response rate?
• If we learn nothing else, what must we leave this research project knowing for certain?

John Gunn is the CEO of John Gunn Marketing Partners, LLC, specialists in marketing strategy, planning, research and analysis. For more information, please contact the author at (703) 979-9223, jg@gunnmarketingpartners.com

© 2002, John Gunn. All rights reserved. For information about reprinting this article, please contact cr@gunnmarketingpartners.com.

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John Gunn Marketing Partners, LLC
Alexandria, Virginia
Phone: (703) 979-9223 Fax: (703) 979-7786
info@GunnMarketingPartners.com

© 2009 John Gunn Marketing Partners, LLC. All rights reserved.
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