Market Research on a Budget

Think about any purchase over $500 you have made in your life. Did you do your research before making a decision to purchase that product? If not, what was the likelihood that you got what you expected? The concept stays the same with market research. Before making any major decision in business, let alone marketing, we need to make sure we are equipped with the necessary information to make the right decision. There is a misconception that in order to do market research, you need to spend a considerable amount of money to outsource collecting that data. While outsourcing market research does indeed make a bigger dent in your expenses, it is not the only way market research can be done. There may be plenty of gold nuggets in your back pocket with in-house market research.

Quantitative Research

Let’s start with the numbers. We want to make sure we can capture as much data as we own or can obtain. We can do this via analyzing data from your digital assets, pulling data from external resources, and engaging with your current/past customers. For instance, by placing a quick survey giving users a list of options on what they found most useful on their page after users submit a lead for a Tesla, you may find that 60% found the price savings calculator the most beneficial. If this is placed at the bottom of the page, you may want to move it up to give nearly everyone visibility of this tool to help boost lead conversion rate.  Below is a list of ways to effectively conduct in-house quantitative research.

• Website Traffic Data: Make sure GA4 is connected and start looking at things such as traffic behavior, where they came from, and which path creates the best conversion per segmentation. 

  
  

• Campaign Data: Whether from previous campaigns or current, look at what is the best driver of conversion from content to sale. Run A/B tests but make sure you are not spreading your spend too thin, especially on a smaller budget. 

  
  

• Surveys & Polls: Strategically place opportunities for previous and potential buyers to give you quick feedback. Placing them after a form submission, FAQ page, and within an email is a great place to start.

  
  

• Use Segmentation: Different demographics and psychographics can have a major effect on how customers navigate their purchase decision process. Analyzing them within cohorts alike will give you more crucial insight into shaping strategy. 

Qualitative Research

The numbers don't lie, but they don't tell the entire story. The data may show you what, but the qualitative can help uncover the why. By understanding the why, you can effectively take that information to help shape your message. For example, when running an A/B test on including the entire list of costs associated with a vehicle (price, add-ons, etc.) on a landing page you may see that you get higher sCVR rates, so naturally you include the entire cost list on the page. By looking into the why, you may discover that by being fully transparent, you built trust with that potential customer which gave them the confidence to come into your dealership and make a decision. Now you can use that to shape your message and increase the top of funnel KPI’s. Here is a list of the top 3 ways to conduct qualitative research in-house.

• Review what's already written: Look through things such as chat logs, email replies, call notes and CRM comments, and even competitor reviews to look for trends in what users are communicating. 

  
  

• Customer Interviews & Focus Groups: You do not need 100 people to participate. Start with a small group of 5 - 10 customers and conduct a 30 min - 1 hour interview. Ask them questions that will help you better understand the root cause of every decision they made through their decision process. Incentives will help you land those interviewees in a timely manner ($20 Amazon gift card)

  
  

• Social Listening: This is where the gold may lie. These comments are easier to come by and may help you get a more realistic, non-skewed way of how your potential customers really feel. Reviews are great, but you may only get the most and least satisfied customers while leaving everyone else out of the equation.

At the end of the day, you don’t need a big budget to conduct your market research, you simply need to utilize what you already have or can easily obtain. Your quantifiable data helps you pinpoint where there is inefficiency in conversion, while your qualitative research can give you the message and trust cues that unlock that lift. By combining the two we equip ourselves with the necessary information to help give us a more informed and strategic decision.