How to Conduct a Market Survey

A market survey is one method of market research that is based on questioning an audience or segment of the market. Market surveys are conducted to gather information about companies, products and services in order to analyze and understand customers and prospects for business success. According to Edward F. McQuarrie in "The Market Research Toolbox," surveys and interviews are the most used forms of market research.

Things You'll Need

• Focused marketing research plan
• Market survey budget
• Survey to implement
• Audience to survey

Instructions

1. Develop or obtain a focused marketing research plan that includes what information is being sought from what audience, how to get the information, how much funding is available to gather the information and methods to use to get the information. Understand this can be a simple report developed by a person--as the first step in deciding whether to open a business and as an act of planning to gather information to do so--or a professional marketing research plan provided by a marketing consultant or a marketing team. Know that the market survey is one method of market research in a marketing research plan.

2. Write a comprehensive questionnaire about the survey topic in simple, easy-to-understand language targeted to the survey audience. Make sure the marketing research plan provides a basis for what kind of questions and what audience to contact in the market survey. Understand if the marketing research plan states that information is needed for the company's products or services, make sure the survey asks questions about existing and prospective customers' needs, desires, purchases and use of the company's products or services, as well as similar products and services.

3. Create a list or database of the survey audience to use in the survey, unless the survey will be a pop-up for visitors to a website. Use existing customer contact information or create a list of prospective customers from area phone listings or purchased mailing lists.

4. Implement the survey, by mail, email, on a website or by telephone contact within a set time frame. Send it out to the audience, for example, for one week, three weeks or one month during which time responses will be accepted. Have a cut-off date after which time responses are no longer included. Organize the data gathered.

5. Sort and analyze the data. Start by counting the number of responses from categorized respondents, then filter through the data for individual questions, counting the number of like responses from the total. For example, if 550 out of 1,000 respondents said they liked the product and 450 said they didn't, that's an indication of a 55 percent approval rating, showing the company may want to invest in improving the product. Use the analyzed data to make business decisions and recommendations.

Tips & Warnings

• Include questions for precise and descriptive information that is relevant to the audience and the information being sought.

• Use simple statistical methods to analyze the data gathered for better decision-making.

• If possible, provide some incentive or motivation for the audience to participate in the survey, especially if surveying customers.

References

• How to Conduct Surveys-A Step-by-Step Guide, 4th Edition, Arlene Fink, 2009
• DIY Market Research
• The Market Research Toolbox, A Concise Guide for Beginners, 2nd Edition, Edward F. McQuarrie, 2006

Resources

• Questionnaires and Surveys Tutorial
• ICC/ESOMAR International Code on Market and Social Research