How to Develop a Qualitative Research Budget

Ask other department managers if they need qualitative research studies.

Companies often develop their qualitative research budgets along with their overall marketing research budget. Typically, the marketing research director or manager develops the qualitative research budget. However, business owners may have to write the budgets in small companies. Understand your company's marketing plan before determining which qualitative studies need to be completed. For example, find out if your company is planning to introduce any new products in the coming year. Be proactive in suggesting qualitative research projects to other managers.

Things You'll Need

• Marketing plan

Instructions

1. Talk to your the marketing or marketing research director if you are a manager in charge of developing the qualitative research budget. Find out how much you will be permitted to spend in the coming year on qualitative research projects. Set up a meeting with the finance manager, if necessary, as he will probably have access to the overall business plan and budget.

2. Determine your needs and objectives for qualitative research studies. Add existing qualitative research projects to your budget, for example.

3. Talk to other managers in the brand, advertising, business development or product departments. Find out if any department managers need additional qualitative research projects completed, such as focus groups, mall intercept studies or one-on-one interviews. Add a focus group for the brand manager, for example, if his department needs consumer input for any new products.

4. Call several marketing research agencies to see if they conduct qualitative research studies. Ask to speak to moderators who conduct focus groups or one-on-one interviews with consumers. Have moderators from different companies provide price quotes for all the qualitative research you need.

5. Study the price quotes sent by the moderators and marketing research agencies. Base your qualitative research budget on the average price quote. Compare your proposed qualitative project expenditures with what your are allowed to spend for the year. Find ways to cut expenditures on qualitative research projects where necessary. Eliminate the $1,500 analysis fees from several focus groups, for example, and plan to do the analyses yourself.

6. Discuss your budget saving strategies with your supervisor or marketing director. Make sure your supervisor agrees with your suggested cuts on analytical fees.

7. Type out all the qualitative research projects you will be doing in the coming year, along with their associated costs. Distribute copies to the marketing director, who will send it to the finance department.

Tips & Warnings

• Be prepared to make additional cuts to your qualitative research budget throughout the year. For example, you may be approaching the budget maximum in the third quarter. Therefore, you may need need to eliminate your last focus group of the year. One option is to ask the department that needs the focus group to pick up the cost of the project. Also, you can save money by asking vendors to switch projects to a retainer fee basis, according to Market Research Global Alliance, an online reference site. Using a retainer fee will allow you to better manage the costs of all qualitative research projects.

References

• Quick MBA: Marketing Plan Outline
• Green Book: How to Maximize your Research Budget in a Recession
• Quick MBA: Marketing Research
• Marketing Research Global Alliance: Market Research Budget Planning Tip 1: Getting Lower Fees From Your Research Suppliers