How to Conduct Small Business Market Research Surveys?
As a small business owner, gaining insights into your customers and target market should be a top priority. Conducting market research allows you to understand your customers’ needs, desires, and behaviors so that you can make informed, data-driven business decisions.
Surveys are one of the most effective ways to conduct market research for your small business. Well-designed surveys can provide quantitative and qualitative data directly from your target market. This data will reveal customer preferences, buying habits, pain points, and more.
Also, try the Zensus polling app where you can find out how the world at large thinks, through polls and insights.
In this post, we’ll explore steps for conducting DIY market research surveys to glean impactful insights without breaking the bank. Let’s get started!
Why Conduct Market Research Surveys?
Before diving into survey design and distribution, let’s discuss the importance of market research for small businesses. Here are some key reasons why conducting surveys should be part of your market research strategy:
Gain Valuable Customer Insights
Surveys allow you to go directly to your target market to understand who they are, what they want, and why they make certain decisions. The insights gained will enable you to tailor products, services, and messaging to better meet customer needs.
Identify Market Opportunities
Customer survey data can unveil gaps or opportunities in the market. If customers are vocalizing needs that are not currently being met, you may uncover new product or service ideas.
Understand the Competitive Landscape
Ask survey questions to find out where customers are spending their money. Learn what they like and dislike about competitors so you can adapt accordingly.
Inform Business Decisions
Back major business decisions like entering a new market or developing a new product with solid market insights. Survey data provides the validation needed to move forward confidently.
Enhance Marketing & Sales
Adjust marketing activities and campaigns based on what resonates with customers. Develop buyer personas and optimize the sales process using survey findings.
Minimize Risk
Rather than relying on assumptions, use surveys to validate ideas and minimize risk for new launches, rebranding, expansion, and more.
Track Trends Over Time
Conduct periodic surveys to identify shifts in the market. Track changes in customer sentiment, economic factors influencing buyers, competitive forces, and more.
DIY Market Research Survey Tips
Now that we’ve covered the value of surveys, let’s explore practical tips for DIY market research surveys. Follow these guidelines as you create, deploy, and analyze small business survey results.
Clearly Define Your Objectives
Begin by outlining the key objectives you want to accomplish with the survey. Being clear on objectives will inform how you design survey questions.
Some examples of objectives include:
- Understanding customer demographics
- Gauging satisfaction with products/services
- Identifying customer pain points
- Testing a new product concept
- Learning how customers perceive your brand
- Gathering feedback on the website experience
Determine Your Target Respondents
Who do you want to receive and complete your survey? Your target respondents should match the customer persona(s) you want insights on.
Some options include:
- Existing customers
- Prospects in your target market
- Website visitors
- Social media followers -lapsed customers
- Industry professionals
The target respondent will influence how you distribute the survey. Ensure you have access to enough of this target group to derive meaningful data.
Choose Survey Method & Distribution
Key methods for DIY business surveys include:
- Email surveys: Easy distribution to existing customer email lists.
- Social media surveys: Post on business social channels or paid ads.
- Website surveys: Display a pop-up or embed in your site.
- Mobile surveys: Text a survey or create a mobile-friendly online survey.
- Intercept surveys: Survey customers at events, retail locations, etc.
- Paper surveys: Print and hand out or mail paper surveys.
Consider your objectives, target respondents, and resources when selecting distribution methods. A multi-pronged approach may be best to increase the sample size.
Write Great Survey Questions
The quality of your survey questions will directly impact the insights gleaned. Follow these tips when brainstorming questions:
- Align questions with your research objectives
- Use a mix of open and closed-ended questions
- Limit demographic questions
- Avoid leading or loaded questions
- Randomize answer choices
- Use rating scales for ordinal data
- Test questions before fielding the survey
Also watch out for common survey question pitfalls like double-barreled, confusing, or overlapping questions.
Structure Your Survey Logically
Segment your survey into clear sections, starting with easier demographic questions before diving into more complex issues. Use page breaks between sections to avoid fatigue.
Check Survey Length
Keep your survey concise. Survey completion rates drastically decrease with longer surveys. If you must go longer, incentivize participation.
General guidelines for survey length:
- 15 Questions or fewer for social polls
- 15-25 questions for email or online surveys
- 25-50 questions for paid survey panels
Mobile-Optimize Your Survey
With increased mobile usage, ensure your survey is mobile-friendly. Use a mobile-ready survey builder or responsive design. Test the survey on mobile to confirm functionality.
Add Imagery & Branding
Images, logos, color schemes, and other design elements can boost engagement. But avoid anything distracting from the survey content itself.
Test Before Distribution
Rigorously test your survey to identify and remedy issues. Check for bugs, unclear questions, ideal completion time, mobile responsiveness, and ease of analysis.
Promote Survey Participation
Proactively communicate about the survey via multiple channels before and during distribution. Let respondents know their input is valued to boost motivation.
Analyze & Apply Insights
Once you’ve closed the survey and gathered results, dive into analysis. Visualize key data points in charts. Look for cross-question insights. Then develop an action plan to apply learnings across your business.
Survey Tools & Options
Technology makes conducting DIY surveys more scalable and affordable than ever. Here are some options to explore when creating your small business market research survey:
SurveyMonkey
The survey-specific platform SurveyMonkey offers robust features for an affordable monthly subscription. Use templated surveys or create your own from scratch. Integrate with marketing platforms to deploy and analyze surveys.
Google Forms
For simple surveys, Google Forms provides a free, user-friendly option. Design basic surveys with automatic analysis. Downsides include limited customization and no email distribution.
SurveyGizmo
This is a mid-range paid option with advanced features like quotas, skip logic, partial response saving, and integration with marketing analytics software.
Typeform
If boosting engagement is a top priority, Typeform provides beautifully designed surveys. Animations and UI create an immersive experience that feels more conversational.
Survey Planet
Get access to an expansive survey respondent panel with rewards-based market research. Respondents complete your surveys for points to redeem for prizes rather than cash incentives.
SurveyMonkey Audience
For broader consumer insights vs current customers, use SurveyMonkey Audience to survey any target audience. Reach based on demographics, interests, behaviors, location, and more.
Amazon Mechanical Turk
Post survey tasks on this crowdsourcing marketplace to target respondents across the US. Pay per survey completion vs paying hourly or salaried researchers.
Survey Exchange
This reciprocation network allows you to exchange survey responses with other businesses to gain market insights. Take other surveys to earn credits for your own.
Executing an Effective Survey Strategy
While the right survey tool is important, thoughtfully executing an end-to-end survey strategy will lead to impactful data. Here are some best practices to keep in mind:
- Map objectives to survey questions so data is actionable
- Keep surveys concise yet thorough
- Test extensively before fielding
- Promote survey participation through multiple channels
- Offer incentives prudently to boost response rates
- Monitor data as it comes in
- Use skip logic, quotas, etc. to home in on target groups
- Evaluate results segment by segment
- Share results publicly to demonstrate listening
- Operationalize insights into business decisions
Turning Survey Data into Valuable Insights
With sound survey strategies, you can garner customer insights that transform business decisions. Let’s explore some real-world examples of how small businesses have used surveys to guide major moves:
Pivoting Business Models
Jewelry startup AUrate used early customer surveys to identify a strong preference for quality over quantity in materials and production. They pivoted from fast fashion to fine jewelry with a direct-to-consumer model focused on ethically sourced gold.
Making Customer-Centric Updates
Protein snack company RXBAR relied on feedback from taste tests and consumer surveys to reformulate recipes. They swapped egg whites for whole eggs and dates for brown rice syrup based on preferences.
Justifying Expansion Plans
Boutique fitness studio Barry’s Bootcamp surveyed members on preferred class times and locations. The data validated expansion from 20 to over 60 studios worldwide. Today they tailor class offerings to each market based on polling.
Rebranding & Repositioning
When branded potato chips maker Utz wanted to reach new demographics, they surveyed Generation Z and millennials. The insights led to an updated brand identity and marketing focused on being “snackable fun”.
Optimizing Marketing Messaging
Software company Moz conducts an annual Follower Survey to refine messaging and positioning. They analyze open-text feedback to identify points of disconnect and opportunities to better speak to the audiences they aim to reach.
Improving Products & Services
Meal kit company Blue Apron uses surveys to continually refine recipes based on feedback. They also added Spanish language and WW (formerly Weight Watchers) meal plan options based on user requests.
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Key Takeaways
Market research surveys provide invaluable qualitative and quantitative insights directly from your current and potential customer base. For small businesses, DIY surveys are an affordable way to gather the voice of the customer.
Follow the tips in this guide to field effective surveys:
- Clearly define objectives to shape the questions
- Target your ideal respondents
- Select the ideal survey method and tool
- Craft engaging, unbiased survey questions
- Promote participation across multiple channels
- Analyze results segment by segment
- Turn insights into business decisions
Well-designed surveys will illuminate customer needs, pain points, behaviors, and preferences so you can provide the best possible offerings. Continually conducting market research through surveys will help you stay closely connected to customers as the market evolves.
