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Finding the right Market Research Agency

Finding the right Market Research Agency

In this article we will review:

Market research is an industry-specific service. It is often the only concentration of those who do it really well. The right market research agency provides it as a primary service, not as one of many marketing or commercial services in its portfolio. Find a company that specializes in market research while looking for a market research agency. Find one that embodies the concept daily.

The ideal market research agency will collaborate with you to determine the most suitable methodology for your organization. Market research may be qualitative or quantitative. This could include focus groups, in-depth interviews, Product testing, or a Voice of the Customer (VoC) survey.

The contemporary business climate is highly uncertain and continuously changing. Expanding commercial activities from different home countries to other nations (like Africa’s) accentuates and intensifies the uncertainty. This could be the result of cultural, political, or legal disparities. This makes it more important than ever for management to be informed of changes and collect timely and relevant data in order to adapt strategy and marketing approaches to expanding local markets.

As a result, International marketing research becomes crucial for effective decision-making when businesses begin to expand into overseas markets. Organizations unable to conduct market research on their own can employ a market research agency. The market research agency will collaborate with the organization to define the vision, methodology, and approach.

Why partner with a market research agency?

You cannot rely on vague or general information while building a new product, attempting to better understand customer usage and behavior, or evaluating the health of your brand in comparison to competitors. You require tailored research, industry experience, and precise interpretation of the results to make growth-promoting company decisions.

A reputable market research agency will have an in-depth knowledge of your business specialty, which will provide you with additional value beyond the raw data. In addition to providing data and analysis pertinent to your local, regional, national, or international markets, the ideal market research agency will also collect and analyze data on your products, brands, and competitors.

Using a market research agency prevents you from the embarrassment that could be caused by your own prejudice if you performed the survey yourself. If you desire objective insights, a market research firm is your best bet.

How do I choose the right market research agency?

There are benefits to partnering with a market research firm, but the success of your project is contingent on choosing the right one. Distinct firms have different capabilities, services, and foci, and you should always look for the following qualities when partnering with one: dependability, timeliness, and value delivery.

Here are ten crucial questions you should consider when selecting a market research agency to aid in your decision-making process:

1.       Does the firm work in and have knowledge about your particular geographic region?

Where individuals reside or pursue a career can influence the quality of their responses. The same will affect the concentration of researchers seeking insights. Even though the best market research firm for you may not be located in your city or region, it is essential that they are familiar with your market and the geographic factors that impact businesses there. These include climate, earnings, demographic trends, and the unique challenges faced by businesses in those markets.

Survey54 is the king of market research data in Africa. If your focus is on the African market, we are the best for relevant data on the continent.

2.       Does the firm have expertise in your industry and category?

It is essential to engage with a market research firm that specializes in your industry, as general firms may not know which consumer segments to study, how wider industry trends affect your business, or how to contact difficult-to-reach professional end-users. The greater their industry-specific expertise, the less time you will need to invest in training them and the more they will contribute to achieving superior results.

3.       Do they have a history of success with companies like yours?

The ideal market research agency will have a solid reputation for dependability and consistency. You can verify this characteristic when you examine reviews, read testimonials, or directly contact former clients who were pleased with the results. It is extremely beneficial to obtain references from previous clients whose business objectives are comparable to your own. Then, ask the references how they utilized the study. A reputable market research company would gladly provide you with the contact information of delighted clients whose decisions were informed by their study.

4.       What is the capacity of the firm?

The capacity of a market research organization also impacts its effectiveness. If a company lacks a robust team or is currently overburdened with other projects, it might significantly impact the timing, delivery, data quality, and market insights of your research project. Before making a decision, investigate a company’s team of experts and their areas of specialty to evaluate if they can manage the size and breadth of your project in a timely and effective manner. In contrast, is the organization so enormous that you and your project will be shuffled among numerous employees, resulting in a lack of individualized care?

5.       Does the firm conduct the exact kind of research best suited to answer your questions?

The word “market research” is somewhat all-encompassing. In actuality, there are several types of research and corresponding instruments, strategies, and methodologies. It is essential to personalize your market research strategy to the specific data and advice you need. Find a company that delivers the appropriate services for your end objectives, whether you need customer usage and attitude data, brand health analysis, market sizing, or product development.

6.       Is this firm going to give you actionable insights?

It is not enough for a market research agency to simply give data; they must also provide actionable insights. Ask prospective firms how their research will assist you in making a decision. At the conclusion of the project, will they simply send you the tabulations (or perhaps just the raw data) and bid you good luck? Or will they guide you through an informed evaluation of what the results imply concerning your core research question and objective? Do they have industry knowledge that they can use in your research findings to provide you with a deeper insight into your customer and market?

Click to enjoy reliable insights from the King of data in Africa

Examine how conversations and the sales proposal you receive state objectives. Choose a company whose objectives are tailored to your decision-making. Is their purpose merely to conduct a brand awareness survey for you, or is it to assess the overall brand health of your firm in order to uncover the largest chance for you to boost brand recognition and conversion?

7.       What is their process for successfully collecting and analyzing data?

Since you’ll be making significant decisions based on the study, you need a company that can collect high-quality, trustworthy data. Asking which data collecting and analysis methods best suit your aims is a smart way to evaluate a company’s capabilities. Any company worthy of your commitment will be able to demonstrate why in-depth interviews may be more appropriate for your needs than a quantitative survey and how a product testing exercise can assist you in deciding which features to include in your product. They will also be able to explain how they ensure the greatest quality of respondent data.

Choose Survey54 for market research in Africa- The MR Agency that translates data into insights

Some market research firms perform admirably in terms of execution but fall short in terms of analysis, insights, and recommendations. Over the years, we’ve seen far too many reports consisting mostly of charts and graphs with little to no narrative, conclusions, or next steps.

The data file is essentially the final step after fieldwork is done for many market research agencies. They basically tell you “Here is your data”. At Survey54, we consider the data to be the beginning of the process, not the conclusion.

Click to enjoy reliable insights from the King of data in Africa

Market research reports should include executive summaries to emphasize significant topics and takeaways. In addition, it should incorporate an infographic to swiftly present findings graphically. Additional sections could include a customer profile, recommendations, and action items.

Survey54 is empowering businesses of the future. We’re leveraging mobile-first AI tech to give data-driven businesses a competitive edge.

We dedicate ourselves to the future of data on the African continent. We do this by deploying cutting-edge tech solutions to amplify consumer voices across Africa and emerging markets.

So far, we have offered market research solutions to 95+ companies with 500K+ respondents from over 17 countries in Africa. If you want to join the businesses we’ve assisted with actionable insights in Africa, contact our team immediately.

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