A growing number of marketing agencies are partnering with market research firms so they can offer their clients value added services, and ultimately generate better results – and with that, boost their reputation, revenues and profits.
Naturally, choosing the right market research partner requires due diligence; because just as not all marketing agencies are the same, not all market research firms are equal. Some offer a comprehensive array of professional services, while others have surprisingly limited capacity and experience
To point you in the right direction, here are the 4 core market research services that a legitimate marketing agency should help you offer your impressed clients:
1. Market Research Design Services
Well before data gathering begins, a market research firm should help you offer comprehensive and customized market research design services. These include defining the correct research problem (which is not always what our client thinks it is!), developing the optimal approach, creating processes to obtain high quality data, and selecting targeted samples from various sources (e.g. existing customer lists, industry databases, etc).
2. Data Collection Services
A market research firm should also help you offer a full range of data collection services, which covers both qualitative and qualitative methods, as well as all necessary respondent recruitment efforts (locally, regionally, domestically and/or internationally as required).
Examples of quantitative data collection methods include online surveys, telephone surveys, email surveys, mobile surveys, direct mail surveys, mixed mode interviewing, email blasts, and so on.
Examples of qualitative data collection methods include both telephone and in-person in-depth interviews (IDI’s), telefocus groups, bulletin board recruitment, central location testing, community and panel recruitment, and so on.
3. Logistics Services
While essentially strategic in nature, market research also has a major logistical component. For example, there is setting up the data gathering platform (online, offline or both), liaison with facility managers, coordinating all audio and visual equipment, conducting the research, managing all incentives, and the list goes on.
As such, a market research firm must have the capacity and expertise to handle all logistics services professionally and efficiently in the background, so that you can focus on serving your clients instead of getting bogged down by logistical details (of which there are MANY!).
4. Analysis & Reporting
Last but certainly not least: a market research firm must enable you to provide clients with analysis and reporting services (including different analysis/reports that make sense for various teams, such as executives, sales, finance, engineering, etc.).
What’s more, if your clients have questions about the data, approach, methods or any other aspect, a market research firm should be able to help you objectively and convincingly justify all decisions, and confidently stand behind the results and recommendations.
Learn More
At Communications For Research, we empower marketing agencies with all of these core market research services, so they can develop relationships, grow accounts and drive their agency forward. Our reputation for field data collection integrity, efficiency and expertise is unsurpassed, and we never lose sight that market research is fundamentally a business investment that must drive measurable ROI.
To learn more, contact us today to speak with our co-CEO Colson Steber. After learning more about your company and your goals, Colson can give you market research advice, a quote and more insight from his many years of experience.
For more information on how to communicate the value of market research to your clients, download our FREE eBook:
