Are your numbers and statistics dry and dusty? Or are they a potential gold mine of information with valuable nuggets just waiting to be unearthed? Hopefully the latter – if not, why not?
Quantitative market analysis is indeed all about numbers and statistics but to the quantitative market research agency, numbers and statistics shine a bright beacon of light into dark corners and illuminate the way forward. They represent the first green shoots of a glorious marketing strategy. A bit dramatic? Sorry but we do get excited by numbers.
In the right hands, there is so much valuable information that can be gleaned from numbers, and statistical analysis. And in today’s interconnected world, quantitative market research is even more valuable than it has ever been before.
We are going to share some of our enthusiasm for, and insight into our quantitative research services. Read on to find out how we use them to help our clients produce amazing marketing strategies that get serious results.
“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well, the product or service sells itself.” – Peter Drucker
What are the aims of Quantitative Market Research?
Data drives decisions and quantitative market research provides that data. The aim is to reduce uncertainty and risk around marketing decisions and the budgets allocated to them. This is achieved by providing statistical information about possible variables that are likely to influence potential outcomes. At Spark, we worry about things like Margin of Error and data significance, so you don’t have to. Our quantitative data enables you to make confident decisions.
Quantitative research can be used to provide a roadmap for the future by:
- Improving the quality of the information that informs marketing decisions.
- Providing analysis of sales trends and future market potential for existing products.
- Assessing the potential for new products and services.
- Identifying demographic changes driven by sociological and environmental factors.
- Predicting market trends.
- Identifying opportunities for product and brand differentiation.
All in a robust, reliable and representative manner.
What Type of Data Does a Quantitative Market Research Service Provide?
The short answer is just about anything you need to know about but of course, it’s never quite that simple. A lot depends on how the request for information is prepared and presented. Most statistical information is obtained using surveys and questionnaires.
This means that long before any actual market research takes place, a strategy that defines the objectives of the survey is drawn up. This is then used to begin to zero in on the specific questions that a survey should answer. Anything that can be expressed as a number can be researched quantitatively.
Some examples of typical quantitative questions areas include:
- Which brand attributes are the most important for your consumers?
- How your brand performs on these attributes versus the competition.
- Levels of awareness, consideration, usage, loyalty.
- Price elasticity – How much current consumers would be willing to pay for your product? What about new potential consumers?
We start with the big business questions, and we work with you to turn those into research questions. We do the heavy lifting, and we promise that we make quantitative surveys and data interpretation fun.
What are the Benefits of Quantitative Research?
Back in the marketing dark days when the only way to get your research done was by posting surveys out or telephoning people, the industry struggled to get the representative data it needed.
Now that we live in a much more connected world, placing a questionnaire in front of your target audience is that much easier. The quality of the data, the speed at which it can be delivered, and the size of the samples mean that quantitative data is more popular than ever. Of course, you’ve probably heard about ‘big data’. It has its place but the at Spark we believe in ‘big insight’. Lots of data is just that – insight is what matters.
Are there any Negatives?
Accumulating research data is never a negative thing, but each method works within its own set of confines. Quantitative research tells you what you need to know about what, and how many; but in most cases, it doesn’t explain the why.
However, issues like this as are not insurmountable. Generally considered a quantitative research technique, introducing an open question and a text box for the answer, and you start to find out the “why” behind the “how many”. Of course, we will often conduct quantitative and qualitative techniques hand in hand – depending on the research objective.
Market research companies like Spark Market Research have many other strings to their bow. At Spark, we often state that we combine technology, creativity, and passion to find solutions that work for our clients. Finding innovative and imaginative solutions like blending and blurring the lines between quantitative and qualitative market research, is something we are passionate about. It also delivers outstanding results for our clients. Tell us what you want to know and why and we will help you choose the most appropriate techniques – that’s our job.
Getting Ready for Your Next Marketing Project?
If you have read this far you might enjoy some additional reading that we have produced for you. Head on over to our blog and read our Jelly Baby series or download it complete. Look out for more posts in this series when we take a closer look at a different research technique each time.
Ready to take the next step? Call us on +44 (0) 113 487 2742 or use our Contact Form to find out how SparkMR can light a fire under your next marketing campaign