Building a successful business is no easy feat, especially in a world where consumers have more options – and distractions – than ever before. That’s why market research is essential to any business marketing plan and strategy. Market research allows you to learn more about your target consumers and their behavior, spot emerging trends, uncover important data, and make informed business decisions. With so many target consumers and methods to reach them, where should you start? In this article, we’ll cover some of the best market research tools available to you across a variety of tactics and approaches.
1. SurveyMonkey
SurveyMonkey is a well-known survey tool that offers a broad list of features and capabilities for creating audience surveys. Whether you want to create your own survey or choose from one of its 250+ expert-created templates, SurveyMonkey offers a user-friendly interface that enables you to customize your surveys to your needs. It also offers helpful features like AI-powered knowledge to help you pose the right questions and built-in reporting and analytics. Pricing options range from a free Basic tier to individual and team plans with varying features and response limits.
2. Typeform
Typeform is an easy-to-use tool focused on helping users create intuitive and engaging forms, surveys, quizzes, polls, and more. Its interactive elements, such as images and videos, encourage audience engagement. Typeform offers features like conditional logic, dynamic surveys, and integrations with popular tools like Slack and Google Analytics. Pricing options include a free plan with limited responses and paid plans with more features and capabilities.
3. BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo is a content research and analysis tool that can help you gather powerful market insights. It allows you to understand the content landscape in your industry, identify top-performing content, find influencers, and track your content performance against competitors. BuzzSumo offers various membership tiers with features like content creation, PR & Comms, and enterprise plans.
4. Qualaroo
Qualaroo is a customer and user feedback tool that helps capture user feedback and deepen your understanding of market trends. It uses behavioral triggering to show surveys or feedback prompts in response to specific user behavior. Qualaroo offers features like visual customization, automatic language translation, survey templates, audience targeting, and sentiment analysis. Pricing options include a free trial and plans with different features and response limits.
5. SpyFu
SpyFu is a competitive analysis tool that allows you to “spy” on your competitors by viewing their marketing strategies, advertising history, and keywords. It provides insights into the SEO landscape, competitor analysis, and market domination opportunities. SpyFu offers paid plans with varying features and capabilities.
6. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is another great tool for SEO and competitive analysis. It helps you understand the search landscape, discover keywords, track competitors, and analyze content in your industry. Ahrefs offers free limited access to its tools for website owners and paid plans with different features and capabilities.
7. Delve AI
Delve AI is a persona-building tool that uses AI algorithms for accuracy in personas. It offers multi-channel capabilities, behavioral insights, real-time updates, and more. Delve AI offers free and paid plans for businesses and agencies with varying features and capabilities.
8. Sprout Social
Sprout Social is a social media management tool that offers social listening features and competitor analysis capabilities. It provides insights into audience demographics, behavior, and interests. Sprout Social offers a free trial and paid plans with different features and capabilities.
9. Google Trends
Google Trends is a tool that allows you to analyze real-time and historical search data to discover market trends and consumer insights. It offers location filtering and insights into what people are searching for on Google.
10. Statista
Statista is a business intelligence platform that provides statistics, reports, and insights on various topics and industries. It offers free and paid accounts with different features and capabilities.
11. Qualtrics
Qualtrics is an all-in-one, AI-powered market research platform that offers features like panel management, on-demand respondents, product development insights, and purchase behavior data. Qualtrics offers a free survey maker tool and custom pricing options.
12. Temper
Temper is a sentiment analysis tool that helps you capture customer feedback and sentiment. It offers plans with different features and capabilities.
13. Quora
Quora is an online community where users can ask questions and share experiences. It can be used for market research by engaging with the community, monitoring trends, and developing new ideas.
14. Crunchbase
Crunchbase is a database of companies that provides information on funding, investors, financial data, and more. It offers free and paid plans with different features and capabilities.
15. Google Market Finder
Google Market Finder is a free tool focused on researching target markets and monitoring demand for products or services. It offers features like export readiness testing and market recommendations based on data.
16. Semrush
Semrush is a marketing tool that offers features like Market Explorer for industry analysis and traffic analytics for competitive analysis. It offers free and paid accounts with varying capabilities.
17. Pew Research Center
The Pew Research Center is a resource for unbiased and credible reports, surveys, and research on various topics. It can provide insights into consumer attitudes and behaviors.
18. Exploding Topics
Exploding Topics helps you spot emerging trends before they become popular by analyzing searches and conversations across the web. It offers free and paid versions with different features.
19. Loop11
Loop11 is a usability testing platform that helps facilitate user testing of products. It offers free trials and paid plans with varying features.
In summary, market research is crucial for business success, and these tools can help you gather valuable insights to inform your marketing strategies. From survey tools to competitive analysis platforms, there are plenty of options available to suit your specific needs and budget. By utilizing these tools effectively, you can stay ahead of the competition, understand your target audience better, and make informed business decisions.