customer research methodology

Copyright © SurveySparrow Inc. 2024 Privacy Policy Terms of Service SurveySparrow Inc.

Customer Research 101: Definition, Types, and Methods

Pragadeesh Natarajan

Last Updated: 30 May 2024

12 min read

Table Of Contents

What is Customer Research?

Why is customer research important, types of customer research.

• 6 Customer Research Methods
• How SurveySparrow Can Help

Do you want to improve your marketing or product? Then, customer research can help.

Your customer is at the heart of all your business decisions. In fact, everything revolves around a customer. A business is about having a paying customer, and it wouldn’t exist without one.

The effectiveness of your product or marketing depends on how well you know your customers. When you know your customers better, you can make better product or marketing decisions.

In this article, we break down:

• What customer research is
• Why it’s valuable for your business
• Different types of customer research
• Six customer research methods you can use to refine and grow your business

Customer research (or consumer research ) is a set of techniques used to identify the needs, preferences, behaviors, and motivations of your current or potential customers.

Simply put, the consumer research process is a way for businesses to collect information and learn from their customers so they can serve them better.

Businesses typically conduct customer research to uncover new insights on their customers. They then use these newly uncovered insights to improve their product, craft an effective marketing strategy, and more.

Here are 2 key questions customer research helps you answer:

• Who are my ideal customers? Who is the best fit (or worst fit) for our product?
• What channels can I use to find and communicate with my ideal customers?

Online survey tools like SurveySparrow can help you answer these questions. With omnichannel survey distribution, snazzy data visualization, and 1,500+ integrations with your favorite tools, SurveySparrow simplifies customer research for your GTM and product teams.

Looking for a Full-Fledged Customer Research Tool?

Discover Deeper Insights With SurveySparrow. Sign Up for Free.

14-Day-Free Trial • Cancel Anytime • No Credit Card Required • Need a Demo?

A. How well do you know your customers? Not knowing enough about your customers can cost you time and money.

For example, a recent survey revealed that 46% of customers broke up with a brand because they received irrelevant content pushes.

Successful marketers realize that research is necessary to understand and cater to the ever-changing needs of today’s customers. According to a study by Coschedule:

• Successful marketers are 242% more likely to conduct audience research at least once every quarter.
• 56% of the study’s most elite marketers research at least once a month.

B. You shouldn’t make assumptions about your customers’ preferences or needs. You have to go out there and get opinions from real customers.

C. You need to go beyond your general idea about your customers. The more you understand your customers, the better you’ll be able to serve them with your product or service.

D. If you want to make your product the best in the market, you need to identify any unmet needs and learn how well your product serves the needs of your current customers.

E. Customer research helps you learn more about your customers, both the potential and existing ones. Serving your customers better than the alternatives starts with understanding them better and more deeply.

F. Here are other key reasons why you should research customers:

• Know the Why : Your analytics dashboard merely tells you what your customers do. Only research can help you understand why they do that.
• Validate Assumptions and Best Practices : In most cases, guesswork leads to terrible decisions. Your customers might not need what you think they need. And what works for most businesses might not work for you. The only real way to know is to talk to your customers.

Customer research can be done in two distinct ways: primary and secondary.

Primary research

Primary research is research you conduct yourself. In other words, in primary research, you collect the data yourself. Some examples of primary research are face-to-face interviews, surveys, and social media interactions.

Secondary research

Secondary research (or desk research ) is done by someone else. In secondary research, you make use of data that’s been collected by other people. A few examples of secondary research are forums or communities, industry reports, and online databases.

Primary and secondary research can be further broken down into two kinds of data: qualitative and quantitative.

Qualitative data

Qualitative data is descriptive and conceptual. And the nature of the data makes it subjective and interpretive. Examples of qualitative data include descriptions of certain attributes, such as blue eyes or chocolate-flavored ice cream .

Quantitative data

Quantitative data can be expressed using numbers, which means it can be counted or measured. As opposed to qualitative data, it’s objective and conclusive. Examples of quantitative data include numerical values such as measurements , length , cost , or weight .

Customer Research Methods that Work in 2024 (and Beyond)

Now that you know what customer research is and why it’s important, read on to learn the different consumer research methods you can use to make the most of it.

In a survey, you ask a series of questions to your customers regarding a subject or concept.

You can conduct a survey in person, over the phone, through emails, or online forms.

Here are some advantages of conducting customer research through surveys:

• Quickly collect a ton of insightful data without the high costs.
• The data you collect using surveys is simple to analyze.
• You can ask various questions since you get a wide range of question formats.

When it comes to surveys, it’s all about how you ask. Clear and concise questions can help you get reliable information.

An online survey tool is your best bet for quickly gathering customer information. All you need to do is create a survey with a ready-to-use template and send your customers a link to take it.

If you’re in need of a cost-free and easy-to-use solution for conducting customer research surveys and beyond, consider exploring SurveySparrow . This tool aids in gathering essential data by enabling you to conduct thorough data analysis via its user-friendly and conversational survey format.

Check Out SurveySparrow for Free here! 

14-day free trial • Cancel Anytime • No Credit Card Required • No Strings Attached

In an interview, you speak directly to your customers and ask them open-ended questions.

• Interviews allow you to have deep, one-on-one conversations with your customers and explore a topic in-depth.
• You can go into the details, obtain data beyond surface-level information, and gather deeper insights.

While interviews allow you to probe deeper into a subject, success depends on the expertise and skills of the researcher (or interviewer) conducting the interviews.

Conducting interviews isn’t easy. It’s time-consuming and costly. However, the information you collect can be invaluable for your company’s growth.

You can meet your customers in person to conduct your interviews. Or you can use video conferencing tools such as Google Meet or Zoom to converse with your customers online.

Your analytics dashboard lets you in on your customers’ actions within your product.

Just a glance at it and you’ll know what your customers do and how they engage with your product.

The irony is that customers don’t know what they want or why. They might think they need something but that might not be the case.

What they say they need doesn’t equate to what they do.

The point is that customer-reported behavior is different from actual behavior. That’s why it pays to track and observe your customers’ behavior.

You can use heatmaps, click tracking, scroll mapping, and user-recorded sessions to gain insights into your users’ actions and behavior.

Focus Groups

In this method, you combine a small group based on certain criteria such as demographic, firmographic, or behavioral attributes.

And you ask this group about whatever topic or concept. It could be about your product, marketing message, or something else that’s related to your customers or business.

The idea is to get them to talk to each other and have meaningful conversations.

A moderator helps facilitate the conversations between the individuals in this group. The moderator will try to draw meaningful insights from these conversations and discussions.

You mainly use this technique to understand a certain topic or subject better.

Competitive Analysis

Studying your competitors’ strategies and tactics is a great way to learn more about the target market and the existing solutions.

You can analyze both your direct and indirect competitors depending on the needs you address and the customers you cater to.

You can conduct a competitive analysis from a marketing or product perspective.

If you conduct your analysis from a marketing perspective, you study your competition’s SEO strategy , landing page copy, blog content, PR coverage, social media presence, etc.

You can also conduct your competitive analysis from a product perspective and analyze your competitors’ user experience, features, pricing structure, etc.

Review Mining

The reviews of you and your competitors are another great way to get inside your customer’s head. This method can be especially valuable if you are a SAAS company.

It helps you better understand your competitor’s strengths and weaknesses as well as your own. This understanding helps you improve your own products and better address the needs of your ideal customers.

This kind of data is easy to acquire as it’s publicly available, and you can get them on:

• Review sites such as G2Crowd and Capterra.
• Forums and niche communities such as ProductHunt, Reddit, Quora, etc.

Why SurveySparrow is the Best Customer Research Tool

SurveySparrow facilitates comprehensive customer research by enabling businesses to efficiently collect, analyze, and act on customer feedback, leading to better informed and customer-centric decisions.

• Collect Feedback Easily : Create simple surveys to find out what customers think about your products or services.
• Understand Satisfaction : Use surveys to figure out how happy customers are with what you offer.
• Learn Buying Habits : Find out why customers buy certain products, which helps in planning what to sell.
• Get Product Opinions : Ask customers what they like or don’t like about your products to make improvements.
• See How People View Your Brand : Understand how customers see your brand, which is important for your marketing.
• Keep Up with Trends : Regular surveys help you stay updated on what your customers want or need.
• Group Customers : Identify different types of customers to target them more effectively with your marketing.
• Improve Customer Experience : Learn where you can make the buying process better for your customers.
• Test New Ideas : Before launching new products, check if your customers would be interested.
• Check Customer Loyalty : Find out if customers would keep using your products or recommend them to others.

Sign up for a free trial.

Final thoughts.

Businesses that deeply understand their customers have a huge advantage over the ones that don’t. Period.

Whatever you’re looking to learn or achieve, it becomes a lot clearer with a little research.

When done right, customer research can be your competitive advantage.

Be sure to pick a method that’s right for your situation. What are you looking to learn and achieve? Think through each research method carefully and pick the one that works best for you.

Have you conducted customer research? What did you learn? And how did it go? Tell us about that in the comment section below.

And if you’re looking to conduct customer research through surveys, feel free to check out SurveySparrow .

I'm a developer turned marketer, working as a Product Marketer at SurveySparrow — A survey tool that lets anyone create beautiful, conversational surveys people love to answer.

You Might Also Like

10 Best Product Feedback Tools And Software

10 Best Data Entry Tools for Workflow Automation and Analytics

CX Optimization is important : An Interview with 1to1 Media’s Judith Aquino

11 Best Recruiting Software Tools of 2024

Turn every feedback into a growth opportunity.

14-day free trial • Cancel Anytime • No Credit Card Required • Need a Demo?

Integrations

What's new?

In-Product Prompts

Participant Management

Interview Studies

Prototype Testing

Card Sorting

Tree Testing

Live Website Testing

Automated Reports

Templates Gallery

Choose from our library of pre-built mazes to copy, customize, and share with your own users

Browse all templates

Financial Services

Tech & Software

Product Designers

Product Managers

User Researchers

By use case

Concept & Idea Validation

Wireframe & Usability Test

Content & Copy Testing

Feedback & Satisfaction

Content Hub

Educational resources for product, research and design teams

Explore all resources

Question Bank

Research Maturity Model

Guides & Reports

Help Center

Future of User Research Report

The Optimal Path Podcast

User Research

May 24, 2024

Customer research: Methods for better products and happier customers

Learn key types of customer research, how it stands apart from UX and market research, and how to nail it in just five steps.

Armin Tanovic

Only by knowing your customers' pain points, values, and motivations inside and out can you create a product customers actually want to use. In fact, it’s a lack of proper research that former business owners cite as one of the main reasons for startup failure —highlighting just how important customer research is for success.

In this article, we look at exactly what’s meant by customer research, and why it’s vital for your organization’s success. We also run through five steps for conducting customer research, so you can start planning your research initiatives today.

Tap into customer insights today

Conduct customer research, analyze data instantly, and uncover insights to fuel your product development.

What’s the difference between customer research, customer experience research, and market research?

Customer research, customer experience research, and market research may all sound like the same thing, but while overlap exists, each of these terms has its own meaning.

This article’s focus, customer research, is the process of learning your customers’ pain points, motivations, preferences, and needs . It helps you develop an in-depth understanding of your customers—who they are, what their needs and struggles are—so you can create user personas for them, reflect on the customer journey, and tailor your product or user experience to their unique expectations.

Here’s how customer experience research and market research are different from customer research:

• Customer experience research: Looks at all the touchpoints throughout the buyer journey, and helps improve customer experience through insights and customer experience KPIs , such as customer satisfaction scores
• Market research: Collects information on the wider market landscape, including potential customers, industry trends, market needs, and product gaps

Customer research is specifically concerned with who your customers are , while customer experience research is about how they interact with your product. Market research is easier to differentiate, focusing on the market itself, rather than customers.

Why is customer research important?

Customer research is important as it gives your company the insights necessary to tailor your products and services to buyers’ preferences. By thoroughly understanding your customers, you can steer major product decision-making in the right direction, create better products, and fulfill business goals.

Customer research also helps your business attract new customers: over 80% of buyers state they're more inclined to do business with an organization that delivers tailored brand experiences. Alongside this, it helps your business get more referrals—with 70% of buyers more likely to recommend a brand that offers personalized experiences.

When should you conduct customer research?

Customer research is beneficial at various stages of product development . From planning new products and services to personalizing your marketing strategy, here’s some times to conduct customer research:

• When creating buyer personas: By thoroughly understanding buyers, you can create comprehensive user personas with demographics, brand perceptions, behaviors, and pain points
• When you aim to improve products or services: Understanding preferences means you can improve your products or services to match your customer’s expectations
• While crafting brand messaging and content that resonates: Customer research provides clarity on customer motivations and pain points, which you can use to personalize messaging and communicate effectively with your customers
• To identify new opportunities: Discovering new things about your audience opens up the chance to create products, services, and features your team hasn’t considered before
• For guiding your business decisions: Knowing what your customers want, and how they want it, serves as a signpost for making major business decisions—for example, positioning your brand, allocating resources, and signing off on major UX design and development changes

What are the types of customer research?

There’s more than one way to get the scoop on your customer’s deepest desires, expectations and motivations. You might be surprised to learn you can gather useful customer insights from what your users are already saying about your brand. All you need to do is tune in.

Here are the four types of customer research.

1. Primary research

Primary research is research that you conduct alone or with the help of your team. Here, you select your own research methods , design your project, and analyze data to gain specific insights on topics you’ve outlined beforehand.

Primary research is beneficial because it gathers the customer insights and knowledge you need. However, unless you’re conducting guerilla testing and meeting your customers in real-life situations, primary research can be resource-intensive.

This brings us to our second way to do customer research.

2. Secondary research

Secondary research entails investigating data provided by someone else. Yes—you can do that! All you need to do is find the forums, communities, and review sites where your customers hang out and discuss their needs, preferences, and satisfaction levels. You can use Voice of the Customer tools, or one of the easiest ways to get customer feedback is by linking up with your customer success and support teams—tune into client meetings, read up on feature requests, and follow Slack channels to hear on-the-ground feedback.

You can also conduct secondary research by revisiting data from previous research studies your product or UX research team may have conducted, or looking at industry trend studies done by other companies—for example, our Future of User Research Report . If your organization has an existing research operations team or central UX research repository , you can garner a lot of first-hand insights that already exist.

Secondary data can be a quick and easy way to conduct customer research. But since it's done by other parties, you have no control over the amount of data or the exact insights you’re getting. It’s also important to consider any confines of the data you’re looking at—for example, the research questions asked, or research objectives being pursued when the insights were collected.

But what about the different data types that result from customer research?

3. Quantitative research

Quantitative research uncovers numerical data, statistics and trends about your customers. The number-based insights work best for identifying patterns and gathering broad understandings of preferences, opinions, or how many people fall into a certain category.

Quantitative research is best done with UX research methods like heatmaps or UX surveys with Likert scales, close-ended questioning, and multiple-choice questions. It aims to answer ‘what’, ‘where’, and ‘when’ with objective metrics, collected indirectly—often through a UX research tool .

4. Qualitative research

Qualitative research entails collecting and analyzing descriptive, contextual, and interpretive data. This non-statistical data looks at the ‘why’, aiming to uncover customer opinions, viewpoints, and experiences.

Typically obtained through research methods like focus groups, user interviews , and open-ended question surveys, qualitative research helps you get deeper insight into your customers’ motivations and pain points. To give customers space and the opportunity to provide rich, descriptive feedback, qualitative research methods will typically have open-ended ‘why’ questions.

5 Customer research methods for uncovering insights

There are plenty of research methods that can uncover and collect the customer insights you’re looking for. Here’s our top five recommended methods for conducting customer research.

1. Customer interviews and focus groups

Nothing uncovers rich, descriptive, contextual insights better than sitting down with your customers and asking them the questions that matter. That’s exactly what customer interviews and focus groups do.

For interviews, you can prepare a list of open- and closed-ended questions, connect with customers one-on-one, and transcribe your answers with the help of a specialized research tool—like Maze Interview Studies .

With a focus group, you’re sitting down with no more than ten customers to gather a collective opinion of a market segment with representative sampling.

Both interviews and focus groups are especially helpful for uncovering customer:

• Experiences

While interviews and focus groups do go in-depth, conducting them can be time-consuming. If you’re short on time or resources, surveys and questionnaires can save you time and effort.

2. Research surveys and questionnaires

Customer experience surveys and questionnaires are a quick and easy way to gain insights with a list of open- and closed-ended questions . Instead of sitting down with your customers, you can send surveys through channels like email, social media or in-product pop-ups .

Surveys and questionnaires are especially versatile due to the many types of questions you can include; from open-ended questions to collect qualitative data, to close-ended questions, rating scales , and multiple choice for quantitative customer feedback.

3. Usability testing and product analytics

Both usability testing and product analytics are common customer research methods, and should form a big part of your customer experience strategy .

With usability testing , you give customers a task to complete and see how accomplish it with your digital product and service. Note down any friction points: where did customers find it difficult to progress during the digital experience? You can follow up usability testing with a quick survey or longer user interview to gather more context on their experience.

Identifying where customers struggle, and seeing this first-hand, gives you insight into their preferences and needs.

Product analytics show you how customers interact with your product by tracking metrics such as time spent on your product, success rates, heatmaps, and click rates. This analytical data helps you common problems and patterns, and identify which customer segments are having the hardest time using your product.

4. Social media and online review mining

Instead of meticulously creating tests to gather customer insights, social media and online review mining lets you collect already existing data from and about your customers. By finding reviews, comments, and ratings online and through social media, you can hear from customers in their own words, to identify where your product falls short, and where it matches their exact expectations.

So, where will you find this treasure trove of valuable insights? Look toward:

• Public review sites such as Capterra and G2Crowd
• Niche communities and forums where your customers gather such as Reddit, Slack, and Quora
• Comments and hashtags on your company’s social media channels such as LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and Facebook

5. Competitive analysis and market research

Customer research helps you understand who your customers are. Competitive product analysis and market research give insights into the space in which you and your customers exist, and provide you with more context on their preferences.

With competitive analysis, you’re not just looking at how customers react to your product but also to your competition . Look for which customer needs or expectations other companies fulfill; where they fall short, and how you can leverage data to understand your customers and create better products and services.

For example, maybe a competitor’s newest helpdesk offer tracks customer resolution times for airline services, but customers are complaining about the platform's lack of reporting options. This could indicate that your product’s major differentiator and competitive advantage should be extensive reporting options and in-depth analytics.

You can also apply your customer research strategy to the market and study bigger industry trends. Market research helps you better understand demand, what customers are willing to pay for a product or service, customer demographics, and segmentation.

How to do customer research: 5 steps for success

Understanding your customers will tell you almost everything you need to know about how to create a product or service that exceeds their needs. It’s the daunting task of collecting these insights that often stops organizations from investing in customer research —but it shouldn’t.

While conducting customer research can feel a lot like navigating a maze, having a solid UX research strategy sets you up for success.

We’ve put together five steps to guide your research process , to ensure you don’t spend valuable resources on dead ends.

1. Define your customer research objectives

As with any other initiative, effective customer research starts with defining the grounds for success. Your mantra to meditate on always starts with: “What do I want to accomplish with these customer insights?”

This question will help you set the course and choose the appropriate method for your customer research project.

Some example objectives:

• I want to create comprehensive customer personas to help us personalize our product
• I want to craft compelling brand content, copy, and communications based on our customers’ biggest pain points
• I want to introduce a new feature that I’m sure customers will want to upgrade their account to use

Once you’ve set your target, defined any specific customer experience metrics you want to track, and gained clarity on what you want to know, it’s time to decide who you’re going to ask.

2. Identify your customer segment

At first glance, it might seem obvious that you’re going to reach out to customers to recruit participants for your research . However, your customer segments may be widely different, each with a unique set of preferences and expectations. Before you conduct research, identify a single segment and tailor your research methodology and questions to them.

Your chosen segment should be large enough to be representative of most of your brand’s customer base. Consider key characteristics in current customer data. What demographic categories do your customers fall into? Are there any preferences and motivations that you already know of?

3. Select a customer research method

The customer research method you opt for should align with your overarching goals. Let’s say you want to understand customer motivations in order to create an empathy map and customer personas.

Such a goal warrants conducting customer interviews and focus groups for contextual, qualitative insights. Perhaps you want to know your customer segment’s single greatest pain point and target that in the next bug-fix sprint. A quick survey with Likert scales and closed-ended questioning may reveal that 87% of your customer segment struggles with inefficient workflows that lead to lost time.

Running low on resources for customer research? Guerilla research tactics are an informal and cost-effective way to gather insights by meeting your customers face-to-face where they’re likely to use your product, and asking them questions in short 5–15-minute sessions.

4. Conduct your customer research

Once you’ve settled on the appropriate testing method, you’re ready to contact customers and begin your research project.

If you’ve chosen surveys or questionnaires, you’ll need to choose a distribution channel such as email or social media. Consider offering customers incentives for completing interview—you can offer free upgrade trials, access to exclusive features, discounts, or brand merchandise.

While conducting research without a tool works, it can be time-consuming. A research tool like Maze lets you create surveys, interviews, and usability tests and automatically analyzes your data for actionable insights. Product analytics capabilities also provide you with heatmaps, click rates, and scroll analytics for an in-depth look at how customers interact with your product.

Using specialized AI tools can also help you streamline tasks throughout conducting research, such as ensuring you don’t ask leading questions.

5. Analyze your data and draw findings

Your customer research will return responses, transcripts, and customer feedback in the form of qualitative or quantitative data. But data by itself is unusable—you need to create UX reportings and conduct data analysis before you can get the insights you’ve been hoping for.

If you’ve done interviews or focus groups, perform thematic analysis or affinity mapping to make sense of these large amounts of qualitative data. For surveys and usability testing, conduct statistical analysis to arrive at insights.

Once you have your insights, highlight key findings, connect them back to your overarching customer research objective, and share with your team.

Get customer research insights with Maze

Customer research opens the door to better products, happier customers, and a more successful business. It may feel like a large task, but breaking it down into bitesize steps and enlisting an all-in-one research tool can turn this large task into part of your everyday workflow.

Not sure where to start?

Maze’s comprehensive suite of user research methods make collecting customer insights (qualitative or quantitative) simple. From Interview Studies to Feedback Surveys , Usability Testing to Card Sorting —it’s a holistic research platform for gathering decision-driving data.

Frequently asked questions about customer research

Who conducts customer research?

Customer research isn’t a strictly defined role for one professional or team. Market research teams most frequently conduct customer research, but it can also be conducted by product management, marketing, and user experience teams.

Why does customer research matter?

Customer research provides decision-makers and product teams with extensive information on customers’ pain points, expectations, desires, and motivations. You can leverage this information to create customer personas, personalize brand messaging, identify new opportunities, and tailor products and services to your customers.

What is consumer research?

Consumer research consists of gathering information on consumer needs and preferences in relation to a product or service. It’s similar to customer research, but a consumer is any person who uses a product or service, while a customer is the person who pays for the product or service.

• Reviews / Why join our community?
• For companies
• Frequently asked questions

Customer Research

What is customer research.

Customer research is conducted so as to identify customer segments, needs, and behaviors. It can be carried out as part of market research, user research, or design research. Even so, it always focuses on researching current or potential customers of a specific brand or product in order to identify unmet customer needs and/or opportunities for business growth.

Customer research can focus on simple demographics of an existing or potential customer group (such as age, gender, and income level). Indeed, these considerations are vital determinants of a product’s target audience. However, such research also often seeks to understand various behaviors and motivators —factors which place a product’s use and potential on a higher level of study. Thus, the goal of such research is to expose clear details about who is—or will be—using a product as well as the reasons behind their doing so and how they go about using it (including the contextual areas of “where” and “when”). Customer research may be conducted via a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods such as interviews, surveys, focus groups, and ethnographic field studies. It also commonly involves doing desk research of online reviews, forums, and social media to explore what customers are saying about a product.

While customer research is usually conducted as part of a design project, it is also often conducted in other departments of an organization. In some cases, customer research is part of marketing—for instance, to ensure that marketing campaigns have the right focus. In other cases, it can be carried out as part of concept development or ideation so as to identify opportunities for future products, services, or features. In any case, such research is an essential ingredient in keeping the end users in clear sight long before the end of any design phase.

Literature on Customer Research

Here’s the entire UX literature on Customer Research by the Interaction Design Foundation, collated in one place:

Learn more about Customer Research

Take a deep dive into Customer Research with our course User Research – Methods and Best Practices .

How do you plan to design a product or service that your users will love , if you don't know what they want in the first place? As a user experience designer, you shouldn't leave it to chance to design something outstanding; you should make the effort to understand your users and build on that knowledge from the outset. User research is the way to do this, and it can therefore be thought of as the largest part of user experience design .

In fact, user research is often the first step of a UX design process—after all, you cannot begin to design a product or service without first understanding what your users want! As you gain the skills required, and learn about the best practices in user research, you’ll get first-hand knowledge of your users and be able to design the optimal product—one that’s truly relevant for your users and, subsequently, outperforms your competitors’ .

This course will give you insights into the most essential qualitative research methods around and will teach you how to put them into practice in your design work. You’ll also have the opportunity to embark on three practical projects where you can apply what you’ve learned to carry out user research in the real world . You’ll learn details about how to plan user research projects and fit them into your own work processes in a way that maximizes the impact your research can have on your designs. On top of that, you’ll gain practice with different methods that will help you analyze the results of your research and communicate your findings to your clients and stakeholders—workshops, user journeys and personas, just to name a few!

By the end of the course, you’ll have not only a Course Certificate but also three case studies to add to your portfolio. And remember, a portfolio with engaging case studies is invaluable if you are looking to break into a career in UX design or user research!

We believe you should learn from the best, so we’ve gathered a team of experts to help teach this course alongside our own course instructors. That means you’ll meet a new instructor in each of the lessons on research methods who is an expert in their field—we hope you enjoy what they have in store for you!

All open-source articles on Customer Research

Card sorting.

Before the Design Process Starts: It’s Time to Get Out Of the Building

Open access—link to us.

We believe in Open Access and the  democratization of knowledge . Unfortunately, world-class educational materials such as this page are normally hidden behind paywalls or in expensive textbooks.

If you want this to change , cite this page , link to us, or join us to help us democratize design knowledge !

Privacy Settings

Our digital services use necessary tracking technologies, including third-party cookies, for security, functionality, and to uphold user rights. Optional cookies offer enhanced features, and analytics.

Experience the full potential of our site that remembers your preferences and supports secure sign-in.

Governs the storage of data necessary for maintaining website security, user authentication, and fraud prevention mechanisms.

Enhanced Functionality

Saves your settings and preferences, like your location, for a more personalized experience.

Referral Program

We use cookies to enable our referral program, giving you and your friends discounts.

Error Reporting

We share user ID with Bugsnag and NewRelic to help us track errors and fix issues.

Optimize your experience by allowing us to monitor site usage. You’ll enjoy a smoother, more personalized journey without compromising your privacy.

Analytics Storage

Collects anonymous data on how you navigate and interact, helping us make informed improvements.

Differentiates real visitors from automated bots, ensuring accurate usage data and improving your website experience.

Lets us tailor your digital ads to match your interests, making them more relevant and useful to you.

Advertising Storage

Stores information for better-targeted advertising, enhancing your online ad experience.

Personalization Storage

Permits storing data to personalize content and ads across Google services based on user behavior, enhancing overall user experience.

Advertising Personalization

Allows for content and ad personalization across Google services based on user behavior. This consent enhances user experiences.

Enables personalizing ads based on user data and interactions, allowing for more relevant advertising experiences across Google services.

Receive more relevant advertisements by sharing your interests and behavior with our trusted advertising partners.

Enables better ad targeting and measurement on Meta platforms, making ads you see more relevant.

Allows for improved ad effectiveness and measurement through Meta’s Conversions API, ensuring privacy-compliant data sharing.

LinkedIn Insights

Tracks conversions, retargeting, and web analytics for LinkedIn ad campaigns, enhancing ad relevance and performance.

LinkedIn CAPI

Enhances LinkedIn advertising through server-side event tracking, offering more accurate measurement and personalization.

Google Ads Tag

Tracks ad performance and user engagement, helping deliver ads that are most useful to you.

Share Knowledge, Get Respect!

or copy link

Cite according to academic standards

Simply copy and paste the text below into your bibliographic reference list, onto your blog, or anywhere else. You can also just hyperlink to this page.

New to UX Design? We’re Giving You a Free ebook!

Download our free ebook The Basics of User Experience Design to learn about core concepts of UX design.

In 9 chapters, we’ll cover: conducting user interviews, design thinking, interaction design, mobile UX design, usability, UX research, and many more!

• What is customer research?

Last updated

Reviewed by

Designing products that both delight customers and solve their problems is essential in a competitive landscape!

But how do you identify what your customers want and need, let alone who your customers really are?

Customer research enables you to learn more about your customers, understand their motivations, and get to grips with their behavior on a deeper level. You can use all this knowledge to create truly user-centric products.

Customer research is how you understand your customers—their needs, pain points, and demographics.

It also allows you to dive into key aspects of customers’ motivations and behaviors. It’s about learning how customers act and what will encourage them to take certain actions.

This is important when developing products. Deeply understanding your customers helps you deliver products that are easy to use, satisfying, and better at solving problems.

You’ll keep designing products that fall short if you don’t know your customers well and can’t see things from their point of view.

• What’s the difference between customer research, market research, and user research

You may have heard the terms customer research, market research, and user research. They might sound similar and have some related functions, but they are distinct types of research.

Market research is generally conducted in the early stages of product creation. Its role is to generate an understanding of the whole market, including what people need and want from products. This type of research typically identifies market readiness, size, competition, and demographics.

While market research is broad, customer research is more specific. It’s a process by which data and information collected during market research are analyzed, grouped, and evaluated. You can think of it as an extension of market research, though some organizations may perform these functions simultaneously.

The focus of user research is generally on understanding what is and isn’t working with current products and where helpful innovation can occur.

• Types of customer research

Primary and secondary research are some of the main types of customer research.

Quantitative and qualitative data are two types of data.

It’s helpful to know the difference between these groups to ensure you collect the right data and information for your project.

Primary vs. secondary research

Primary research is data collected directly by the organization from customers. It is obtained through research methods like surveys, focus groups, or analytics.

The advantage of primary research is having the power to obtain the data that’s most relevant for you. Knowing exactly what data has been collected and how to collate that information into meaningful insights is also more simple.

Secondary research is data collected by external sources, such as research groups, governments, and other companies. You can use it to discover more about customers.

Using data collected by other sources gives you less control, but it can save you money.

Ideally, a combination of both primary and secondary research will help you build a true picture of who your customers are.

Qualitative vs. quantitative data

You also need to understand which type of data will be most helpful for the relevant project.

Qualitative data is obtained directly from users, usually through methods such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, usability testing, and field studies.

This type of data can help designers understand why users do things and gain insights into how to solve their issues.

Quantitative data consists of numeral value measurements gained indirectly from users.

This type of data usually involves measurements like how much, how many, and how many times. Surveys, metrics, and user tests are some of the methods through which it can be collated.

• The best customer research methods

The best customer research method will be the one that’s most relevant and useful for your project. So, what works for one product may not be the best match for another. 

Before deciding on a customer research method, asking the following questions can be helpful:

What do we most need to know about our customers?

What do we not know about our customers?

Are we satisfied that our product has a market?

Do we truly understand our competitors?

Do we deeply understand our target market?

Is our product solving a real-world issue for people? Do we have data to back that up?

Is this product the best possible solution for our customers?

These questions can act as a starting point to discover knowledge gaps. They can also help your team choose the research methods that can plug any of these holes.

Customer surveys

Surveys involve asking customers a series of targeted questions. They’re a popular research method because they can be conducted in several ways, such as with an online questionnaire, phone call, or email.

Surveys can help organizations quickly discover large amounts of useful information. They are also relatively inexpensive, as many free templates are available online.

Keep in mind that a survey is only as good as its questions. Ensure that you’re asking questions that will help you discover the most relevant and helpful data about your customers.

Surveys that follow best practices include the following:

Open-ended questions to get the most information from customers

Consistent ranking scales to avoid ambiguity

Questions that are relevant to the team’s end goal

A short series of questions to avoid overwhelming participants

Customer interviews

Interviewing customers is one of the most straightforward and helpful ways to discover their views, wants, and needs.

Customer interviews include a team member or neutral party having a discussion with a customer. They offer the chance to discover new insights that might not otherwise have been uncovered.

This technique won’t enable you to gather quantitative data, but you will gain new insights into how your customers think and perceive products.

Here are some best practices to follow when conducting customer interviews:

Clarify answers. If there’s any ambiguity in what a customer said, make sure you follow up with further questions to aid true understanding.

Challenge your assumptions. Don’t bring any assumptions to the table. Instead, ask customers how they really think and feel. Having a neutral moderator can help remove any bias the team may bring.

Keep things open. Asking open-ended questions and offering a safe space to share answers are essential steps. Doing so will help you gain real thoughts, not hear what participants think they should say.

The benefit of real data should never be overlooked when it comes to customers. People might say they act in certain ways, but their behavior can show otherwise.

Analytics (in a product dashboard or other data collection method, for example) will reveal a great deal of information about customer behavior. It can help streamline your business, remove areas of friction, and improve the overall customer experience .

Metrics like heat maps, time spent, click tracking, and number of sessions can help you build a picture of your customer’s behavior.

Are customers failing to complete their payment information? Are people landing on your page and immediately clicking away? Is a particular aspect of your experience retaining your customers’ attention? These are just a few useful questions you can ask as you go through your analytics.

Focus groups

Focus groups are a well-known and popular research method. They help teams discover a large amount of information in a short time period.

In a focus group, a small number of people—usually eight or fewer—gather together to discuss products, pain points, preferences, and how they might engage with products.

Focus groups are run by a moderator or a person from the organization who can act neutrally. The moderator will set out a series of questions or topics for the group to discuss.

The benefits of focus groups include the following:

Gaining insights into how users perceive your product

Spontaneous responses you may not have discovered otherwise

Information about key problems and pain points

An understanding of what your users want from a solution

However, focus groups also present some challenges. Louder voices in a group may sway others to agree with the consensus rather than share their real opinions. To combat this, offer all members of the group a safe space to share their thoughts. Encourage varying responses.

Competitor analysis

Competitor analysis helps you dive into what the market is currently offering. It shows what competitors are doing well and what could be done better. This helps you create new products that solve your customers’ problems more effectively.

The following are best practices for conducting competitor analysis

Be clear on who your competitors are

Identify your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses

Clarify who holds the largest market share and why

Analyze online presence, reviews, and product information

Speak to competitors’ customers

Competitor analysis isn’t just about discovering information about your competitors; another goal is to turn information into action. You’ll ideally want to improve on what a competitor currently offers and provide a product that’s more satisfying for customers.

• How to conduct customer research

The following key steps will enable you to conduct useful customer research.

Set clear objectives

There’s a broad range of data and information that can be collected with customer research. However, not all of it will be relevant to your specific project. 

That’s why setting clear objectives from the outset is critical. All methods and data should lead back to these objectives.

Use multiple methods

One research method is unlikely to gather enough information for your project. And no one method is perfect.

Conducting multiple forms of research ensures you discover more about your customers and that your team gathers enough helpful data.

Find the right people

Your research won’t be effective if you’re talking to the wrong customer group. But how do you find the right people?

If you already have a product, it would be enormously beneficial to speak to your current customers . They have proven that they’re in your target audience.

Forums, advertising, local groups, and organizations are good ways to identify potential customers to participate.

Let’s say you’re designing a dog-sitting app. In this case, you’ll need to speak to dog owners who would like more flexibility to travel. You could find these people in online groups, through a local meeting, or even at a park that’s popular for dog walking.

Consider incentives

It’s also worth considering incentives. These can encourage the right people to get on board. For example, you might offer participants the chance to win a voucher or give them a small amount of cash to participate.

Ensure any incentives are meaningful for your target audience.

Develop meaningful insights

Collecting a range of data and information from multiple methods is helpful. However, it’s ultimately meaningless if that data isn’t collated into useful insights .

Ensure that data is accurately grouped and represented clearly and concisely so that the entire business can benefit from the learnings. You might need to hire a data analyst.

• Surprise and delight your customers

Keeping customers at the center of what you do is the only way to create products that are helpful for people.

All products should help customers, whether that’s by solving a problem, making their life a little bit easier, or entertaining them in some way. Customers should want to use your product and enjoy the process.

By researching your customers, you can truly understand how they feel , where their pain points are, how they behave in real-life situations, and what solutions would please them. Ultimately, all this helps you better serve your customers.

Should you be using a customer insights hub?

Do you want to discover previous customer research faster?

Do you share your customer research findings with others?

Do you analyze customer research data?

Start for free today, add your research, and get to key insights faster

Editor’s picks

Last updated: 30 April 2024

Last updated: 15 May 2024

Last updated: 20 March 2024

Last updated: 16 March 2024

Last updated: 21 March 2024

Last updated: 13 May 2024

Last updated: 4 July 2024

Last updated: 23 March 2024

Last updated: 18 April 2024

Latest articles

Related topics, .css-je19u9{-webkit-align-items:flex-end;-webkit-box-align:flex-end;-ms-flex-align:flex-end;align-items:flex-end;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;-webkit-box-flex-wrap:wrap;-webkit-flex-wrap:wrap;-ms-flex-wrap:wrap;flex-wrap:wrap;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;row-gap:0;text-align:center;max-width:671px;}@media (max-width: 1079px){.css-je19u9{max-width:400px;}.css-je19u9>span{white-space:pre;}}@media (max-width: 799px){.css-je19u9{max-width:400px;}.css-je19u9>span{white-space:pre;}} decide what to .css-1kiodld{max-height:56px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;}@media (max-width: 1079px){.css-1kiodld{display:none;}} build next, decide what to build next, log in or sign up.

Get started for free

Customer Research Methods: Key Strategies for Market Insights in 2024

• Customer surveys : Survey tools such as Survicate are essential for conducting quantitative and qualitative research across various customer touchpoints and improving digital CX
• Diverse research methods : Employ a mix of customer research methods like different types of surveys , interviews, focus groups, observational studies, and usability testing to gain comprehensive insights into customer behavior and product interaction.
• Importance of continuous feedback : Establishing feedback loop mechanisms is crucial for ongoing improvement, ensuring that products and services evolve in response to customer needs .
• Data analysis : Systematic data collection followed by thorough analysis using appropriate customer research tools is key to identifying trends and making informed decisions. ‍
• Actionable feedback : Prioritize and strategize based on research findings to create actionable insights that drive measurable improvements in customer experience management and business processes.

Cutting through the chatter to hear your customers' true opinions is no small feat.

Tailored for business owners and marketers, this article zeroes in on how to conduct customer research . We'll highlight the strategies that directly connect you to your audience's preferences and pain points. By tapping into these insights, you'll be equipped to make informed, impactful business decisions.

Dive in to transform customer feedback into a clear direction for your brand's growth and success.

What is customer research?

Customer research is an essential practice focused on collecting data about your customers to understand their characteristics, needs, and behaviors.

Why is customer research important?

• Informed Decision-Making: You gain actionable insights into customer preferences and satisfaction, empowering you to make data-driven decisions.
• Enhanced Customer Experience: Understanding what your customers value guides your efforts to improve their experiences with your product or service.
• Strategic Focus: Tailoring your business strategy becomes more focused as you identify key demographics and market segments.
• Product Development: Product features and improvements align better with customer expectations when informed by customer research.
• Competitive Edge: Detailed knowledge about your customers can give you a competitive advantage by identifying opportunities and gaps in the market.

Customer research vs. market research

Customer research and market research serve distinct purposes in understanding buyers and the competitive environment.

Customer research dives deep into your existing or potential customers' behaviors, needs, and preferences . It aims to create a detailed understanding of the customer journey , from awareness to purchase and is often qualitative in nature.

On the other hand, market research takes a broader approach, examining the market as a whole, including industry trends, competitor analysis, and market share.

While customer research is about the 'who' and 'why' behind purchasing decisions, conducting market research addresses the 'what' and 'how' of market conditions and opportunities.

Both types of research are crucial for informed decision-making but focus on different aspects of the business landscape. Customer research is about improving the customer experience and tailoring products or services to consumer needs. Market research is about understanding the market landscape to strategize and position offerings effectively.

Primary research vs. secondary research

In customer research, understanding the distinction between primary research and secondary research is crucial for choosing the right approach to obtain your insights.

Primary research

Primary research involves collecting data firsthand for your specific research goal. This data is original and gathered through methods directly controlled by you. Examples include:

• Surveys and questionnaires : Deploying custom surveys to collect customer feedback on a new product or service.
• Interviews : Conducting one-on-one dialogues to dive deep into customer opinions and experiences.
• Focus groups : Facilitated group discussions to obtain a range of perspectives on a particular topic.

Secondary research

Secondary research methods rely on data previously collected by others. It's an evaluation of existing information that may include:

• Industry Reports : Analyzing market research findings related to your sector.
• Academic Journals : Reviewing studies and papers for trends and outcomes that align with your interests.
• Market Analysis : Assessing competitor data and market summaries to inform your strategies.

Types of customer data

Before diving into specific categories, understand that customer data is essential to personalize your marketing strategies and enhance customer experiences. This data comes in two core types: qualitative and quantitative.

Qualitative data

Qualitative research gathers non-numeric information that captures your customers' opinions, motivations, and attitudes. This data often comes from:

• Interviews , direct conversations that provide in-depth insights.
• Open-ended survey responses allow customers to express their thoughts in their own words.

Quantitative data

Quantitative research collects numerical data and can be measured and analyzed statistically. Key sources include:

• Transaction records : Sales data showing purchasing patterns.
• Website analytics : Metrics like page views and click-through rates representing user behavior.

Best customer research methods

When conducting customer research, you need to select the right methodology to gain valuable insights. Various research methods cater to different needs, from understanding user behavior to gauging customer satisfaction.

Customer surveys and questionnaires

Deploy online surveys and questionnaires to quickly gather quantitative and qualitative data from a large audience. For example, a survey tool such as Survicate offers a variety of different distribution channels:

• surveys embedded in emails
• website pop-up surveys
• mobile app surveys
• link surveys
• in-product surveys

Surveys are a cost-effective way to gather market research insights from the entire customer digital journey . If you use them as a part of a feedback loop, they can help you improve the CX considerably.

widely via email, websites, or social media platforms. Ensure your questions are direct and easy to understand to maximize response rates.

Conduct interviews to collect in-depth qualitative data. One-on-one interviews allow for a deep dive into customer opinions, beliefs, and experiences. Record these sessions, if possible, to ensure that none of the details are lost.

Focus groups

Utilize focus groups to explore customer attitudes and behaviors in a group setting. This method sparks conversation and can uncover insights that might not surface in one-on-one interactions. Be wary of group dynamics such as conformity, which can influence individual responses.

Observational studies

Observational studies involve watching how users interact with your product in their natural environment. This method provides unfiltered, real-world user behavior that can be invaluable in understanding how your product is used.

Usability testing

Usability testing is imperative for evaluating the functionality and design of your product. Recruit participants to complete specific tasks while observers note where they encounter issues or experience confusion.

Field trials

Conduct field trials by providing users a prototype or beta version of your product for a certain period. This hands-on approach yields feedback on your product's performance in real-life scenarios.

Review mining

Lastly, review mining involves analyzing customer feedback found in online reviews and forums. This passive method is particularly useful for identifying common pain points and areas for improvement without the need for direct interaction.

Types of customer research

Customer research encompasses various methodologies aimed at understanding your market and clientele. Tailoring these approaches helps you stay informed and make data-driven decisions.

Competitive research

You analyze your competitors to benchmark your products, services, and customer satisfaction levels against them. This helps in identifying industry standards and areas for improvement.

Customer journey mapping

Journey mapping involves charting the steps your customers take, from discovering your brand to making a purchase and beyond. It's a strategic approach to understanding customer interactions with your brand.

Buyer persona research

You create detailed profiles of your typical customers based on demographic and psychographic data. These personas help in crafting targeted marketing strategies.

Customer experience research

You assess customers' overall experience with your brand, from the usability of your website to customer service interactions, to optimize every touchpoint.

Customer segmentation research

Market segmentation divides your customer base into distinct groups based on common characteristics to provide more personalized products and services.

Customer needs research

You investigate your customers' underlying needs and desires to develop products that solve specific problems or enhance their lives.

Customer satisfaction research

You measure how your products and services meet, exceed, or fall short of customer expectations, often using surveys, feedback forms, and follow-up interviews.

Pricing research

You evaluate customers' responses to pricing changes and their perception of your product's value to establish an optimal pricing strategy.

Brand perception research

You gauge how customers perceive your brand to ensure your messaging aligns with their beliefs and your company values.

Designing a research plan

Precision and structure are pivotal for gathering actionable insights in constructing a customer research plan. These steps will guide you through creating an effective framework for your research efforts.

Set objectives

Identify what you want to achieve with your research. For instance, you may aim to understand customer satisfaction , identify buying patterns, or test product concepts. These objectives should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART) to ensure clarity and focus.

Identify target audience

Determine who your customers are by segmenting the market. To accurately represent your overall market, include demographics, psychographics, and behaviors in your segmentation. Knowing your audience can tailor your research to yield more relevant data.

Recruit participants

Once you know who to target, select participants who best represent your customer base. Employ strategies such as customer databases, social media outreach, or third-party panels to gather a varied group that reflects your target audience's diversity.

Choose appropriate methods

Your objectives will dictate the methods you choose. Qualitative approaches like interviews afford depth, while quantitative methods like surveys provide breadth. Select the right blend of methods to gain a multidimensional view of customer sentiments.

Sampling techniques

Employ sampling techniques to generalize your findings. Random sampling ensures everyone has an equal chance of selection, while stratified sampling involves dividing your audience into subgroups and sampling from these categories to ensure all segments are represented.

Build a continuous process with feedback loops

Establish ongoing mechanisms to capture customer feedback regularly. This could involve periodic surveys or real-time feedback systems. Make sure you continuously iterate your product or service based on this input, creating a virtuous cycle of improvement.

Data collection and analysis

Effective customer research hinges on the systematic collection and meticulous analysis of data to decipher patterns, understand behaviors, and make informed decisions.

Gather data systematically and analyze it to uncover patterns and trends. Use analytical tools that can handle your data type and amount. Look for relationships between variables and compare these findings against your goals.

Quantitative data analysis

You'll handle numerical data that can be measured and compared in a straightforward manner. Quantitative analysis often employs statistical tools to interpret data sets and deduce meaningful insights. Common techniques include:

• Descriptive Statistics: Summarize your data through means, medians, and modes.
• Inferential Statistics: Make predictions and infer trends from your sample data.
• Regression Analysis: Determine the relationship between variables.

Qualitative data assessment

With qualitative data, your focus is on interpretative analysis of non-numerical information, such as customer interviews or open-ended survey responses. Key approaches involve:

• Thematic Analysis: Identify patterns or themes within qualitative data.
• Content Analysis: Categorize text to understand the frequency and relationships of words or concepts.
• Narrative Analysis: Explore the structure and content of stories to gain insights into customer perspectives.

Mixing methods

Combining quantitative and qualitative analysis can provide a holistic view of your customer research. Employ a 'mixed methods' strategy to:

• Validate findings across different data types.
• Gain a richer, more nuanced understanding of research questions.
• Balance the depth of qualitative assessment with the generalizability of quantitative analysis.

Interpreting and reporting results

Turn your data into action by using insights to inform business decisions. Whether it is refining product features or adjusting marketing strategies, use the research to create value for your customers and your business.

Drawing conclusions

When you are ready to draw conclusions from your customer research, begin by assessing the data's significance. Look for patterns and trends in the feedback and quantifiable data. Tabulate your findings when possible, as this makes comparisons clearer:

• Quantitative Data : Calculate averages, frequencies, and percentages. A table showing the response distribution for each question can clarify these statistics.
• Qualitative Data : Group feedback into themes. For instance, list common descriptors used by customers when discussing a product feature.

Conclusions should directly relate to the research objectives you set before the study.

Creating actionable insights

After drawing conclusions, it's crucial to translate them into actionable insights:

• Prioritize : Determine which findings substantially impact your objectives or pose the biggest challenge to your CX.
• Strategize : For each priority area, brainstorm potential strategies. This may involve a simple list or a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) for complex decisions.

Always ensure that your insights are actionable; they should inform decisions and lead to measurable improvement in consumer experience or business processes. Communicate these insights with clear, straightforward language to the relevant stakeholders in your organization.

Emerging trends in customer research

Conduct market research with ai.

Customer research is adapting to leverage cutting-edge technologies. You'll notice a significant shift towards harnessing data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to derive deeper insights into customer behavior.

You can leverage Survciate AI-powered features as well. Try the AI survey creator that will design your customer or market research survey in under a minute after you describe your needs and objectives.

After you collect feedback, you can use the AI Topics feature to speed up getting qualitative insights. It will automatically categorize and summarize answers to your open-ended questions. Worth trying, isn't it?

Social listening

Social listening tools are another trend on the rise. They enable you to monitor your brand's social media presence and gather direct feedback from conversations about your products or services. Mobile ethnography also offers a way to observe customer interactions in a natural setting, providing contextually rich data.

Predicting customer behavior

Lastly, as the emphasis on personalization grows, predictive analytics are being adopted to tailor customer experiences. These techniques analyze past behavior to anticipate future needs, enhancing your ability to meet customer expectations preemptively.

Remember, these methods involve collecting various forms of customer data, so being vigilant about privacy and ethical data use is crucial. Follow regulations and best practices to ethically manage the information you gather.

Survicate for your market and customer research

As we've explored, the key to thriving in the current market is to truly understand your customers. The challenge, however, lies in efficiently gathering and interpreting their feedback to inform your business strategies.

With its user-friendly interface, Survicate allows you to create targeted surveys, collect real-time feedback, and analyze the data with ease, ensuring that every customer voice is heard and accounted for.

Survicate's suite of features simplifies the process of connecting with customers and extracting the insights you need to make data-driven decisions. Whether it's through NPS , customer satisfaction surveys, or user experience research, Survicate provides the clarity and direction required to adapt and excel in a fast-paced market.

For those ready to elevate their customer research, consider giving Survicate a try. Start your journey to clearer insights today with a free 10-day trial of the Business Plan , and experience the full potential of focused customer feedback. Take the step today, and transform the way you connect with your audience.

We’re also there

Customer Research: Types of Customer Research, Methods, and Best Practices.

In the ever-evolving landscape of business, understanding your customers is the key to success. Customer research, a systematic process of gathering and analyzing information about customers, plays a pivotal role in making informed business decisions and developing effective strategies. In this comprehensive guide, we delve into the types of customer research, the methodologies involved, and best practices for optimal results.

Comprehensive Guide to Customer Research: Types, Methods, and Best Practices

What is customer research.

Customer research involves the systematic exploration of customer behaviors, needs, preferences, and experiences. It combines qualitative and quantitative studies to gain insights into the target audience, facilitating informed decision-making and the development of strategies to meet customer expectations. The essential components of customer research include:

1. Research Objectives

Clearly defining research objectives is paramount. It involves determining the specific information or insights the organization aims to gather, ensuring the collected data aligns with organizational needs.

2. Target Audience Definition

Identifying the target audience is crucial, representing the group the research focuses on. This audience should mirror the organization’s customer base or intended market.

3. Research Methodology

Choosing appropriate research methods is vital. Whether surveys, interviews, focus groups, or data analytics, the methods should align with objectives, providing desired depth and breadth of insights.

4. Data Collection

Conducting data collection activities is core to customer research. Proper techniques, such as surveys, interviews, or data analysis, ensure the accuracy and reliability of gathered information.

5. Data Analysis

Organizing, categorizing, and interpreting collected data is essential. From quantitative techniques to qualitative research, the goal is to derive actionable insights that inform decision-making.

6. Findings and Insights

Effectively communicating research findings involves summarizing and presenting results. Visualizations, reports, and dashboards convey information clearly and understandably.

7. Recommendations

Based on findings, practical and actionable recommendations guide business decisions, whether for product improvements, marketing strategies, or customer experience enhancements.

8. Iteration and Continuous Improvement

Customer research is an iterative process. Regularly incorporating insights into strategies ensures organizations remain responsive to customer expectations and market changes.

Types of Customer Research

Understanding the various types of customer research is crucial for tailoring approaches to specific objectives. Some common types include:

1. Customer Satisfaction Research

Definition:.

Customer satisfaction research revolves around measuring and analyzing how satisfied customers are with a product or service. It helps in identifying areas for improvement and gauges overall customer contentment.

Key Elements:

• Surveys and Feedback Forms: Use structured surveys or feedback forms to quantify satisfaction levels.
• Net Promoter Score (NPS): Measures the likelihood of customers recommending a product or service.

Implementation:

Regularly conduct surveys and analyze feedback to gauge customer sentiment, focusing on enhancing areas with lower satisfaction.

2. Customer Needs and Preferences Research

This type of research aims to uncover the underlying needs, desires, and preferences of customers. It provides insights into what customers are looking for in a product or service.

• In-depth Interviews: Engage in one-on-one interviews to delve into the motivations and preferences of customers.
• Observational Studies: Observe customer behavior in real-life scenarios to identify unmet needs.

Conduct qualitative research through interviews and observational studies to gain a deep understanding of customer needs, informing product development.

3. Customer Experience (CX) Research

CX research focuses on understanding and optimizing the overall customer journey, identifying pain points, and ensuring a seamless and satisfying experience.

• Customer Journey Mapping: Visualize the entire customer experience, from initial interaction to post-purchase.
• Usability Testing: Evaluate the ease with which customers navigate through products or services.

Create detailed customer journey maps, conduct usability tests, and analyze customer interactions to enhance overall experience.

4. Brand Perception Research

This research assesses how customers perceive a brand, including awareness, image, associations, and loyalty. It helps in shaping and maintaining a positive brand identity.

• Brand Surveys: Measure brand awareness, associations, and loyalty.
• Competitor Analysis: Understand how the brand compares to competitors.

Regularly conduct brand perception surveys and analyze competitor strategies to maintain a positive brand image.

5. Customer Segmentation Research

Customer segmentation involves categorizing customers based on shared characteristics, behaviors, or needs. It enables targeted marketing strategies.

• Demographic Segmentation: Grouping customers based on age, gender, income, etc.
• Behavioral Segmentation: Segmenting based on purchasing behavior or product usage.

Analyze customer data to identify commonalities, enabling personalized marketing strategies for different segments.

6. Competitive Research

Competitive research involves analyzing competitors’ strategies, products, and customer experiences to identify opportunities for differentiation.

• Competitor Product Analysis: Evaluate features, pricing, and positioning of competitors’ products.
• Social Media Monitoring: Track customer sentiments regarding competitors on social media.

Regularly monitor competitors, analyze product offerings, and gather customer feedback to identify areas for improvement and differentiation.

7. Customer Journey Mapping

Customer journey mapping visualizes the end-to-end customer experience, identifying touchpoints, emotions, and areas for improvement.

• Customer Touchpoints: Identify and analyze all the touchpoints a customer has with the brand.
• Emotion Analysis: Understand customer emotions at each stage of the journey.

Create detailed customer journey maps, incorporating feedback from various touchpoints to enhance the overall journey.

These types of customer research provide organizations with a holistic view of their customers, enabling them to make informed decisions, improve products and services, and stay ahead in a competitive market. Each type serves a unique purpose, and a combination of these approaches ensures a comprehensive understanding of customer behaviors and preferences.

How to Conduct Customer Research: 10 Key Steps

Conducting effective customer research involves a systematic approach:

1. Define Research Objectives

Clearly define specific objectives to guide the research process and focus on relevant questions.

2. Identify Target Audience

Determine the specific target audience or customer segment that aligns with research goals.

3. Choose Research Methods

Select appropriate research methods and techniques, considering advantages, limitations, and resource requirements.

4. Develop Research Instruments

Design clear, concise research instruments such as survey questionnaires or interview guides.

5. Recruit Participants

Recruit participants matching the target audience criteria through various channels, ensuring communication clarity.

6. Conduct Data Collection

Implement chosen research methods, maintaining ethical guidelines, privacy, and data confidentiality.

7. Analyze Data

Use appropriate analysis techniques, whether quantitative or qualitative, ensuring rigor and alignment with research objectives.

8. Interpret Findings

Analyze patterns, trends, and relationships in data to gain insights into customer behaviors, preferences, or needs.

9. Communicate Results

Present findings clearly through reports, presentations, or visualizations, tailored to the target audience.

10. Apply Insights

Apply insights to inform business decisions, enhancing product development, marketing, and customer experiences.

Customer research is iterative; monitor outcomes, conduct follow-up research, and stay responsive to evolving customer needs.

Examples of Customer Research Questions

Crafting effective customer research questions is essential. Examples include:

• What factors influenced your decision to purchase our product/service?
• How did you first hear about our company?
• What specific features or aspects of our product/service do you find most valuable?
• What improvements or enhancements would you like to see in our product/service?
• How likely are you to recommend our product/service to others? Why?
• What obstacles or challenges did you encounter when using our product/service?
• How does our product/service compare to competitors in the market?
• How satisfied are you with the level of customer support you received?
• What are your expectations for pricing and value in relation to our product/service?
• How frequently do you use our product/service, and for what purposes?

Tailoring questions to the industry or service being researched ensures gathering relevant information.

Best Practices for Customer Research

Following best practices is essential for accurate and valuable insights:

1. Clearly Define Research Objectives

Identify specific goals and objectives to guide research, focusing on relevant questions and areas of investigation.

2. Use a Mix of Qualitative and Quantitative Methods

Combine qualitative and quantitative research methods for a comprehensive understanding of customers.

3. Identify Your Target Audience

Clearly define the characteristics and demographics of the target audience for accurate representation.

4. Create Unbiased and Neutral Questions

Formulate clear, unbiased, and neutral questions to avoid leading or influencing participant responses.

5. Use a Variety of Data Collection Methods

Explore various data collection methods, including surveys, interviews, focus groups, and social media listening.

6. Engage With Customers at Different Touchpoints

Interact with customers at different stages, from pre-purchase to post-purchase, to understand the entire customer journey.

7. Maintain Confidentiality and Anonymity

Assure participants of confidentiality and anonymity to encourage honest and unbiased feedback.

8. Analyze and Interpret Data Systematically

Systematically analyze data using appropriate techniques, identifying patterns and key insights.

9. Continuously Iterate and Improve

Regularly revisit research objectives, update methods, and gather feedback for continuous improvement.

10. Communicate Findings and Take Action

Present research findings to stakeholders, using insights to inform strategic decisions, product development, and marketing.

By following these best practices, organizations can conduct effective customer research, gaining valuable insights into customer behaviors and preferences.

Enhance Your Research with IdeaScale

IdeaScale is an innovation management solution that inspires people to take action on their ideas. With features like community whiteboards, services for government and nonprofits, and extensive resources, IdeaScale elevates research and

Empowering Businesses Globally: A Comprehensive Guide to Customer Research by Arensic

Welcome to the realm of Arensic International , your strategic partner in unlocking the full potential of businesses on the global stage. As a leading international market research and management consulting firm, Arensic transcends boundaries to deliver strategic solutions that drive informed decisions and foster sustainable growth.

About Arensic International

At Arensic , we go beyond being a service provider; we are your visionary partner, committed to creating a dynamic and collaborative environment where innovative ideas flourish, decisions are informed, and business growth is realized. Our goal is to be the catalyst for your success in the competitive business landscape.

More Insights

Ai impact on society: ethical landscape of ai for a positive societal impact, types of market research: a deep dive into types of marketing research, marketing research in marketing: mastering marketing research in the dynamic world of marketing, market segmentation analysis: unveiling the power of market segmentation analysis.

• Product management
• Collections: Customer research

A complete guide to customer research — with templates

What makes your product great? What problems does it solve? People will look to you — the product manager — as the expert on these questions. But you know that the answers are not based solely on your own opinions and experience. The most important input often comes from somewhere else: customers.

Understanding customers is integral to developing a lovable product . As a product manager, you will want to explore everything from your users' demographics to their inner motivations and struggles. This process of sussing out their needs and challenges is called customer research.

Conducting customer research is complex and dynamic work, where your curiosity is a tremendous asset. To plan, gather, and analyze feedback, product managers use a wide variety of methods — qualitative, quantitative, and a mix of both. You can take a highly sophisticated approach to this, but many times effective customer research entails talking to customers and using simple tools or templates to analyze their feedback.

In this guide, you will learn the fundamentals of conducting primary research so you can better understand the folks you are trying to help. You can try seven customer research templates to help you experiment with different methods and save time in the research process.

Engage a community and analyze feedback in Aha! Ideas. Start a free trial .

With Aha! Ideas , you can host live empathy sessions with your customers to learn more about their need and preferences.

Why should you do customer research?

Customer research is an essential component of product strategy — alongside competitor analysis , market research, and overall business needs. The insights you glean from meeting and surveying customers help to shape your strategic initiatives , ensuring that your team is poised to deliver what people really want from your product.

A key reason to perform customer research is to gain new perspectives on your product. Your customers may tell you things you never realized — hidden problems, unique ways of completing tasks, and even alternate use cases. What you believe matters most about your product may not even be on your customers' radar.

Let's say your product has a reporting feature with low usage . Your team decides to give the reporting interface a major upgrade. You spend the time and resources to build these updates — only to scratch your head when there is no uptick in usage. What went wrong?

If you breezed past talking to your customers, it is possible that the interface was not the factor keeping them from engaging. Maybe they prefer to use a separate reporting tool — in which case, an integration capability would have been a much more valuable feature to build.

Customer research helps you avoid spending time solving proble ms that do not exist — and highlights the ones that are real and deserving of your attention. This way, you know where to focus your efforts for the best chance of making your customers happy and meeting business goals.

How much customer feedback is the right amount?

The short answer? It depends. Your specific goals, the scope of your research, and the stage of your product's development all play a role. Here are some things to keep in mind when determining the right amount of customer feedback to collect:

Understand your goals Are you looking to validate a new product idea or improve an existing product? Do you need to better understand customer pain points or gather usability insights? These answers will shape your product development goals and dictate the depth and breadth of feedback required.

Define your sample size Consider the size of your target audience and customer base. In some cases, a smaller sample size can provide valuable insights, especially if you are conducting in-depth qualitative research . For quantitative research, a larger sample size might be necessary to ensure statistical relevancy.

Ensure diversity of perspective Aim for variety in your feedback pool. Different demographic groups, usage patterns, and customer segments can provide a more comprehensive understanding of customer needs and preferences.

Include a mix of feedback channels Analyzing feedback from different channels can provide unique perspectives and insights. Experiment with a variety of feedback methods and channels — such as releasing surveys, conducting interviews , and reviewing your social media and customer support interactions.

Consider resource constraints Think about the time, budget, and staff you have available for collecting and analyzing feedback. Balance the scope of your research with what you can realistically manage.

Remember, customer feedback is often collected in iterations. Start with a small group of users for early insights, then expand your feedback pool as you make improvements. Each iteration helps you refine your product and strategy.

And while quantity matters, the quality of feedback is crucial. Sometimes a few detailed, insightful responses can be more valuable than a large number of superficial ones.

Primary vs. secondary customer research

Product managers will use both primary and secondary customer research to gather information. Briefly, the difference is:

Primary customer research refers to gathering your own data and feedback firsthand via interviews, focus groups, surveys, and other methods.

Secondary customer research refers to findings gleaned from external sources like analyst reports and third-party surveys.

Both types can be valuable, but when it comes to your goals as a product manager, primary research is superior. While secondary research will help you understand demographics and broader trends, primary research allows you to drill down into the details of your specific product and target audience.

Your customers' own experiences are invaluable and one of the surest signals to creating a lovable product. For this guide, we will focus on the fundamentals of conducting primary research.

How do product managers gather customer feedback?

How do product managers come up with new ideas for a product?

How to conduct customer research

On a basic level, customer research entails reaching out to current or potential customers and gathering feedback from them via direct conversations or more indirect methods (like online surveys). Advanced tools such as product analytics and idea management software can certainly augment your approach — but are not necessary to get started.

Follow these steps to conduct your own primary customer research:

1. Define your objective Outline your research goals and determine what it is you really want to learn. For example, your objective could be to learn broadly about your customers' business goals or gain a deeper understanding of their experience with a specific feature set.

2. Decide which customers to contact Your objectives will help you decide who to speak with — especially if your product caters to a diverse group of customers. Think about current and potential customers and form a list of people to reach out to.

3. Prepare If you are leading an interview or focus group, meet with your product teammates to prepare your questions. Keep in mind you may need to coordinate with other team members who want to sit in on discussions. If you are conducting a survey, build it — then decide how and when to distribute it.

4. Start your research Conduct your interviews or hit "send" on your survey When talking directly with customers, remember to listen more than you speak. Ask meaningful follow-up questions to encourage deeper thinking and discussion.

5. Analyze, summarize, and share your findings Look for trends in the feedback you received. What did customers agree on? What were the most popular ideas or recurring pain points? Find common threads and share the findings with your team. Together, you can discuss and prioritize the customer ideas that support your overall goals — and promote those ideas to your product roadmap .

6. Repeat Customer research is an ongoing part of product management. You will need to collect feedback from many customers to make informed product decisions. And with every new product launch or major release, you may need to start fresh with a new objective and customer set.

Because it is ongoing, it helps to keep all of your customer research organized. You want to be clear on how your findings will inform the features you develop. For example, the Research tab in Aha! helps you collect whiteboards, interview notes, and ideas right on feature cards.

Editor's note: Although the video below still shows core functionality within Aha! software, some of the interface might be out of date. View our knowledge base for the most updated insights into Aha! software.

Related: 35+ customer questions for product innovation

Get started with customer research templates

Customer research templates offer a simple way to start discovering who your audience really is and what matters to them. Using templates helps you add much-needed structure to your customer research process. Below, you will find an assortment of templates to try — from planning to interviews, surveys, and summarizing your findings.

Aha! software customer interview template

Customer research planning template, customer interview notes template.

Customer survey template

Customer feedback poll template

Customer focus group discussion template, customer research presentation template.

This customer interview template is a great one to start with. It is a guided template with helpful prompts and instructions in each section. This makes it simple to plan your conversations with customers so you can get the most out of each interview. It is available in Aha! software — which gives you a central place to document and organize your findings.

Start using this template now

This planning template helps you define your objectives, identify which customers to talk to, and prepare for your research session. It includes sections for customer profiles (personas, segments, and companies) to add context to your research group.

An interview template will keep your notes organized during conversations with customers. It will also help you guide the flow of the interview and note any takeaways or action items to proceed with after the session ends. Feel free to customize the discussion questions to match your objective.

Customer research survey template

Customer surveys allow you to gather insights from more people in less time — with the added benefit of built-in reporting via online survey tools. This template will help you learn how to design an effective customer research survey and plan the demographic, use case, and customer satisfaction questions that you want to ask. It includes a blend of question types for both fixed and open-ended responses.

Polls offer a simple way to incorporate a quantitative component into your qualitative research. For example, you can quickly gauge the group's opinion on an idea by inserting a poll in an online focus group or empathy session . This template will help you jot down ideas for future polls.

Similar to the customer interview template, this focus group template will help you structure your session. It emphasizes a well-planned agenda over note-taking — encouraging you to be present in the discussion when you are facilitating a focus group. You can always record the focus group session to revisit later and take detailed notes.

After you have conducted your research, showcase your findings. Sharing results with your team makes customer research even more impactful — customer opinions matter at every level of the business and every stage of the product development process . This template will help you convey your top takeaways in a presentation.

Customer research has long been a core tenet of product management — and will continue to be. Templates like these will help you streamline your research process so you can focus on interacting with your audience and distilling insights from what they share.

When you are ready for a more comprehensive solution beyond simple templates, give idea management software like Aha! Ideas a try. With Aha! Ideas, you can crowdsource feedback via ideas portals, engage your community with empathy sessions, and analyze trends at the individual, organization, and segment levels. This helps you prioritize customer feedback with ease and promote the ideas that support your business goals directly to your product roadmap. (Note that you can use Aha! Ideas as a standalone tool, but many of its features are also available on Aha! Roadmaps . This makes it a great choice for teams seeking an all-encompassing product development solution.)

Discover exactly what your customers want. Start a free Aha! Ideas trial today.

• The Aha! Framework for product development
• The activities in The Aha! Framework
• What is a business model?
• What is customer experience?
• What is the Complete Product Experience (CPE)?
• What is a customer journey map?
• What is product-led growth?
• What are the types of business transformation?
• What is enterprise transformation?
• What is digital transformation?
• What is the role of product management in enterprise transformation?
• What is a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)?
• What is a Minimum Lovable Product (MLP)?
• What is product vision?
• How to set product strategy
• What is product-market fit?
• What is product differentiation?
• How to position your product
• How to price your product
• What are product goals and initiatives?
• How to set product goals
• How to set product initiatives
• What is product value?
• What is value-based product development?
• Introduction to marketing strategy
• Introduction to marketing templates
• What is a marketing strategy?
• How to set marketing goals
• Marketing vs. advertising
• What is a creative brief?
• How to define buyer personas
• Understanding the buyer's journey
• What is competitive differentiation?
• 10Ps marketing matrix
• 2x2 prioritization matrix
• Business model
• Customer journey map
• Decision log
• Decision tree
• Fit gap analysis
• Gap analysis
• Lean canvas
• Marketing strategy
• MoSCoW model
• Opportunity canvas
• Porter's 5 forces
• Pricing and packaging research
• Pricing plan chart
• Pricing strategies (Kotler)
• Product positioning
• Product vision
• SAFe® framework
• Scrum framework
• Segment profile
• SMART goals
• Strategic roadmap
• Strategy mountain
• SWOT analysis
• The Aha! Framework
• Value proposition
• VMOST analysis
• Working backwards
• Collections: Business model
• Collections: SWOT
• Collections: Objectives and key results (OKR)
• Collections: Product positioning
• Collections: Market positioning
• Collections: Marketing strategy
• Collections: Marketing messaging
• What is product discovery?
• How to do market research
• How to define customer personas
• How to research competitors
• How to gather customer feedback
• Asking the right questions to drive innovation
• Approaches table
• Competitive analysis
• Customer empathy map
• Customer interview
• Customer research plan
• PESTLE analysis
• Problem framing
• Product comparison chart
• Pros and cons
• Target audience
• Collections: Competitor analysis
• Collections: Marketing competitor analysis
• How to brainstorm product ideas
• Brainstorming techniques for product builders
• Why product teams need an internal knowledge hub
• Why product teams need virtual whiteboarding software
• How to use an online whiteboard in product management
• What is idea management?
• 4 steps for product ideation
• How to estimate the value of new product ideas
• How to prioritize product ideas
• What is idea management software?
• Introduction to marketing idea management
• How to gather marketing feedback from teammates
• Brainstorming new marketing ideas
• How to estimate the value of new marketing ideas
• Brainstorming meeting
• Brainstorming session
• Concept map
• Data flow diagram
• Fishbone diagram
• Ideas portal guide
• Jobs to be done
• Process flow diagram
• Proof of concept
• Sticky note pack
• User story map
• Workflow diagram
• Roadmapping: Your starter guide
• Agile roadmap
• Business roadmap
• Features roadmap
• Innovation roadmap
• Marketing roadmap
• Product roadmap
• Product portfolio roadmap
• Project roadmap
• Strategy roadmap
• Technology roadmap
• How to choose a product roadmap tool
• How to build a brilliant roadmap
• What to include on your product roadmap
• How to visualize data on your product roadmap
• What milestones should be included on a roadmap?
• How often should roadmap planning happen?
• How to build a roadmap for a new product
• How to build an annual product roadmap
• How to customize the right roadmap for your audience
• Product roadmap examples
• How to report on progress against your roadmap
• How to communicate your product roadmap to customers
• What is a content marketing roadmap?
• What is a digital marketing roadmap?
• What is an integrated marketing roadmap?
• What is a go-to-market roadmap?
• What is a portfolio marketing roadmap?
• How to choose a marketing roadmap tool
• Epics roadmap
• Now, Next, Later roadmap
• Portfolio roadmap
• Release roadmap
• Collections: Product roadmap
• Collections: Product roadmap presentation
• Collections: Marketing roadmap
• What is product planning?
• How to diagram product use cases
• How product managers use Gantt charts
• How to use a digital whiteboard for product planning
• Introduction to release management
• How to plan product releases across teams
• What is a product backlog?
• Product backlog vs. release backlog vs. sprint backlog
• How to refine the product backlog
• Capacity planning for product managers
• What is requirements management?
• What is a market requirements document (MRD)?
• How to manage your product requirements document (PRD)
• What is a product feature?
• What is user story mapping?
• How to prioritize product features
• Common product prioritization frameworks
• JTBD prioritization framework
• Introduction to marketing plans
• What is a marketing plan?
• How to create a marketing plan
• What is a digital marketing plan?
• What is a content marketing plan?
• Why is content marketing important?
• What is a social media plan?
• How to create a marketing budget
• 2023 monthly calendar
• 2024 monthly calendar
• Feature requirement
• Kanban board
• Market requirements document
• Problem statement
• Product requirements document
• SAFe® Program board
• Stakeholder analysis
• Stakeholder map
• Timeline diagram
• Collections: Product development process
• Collections: MRD
• Collections: PRD
• Collections: Gantt chart
• Collections: User story
• Collections: User story mapping
• Collections: Feature definition checklist
• Collections: Feature prioritization templates
• Collections: Marketing plan templates
• Collections: Marketing calendar templates
• Product design basics
• What is user experience design?
• What is the role of a UX designer?
• What is the role of a UX manager?
• How to use a wireframe in product management
• Wireframe vs. mockup vs. prototype
• 18 expert tips for wireframing
• Analytics dashboard wireframe
• Product homepage wireframe
• Signup wireframe
• Collections: Creative brief
• Common product development methodologies
• Common agile development methodologies
• What is agile product management?
• What is agile software development?
• What is agile project management?
• What is the role of a software engineer?
• What is waterfall product management?
• What is agile transformation?
• Agile vs. lean
• Agile vs. waterfall
• What is an agile roadmap?
• What is an agile retrospective?
• Best practices of agile development teams
• What is a burndown chart?
• What is issue tracking?
• What is unit testing?
• Introduction to agile metrics
• Agile glossary
• What is kanban?
• How development teams implement kanban
• How is kanban used by product managers?
• How to set up a kanban board
• Kanban vs. scrum
• What is scrum?
• What are scrum roles?
• What is a scrum master?
• What is the role of a product manager in scrum?
• What is a sprint?
• What is a sprint planning meeting?
• What is a daily standup?
• What is a sprint review?
• Product release vs. sprint in scrum
• Themes, epics, stories, and tasks
• How to implement scrum
• How to choose a scrum certification
• What is the Scaled Agile Framework®?
• What is the role of a product manager in SAFe®?
• What is PI planning?
• How to run a PI planning event
• SAFe® PI planning
• SAFe® PI retrospective
• SAFe® Sprint planning
• Sprint planning
• Sprint retrospective
• Sprint retrospective meeting
• UML class diagram
• Collections: Sprint retrospective
• How to test your product before launch
• What is a go-to-market strategy?
• How to write excellent release notes
• How to plan a marketing launch
• Knowledge base article
• Product launch plan
• Product updates
• Release notes
• Collections: Product launch checklist
• Collections: Marketing launch checklist
• How to make data-driven product decisions
• How to measure product value
• What is product analytics?
• What are product metrics?
• What is a product?
• What is a product portfolio?
• What is product development?
• What is product management?
• What is the role of a product manager?
• What is portfolio product management?
• What is program management?
• What is product operations?
• What are the stages of product development?
• What is the product lifecycle?
• What is a product management maturity model?
• What is product development software?
• How to build a product wiki
• What to include in an internal product documentation hub
• Internal vs. external product documentation
• How to build a customer support knowledge base
• Use cases for knowledge base software
• Introduction to marketing methods
• What is agile marketing?
• What is digital marketing?
• What is product marketing?
• What is social media marketing?
• What is B2B marketing?
• Collections: Product management
• How to structure your product team meeting
• 15 tips for running effective product team meetings
• Daily standup meeting
• Meeting agenda
• Meeting notes
• Product backlog refinement meeting
• Product feature kickoff meeting
• Product operations meeting
• Product strategy meeting
• Sprint planning meeting
• What are the types of product managers?
• 10 skills to succeed as a product manager
• Common product management job titles
• What does a product manager do each day?
• What is the role of a product operations manager?
• What is the role of a program manager?
• Templates for program and portfolio management
• How to become a product manager
• How to prepare for a product manager interview
• Interview questions for product managers
• Typical salary for product managers
• Tips for new product managers
• How to choose a product management certification
• Introduction to marketing
• What are some marketing job titles?
• What is the role of a marketing manager?
• What is the role of a product marketing manager?
• How are marketing teams organized?
• Which tools do marketers use?
• Interview questions for marketing managers
• Typical salary for marketing managers
• How to make a career switch into marketing
• Job interview
• Negotiating an offer
• Product manager resume
• Collections: Product manager resume
• How to structure your product development team
• Best practices for managing a product development team
• Which tools do product managers use?
• How to streamline your product management tools
• Tips for effective collaboration between product managers and engineers
• How do product managers work with other teams?
• How product managers achieve stakeholder alignment
• How to complete a stakeholder mapping exercise
• Aha! record map
• Creative brief
• Marketing calendar
• Organizational chart
• Presentation slides
• Process improvement
• Collections: Product management meeting
• Collections: Diagrams, flowcharts for product teams
• Collections: Whiteboarding
• Collections: Templates to run product meetings
• Product development definitions
• Marketing definitions
• Privacy policy
• Terms of service

• Get a quote
• How Sendle works
• 100% Carbon Neutral
• Sendler Rights
• Our Partners
• Customer Stories
• Sendle Newsroom
• Package size guide
• Our Community
• Help Center  
• Log in   Get my free account

Customer Research Methods: How to know your customer better

If you fancy yourself as a curious, customer-centric business owner who wants to create, make, and ship products people love, then performing great customer research (AKA UX research) should absolutely be part of your business plan.

Aside from testimonials , customer research gleaned straight from your customer base gives you a clearer picture of the people you’re serving, helps you build more relevant products, improve brand experiences, and ultimately, helps you have more empathy for your customer.

That’s a pretty important element in running a successful eCommerce business if we do say so at Sendle! While customer research can be time intensive and complex, it bears fruit and can greatly benefit your business long-term.

Be there for your audience every step of the customer journey through customer research.

What is customer research?

Customer research is simply the process of collecting data from the people using (or potentially using) your products or services to gain feedback and improve their customer experience .

By collecting this data—the customer’s ‘voice’—you’ll be better placed to make more customer-centric business decisions.

What are the main types of customer research?

There are many different ways you can capture the voice of your customer through research. Read on to know which types of customer research you think would better suit your business.

Here are the methods we’re going to jump into a little later:

• Customer interview
• Guerilla research
• Focus groups
• User testing

Quantitative vs qualitative research

As you can see, some customer research methods might be more accessible than others, depending on your business’ stage of maturity, budget, and time resources.

The method you decide to use will also depend on the type of data you want to collect. Would you like answers to the ‘what’ of a problem or dive a bit deeper into the ‘why’?

• Quantitative research : This looks at a larger sample size of your customers. This type of research will gather data points in numerical form, which will help you identify patterns or interesting trends for you to sink your teeth into later. This is why, if you can, it’s best to use a quantitative research method first.
• Qualitative research : This goes a little deeper into behaviors and needs, why a customer thinks a certain way, and how they think your product or business could change. You’re more likely to get a smaller sample size, but you do get a better understanding of your customers’ values, motivations, opinions, and preferences.

An example of how quantitative and qualitative data from customer research can improve a business process: Say you look at some returns data collected by your eCommerce store’s customer service team based in North Dakota.

The numbers (quantitative data) show you that people ordering your products from California have been returning your product more often than any other state.

You ponder, ‘why is this?’ so you decide to peel back some layers by undertaking phone interviews with customers in that area to learn more about their preferences and behaviors (qualitative data).

Lo and behold, the product doesn’t work well in the warmer climate, which is why they are returning your products frequently.

End result: You can begin the process of adapting your product or messaging around its uses.

Why is customer research important?

Conducting regular customer research streamlines the often fluffy process of putting your customer at the center of everything you do within your business. And we think it should be part of any eCommerce store’s user experience .

By integrating a regular customer research practice in your work, you’ll:

• Automatically shift the way you’re working into one that’s human-centered;
• Make sure the products you’re creating and selling hit the mark with the people you want to use them;
• Collect that all-important social proof via customer testimonials;
• Refine your target market, audience, and brand positioning;
• Test any assumptions that you have or ideas you’d like to implement in the future—getting feedback before making big decisions and spending lots of cashola; and
• Discover hidden behaviors, motivations, and needs that your customers have (and find new ways to attract more like them).

What customer research method is right for your business?

There are loads of ways you can gather the data you need to put customers front and center of your business.

As mentioned earlier though, the kind of research method you choose will depend on a few things like time, resources, and budgets.

To make it easier for you (we’re cool like that), we’ve broken down a few of the simplest and cheapest customer research methods as well as ones that require a bigger investment in time and resources. So you can adapt and apply the perfect research method to your business, no matter what stage it’s at.

1. Send out a survey

Do you have an email list? You got the makings of a survey, my friend! This simple, effective, and cheap quantitative method can be used by any type of business to enhance customer experience.

A great example of a survey is the Sendle Small Business Survey , where we ask our partners relevant questions to give us a better insight on their eCommerce experience and how Sendle can improve it.

And while you’re at it, why not join the Sendle mail list? Get exclusive access to our latest small business tips and newsletters for all things eCommerce and sustainability!

We recommend using an easy online platform like Typeform or Google Forms to create the survey because you probably have access to these tools already.

You’ll likely get responses from customers who are already fans of your brand, but you could offer incentives to get a bigger range of customers answering (like a discount code or free product upon submitting survey answers).

Tips for putting together survey questions:

• Give a brief description on why you’re doing this survey and what kinds of questions you’ll be asking (you can even put a timeframe estimate on how long it’ll take them)!
• Assure your customers that their data would be treated as confidential and will only be used for research purposes.
• Let the customer know there are no wrong answers and you’re looking for true and honest feedback.
• Ask about specific elements of your business, or specific ideas you’d like feedback on—like pricing—rather than lofty big-picture things (this way, you’ll get solid stats back)!
• Try doing some multiple choice or tick-box style answers, to save the customer time (and you’ll get definitive answers).

The trick to successful surveys is doing them regularly (at least once a year or at different stages of a customer journey), so you can keep track of changes across your business and measure your progress and customer satisfaction. We’ll cover how to take action on your results a little later.

2. Have a chat with your customers

Having a conversation with your customers is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to gather qualitative data about how they perceive your business and interact with your product (not to mention, a good way to build rapport and relationships)!

It can be free, though you may need to incentivize your customers to participate.

Simply book in a 30-45 minute call with a sample size of your customers and let the conversation flow! Okay… maybe there’s a little more preparation than that.

Tips for getting the most out of your 1:1 customer interviews:

• Prepare discussion questions in advance to keep you on track (for example, ask them how they’re using the product at home), but also go with the flow when the topic journeys into something they’re passionate about.
• Use a tool like Calendly , Acuity Scheduling , or Hubspot for scheduling interview times.
• Use video or audio recording for the calls so you can revisit later (Google Meet or Zoom) – just make sure you get the customers’ consent to recording first!
• Set expectations: explain to the customer the purpose of the interview.
• Ask open, not closed questions (for example, focusing on ‘how’ and ‘why’ rather than things with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer).
• Try not to ask leading questions (this is when you’re setting up the answer for the customer before they’ve had a chance to respond).
• Leave your biases and preconceived ideas about your customers behind. Let them surprise you!

3. Guerilla research

This qualitative method is quick, low-cost, and a great way to nab insights from everyday human beings/potential customers.

While it might be a little more difficult to do now (guerilla research is done in-person, and we, ah, are in the middle of a pandemic)... some of the best research can come from asking randoms at your local coffee shop to give you feedback on concept products.

Pro tip : Buy them a coffee to say thanks!

Guerilla research can also be referred to as ‘intercept interviews’—where you literally intercept the types of people you want to hear from.

For example, if you’re keen to learn about people’s fitness behaviors, you can intercept them as they’re hopping off the treadmill at the gym.

Another pro tip : Maybe don’t intercept them while they’re benching 200 lbs.

Here are the tips to do guerilla research right (and so you don’t get arrested):

• Start with a goal in mind: What do you want to learn?
• Come up with a few questions you want to get answers to.
• What will these learnings be used for?
• Find the right people. Pick the right type of location, do a quick screener if you’d like a more specific type of person to speak to; otherwise, feel free to just naturally have a chat with someone you intercept without much extra planning or diving into the fact that it’s research.

4. Focus groups

Focus groups are not only a fun way to gain insights, but also a chance to build better customer relationships

Focus groups are great for capturing big ideas while getting to know your customers. However, they often require a bit more planning and resources, since it’s all about gathering a group of people together at the same time.

The value of the focus group is that there is an element of brainstorming and bouncing ideas off one another, which leads to fruitful conversations and swapping of perspectives that wouldn’t otherwise happen.

Tips for running focus groups:

• Develop a hypothesis for what you think you’ll find throughout this research phase or what you’re testing.
• Be a little pickier with the types of people you’re recruiting—make sure there’s a diversity of backgrounds and thoughts. You can also gather people from different stages of the consumer journey so that they, too, can learn about your products or services from each other.
• It’s nice to start off with some sort of activity to help participants ease into a more creative mindset, to think outside the box, and to break the ice. You can find one that’s right for you by doing a quick Google search.
• You’ll be collecting feedback in the moment, so a great idea is to have your customers engage with and talk about your physical product so you can capture their real-time responses.

5. Run user testing on your website and ordering process

If you’re a little more tech-savvy, have a decent-size research budget, and want to nail the user experience from first site visit through to ordering and beyond, (might we remind you of this post on eCommerce user experience ?) you may be interested in running user testing on your site to gather both quantitative and qualitative data.

It’s a great way to identify any gaps in user behavior or feature requests that you would have otherwise missed, or finding problems in your order flow, and it’s also helpful for future marketing and targeting initiatives.

Tips for setting up user testing:

• Use analytics tools like Google Analytics , or screen recordings and heat maps to gather quantitative data ( Hotjar is a handy one).
• When we’re allowed to be in the same room as other people again, you could sit with customers in person, and get them to show you how they use your site while talking out loud about their process for purchasing your products, placing an order, and contacting customer support (you can also walk through the consumer journey online via video recording software like Loom ).

The customer research process in 4 steps

Step 1: Define your goals

• New customer acquisition
• Customer retention
• Brand awareness
• Expand geographically
• New product ideas

Step 2: Make a plan

• What do you already know about your customers?
• What questions do you want answered?
• What will the impact be?
• What research method will you use?
• What is your timeline?
• What resources do you need?
• What metric will you be measuring?

Step 3: Conduct the research

• Make sure you have prepared questions
• Set up the tools
• Find the people

Step 4: Action the findings

• Synthesize the data
• Identify patterns
• Make changes to your business

How to process customer research data

So you’ve got all the good bits of data to know your customers better and now you’re ready to rumble. Where to next?

The official term is to ‘synthesize’ it into a summary of findings, which will include action items for what should be changed in your product and business offerings (like customer experience, brand, platform uses, etc).

It’s a big job, so make sure you give yourself plenty of time to weed through the results and organize the information into patterns that make sense to you.

Our favorite way to do this at Sendle is called Affinity Mapping . This is where you are encouraged to use sticky notes (a UXer’s dream) with ideas and data insights, then look for connections (cluster ideas that are related to one another).

Then, create themes and groups, as well as a statement about what you learned from each group.

From there you can build diagrams, write out insight statements, or anything that helps you to further make sense of the findings.

Once you’ve done that, take some more time to think about the implications for each element of your business.

If you don’t have sticky notes and a big whiteboard, you can also do this virtually using a tool like Miro , or a spreadsheet, or even your Notes app.

Successful research is done on a regular and ongoing basis—which is why the metric you’re measuring is so important to define!

For example, if you’re looking to increase customer satisfaction, the metric might be reviews or ratings. If you’re looking at increasing sales, your metric might be order volumes. If you realize your target market is younger and tech-savvy, you could try marketing on Tiktok .

Enhance customer experience by monitoring your performance

When the time comes to make updates to your business process based on your customer research findings, you should monitor performance to see if anything changes.

Keep an eye out for any patterns in your business, like customer types, or sales stats, or purchasing behaviors.

You don’t need a lot of resources to conduct good customer research: all you need is a customer-first mindset, a curiosity about people and their behaviors, and being open to new and exciting ways to improve your business and products. With how fast consumer trends change, it’s important to keep innovating with research-backed data.

That being said, one of the best innovations you can make for your business is going green! Not only is it a deciding factor for consumers now , it’s also a great way to be both sustainable and profitable.

And Sendle makes it so easy! With every package you ship via Sendle, we offset its carbon emission through environmental projects around the world. As a 100% carbon neutral shipping company made especially for small businesses, your parcels—and the planet!—is safe with us.

You might also like to read

Shipping less than 1 lb enter the actual weight for bigger savings, an e-commerce dream team: how stacked commerce and sendle save small businesses 20% on costs, recent posts, get small biz tips in your inbox. join us, ship on the bright side..

• Brand Strategy
• Brand Tracking
• Custom Market Research
• Purpose Driven
• Los Angeles
• Washington DC
• San Francisco
• Case Studies

Explore the Top 10 Customer Research Methods

In the dynamic world of business, understanding and meeting customer needs is crucial for success. Effective customer research methods provide valuable insights into customers’ preferences, expectations, and behaviors, enabling businesses to develop tailored strategies and deliver exceptional experiences. In this blog post, we will delve into the top 10 customer research methods that empower organizations to understand their target audience and drive business growth deeply.

Surveys and Questionnaires

Surveys and questionnaires are essential tools for businesses to gather valuable insights from their customers. By utilizing these research methods, businesses can collect quantitative and qualitative data to help them make informed decisions about their products, services, and overall customer experience. Surveys typically involve a series of questions that are designed to measure specific aspects of the customer experience. At the same time, questionnaires may include open-ended questions allowing customers to provide more detailed feedback. Both methods can be administered in a variety of ways, including online, through email, or in person. Surveys and questionnaires are powerful tools that can help businesses better understand their customers’ needs and preferences, ultimately leading to improved products and services.

In-depth Interviews

In-depth interviews involve conducting one-on-one discussions with customers to explore their opinions, experiences, and motivations. These interviews provide rich qualitative data and allow researchers to uncover valuable insights that may not emerge from other methods. Creating a comfortable environment for participants to encourage open and honest responses is essential.

Observational Research

Observational research involves directly observing customers in their natural environments to understand their behaviors, preferences, and pain points. This method is particularly effective in retail and service industries, where researchers can gain firsthand insights into how customers interact with products and services. Techniques such as video recording and eye-tracking technology enhance data collection and analysis.

Focus Groups

Focus groups are a valuable tool for businesses looking to gather feedback from their customers. By bringing together a small group of individuals with similar characteristics or interests, businesses can gain insights into how their target audience feels about specific topics or products. During the session, participants are typically asked open-ended questions and encouraged to share their thoughts and opinions. This can help businesses better understand what their customers like, dislike, and want from their products or services. Focus groups are also a great way to test out new ideas or concepts before launching them to a broader audience. Overall, focus groups provide a unique opportunity for businesses to connect with their customers and gain valuable insights that can inform future business decisions.

Customer Feedback and Reviews

Customer feedback and reviews, gathered through online platforms, social media, or dedicated feedback channels, offer valuable insights into customer experiences. By analyzing feedback, businesses can identify areas of improvement, address customer concerns, and enhance overall satisfaction. Sentiment analysis tools can help gauge customer sentiment at scale and identify trends in customer feedback.

Ethnographic Research

Ethnographic research involves immersing researchers in customers’ lives to understand their behaviors, routines, and cultural influences. Researchers understand customers’ needs, aspirations, and challenges by spending time with customers and observing their daily activities. Ethnographic research provides rich qualitative data that helps businesses develop customer-centric strategies.

A/B Testing

A/B testing is valuable for businesses looking to improve their products, services, or marketing strategies. By presenting different variations to customers and measuring their responses, businesses can determine which option performs better and make data-driven decisions to optimize their offerings. This type of testing can be used for various purposes, such as improving website design, testing different pricing strategies, or refining email marketing campaigns. A/B testing allows businesses to gain valuable insights into customer preferences and behavior, which can lead to increased engagement and sales. It is important to note that A/B testing should be conducted carefully and systematically to ensure accurate results and avoid misleading conclusions. With the right approach, A/B testing can be a powerful tool for improving business performance.

Social Media Listening

Social media listening is a powerful tool to help businesses gain valuable insights into customers’ thoughts, opinions, and behaviors. By monitoring social media platforms, businesses can gather information about customer sentiment toward their brand, products, and services. This information can be used to improve customer experience and tailor marketing efforts to meet their target audience’s needs better. Social media listening also provides an opportunity for businesses to respond to customer feedback in real-time and address any concerns or complaints that may arise. Overall, social media listening is an essential aspect of any successful marketing strategy and can offer a treasure trove of customer insights for businesses looking to stay ahead of the competition.

Customer Journey Mapping

Customer journey mapping involves visualizing and analyzing customers’ various touchpoints with a business, from initial awareness to post-purchase interactions. By mapping the customer journey, businesses gain insights into pain points, opportunities for improvement, and moments of delight. This method helps organizations align their processes and offerings with customer expectations.

User Testing and Usability Testing

User and usability testing are important tools for businesses to ensure that their products or websites are user-friendly and effective. The process involves observing customers as they interact with the product or website and collecting feedback on what works well and what needs improvement. By gathering this information, businesses can make informed decisions about how to improve their products or websites to meet the needs of their users better. During user testing, participants are given tasks to complete while using the product or website, and their actions and feedback are recorded. Usability testing focuses specifically on the development or website’s ease of use and effectiveness. Both types of testing provide valuable insights into the user experience, which can help businesses make improvements that will ultimately increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Customer research methods play a pivotal role in helping businesses understand their customers better and make informed decisions. By utilizing the top 10 methods mentioned in this blog post, organizations can uncover actionable insights, enhance customer experiences, and gain a competitive edge in today’s dynamic marketplace. Embracing a customer-centric approach through effective research methods is key to building long-lasting relationships and driving sustainable business growth.

Previous Post Role of Market Research in Product Development and Innovation

Next post brand tracking: top 10 challenges and solutions, if you were searching for market research facilities near me, you've arrived at the right place.

Our Market Research Facility is a full service Brand Strategy Agency, offering tailored brand research to help your brand grow and succeed.

Schedule A Call

Locate Us 1915 Hyperion Ave, Los Angeles CA 90027

Copyright © 2024 BrandIQ

Illustrations by Michael J Collin

Learn More About:

• Customer Acquisition
• Optimization
• Customer Experience
• Data & Analytics

Customer Research: The Most Underappreciated Strategy In Your Toolkit

Customer research has far-reaching positive implications for businesses. This is a step-by-step guide for how to leverage the tool.

These ecommerce scenarios all have something in common:

• Glossier names its cult-hit cleanser “Milky Jelly” 
• Harry’s launches a new deodorant and shifts from a shave brand to a personal care   
• Katelyn Bourgoin positions Charboyz meat kits as a social solution for suburban dads
• A maternity brand figures out how to present its proprietary sizing, which improves conversions and decreases returns 

The answer: good customer research. 

Each of those bullets came about because the brand or founder listened closely to stories their customers and prospective customers told. 

These brands know something too few ecommerce companies have taken to heart: customer research has far-reaching implications for businesses. With the right resources and process, it’s possible to collect meaningful insights that help you improve many areas of your business, from marketing to customer support to product development. 

And although it may seem intimidating first, the time and financial investment customer research requires is manageable for most teams — especially in light of its ROI. 

This article is a step-by-step guide to formulating a research plan, interviewing customers, and turning the qualitative data you collect into meaningful improvements for your brand. 

The rest of this articles outlines how to:

• Think about the benefits of customer research
• Put together a research plan
• Run effective customer interviews
• Gather indirect customer research
• Put your research data to good use

What is customer research?

Customer research is a structured way to find out why customers do and don’t buy. It’s an effective way to step out of your head and into the buyer’s journey, so you can provide better products and experiences. 

Why is it especially important for ecommerce? 

For ecommerce leaders, the biggest benefits of customer research include: 

• Getting outside the jar 
• Knowing what to improve (instead of guessing)
• Providing better customer-centric experiences

Customer research gets you outside the jar

Imagine sitting inside a jar (an empty one) and trying to read the label. Even if you could make out a letter or two, or perhaps a fine print medical warning, it’d be impossible to piece together what the whole label looks like from the outside.

That’s a bit like trying to imagine a new customer’s experience from inside your brand. You know your site inside and out, and that’s a strength in many contexts. But it’s also a weakness because your proximity to the brand makes it impossible to know what it’s like for new customers to hit your homepage or try to purchase something.

You’re stuck inside the jar, and one of the best ways to get out is customer research. 

But that’s not the only benefit. 

Customer research helps you identify data-backed improvements

There’s a marketing approach Katelyn Bourgoin calls “ liquor and guessing .” It’s the old formula of gathering smart, creative people in the same room, giving them a cool product to work with, and letting them guess their way (occasionally with liquor) to more sales. 

While that occasionally works, it’s a bit like throwing a dart with your eyes closed — you could hit the board, but it’s not likely. Customer research provides a more guaranteed path. 

Some of the most common benefits folks cite is clarity around their messaging strategy — who to speak to, how to speak with them, and when to do so. 

Just wrapped up my 1st customer interview. 🕺Walked away with an entirely new approach, at least 10 content ideas, and a plethora of vocabulary I hadn't used before. Future copy has written itself. @KateBour never stop pushing this narrative. This changed my marketing world. 🙏 — Kristen LaFrance (@kdlafrance) May 2, 2019

But depending on what you set out to discover, customer research can do way more than that. 

Harry’s for example, crowdsourced some of their newest products from current shoppers. Jaime Crespo, GM at Harry’s, told Retail Brew the brand had 1,600 customers call in or send emails requesting deodorant. And 120,000 customers said in a survey they wanted to see deodorant or antiperspirant. Harry’s leaned into this.  

Crespo says, “We have a very strong, close connection with the customers. So we start talking with the customers and asking them, okay, why do you want a new product in deodorant? What’s wrong with the products that you’re currently using? And that’s how we develop our proposition.”  

This ties into the third major benefit for ecommerce brands.

Customer research shows you how to build better customer experiences

One of the biggest strengths of ecommerce, and especially DTC, is the unique opportunity brands have to influence or control every aspect of the customer experience . 

And better experiences pay off:

• PwC surveyed 15,000 consumers and found 65% of them said they were more strongly influenced by a positive experience than a great ad campaign
• Coschedule found marketers who do audience research at least once per year are 303% more likely to hit marketing goal
• McKinsey says brands that improve the customer journey see revenue increases as much as 10-15% — while lowering service costs by 15-20%

When you start dialing in the customer experience , metrics like conversion rate, lifetime value, average order value, return on ad spending, and others improve as well. 

Customer research shows you, with astonishing clarity, how visitors are experiencing your brand. Meaning, it also shows you where to improve, where to double down, and where missed opportunities are, too. 

Here’s how to get started. 

How to build a foundation with a one-page research plan 

If you’re doing DIY research for your brand (DIY as in not hiring outside) help, start with a plan. This doesn’t have to be complex, either. 

To put together a one-page customer research plan, you’ll want to define:

• Your goals for researching
• Who will “own” the research
• Who you’ll talk with 
• What success looks like 

Below are each of those pieces in more detail.

What are your goals for customer research? 

While it’s admirable to simply want to know your customers better, your research will be far more effective (read: impactful for a specific area of business) if you start with some goals.

I say “goals” because Hannah Shamji, Customer Researcher , emphasizes every customer research project should have two goals:

• A research goal
• A business goal

Your research goal is typically in the form of a question. Be careful of going too broad here though. Shamji says a question like “why are customers buying?’ is too vague to be useful. It’s not something you can actually measure and answer. Instead, try something like, “why are customers in the past 6 months buy or not buying?” This is more specific, measurable, and directive. 

Once you have your research goal, your business goal outlines how you’ll use the research — what decision it’ll drive internally or what it will inform. Hannah explains this as, “stepping away and peeling back the future state of where this data is going to live and be used.” For example, if you want to know why customers have and haven’t bought in the last six months, perhaps you’re looking to improve new customer conversion rates.  

Who is going to be doing the research?

Ideally, you want to appoint one person to lead the research efforts. This person “owns” the research project. 

They can be an internal team member or an external expert, like Shamji or an agency. The point is, you identify one person who’s responsible for running the research and organizing the findings. This, among other things, ensures the research actually happens. 

How will you find customers or prospects to talk to?

Once you have your goals and your project owner, you now need someone to research. 

Figuring out who that “someone” is involves two steps: 

• Identifying which type(s) of customer you need to talk with
• Outlining how you’ll engage them 

1. Identifying who to talk with 

You’re no doubt aware you have different types of customers. These different types include distinct personas with distinct needs. Your different customer types also include action-based segments — customers who just purchased, signed up for the email list, or canceled a subscription. 

Each type of customer provides a different type of insight. For example:

• Prospective visitors can help you understand why folks come to your site, what they’re looking for, and where they get tripped up.
• Customers who just purchased can give insight into what triggers and contexts motivate other new customers to buy. 
• Repeat customers can help you see what’s both delightful and frustrating about the experience you’re providing.
• Higher average order value customers can provide insight into what drives brand fanatics.  

And that’s just to name a few. 

Ultimately, who you focus on depends on your research question. Let’s say you’re a DTC drink subscription company, and you want to understand why subscribers canceled their recurring soda subscription last month. Your goal is to reduce churn. To do this research, you’ll want to speak with subscribers who canceled last month and dig into why they moved on. 

The general rule is, speak with the customer segment or prospective customer segment that’s best equipped to answer your research questions. 

2. Outlining how you’ll engage them

Once you know who you’d like to talk with, you can identify how you’ll reach out to them.

If you’re speaking with existing customers, this may be as simple as an email. 

If you’re speaking with prospective customers, you’ll also want to consider where to find folks and how to qualify them as well.

Note: I’ll get into the logistics of both of those below. For now, simply write how you plan to reach out to folks. 

What types of research make the most sense?

The next planning decision you’ll want to make is, “What type or types of research will give us the best data for our question?” There are quite a few types of research, and they all have strengths and weaknesses. 

Here’s one helpful framework:

• Direct vs. indirect : Direct research involves actively reaching out to customers. Think interviews, online surveys, questionnaires, user testing, and similar primary research methods. Indirect research is more passive. These are methods like social listening (gleaning data from social media) or buying market research. 
• Qualitative vs. quantitative: Qualitative research methods focus on substance and answering “why is this the case?” Quantitative research methods focus on numbers and answering “how often is this happening?” Most research methods excel in one area or the other. But some methods, such as surveys, can help you answer both. 

You can plot most research methods (interviews, surveys, polls) along those two axes: 

Keep in mind combining multiple types of research is often an effective way to gain clarity around your research question.

For example, if you want to know why website visitors aren’t converting on the homepage you rolled out last month, interviewing prospective visitors will help. But so will looking at heatmaps and path analytics in Google docs. 

Non-interview research options 

The rest of this article will focus on interviewing customers because this is one of the most impactful research methods , as Katelyn Bourgoin illustrated: 

That being said, you may sometimes want to start with research options that aren’t interviews. For example, when you’re:

• Not sure what questions you need to ask or who could answer them 
• Needing to gather a large volume of data points quickly around a specific question 

In those scenarios, non-interview options include: 

• Customer surveys: Via email or form add-ons 
• Live chat transcripts : 29% of consumers use or plan to use chatbots to shop online. If you’re using chatbots, there’s a wealth of qualitative data sitting in those conversations. 
• Customer support: The people answering emails, calls, and chats from potential customers or customers every day are a rich source of insight . Don’t neglect what they know. 
• Forums/communities : Listen in wherever your potential customers hang out — Quora, Slack groups, Facebook communities, LinkedIn groups, local meetups, etc. This is a helpful way to find common pain points and desires. 
• Social Media: Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Clubhouse, Facebook…if your potential customers are chatting there, there’s something you can learn from lurking. 
• Product reviews: Mining competitor reviews, similar products on amazon, or browsing aggregate review sites can indicate where customers are most fed up and what they may be looking for instead. 
• Audience research tools. Several tools, such as SparkToro , UserInput , and Hotjar , are specially built for figuring out who your audience is and what they’re interested in. 

Again, we don’t go deeper on each of those types of research here because that could be a book in itself. But keep in mind these can be a good starting point in certain scenarios, and they’re often useful to layer on top of interviews for additional context. 

For example, Natalie Thomas, Director of Strategy at The Good, explains we always start with the journey: the path the visitor takes, where they’re coming from, and what their mindset is. 

If we were working with a glasses company, we might ask, “what keywords are people searching for? Are they landing on your site because they’re looking for cute glasses? Are they looking for blue light glasses, or are they looking for acetate glasses, or are they not looking for glasses at all?” This kind of journey analysis diagnoses any problems, which helps us form specific research questions and business goals. With this method, we can ensure we’re asking the right question and focusing research on points of highest return.  

How to Conduct Customer Research to Improve Customer Experience

How do you define “enough” and wrap up the project?

The last piece of your plan is defining “enough.” Or, what success looks like. This is identifying, “we know we’re done with this phase of research when…” 

There are a few ways to benchmark this:

• After x amount of weeks
• After talking with y customers
• After identifying z trends 

While customer research ideally becomes an ongoing effort at your brand, it’s useful to know when each piece of research wraps up. So, make sure and set a finish line. 

How to conduct effective 1:1 customer interviews

Once you have a plan, you can start executing your research. This part is a lot of logistics — and a lot of fun. It involves:

• Reaching out to potential interviewees
• Formulating interview questions 
• Running interviews 

Those steps sound simple enough, but many folks get tripped up here. Do you pay people to participate? What do you say in the emails? And, for the love, what do you say in the interview??

Here are some answers based on our experience and the experts we talked with. 

First, reach out to your target audience and get them to engage

The plan you built above identified which customer segment you’ll interview. Here’s where you start engaging that segment. Some questions you might run into here include:

• How many people do I contact?
• Do I pay or incentivize them to participate?  
• How do I qualify them?
• What do I say when I email people?
• How do I not lose my mind scheduling it all? 

They’re all good questions! Let’s take them one-by-one. 

How many people do I reach out to? 

It’s unlikely every customer will accept, so email 1.5 to 2x the number of customers you’d like to wind up talking to. 

If you’re doing customer interviews, aim to speak with at least 5-10 people. Jess Nichols, User Research Leader and Experience Strategist, recommends , “For exploratory research, like interviews, I aim for eight to 10 participants per segment. This number ensures you can identify patterns, similarities, or differences in your participants’ responses and allow you to dive deeper into nuances you may discover during research.”

So, if you’d like to speak with 10 customers, email 15 to 20 with an interview request. 

Do I use incentives? 

This depends on your budget, the segment you’re trying to reach, and whether you have time to try a no-incentive approach first (if you hear crickets, you can always add in an incentive later).

If you’re interviewing existing customers, particularly brand enthusiasts or loyalists, you may not need to sweeten the ask. But if you’re trying to connect with prospective customers, an incentive will generally speed up your timeline and up your response rate.  

If you opt for incentives, Hannah recommends you use between $20 and $50 per person . This “encourages sign ups and avoids no shows without biasing customers to only give positive insight.”

How do I qualify research participants? 

If you’re pulling from your existing customer base, you may be able to use analytics you already have to qualify participants. For example, the date they purchased or canceled (if they’re subscribers), average order value, types of products they’ve bought, and so on. 

If you’re rounding up prospective customers who have never seen the site before, you’ll want to qualify them in some sort of a screening survey. For example, we once worked with a paint company. This paint was five times the price of normal paint because it was low VOC, environmentally friendly, made in the US, and had many other benefits. 

Natalie explains that, when she qualified prospective paint customers for research, one of the things her team asked about was pricing sensitivity. She notes, “if you get the wrong person in the door, they’re going to say, ‘I would never even consider this,’ and the rest of your research is null with that individual.”

Most researchers opt to qualify participants in a screening survey (e.g. using Google forms or Typeform ). The important thing is you do qualify your participants by some means. Remember, the folks you speak with should be the ones who are best equipped to answer your research goals. If you cast a wide net with no qualifiers, your findings will be far more muddied and conflicting — if they’re useful at all. 

What do I say when I email people? 

Think of the emails you like to receive and read. They’re probably clear, concise, and have a bit of personality to them. That’s the kind of email you want to send here, too. A good interview request email will:

• Have a clear subject line. If you’re offering an incentive, feel free to lead with that. For example, “Laura, $25 Amazon gift card for your thoughts…” If you’re not incentivizing, aim for a subject line that’s both interesting and accurate. Perhaps, “How you can help us improve [x]” since folks like opportunities to help. 
• Explain why you’re emailing. Clearly explain what you are doing (research) and what you’re not doing (pitching a sale or some other hidden agenda). 
• Explain why you’re researching. Briefly say why you’re doing research and how their participation will help.
• Set expectations for an interview. Define how long the interview will take, what the person needs to do to prepare (usually nothing), and whether it’s face-to-face, video, or voice-only. You may want to mention that any data you collect won’t be sold or shared outside the company as well. 
• Equip the reader to take action. A good way to do this is to include a link for the respondent to book an interview slot, e.g. via Calendly . 

For a good starting point, check out Hannah’s email template: 

How do I schedule it all? 

Whoever is leading this research probably has other to-dos on their plate. To ensure interviewing customers won’t completely wreck their (or your) schedule, it’s best to:

• Batch interviews on certain days
• Schedule batches back-to-back
• Use a tool like Calendly to prevent calendar conflicts

This approach doesn’t just help you schedule, it helps you interview well. Hannah explains , “When you stack interviews like this, it triggers the compound effect and helps you immerse in the world of the customer. By the third interview you’ll be asking sharper questions, spotting more nuances and drawing richer customer insight.”

One other tip: batch interviews but leave about 15 minutes between each one. This will give you time to transition (read: take a snack break). It’ll also ensure it’s no big deal if you need to run five minutes over to let an interviewee finish a specific thought. 

Interview customers to collect the data (using the Jobs To Be Done Framework) 

When it comes to running each interview, it’s helpful to think of it in two parts: 

• Pre-interview prep
• During interview guidelines 

Pre-interview prep: formulating questions  

The biggest task here is coming up with a list of potential questions you can ask. 

One popular method is formulating questions around the Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework. There are several books on this topic, and I’ll spare you all the nuances of it here. But the basic premise is customers “hire” your products or services to fulfill needs in their life. For example, I recently “hired” a Ruggable rug to reduce my mental load — I don’t want to worry about rug fuzzies or stains for the next half-decade. Other folks “hire” certain meal kits to take meal planning off their plate or to feel more confident (e.g. by losing 15 lbs). 

Understanding what job customers hire your product to do, what else they considered to fill that job, and what drove them to try and hire it out in the first place can yield rich qualitative insights. 

To find those insights, many interviewers ask questions about: 

• Triggers: Triggers are what make potential customers go, “Hey I have a need here.” For example, a trigger for needing a new mattress may be getting married or adopting a dog who sleeps in the bed. 
• Deciding: Making a decision usually involves many desires, anxieties, and hesitations. For example, price, social perception, durability, and so on. 
• Looking: Before purchasing, customers consider alternatives to your product. These may be the competitors you have in mind — or they may not. If I need new cookware, I may consider Caraway, whatever is on the kitchen aisle of TJMaxx, or asking my grandma if she has extra cast iron. 
• Purchased : Those who chose your brand have a reason for doing so. Oftentimes, that reason isn’t particularly rational or logical either. 
• Using: Identifying friction points, moments of delight, and what customers expect next can all help you craft better experiences. 

Keep in mind, you won’t get through all of your template questions in each interview. In fact, you shouldn’t necessarily aim to. Remember to tailor your conversations around the specific research and business goals you have in mind. 

During the interview: listening for emotions, taking notes, and what not to do 

When you first hop on the phone or video, you want to do a few things right off the bat:

• Set expectations around length; reiterate what time you’ll wrap things up
• Reassure the interviewee there are no right or wrong answers (it’s about collecting their story and experience)
• Let the interviewee know if they don’t want to answer a question, they can decline
• ASK TO RECORD

Seriously, don’t forget that last one. There are few things more disheartening than wrapping up an interview and realizing you didn’t hit the record button (facepalm). Zoom is a great option for storing and recording interviews if you don’t already have one. 

Once you’ve done a quick intro, your goal is to listen way more than you talk. Here are a few things, in particular, you’re listening or watching for: 

• Emotional language:  Katelyn Bourgoin, CEO of Customer Camp, explains , “The interesting thing about how people buy is that 95% of the purchases that we make are actually driven by unconscious emotional triggers.” One of your goals in the interview is to identify these triggers. Listen for words like “angry” or “frustrated.” 
• Shifts in tone or volume: Pay attention to how someone says something, not just what they say. Shifts in tone can indicate excitement or disappointment. And emphases on certain words underscore their importance. 
• Shifts in body language: Changes in facial expression or body posture can all indicate strong underlying emotions. Keep an eye out for these, too. 
• Stories: Our buying decisions are highly contextual. They’re embedded in our emotions, daily lives, and goals. Stories help illuminate these factors. 
• End goals: How did they hope buying a product or service would make them or their lives more awesome? 
• Underlying motives: As Katelyn pointed out, we’re not always aware of why we buy. Listen for underlying motives in the stories the customer tells. Don’t take every statement at face value. 

Ultimately, when you identify these clues, you’re pinpointing insights you’ll use later on when you apply your research. “The secret to identifying insights lies in understanding the human brain works on two levels and that most of our behavior is influenced by subconscious motivations in the brain. We’re simply not consciously aware of why we do what we do,” Daryl Travis, CEO at BrandTrust told me. To draw out unconscious behaviors, he recommends asking for stories. “…ask them to share in story form their experiences aligned with what you’re trying to understand. Inevitably, they will share the experiences that are emotionally intense and therefore most relevant.”  

Also, a quick note on taking notes: 

Ideally, you’re taking minimal notes during the interview (because you’re recording), and this will help you tune in to the other person. Bob Moesta, President and CEO of Re-Wired Group (and pioneer of Jobs-To-Be-Done), only writes down the words he wants to follow up on and unpack, for example. 

The final result looks like a treasure map. 

Like Bob, you’ll want to dig deeper into certain words and cues throughout the interview. Here are some follow-up questions that are particularly helpful for drawing out richer insights: 

• Why is that? 
• Can you tell me more about that? 
• What led you to that decision?
• Could you walk me through your thought process there?
• What else was going on that made that the right choice?
• Sounds like that [need/want] was important to you. Why is that? 
• That seems to bug you. I bet there’s a story there. 
• You seem pretty excited about that. Why was it a big deal?  

Lastly, when you’re running the interview, you want to check yourself for these common mistakes:

• Forgetting to record (seriously, it’s the worst) 
• Talking more than you listen 
• Asking leading questions
• Asking either/or yes/no questions
• Formulating statements as questions
• Accepting an answer at face value (use those follow-ups!)
• Quickly filling the silences (let these prompt the interviewee to speak)

The leading questions thing is important, and it’s one of the more difficult to keep in mind during your first interviews. For example, I once asked, “what made this product enjoyable?” That question is leading because I assumed the person found the product enjoyable. Turns out, she didn’t! Two better questions would’ve been, “Tell me how you used this product” or “what was your experience like using this?” 

Likewise, either/or questions are leading because they assume only two possible outcomes. So are double-barreled questions because they trap the interviewee. Natalie explains, “Sometimes a double-barreled question is, ‘How much do you love our product and our emails?’ And, well, they might hate your product and really love your emails. So now they can’t even answer that appropriately.” Avoid these, too.

These mistakes may take some practice to spot, and you’ll get better with practice. For your first interviews, do your best to stick to open-ended questions that keep your assumptions out of the picture and give the interviewee plenty of room to tell their story. 

How to map research data to real brand opportunities 

All too often, great research winds up on dusty digital shelves. It’s not because brands plan on wasting the effort they’ve gone through. It’s often because of sheer overwhelm.

“The most overwhelming aspect of research can be the sheer amount of reading that’s required to understand the material,” writes Lucy Denton, Senior Product Designer at customer research app Dovetail . “The average one-hour interview transcript might contain 10,000 words and you’re looking at half a dozen of these, and that’s before the workshop output, diaries / journals, visual documentation, or observation notes.” 

The good news is, there are a few steps you can take to help your future self use the data you collect. These steps include:

• Consolidating your research into one central location
• Organizing your research with tags 
• Socializing your research with various teams 

Then, once you do those things, you’ll be in a good position to analyze your findings and: 

• Identify big picture trends
• Highlight rich customer personas
• Map observations to improvements
• Prioritize improvements

Let’s look at the help-your-future-self logistics first. 

Consolidate, organize, and socialize 

The first steps of putting data to use include creating a home for it, organizing insights, and sharing them with others. 

Consolidate: create a home for the research

Pull stuff in one visible, accessible place. This could include:

• A shared Google Drive
• A dedicated customer research Slack Channel
• An Airtable or Notion Base
• A research tool such as Dovetail

Whatever you choose, it needs to be something that (a) keeps your research in mostly one place and (b) is accessible to the appropriate team members. 

Erik Goyette, Senior UX Researcher, Shopify: “To catalog our research, we’ve built a research library. Anyone across the company can go there to find our reports, slide decks, and recordings of our presentations.” (They use Dovetail.)

Keep in mind, you’ll want to take your recorded interviews and generate transcripts of those. This will make reviewing and organizing the research much, much easier. Useful transcript tools include Rev and Descript . Both the original recording and the transcript should live in whatever home you create for research. 

Organize: make the research easier to consume

Once your research has a home, you’ll want to use some system to keep any observations you pull out of transcripts segmented as well. One easy way to do this is to use tags. 

These tags should highlight key insights and relate to the business goal in your original research plan. Hannah explains, “You already know what the data is going to inform…based on that you’re going to start to get ideas of types of insights you need.” Insights could be top objections, new features, search motivations, pain points, customer journey points, and so on. 

How else do you know if you’re looking at an insight? Here are some indicators you’ve found one:

• It’s grounded in data . You can point to the sentiment in the research/transcript and not just your memory.
• It occurs often . Multiple interviewees mention it.
• It’s embedded in high emotion . The point has some strong emotion or sentiment attached to it.
• Useful to the business . The point maps to an opportunity — usually, to improve some aspect of the customer’s experience or journey with the brand. 

Use some sort of system to highlight, grab, or tag parts of your transcripts that fit these bullets. 

And for the perfectionists out there, keep in mind there’s no one right or wrong way to tag your research. A minimal approach may work well for a lean team just starting research whereas something more extensive may be ideal for a larger team with thousands of inputs. 

Some pointers for developing your approach:

• Start minimal : You can always add more process later. For now, pick something that’s intuitive and has a low learning curve for other team members. 
• Functional : Any tagging system you choose should help you use the data. Relate tag names to business goals or end uses. 
• Visual: Colors help team members quickly sort and bucket insights. Don’t go overboard (12 colors is a bit too much, yeah?) but do use visual cues. 

Socialize: share what you find with others

While it’s good for you to be knee-deep in the research, it’s even better for your teammates to jump in there with you, too. Silo-ed data is crippled data, so make sure various team leads can access it. (Note: if the research contains any sensitive customer data, be thoughtful about how you secure and distribute this.) 

Three reasons it’s important to distribute, or socialize, what you find: 

• Each team will see something different. A customer service team member will spot a different opportunity or use case than a marketer. That’s a good thing.
• You’ll prevent redundancies. Socializing data also prevents various teams from running similar surveys (and frustrating customers in the process). 
• You’ll enable customer-centric decisions . Executives and team leads can’t make customer-centered decisions if they don’t have access to the customer’s experience. 

Remember, customer experience spans every team and aspect of your brand. So, give every team access to what the customer is experiencing so they can contribute ideas for improving the holistic journey. 

Identifying real insights 

Once you’ve organized, tagged, and distributed your research, you’re in a good position to step back and analyze. Researchers sometimes call this finding the “arc of the data” — the overall trends that move like a current through what you’ve collected. 

You likely have some gut ideas based on the research you’ve done. But you mustn’t immediately run with these. For one, that’s a good way to introduce bias. “Attempts to merely rely on human memories and impressions from interviews are likely to introduce bias. And even if we did keep notes, when we consume raw data directly, we’re in danger of unconsciously giving weight to certain points,” writes Lucy Denton . “From there we’ll likely form misleading opinions that lead to impulsive decision-making, and eventually, take the whole team down a path that focuses on the entirely wrong outcome.”

Relying on gut alone in research (much like in testing) leads teams on wild goose chases. Instead, take a step back and look for overarching trends like customer segments and potential brand improvements. 

Look for customer segments or personas

One of the great things about qualitative research is it helps you build rich and useful customer personas. 

Quantitative data like Google Analytics reports can tell you whether customers are primarily on mobile, what region of the country they come from, and other data or demographic points. But if your customer personas stop there, they’re not going to be particularly useful. 

“The first way to create a buyer persona that doesn’t suck, is to actually talk to your customers,” Adrienne Barners, founder of Best Buyer Persona told me. “Data Analytics and survey data is a wonderful way to validate what your customers are saying, but starting with audience research and qualitative data makes for a richer and more accurate persona.” 

What does a richer persona look like? It takes motivations and behavior into account. “Segmenting people according to job title, age, or gender, doesn’t tell you why they bought your product. Think of segments as ‘jobs’ or the reason they purchased your product and how they use your product,” Adrienne explained. “Segmenting in this way means you’re able to broaden your segmentation while keeping it focused on buying behavior.”

Two related perks of building rich ideal customer segments: 

• They’ll improve your journey map. The best journey maps highlight what personas think, feel, and experience at every point . This is exactly what you can pull from rich customer segments and interview data. 
• They’ll help you make sense of conflicting data . It’s not uncommon for one person to say they bought for x reason while another person explains they bought for y reason . Rich segments help resolve that tension. 

Remember to keep an open mind as well! When Katelyn Bourgoin and her husband started researching potential customers for Charboyz , they assumed their main persona was a farmers market shopper. Turns out, it’s what they wound up calling Suburban Jock Dads. This persona, Katelyn explained on the DTC Voice of the Customer podcast , “probably used to be somebody who would go out every weekend prior to having kids, and now was looking to rebuild that social community through his now suburban life.” 

And so, when the Bourgoins launched their first box, they didn’t position it as a food box. “We positioned it as a virtual barbecue,” Katelyn said because that fit their ideal persona much better. 

This leads into the next thing you’ll want to do with your insights and personas: map those observations to areas of your business. 

Map observations to areas of the business

The conversations you have will rarely tell you exactly what to do with your business. As in, a customer isn’t going to say, “You know, if you had advertised your fitness gear to me as suiting up for ‘me time,’ I totally would’ve bought it.”

Nope. It’s part of your job to identify insights and then map those insights to potential improvements in your brand. 

This involves:

• Hypothesizing potential improvements
• Prioritizing and testing those improvements

Hypothesizing improvements

Because you’re talking with customers about their experience and journey, insights you collect can apply to any area of your business.

Some common applications include:

• Ads: When you know what context and motivation brings potential customers to you, you can do a better job engaging them — especially if you know the words and phrases (“voice of customer”) they relate to. 
• Email sequences: If Ruggable had interviewed me after I purchased one of their rugs, they’d know prompting me to upgrade to a 9×12 cushioned rug pad (+$130) before the product shipped would’ve been a more effective post-purchase email CTA than asking me to purchase another rug…before I’d even received the first one.  
• Content: The pain points your potential customers wrestle with, the hesitations they faced when purchasing, the questions they had about using it…these are all content opportunities. Adrienne Barnes writes , “The first thing I look for when turning audience research into a content strategy is customer questions. Customers often need help learning how to use the product or the benefits of a feature.”
• Social media: Likewise, the same sentiments that inform your articles can inform your social posts. What contexts can you show your products in? What rave reviews will resonate most with your target personas and what you know about them? 
• Product images: Knowing how customers use the product in their everyday lives can inspire you to produce more relevant and contextual imagery for your site and product galleries. 
• Customer support: It may be you discover new common pain points and how to head them off, which reduces your customer support load. Or maybe you identify a channel where customers feel particularly helped and decide to lean into it. 
• Product design or development: If customers regularly express a need you don’t address or a frustration with your product/service, there may be a good reason to prioritize the improvement. 
• Wayfinding/ Improving poor UX : Understanding what brings customers to your site and what needs they’re looking to fill once they’re there can inform how you structure navigation, what filters you provide to sort products, product category names, and so on.

For example, Bob Moesta and Katelyn Bourgoin did a live customer interview with Amanda Natividad who recently purchased a Peloton. Moesta and Bourgoin wanted to understand why and how Amanda decided to buy the premier stationary bike. Some insights and hypothesized improvements they uncovered were:

• It was too hot to walk outside . This is one reason Amanda became interested in a bike. Could this insight inform advertising strategy in geographic areas where it’s often too hot or too cold to exercise outdoors?
• Amanda didn’t read reviews; she trusted word-of-mouth from friends . Could incentivizing referrals and word-of-mouth drive higher conversion rates for Peloton? 
• Mental health was a huge purchase motivator . Perhaps one of Peloton’s biggest competitors isn’t other exercise bikes or gyms, it’s counseling and therapy.
• She didn’t consider herself a “workout fanatic.” Yet most of Peloton’s ads feature chiseled, thin models. Could more diverse product imagery help prospective buyers identify with the product more readily?

And these are all hypotheses from one interview! Imagine what you could find in a whole set.

Prioritize and test potential improvements 

Once you have a handful of hypotheses, you can start crafting experiments and testing improvements. 

This is an important step. “[Interview] Data is never going to tell you exactly where to go because it shouldn’t be the only spoke in the decision wheel,” Hannah Shamji cautions. “It’s going to help you improve and inform and drive…but it shouldn’t be the only deciding factor.” 

Put another way, research gives you evidence for what to test and which directions to test in — but you still need to test.  

But how, out of all your hypotheses, do you decide where to start? Two tips on picking which tests to prioritize: 

Start with what customers prioritize

According to research by PwC, 80% of American consumers point to speed, convenience, knowledgeable help, and friendly service as the most important elements of customer experience .

If your research indicates any major holes in those areas, consider starting there. 

Work on your Peak-End Moments

Another option to improve the critical moments of your customers’ experiences. 

It’s tempting to think each part of a customer’s experience is equally weighted — as if the ad that brought them to your site is 1 point and the header they see once they get there is another one point. 

But psychology indicates this isn’t how we recall interactions. Rather, we pay extra attention to the intense highs/lows and final moments of any experience. This is called the “peak-end” rule .

“Recognize the brain doesn’t remember everything. It only stores the experiences it deems—via emotional intensity—that are worthwhile to store for future reference,” Daryl Travis advised me. “Once you identify those experiences—Behavioral Economics refers to as Peak-End moments—then you know what are the real opportunities for brands.” 

Figure out the common peaks and ends from your interview data. Then, prioritize improving those pieces. 

Go ahead, kick off your research project

Start with a plan, find your participants, and create a home for the data you collect. From there, analyze your body of research and map your findings to areas for improvement. 

Then, tell us the most interesting thing you learned! 

Remember, the time and effort are worth it — customer research is one of the most effective ways to understand what your customers experience, identify ways to improve that experience, and boost all kinds of related metrics from conversion rates to lifetime value, and more.

If you still aren’t sure where to start with your research, we can help identify areas on your website that aren’t converting. Or try building a research plan based on the identified pain points in a custom 5-Factors Scorecard™ .

Find out what stands between your company and digital excellence with a custom 5-Factors Scorecard™ .

About the author, laura bosco.

Laura Bosco is a former Content Marketer at The Good and freelance writer. She helps translate thoughts, opinions, and client experiences into written products that are both entertaining and educational.

Root out friction in every digital experience, super-charge conversion rates, and optimize digital self-service

Uncover insights from any interaction, deliver AI-powered agent coaching, and reduce cost to serve

Increase revenue and loyalty with real-time insights and recommendations delivered to teams on the ground

Know how your people feel and empower managers to improve employee engagement, productivity, and retention

Take action in the moments that matter most along the employee journey and drive bottom line growth

Whatever they’re are saying, wherever they’re saying it, know exactly what’s going on with your people

Get faster, richer insights with qual and quant tools that make powerful market research available to everyone

Run concept tests, pricing studies, prototyping + more with fast, powerful studies designed by UX research experts

Track your brand performance 24/7 and act quickly to respond to opportunities and challenges in your market

Explore the platform powering Experience Management

• Free Account
• Product Demos
• For Digital
• For Customer Care
• For Human Resources
• For Researchers
• Financial Services
• All Industries

Popular Use Cases

• Customer Experience
• Employee Experience
• Net Promoter Score
• Voice of Customer
• Customer Success Hub
• Product Documentation
• Training & Certification
• XM Institute
• Popular Resources
• Customer Stories
• Artificial Intelligence

Market Research

• Partnerships
• Marketplace

The annual gathering of the experience leaders at the world’s iconic brands building breakthrough business results, live in Salt Lake City.

• English/AU & NZ
• Español/Europa
• Español/América Latina
• Português Brasileiro
• REQUEST DEMO
• Experience Management
• Customer Needs Surveys

Try Qualtrics for free

Customer needs analysis: definition & research methods.

10 min read Customer needs analysis is the process of identifying a customer’s requirements for a product or service. It’s used in all kinds of product and brand management contexts, including concept development, product development, value analysis, and more.

The goal of a customer needs analysis survey is to understand the customers’ needs and their position in the overall market.

What do we mean by customer needs?

Customer needs are the attributes of a product, brand or service that motivates someone to buy. The term covers basic must-haves, such as good-enough quality and affordable price , and also extends to more abstract and complex purchase drivers such as an aspirational brand image or a sense of alignment between a customer’s personal opinions and a brand’s ethics .

Customer needs vary a lot – between individual customers across your target audience , and from product to product and brand to brand. To identify customer needs effectively, you need an ongoing program of analysis that captures and analyzes customer feedback . Surveys can be an important part of that process.

Because customer needs can be complex and deep-seated, you may need to go beyond what customers explicitly tell you in order to uncover the full picture. That’s where customer needs analysis methods come in.

Start your experience management journey with a free Qualtrics account

How does understanding customer needs help?

A good understanding of customer needs helps your business in a few ways.

Firstly, it helps with product development and product packaging decisions. If you know your customers want a range of color and size options in a given product, you can make sure you provide them. If they want a range of colors and sizes but it matters more to them to get your product at the right price, then you know how to prioritize your resources to balance those needs correctly. You can also use customer needs assessments around existing products and services to enhance and develop your product offering in the future.

Secondly, it helps you to market the products you already have in the most effective way possible. You can make sure that your marketing messages reflect a customer’s desires and objectives and highlight the features and benefits that matter the most. For example, if you’re selling outdoor gear, as well as mentioning that it’s durable and waterproof, you could highlight the fact that your sustainable manufacturing methods result in a zero-carbon outcome for every garment. Thanks to your customer needs analysis, you’ll know if that’s something your nature-loving customers really value.

Types of customer needs

Here are just a few examples of customer needs that your analysis might turn up.

• Price The item is affordable and appropriately priced for the quality
• Convenience Saves time and effort
• Image and status (as in an item of clothing or technology) Looks good, impresses others, makes the customer feel good about themselves
• Durability and lifespan Built to last, dependable, and won’t break
• Packaging type Resealable, refillable, recyclable, or all of the above
• Support and aftercare Customer knows they can get questions answered and problems solved
• Effectiveness Gets the job done
• Formulation Free from unwanted ingredients or materials, containing desirable elements (for example gluten-free, or containing active friendly bacteria)

A means-end approach to customer needs analysis

Customer needs analysis is a means-end approach, meaning that customers make purchase decisions based on product features that get them to a value-based goal or state. For example, one consumer might buy a watch because he likes to be timely, and another might buy it because it looks cool. They’re both buying the same feature (time-tracking), but using it for different means (timeliness vs. status).

This principle is the basis of a powerful research technique which has been used to place U.S. presidents into office, successfully re-image industries, achieve competitive advantage over the competition through target advertising messages, and design innovative and successful new products.

Means-end analysis identifies linkages between three areas of product and customer interaction.

• Product features and attributes
• Benefits (real and perceived) a customer gains from the use of the product
• The unique values or traits of a customer that enable them to experience the product benefits, such as a person’s functional, physical, financial, social, and psychological characteristics.

With the right tools, it’s possible to quantify all these elements with respect to a specific product and audience. A Qualtrics study for the development of a new bank credit card found that nine attributes were critical to consumers considering a new card: no annual fee, status, low-interest rate, added value features, acceptance, credit limit, ability to carry a balance, location of the sponsoring bank, and availability.

These attributes were found to be linked to 12 benefits (consequences) that were perceived as part of card usage: not feeling cheated, independence, convenience, dependability, and saving money.

Brand attitudes – and how to discover them

Brand attitude tells us what consumers think of a brand or product and if it solves a particular need. When developing customer analysis surveys, it’s important to determine the consumer’s brand attitude. Here are a few of the elements a good customer needs analysis survey should cover:

Top-of-mind imaging

Positive and negative associations for the brand or product category are elicited, along with reasons why the characteristic is viewed that way. Top-of-mind studies are used to uncover the attributes and consequences that distinguish the characteristic.

Brand category analysis

Identifies similar and dissimilar brand groupings within a product category and the reasons for this perceived similarity or dissimilarity. The primary reasons, most important attributes, and most representative brands are identified, and attributes and consequences are laddered.

Contextual environment scan

The usage context for a brand or product is critical in marketing. Physical occasions (place, time, people), or need state occasions (relaxing, rejuvenating, building relationships, feeling powerful, reducing stress, and getting organized) may exist. A brand or product is associated with a usage context that is critical in effective positioning and advertising.

Preference-usage/similarity-dissimilarity analysis

Comparing brands based on personal preference or usage is a common distinguishing point for brands. Groupings by similarity and dissimilarity also provide a direct method of distinguishing between brands. Success critical attributes and consequences are identified that lead to higher market performance.

Purchase and consumption timing

Issues are often related to product or brand choice and usage. For example, a respondent might be asked to identify products used for relief of a stuffy nose across several stages like onset, full-blown, and on-the-mend, or daytime and nighttime. Brand preference is identified for each time-related stage.

Usage trends

Past and expected future usage of a brand is instrumental in identifying attributes and consequences that lead to different usage patterns. For example, respondents may be asked, “Will this brand be used more often, less often, or about the same as you have used it in the past?” Then, reasons for increased, decreased, or unchanged usage are determined. The follow-up analysis of reasons for trends produces a vivid insight into market drivers and potential areas of market growth.

Product or brand substitution analysis

Product and brand substitution methods elicit the degree of similarity of perceived attributes and consequences associated with usage. When questions are asked about the degree of substitutability, attributes and consequences are discovered that inhibit or promote substitution (attributes or consequences that need to be added or removed for substitution or trial to occur). For an unfamiliar brand, the respondent first can sample or be given a description of the brand, followed by a question like, “How likely would you be to substitute (name of the new brand) for your current brand for this occasion—why is that?”

Alternative usage occasions

Alternative uses are presented to the respondent to determine if and why the brand is present or absent from the choice set. Questions might be phrased to ask, “Why would you consider using Brand A for this occasion?”, or “What is keeping you from using Brand A for this occasion now?” Both positive reasons why a brand fits a new occasion and negative reasons why it does not fit can be elicited. Alternative usage occasion analysis identifies market segments and details how to approach them.

How to better meet your customers’ needs

Customer needs assessment needn’t be a one-time event or even a per-product one. You can help make sure you’re continually meeting customer needs by maintaining an overall high standard of knowledge about how your customers think and feel. This will pay dividends not only in designing and marketing your products more effectively, but also in making customers feel known, understood, and valued when they interact with you.

Becoming more customer-centric is a choice that more and more businesses are making, focusing less on operational data and more on experience-based insights that reflect how customers think and feel about the experiences you provide .

With the Qualtrics experience management platform , you can build surveys and dive deep into what matters most to your customers and your business.

Related resources

Market intelligence 10 min read, marketing insights 11 min read, ethnographic research 11 min read, qualitative vs quantitative research 13 min read, qualitative research questions 11 min read, qualitative research design 12 min read, primary vs secondary research 14 min read, request demo.

Ready to learn more about Qualtrics?

• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer
• QuestionPro

• Solutions Industries Gaming Automotive Sports and events Education Government Travel & Hospitality Financial Services Healthcare Cannabis Technology Use Case AskWhy Communities Audience Contactless surveys Mobile LivePolls Member Experience GDPR Positive People Science 360 Feedback Surveys
• Resources Blog eBooks Survey Templates Case Studies Training Help center

CX Research Methods: Learn how to choose the right one

Talking about research focused on customer experience involves exploring a universe full of possibilities and options within our reach. From simple techniques to complex methodologies, the journey to understand what our customers and users think about our brand, product, or service is quite extensive. Therefore, in today’s article, we want to discuss the various well-known and popular CX Research Methods.

These methods have been selected to give you an extensive overview of all the possibilities that are currently available; however, we know that there is a whole series of options in addition to those listed, but we believe that these can be useful to enter the world of CX and find an option that suits the needs of your projects or goals.

What are Customer Experience (CX) Research Methods?

The various strategies used for understanding and optimizing customer interactions with a brand are categorized as Customer Experience (CX) research methods. Some notable examples can be:

• Social media monitoring
• Sentiment Analysis

All of them with the objective of gaining valuable insights into customer preferences, satisfaction levels , and pain points. By employing these methods, organizations can refine their services, enhance customer loyalty , and stay attuned to evolving market dynamics, ultimately ensuring a seamless and satisfying customer journey.

In CX Research, analysts often leverage both qualitative data and quantitative data to gain comprehensive insights. Qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews and user testing provide rich context. At the same time, quantitative data obtained through surveys or analytics offer numerical metrics for a holistic understanding of customer satisfaction and behavior.

Why is Customer Experience Research Important?

Customer experience (CX) research is important for several reasons, as it directly impacts a company’s success and its ability to build and maintain positive relationships with its customers. Here are some key reasons why you need to conduct customer experience research:

• Customer Satisfaction: Understanding and measuring customer satisfaction is at the core of CX research. Satisfied customers are likelier to remain loyal and continue doing business with a company.
• Customer Loyalty: Positive experiences contribute to customer loyalty. Customers with a consistently positive experience are likelier to become repeat customers and brand advocates.
• Brand Reputation: Customer experiences directly influence a brand’s reputation . Research helps identify areas where a company can improve, ensuring a positive image and reducing the risk of negative publicity.
• Competitive Advantage: In a competitive market, superior customer experience can set a company apart. Research helps identify areas where a business can differentiate itself and gain a competitive edge.
• Customer Retention: Retaining existing customers is generally more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. CX research helps identify pain points in the customer journey , allowing companies to address issues and reduce customer churn.
• Innovation: By understanding customer needs, preferences, and pain points , companies can innovate their products and services to meet customer expectations better and stay ahead in the market.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: CX research provides valuable customer data that can inform strategic decisions. Data-driven insights help companies allocate resources effectively, prioritize improvements, and optimize the customer experience.
• Customer-Centric Approach: Research allows businesses to adopt a customer-centric approach by focusing on understanding and meeting customer needs. This approach is crucial in building long-lasting relationships with customers.
• Reduced Costs: Identifying and addressing issues in the customer journey can lead to operational efficiencies and cost savings. For example, streamlining processes based on customer feedback can result in more efficient operations.
• Proactive Problem Resolution: CX research enables businesses to identify issues before they escalate. By proactively addressing customer concerns, companies can prevent negative experiences and maintain customer satisfaction.
• Word of Mouth and Referrals: Positive experiences often lead to positive word of mouth and referrals. Satisfied customers are likelier to recommend a company to others, contributing to organic growth.

Customer Experience (CX) Research Methods

Customer Experience (CX) research involves various methods and approaches to understand, measure, and improve the interactions between customers and a company throughout the entire customer journey. Here are some standard techniques used in CX research:

1. Surveys and Questionnaires

Collecting direct feedback from customers is a widely used method. This can take the form of email surveys , online forms, or in-app feedback tools , providing a quantitative understanding of customer sentiments.

2. Interviews

Conducting one-on-one interviews with customers allows for a deep dive into their experiences. This qualitative research approach unveils nuanced insights and identifies specific pain points, contributing to a comprehensive understanding of customer perspectives.

3. Focus Groups

Gathering a small group of customers to discuss their experiences fosters group interaction and reveals shared sentiments. This method allows researchers to tap into collective perceptions and identify trends in customer feedback.

4. Usability Testing

Observing customers as they interact with a product or service helps pinpoint usability issues and areas for improvement. This hands-on approach provides valuable insights into the practical aspects of the customer experience.

5. Customer Journey Mapping

Visual representations of the customer journey help identify touchpoints , emotions, and pain points throughout the experience. This method provides a holistic view of the customer’s interaction with the brand.

6. Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a metric that gauges the likelihood of customers recommending a company’s product or service. It serves as a straightforward indicator of overall customer satisfaction and loyalty.

7. Social Media Monitoring

Real-time insights into customer sentiments and concerns can be obtained by monitoring social media channels for mentions and feedback. This method enables businesses to stay attuned to the dynamic public opinion landscape.

8. Customer Support Analytics

Analyzing customer support interactions and tickets unveils common issues and areas for improvement in customer service processes. This method provides a granular understanding of customers’ challenges in their interactions with support services.

9. Online Analytics

Examining website and app analytics provides insights into user behavior, navigation patterns, and areas of friction. This data-driven approach helps optimize digital touchpoints for an enhanced customer experience.

10. Customer Feedback Platforms

Leveraging specialized tools and platforms for gathering and analyzing customer feedback streamlines the research process. These platforms offer efficiency and organization in collecting and interpreting customer insights.

Benefits of Conducting Customer Experience (UX) Research

Customer Experience Research is crucial to creating successful products and services. Here are some key benefits of conducting CX research:

• Identifying Pain Points: CX research helps identify areas of friction and dissatisfaction in the customer journey, allowing businesses to address specific pain points.
• Improving Customer Satisfaction: By understanding customer needs and preferences, companies can make targeted improvements that enhance overall satisfaction.
• Increasing Customer Loyalty: Positive experiences contribute to customer loyalty, fostering long-term relationships and repeat business.
• Optimizing Operations: Identifying and addressing operational inefficiencies based on customer feedback can lead to cost savings and improved processes.
• Enhancing Brand Reputation: Positive customer experiences contribute to a positive brand reputation, attracting new customers and retaining existing ones.
• Staying Competitive: Businesses that consistently provide superior customer experiences gain an advantage in a competitive market.
• Informed Decision Making: CX research provides valuable data for informed decision-making, helping businesses allocate resources effectively and prioritize improvements.
• Cultivating a Customer-Centric Culture: Regular CX research fosters a customer-centric mindset within the organization, emphasizing the importance of meeting customer needs.
• Reducing Customer Churn: Proactively addressing customer concerns helps prevent churn and retain valuable customers.
• Driving Innovation: Insights from CX research can fuel innovation by guiding the development of new products and services that align with customer expectations.

How QuestionPro CX Can Help in CX Research Methods

QuestionPro CX is a comprehensive customer experience research platform that can significantly enhance various aspects of CX research. Here’s how QuestionPro CX can contribute to the customer experience research methods mentioned:

• Surveys and Questionnaires: QuestionPro facilitates customizable surveys for direct customer feedback through email, online forms, and in-app tools.
• Interviews: It enables seamless one-on-one interviews with integrated communication tools for qualitative insights.
• Focus Groups: Organizes and conducts virtual focus groups, fostering interactive discussions for shared sentiments.
• Usability Testing: QuestionPro supports observing and capturing customer interactions to identify your usability issues practically.
• Customer Journey Mapping: It aids in creating visual representations of the customer journey through surveys and analytics.
• Net Promoter Score (NPS): You can quickly implement and track NPS surveys, which provide insights into customer satisfaction and loyalty.
• Social Media Monitoring: You can integrate with social media monitoring tools for real-time insights into customer sentiments.
• Customer Support Analytics: QuestionPro analyzes support interactions and tickets, which offers a detailed understanding of everyday issues.
• Online Analytics: QuestionPro helps to add website and app analytics, providing additional insights for optimizing digital touchpoints.
• Customer Feedback Platforms: It streamlines your research with specialized tools that improve the efficiency of collecting and interpreting customer insights.

In the digital age, where customers have more choices than ever, providing an exceptional customer experience is non-negotiable. Implementing a combination of these powerful CX research methods allows businesses to gain a holistic understanding of their customers and continuously refine their strategies. 

Customer preferences evolve rapidly, and staying attuned to their needs is key to building lasting relationships and driving business success. CX research methods offer a roadmap to understanding customer needs, preferences, and pain points, enabling businesses to create meaningful and lasting connections with their audience. 

QuestionPro CX proves invaluable in CX research methods by seamlessly integrating diverse approaches. From robust survey capabilities to advanced analytics and social media monitoring, the platform streamlines data collection and analysis. Its versatility makes QuestionPro CX an essential tool for businesses aiming to understand, measure, and enhance customer experiences.

LEARN MORE         FREE TRIAL

MORE LIKE THIS

Jotform vs SurveyMonkey: Which Is Best in 2024

Aug 15, 2024

360 Degree Feedback Spider Chart is Back!

Aug 14, 2024

Jotform vs Wufoo: Comparison of Features and Prices

Aug 13, 2024

Product or Service: Which is More Important? — Tuesday CX Thoughts

Other categories.

• Academic Research
• Artificial Intelligence
• Assessments
• Brand Awareness
• Case Studies
• Communities
• Consumer Insights
• Customer effort score
• Customer Engagement
• Customer Experience
• Customer Loyalty
• Customer Research
• Customer Satisfaction
• Employee Benefits
• Employee Engagement
• Employee Retention
• Friday Five
• General Data Protection Regulation
• Insights Hub
• Life@QuestionPro
• Market Research
• Mobile diaries
• Mobile Surveys
• New Features
• Online Communities
• Question Types
• Questionnaire
• QuestionPro Products
• Release Notes
• Research Tools and Apps
• Revenue at Risk
• Survey Templates
• Training Tips
• Tuesday CX Thoughts (TCXT)
• Uncategorized
• What’s Coming Up
• Workforce Intelligence

Brandwatch has just been named The Best Social Media Monitoring Software by the Martech Breakthrough Awards 🏆

• · Brandwatch Academy
• Forrester Wave

Brandwatch Consumer Research

Formerly the Falcon suite

Formerly Paladin

Published October 17 th 2023

10 Essential Methods for Effective Consumer and Market Research

When it comes to understanding the world around you, market research is an essential step.

We live in a world that’s overflowing with information. Sifting through all the noise to extract the most relevant insights on a certain market or audience can be tough.

That’s where market research comes in – it’s a way for brands and researchers to collect information from target markets and audiences.

Once reliant on traditional methods like focus groups or surveys, market research is now at a crossroads. Newer tools for extracting insights, like social listening tools, have joined the array of market research techniques available.

Here, we break down what market research is and the different methods you can choose from to make the most of it.

What is market research, and why is it critical for you as a marketer?

Market research involves collecting and analyzing data about a specific industry, market, or audience to inform strategic decision-making. It offers marketers valuable insights into the industry, market trends, consumer preferences, competition, and opportunities, enabling businesses to refine their strategies effectively.

By conducting market research, organizations can identify unmet needs, assess product demands, enhance value propositions, and create marketing campaigns that resonate with their target audience. 

This practice serves as a compass, guiding businesses in making data-driven decisions for successful product launches, improved customer relationships, and a stronger positioning in the business landscape. 

For marketers and insights professionals, market research is an indispensable tool. It helps them make smarter decisions and achieve growth and success in the market.

These 10 market research methods form the backbone of effective market research strategies. 

Continue reading or jump directly to each method by tapping the link below.

• Focus groups
• Consumer research with social media listening
• Experiments and field trials
• Observation
• Competitive analysis
• Public domain data
• Buy research
• Analyze sales data

Use of primary vs secondary market research

Market research can be split into two distinct sections: primary and secondary. These are the two main types of market research.

They can also be known as field and desk, respectively (although this terminology feels out of date, as plenty of primary research can be carried out from your desk).

Primary (field) research

Primary market research is research you carry out yourself. Examples of primary market research methods include running your own focus groups or conducting surveys. These are some of the key methods of consumer research. The ‘field’ part refers to going out into the field to get data.

Secondary (desk) research

Secondary market research is research carried out by other people that you want to use. Examples of secondary market research methods include studies carried out by researchers or financial data released by companies.

10 effective methods to do market research

The methods in this list cover both areas. Which ones you want to use will depend on your goals. Have a browse through and see what fits.

1. Focus groups

It’s a simple concept but one that can be hard to put into practice.

You bring together a group of individuals into a room, record their discussions, and ask them questions about various topics you are researching. For some, it’ll be new product ideas. For others, it might be views on a political candidate.

From these discussions, the organizer will try to pull out some insights or use them to judge the wider society’s view on something. The participants will generally be chosen based on certain criteria, such as demographics, interests, or occupations.

A focus group’s strength is in the natural conversation and discussion that can take place between participants (if they’re done right).

Compared to a questionnaire or survey with a rigid set of questions, a focus group can go off on tangents the organizer could not have predicted (and therefore not planned questions for). This can be good in that unexpected topics can arise; or bad if the aims of the research are to answer a very particular set of questions.

The nature of the discussion is important to recognize as a potential factor that skews the resulting data. Focus groups can encourage participants to talk about things they might not have otherwise, and others might impact the group. This can also affect unstructured one-on-one interviews.

In survey research, survey questions are given to respondents (in person, over the phone, by email, or via an online form). Questions can be close-ended or open-ended. As far as close-ended questions go, there are many different types:

• Dichotomous (two choices, such as ‘yes’ or ‘no’)
• Multiple choice
• Rating scale
• Likert scale (common version is five options between ‘strongly agree’ and ‘strongly disagree’)
• Matrix (options presented on a grid)
• Demographic (asking for information such as gender, age, or occupation)

Surveys are massively versatile because of the range of question formats. Knowing how to mix and match them to get what you need takes consideration and thought. Different questions need the right setup.

It’s also about how you ask. Good questions lead to good analysis. Writing clear, concise questions that abstain from vague expressions and don’t lead respondents down a certain path can help your results reflect the true colors of respondents.

There are a ton of different ways to conduct surveys as well, from creating your own from scratch or using tools that do lots of the heavy lifting for you.

3. Consumer research with social media listening

Social media has reached a point where it is seamlessly integrated into our lives. And because it is a digital extension of ourselves, people freely express their opinions, thoughts, and hot takes on social media.

Because people share so much content on social media and the sharing is so instant, social media is a treasure trove for market research. There is plenty of data to monitor , tap into, and dissect.

By using a social listening tool, like Consumer Research , researchers can identify topics of interest and then analyze relevant social posts. For example, they can track brand mentions and what consumers are saying about the products owned by that brand. These are real-world consumer research examples.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Brandwatch (@brandwatch)

Social media listening democratizes insights, and is especially useful for market research because of the vast amount of unfiltered information available. Because it’s unprompted, you can be fairly sure that what’s shared is an accurate account of what the person really cares about and thinks (as opposed to them being given a subject to dwell on in the presence of a researcher).

You might like

Your complete social listening guide.

Learn how to get started with social listening

4. Interviews

In interviews, the interviewer speaks directly with the respondent. This type of market research method is more personal, allowing for communication and clarification, making it good for open-ended questions. Furthermore, interviews enable the interviewer to go beyond surface-level responses and investigate deeper.

However, the drawback is that interviews can be time-intensive and costly. Those who opt for this method will need to figure out how to allocate their resources effectively. You also need to be careful with leading or poor questions that lead to useless results. Here’s a good introduction to leading questions .

5. Experiments and field trials

Field experiments are conducted in the participants’ environment. They rely on the independent variable and the dependent variable – the researcher controls the independent variable in order to test its impact on the dependent variable. The key here is to establish whether there’s causality.

For example, take Hofling’s experiment that tested obedience, conducted in a hospital setting. The point was to test if nurses followed authority figures (doctors) and if the authority figures’ rules violated standards (The dependent variable being the nurses, the independent variable being a fake doctor calling up and ordering the nurses to administer treatment.)

According to Simply Psychology , there are key strengths and limitations to this method.

The assessment reads:

• Strength: Behavior in a field experiment is more likely to reflect real life because of its natural setting, i.e., higher ecological validity than a lab experiment.
• Strength: There is less likelihood of demand characteristics affecting the results, as participants may not know they are being studied. This occurs when the study is covert.
• Limitation: There is less control over extraneous variables that might bias the results. This makes it difficult for another researcher to replicate the study in exactly the same way.

There are also massive ethical implications for these kinds of experiments and experiments in general (especially if people are unaware of their involvement). Don’t take this lightly, and be sure to read up on all the guidelines that apply to the region where you’re based.

6. Observation

Observational market research is a qualitative research method where the researcher observes their subjects in a natural or controlled environment. This method is much like being a fly on the wall, but the fly takes notes and analyzes them later. In observational market research, subjects are likely to behave naturally, which reveals their true selves. 

They are not under much pressure. However, if they’re aware of the observation, they can act differently.

This type of research applies well to retail, where the researcher can observe shoppers’ behavior by day of the week, by season, when discounts are offered, and more. However, observational research can be time-consuming, and researchers have no control over the environments they research.

7. Competitive analysis

Competitive analysis is a highly strategic and specific form of market research in which the researchers analyze their company’s competitors. It is critical to see how your brand stacks up to rivals. 

Competitive analysis starts by defining the product, service, brand, and market segment. There are different topics to compare your firm with your competitors. It could be from a marketing perspective: content produced, SEO structure, PR coverage, and social media presence and engagement. It can also be from a product perspective: types of offerings, pricing structure. SWOT analysis is key in assessing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

We’ve written a whole blog post on this tactic, which you can read here .

8. Public domain data

The internet is a wondrous place. Public data exists for those strapped for resources or simply seeking to support their research with more data.  With more and more data produced every year, the question about access and curation becomes increasingly prominent – that’s why researchers and librarians are keen on open data.

Plenty of different types of open data are useful for market research: government databases, polling data, “fact tanks” like Pew Research Center, and more. 

Furthermore, APIs grant developers programmatic access to applications. A lot of this data is free, which is a real bonus.

9. Buy research

Money can’t buy everything, but it can buy research. Subscriptions exist for those who want to buy relevant industry and research reports. Sites like Euromonitor, Statista, Mintel, and BCC Research host a litany of reports for purchase, oftentimes with the option of a single-user license or a subscription.

This can be a massive time saver, and you’ll have a better idea of what you’re getting from the very beginning. You’ll also get all your data in a format that makes sense, saving you effort in cleaning and organizing.

10. Analyze sales data

Sales data is like a puzzle piece that can help reveal the full picture of market research insights. Essentially, it indicates the results. Paired with other market research data, sales data helps researchers better understand actions and consequences. Understanding your customers, their buying habits, and how they change over time is important.

This research will be limited to customers, and it’s important to keep that in mind. Nevertheless, the value of this data should not be underestimated. If you’re not already tracking customer data, there’s no time like the present.

Choosing the right market research method for your strategy

Not all methods will be right for your situation or your business. Once you’ve looked through the list and seen some that take your fancy, spend more time researching each option.You’ll want to consider what you want to achieve, what data you’ll need, the pros and cons of each method, the costs of conducting the research, and the cost of analyzing the results.

Get it right, and it’ll be worth all the effort.

Former Brandwatch Employee

Share this post

Brandwatch bulletin.

Offering up analysis and data on everything from the events of the day to the latest consumer trends. Subscribe to keep your finger on the world’s pulse.

New: Consumer Research

Make the world your focus group.

With Brandwatch Consumer Research, you can turn billions of voices into valuable insights.

More in marketing

14 social media holidays to celebrate this september.

By Yasmin Pierre Aug 13

10 Social Listening Tools and Who They’re Best for

By Brandwatch Jul 14

18 Social Media Holidays to Celebrate This August

By Yasmin Pierre Jul 10

Social Media Consultant: Key Strategies for Digital Success

By Brandwatch Jun 27

We value your privacy

We use cookies to improve your experience and give you personalized content. Do you agree to our cookie policy?

By using our site you agree to our use of cookies — I Agree

Falcon.io is now part of Brandwatch. You're in the right place!

Existing customer? Log in to access your existing Falcon products and data via the login menu on the top right of the page. New customer? You'll find the former Falcon products under 'Social Media Management' if you go to 'Our Suite' in the navigation.

Paladin is now Influence. You're in the right place!

Brandwatch acquired Paladin in March 2022. It's now called Influence, which is part of Brandwatch's Social Media Management solution. Want to access your Paladin account? Use the login menu at the top right corner.

17 Ways to Conduct Customer Research Right Now & Collect Valuable Feedback

Table of contents

To see what Databox can do for you, including how it helps you track and visualize your performance data in real-time, check out our home page. Click here .

Whether you’re marketing a brand new startup or a seasoned veteran, there’s no substitute for real customer feedback and research.

After all, you can’t market anything effectively if you don’t know who you’re selling to.

Customer research is such a crucial part of marketing that, when we asked survey respondents how important they considered customer research to be, nearly 93% rated it as “Very Important” or “Crucially Important.”

“Marketers need to conduct customer research at the very least annually. In order to sell to someone, you need to know their needs,” said Tim Brown of Hook Agency .

Brown’s comment got us thinking—if customer research is so important, how often are people doing it? When we asked those same marketers that question, we got some varied responses. But crucially, the majority skewed toward more often, with over 25% reporting quarterly customer research efforts and nearly 20% reporting they conduct customer research daily .

So what are marketers actually doing to conduct that customer research? When we asked our respondents about that, there were 4 clear winners that more than half of the marketers we spoke with reported using:

• Customer interviews
• Email surveys
• Analytics analysis
• Online research

But we also heard about many other creative ways to conduct customer research that we hadn’t thought of before.

On that note, here are the 20 customer research methods marketers shared with us.

1. Leverage Existing Customer Reviews

Brian Jensen of Congruent Digital recommended turning to a familiar source for customer research: online reviews. “We used a tool called Apify to crawl and return all of our client’s reviews into a database. We then put into a text analysis tool to find the top keywords and phrases (attributes) customers used in their reviews.”

Jensen says they used this data to help improve the client’s messaging.

“Once we had the data and knew by occurrences what their customers enjoyed most about their experience, we updated ads and landing pages to better identify with the needs and expectations of prospects.”

2. Spend a Day in Your Customer’s Office

Phil Strazzulla of SelectSoftware shared another customer research method we hadn’t heard about before. Strazzulla recommended spending a full day, in-office with your customer, saying “This allows me to have informal conversations with the key stakeholders I need to market to in order to better understand their challenges, goals, language, and personalities.”

“Simply reach out to a potential or current customer and ask if you can work from their space for a day,” Strazzulla explained. “And have as much free time as you can to walk around and talk to people in the office about what they do and how you can help them with your product.”

3. Turn to Data Analytics

Analytics analysis was one of the top 4 answers we heard—but it’s a broad term, so we were interested to learn more about what marketers do with analytics.

“When we do customer and product research, we start by understanding how customers are using the tool by looking at their data and usage, and then benchmarking it with their industry,” said Supratim Da Dam of CallPage . “This allows us to have a solid idea of how our customers are deploying our solution, the gaps, successes, blockers, and more.”

Robert Baillieul of Lombardi Publishing uses Twitter Analytics to identify topics and pains that resonate with their customers. “Anything that consistently generates engagement rates north of 5% indicates a huge pain point for your customer—sometimes issues they would never admit to out loud. You can then turn these insights into new products, services, or content.”

“We get data from many tools we’re using (email marketing, website analytics, social media, and more),” explained Jonathan Aufray of Growth Hackers . “With the help of a great data analyst and a tool like Google Data Studio, we can quickly analyze our customers.”

Vira Vielmann of Seventh Scout says they turn to social media analytics most often. “We typically utilize social media analytics to learn more about the audience engaging with us. This gives us an amazing insight into their demographics and interests. They also let us know what topics and posts are doing well and which aren’t performing the best, so we can adjust our strategy and editorial calendars as needed.”  

4. Collect Customer Survey Responses

“My favorite way to get customer research is to send out an email survey,” James Pollard of The Advisor Coach said. “I keep it short (about five or six questions) and only ask them the questions that will have the biggest impact on my business.”

Based on the marketers we spoke with, there are more benefits to this type of research to learn the voice of customer than you may expect.

“When you really pay attention to the way that people share information with you,” Amber Vilhauer of NGNG Enterprises said, “you’ll notice your audience using specific verbiage and wording that you can bake into your website. Often times the way that you would describe your services is very different than the way that a customer or prospect would describe those services.”

“Ultimately, people want good products that will serve them well,” Mr. SR of Semi-Retire Plan explained, “so they do have an interest in giving you helpful information to improve your —especially if they’re an existing customer who already has an affinity for your brand.”

That said, marketing consultant Farheen Gill suggests giving customers a little added incentive. “Include them in the last phase of your welcome email journeys, but also offer giveaways for other surveys you need to run throughout the year (i.e. ‘Respond today to be entered into a drawing for a $50 gift card’).”

“What’s important,” said Andrea Loubier of Mailbird , “is that you dig deep with your surveys. Asking generic questions isn’t going to get you very far. Make sure your multiple-choice questions offer diverse answers and don’t be afraid to ask the hard questions. You may be shocked at just how much your customers are willing to share.”

Louis Watton of Shiply suggested another tip for getting insightful, honest answers. “One creative approach we’ve used in customer research is not letting interviewees know the company conducting the research at first.”

Explaining, Watton added, “Often we’ve found that customers will hold back on criticism if they know you work for that company. The most valuable insights and potential improvements we’ve learned have come from asking broader questions about the industry, which allows them to talk freely without worrying about insulting anyone.”

“We launch every new survey or questionnaire with a video,” said Charles Musselwhite of FunLovingCouples . “We don’t ask any more than 12 questions at a time, and we always add in a weird and obscure question or two to keep people on their toes and engaged.”

5. Watch Customers Use Your Product

Samuel Wheeler of Inseev Interactive offered up another top-notch tip, recommending marketers actually watch customers using the product, navigating the website, interacting with content, and more.

“It’s a great idea to ask users to narrate their thought process as they navigate the page and ask them to actually take an action (purchase or form submission). In addition to asking the users to talk through their decision-making process.”

“It’s a great way to get both quantitative and qualitative data,“ Wheeler added.

If you need to understand how customers are using your product to gather feedback, one tool you should consider for customer feedback is Usersnap. This helpful tool allows product managers, software engineers, designers, and marketers to instantly collect information from users on-site through screen captures, screen recordings, surveys, feature requests, menu buttons, in-app forms, visual drawings, and bug reports.

Another  feedback tool  you might consider to crowdsource customer feedback and feature requests is UseResponse. This tool allows you to create feedback communities where customers can post their feedback, while others can comment and upvote it.

Pro Tip: Here Is Your Go-To Dashboard For Measuring the Performance of Your Customer Support Team

No matter your role in customer support – agent, manager, or VP – your core focus is to ensure that customers’ issues, complaints, and information requests are always dealt with promptly and efficiently. But to stay on track, you may have to spend hours manually compiling data from different tools into a comprehensive report. Now you can quickly monitor and analyze your customer service performance data from Intercom in a single dashboard that monitors fundamental metrics, such as:

• New conversations . Track the total number of new conversations your customer support team handles daily, weekly, monthly, or within the specified date range.
• Open conversations by team member . View the total number of conversations in your support inbox that are still open and find out which team members are handling them.
• Leads . Track the number of leads generated by your customer support team within a specified date range. Dig deeper to learn the nature of the messages that help convert visitors to leads, and use your insights to improve future conversations.
• Users by tag name . View the total number of conversations your customer support team has handled over time and see how your team members tagged those messages in Intercom. Using tags makes it easier for anyone monitoring the dashboard to learn more about customer needs, interests, and issues.

Now you can benefit from the experience of our customer support experts, who have put together a plug-and-play Databox template that contains all the essential metrics for monitoring and analyzing the performance of your customer support reps. It’s simple to implement and start using as a standalone dashboard or in customer service reports, and best of all, it’s free!

You can easily set it up in just a few clicks – no coding required.

To set up the dashboard, follow these 3 simple steps:

Step 1: Get the template 

Step 2: Connect your Intercom account with Databox. 

Step 3: Watch your dashboard populate in seconds.

6. Leverage Publicly Available Data

We talk a lot about gathering and analyzing data these days, but one thing marketers often forget about is the wealth of existing data that are publicly available online. “A lot of people overlook the incredible amount of data that the government and nonprofits collect that can be useful for customer research,” said Jeromy Sonne of Reverb Agency .

“The most creative approach I’ve used to learn more about my customers is public records, which give me additional information about the customer’s location, demographics, behavioral specialties,” added Emily Andrews of RecordsFinder . “Public records have a big database, which helps me to understand how better I can sell my clients’ goods or services.”

Carmine Mastropierro of Mastro Commerce told us about a hybrid customer research process: “One approach I’ve used to learn more about my customers is a mix of online research and market research tools.”

“Studying industry reports,” Mastropierro explained, “allowed me to get a broad overview of who my customers are and how they behave. Then, Google Analytics and other online tools helped me narrow down demographics, interests, and other behaviors to refine my audience.

7. Use Facebook Audience Insights

Casey Hill of Bonjoro also recommended pulling customer data from where it’s readily available already. In Hill’s case, that’s Facebook’s Audience Insights tool.

“It’s a free tool through Facebook,” Hill explained, “and it will give you information on any intended audience.” According to Hill, Audience Insights can help marketers answer questions like:

• What kind of jobs do customers have?
• When are they active online?
• What pages do they follow?

“It’s an incredible tool for customer research that many people aren’t aware exists.”

8. Have a One-on-One Conversation

“I find that doing a 30-minute video call beats every other type of research,” said Corey Haines of Hey Marketers . “With the right questions in hand and a friendly conversational tone, so much can be uncovered that you would never know otherwise.”

Sarah McIntyre of Bright Inbound Marketing agreed with Haines, saying, “Actually talking with people is critically important to understand, not just what they think about your product or service, but how they found you, what the sales process was like, who else they were considering, why they chose you. Unless you actually ask, you’ll be running your marketing based on assumptions.”

According to Renee Bauer, Hello Marketing Agency abides by a similar strategy for customer research. “We do regular NPS surveys for a client, and we ask responders to let us know if they are willing to participate in a one-on-one interview. These interviews serve as a helpful supplement to persona research, and provide actionable information for our client about what’s important to their current customers and how they need to improve their service.”

“Face to face encounters in a more social setting (as opposed to an interview or focus group) will give you the most honest, instinctive, and digestible feedback,” said Kyle Turk of Keynote Search.

“Online feedback methods, although they still provide great feedback, allows the user to spend too much time thinking of a response, and the ability to manipulate their responses. It also really only captures your promoters and detractors. The core customer group that is neutral about your product or service will not engage in the feedback, leaving a large gap in data.”

Anna Kaine of ESM Inbound echoed Turk, noting that “picking up the phone for a talk with customers is always more personal and genuine than just sending out a questionnaire—because you can really probe and show you’re listening. It’s a far more human experience.”

“We are clear and open about the focus of the calls, and they’re always happy to help us – after all, it’s in their best interests for us to focus closer on their pain points,” Kaine added.

Paige Arnof-Fenn of Mavens & Moguls recommended make a tour of customer interviews. “Go on a Listening Tour. Ask a few smart, open-ended questions, then sit back and take notice. Start listening with no strings attached and you’ll be amazed at what you find.”

Ever Increasing Circles ’ Alistair Dodds seconded Arnof-Fenn’s last point, adding, “We’ve found out things that I don’t think would have ever come up in an office or business environment. And it’s helped us to really focus in on how to get the client to their real objective.”

9. Conduct Research With Google

It’s no surprise that the king, queen, and jester of online research is, of course, Google. But the marketers we spoke with noted so many novel ways to use Google search for customer research, including:

• Reading competitors’ customer reviews on Google My Business
• Researching the way customers speak about your product and industry
• Tailoring content toward real customer pain points and questions

“Google is an excellent resource to learn more about your customers, without the use of expensive tools,” said Ben Johnston of Sagefrog Marketing Group . “If you’re in a competitive space, look at your competition’s Google My Business profiles and read the reviews of satisfied and unsatisfied customers to learn what real customers like or don’t like about your direct competition.

Roman Zhyvitsk of Travel SEO Agency touted the importance of using Google to better understand how your customers speak about (and search for) your business. “When you sell your products or services online, it is highly important to know what search phrases people use to find it. Very often it is not as obvious as you might think.”

Johnston also noted how Google can help with ensuring content resonates with your customers, saying, “You can refine your content ideas to actually engage with your customer base by looking at ‘People Also Ask’ or ‘People Also Search For.’ That’s a direct insight into what kinds of questions your customer base is asking and what they’re interested in.”

Set Up Google Alerts for Customers and Prospects

In addition to conducting manual customer research on Google, Carlos Puig of BUNCH shared another pro tip: Google Alerts.

“Right after signing a contract with a new customer, I strongly recommend setting up a Google Alert for the name of the company and the names of the people you closed the deal with. Google will keep pushing relevant information that will help you understand the situation of your client and detect potential upsells.”

10. Ask Customers to Rate Your UX

Much of the advice we heard focused on overall customer information. But Victor Antiu of Sleek Bill says they focus on the micro aspects of customer experiences, too.

“Throughout the app, we marked micro-conversions. When the user finishes one (for example creates and sends an invoice), we show a small rating bar and based on the score he gives us, we either show him a small survey to find out what was hard, or we thank him and ask what we can improve.”

“It’s a similar system to what Skype and Booking.com do,” Antiu explained. “It’s a simple way to find pain points or issues in various funnels.”

11. Use Social Listening

“Social media is probably the best tool that you could use to understand the thought process of your client,” said Harry Gandia of Igniting Movement . “Social media can help a marketer discover what their target audience is thinking in real-time. Not many other mediums can offer that. And it’s totally free.”

Many of the marketers we spoke with invoked one form of social listening or another. After all, social media is where customers hang out—regardless of who your customers are.

Find Their Online Groups and Hangouts

“One approach we use to learn more about our customers,” Kelsey Miller of Pepperland Marketing explained, “is to find the online groups, forums, and communities that they frequent. This can be in the form of Facebook groups, Reddit threads, industry-specific forums, hashtags, and so on. This is helpful in understanding how these people interact with each other, the questions they are asking, the challenges they are facing, and so much more.”

Alexandra Sheehan of Coach Content recommends turning to Facebook Groups specifically. “I love joining Facebook groups that my audience is likely to be a part of and just observing their behavior. This shows you what really makes them tick. The things that annoy them, their true pain points, their sense of humor, little nuances like that.”

“ Find out where your customers are hanging out online,” advised Vinoth AJ of Apoyo Corp , adding, “One proven method is Quora. All we have to do is type a topic and it will display all questions related to that topic. Go ahead and read all the questions related to your market.”

Create Your Own Group

While many marketers recommend going where the customers are, there’s also some benefit to taking the Field of Dreams approach.

“By far the best way to learn more about our customers has been to create a dedicated Facebook group around our products,” said Jonathan Chan of Insane Growth . “Not only does this give us the ability to foster a real sense of community around our brand, but we have routine access to the most highly-engaged members of our audience.”

Jack Paxtone of VYPER echoed Chan, explaining, “Hosting a forum either on our website or on Reddit turned out to be a great way to build a database of feedback from our clients, while also engaging with them to build a strong relationship for our brand.”

“The Vyper Facebook Group is currently our most popular platform for getting to know our customers,” Paxtone added. “We can freely interact with each other, understand their likes and dislikes, and also request valuable feedback when we are beta testing new products and services.”

Jarrod Miller-Dean of Housecall Pro added, “We utilize community outreach in our private Facebook group. For example, by posing a question in the group and asking members for their help and response.”

12. Use Heatmap Tools to Understand How Customers See Your Website

Customer research is about more than just who your customers are. It’s also about understanding how they interact with your brand and your product. That’s why Sneh Ratna Choudhary of Beaconstac recommended using a heat mapping tool to better understand and optimize their website for the customers visiting.

“We’ve been using Hotjar to understand the exact pain points of users to implement a human-centered design.”

“For instance,” Choudhary explained, “our free QR Code Generator tool was receiving visitors, but there weren’t any real conversions. We looked at Hotjar videos only to find out that we had way too many CTAs to begin with. Upon realizing this, we scaled down our CTA to include only 3 major CTAs and our visitor-to-trial conversion rate is currently hovering at 15.6%.”

13. Keep It Informal

For some, customer research can feel like a weighty, formal undertaking—but it doesn’t have to be, and many of the marketers we heard from reminded us of that.

“So many business owners and entrepreneurs think that market research is this big, complicated thing,” Carla Williams Johnson of Carli Communications pointed out. “And, while you can conduct structured surveys and questionnaires, you can also simply ask your customers directly what they think of an idea that you may have.”

“Sometimes that direct, informal approach can give you the best feedback,” Johnson added.

Liz Courtney of BBMG took that idea to the next level, saying, “To get more realistic and meaningful insight into consumers’ needs, aspirations and behavior, we try to connect with them on their own turf. Visiting them in their homes, going shopping with them, or chatting with them in pairs with a friend rather than forcing them into unnatural settings like sterile focus groups or relying only on multiple-choice surveys.”

14. Tap Your Network for Feedback

Kathleen Marrero of First Fig Marketing & Consulting emphasized the effect an existing relationship can have on the kind of customer research and feedback you end up with, suggesting your network is a great place to start.

“I have found the best way to learn more about potential customers is to open up a friendly dialogue with connections I have on social media platforms. I have reached out to numerous connections on sites like LinkedIn and asked for a real, honest conversation about whatever space I am gathering information within, the good and bad and any other information that would help me better serve the community.”

“I have found that people are very willing to offer insight if there is no sales pitch,” Marrero added.

15. Leverage Your Email Subscribers

“Reaching out to email subscribers to ask what’s bothering them is one of the most effective ways to learn more about customers,” said Priscilla Tan of Content Kapow .

“Two weeks ago,” Tan shared, “I was struggling to write a blog post. I didn’t know which topics to focus on. Rather than going with my gut, I asked my subscribers. I gave them 3 options and picked the one with the most number of votes. Not only did it help with topic development, but it also helped me to dig deeper into the pain points they’re facing at work.”

16. Offer a Beta Version of Your Product in Exchange for Feedback

One common thread throughout the responses we heard was that, while customers do have an incentive to help you create a better product for them, that isn’t always enough to entice feedback or survey responses.

To combat that problem, Carsten Schaefer of Crowdy.ai suggested offering a beta or paired-down version of your product in exchange.

“We launched a beta for 100 days before going live with our product. We gave our beta users all the features completely free in exchange for one thing: feedback about our product and how they used it for their business,” Schaefer explained. “It has brought us incredible insights which we used in the final iteration of the product.”

17. Learn from Live Chat and Support Interactions

If there’s one painfully overlooked source of customer research, it’s the support team. Few other teams within a business have the kind of direct contact with customers that customer support pros see every day.

Zack Naylor of Aurelius said, “I make it a point to answer every single live chat we get on our website for product questions and requests. Often what happens is that I get to learn a lot about potential customers from what they’re looking for and end up being able to schedule a live call to dive deeper and learn more.”

Get to Know Your Customers

Customers are the lifeblood of every successful business, and finding business traction and growth depends on your ability to get to know and understand your customers.

Whether you’re ready to go big with a large, organized customer survey or simply want to chat one-on-one with a few customers, you’ll emerge better equipped to serve their needs and grow the business.

• Databox Benchmarks
• Future Value Calculator
• ROI Calculator
• Return On Ads Calculator
• Percentage Growth Rate Calculator
• Report Automation
• Client Reporting
• What is a KPI?
• Google Sheets KPIs
• Sales Analysis Report
• Shopify Reports
• Data Analysis Report
• Google Sheets Dashboard
• Best Dashboard Examples
• Analysing Data
• Marketing Agency KPIs
• Automate Agency Google Ads Report
• Marketing Research Report
• Social Media Dashboard Examples
• Ecom Dashboard Examples

Does Your Performance Stack Up?

Are you maximizing your business potential? Stop guessing and start comparing with companies like yours.

A Message From Our CEO

At Databox, we’re obsessed with helping companies more easily monitor, analyze, and report their results. Whether it’s the resources we put into building and maintaining integrations with 100+ popular marketing tools, enabling customizability of charts, dashboards, and reports, or building functionality to make analysis, benchmarking, and forecasting easier, we’re constantly trying to find ways to help our customers save time and deliver better results.

Do you want an All-in-One Analytics Platform?

Hey, we’re Databox. Our mission is to help businesses save time and grow faster. Click here to see our platform in action. 

Kiera's a content writer who works with B2B SaaS companies. Catch up with her on Twitter @Kieraabbamonte or KieraAbbamonte.com

Get practical strategies that drive consistent growth

The State of Content Marketing and SEO [Data from 140+ Companies]

When and Why Should SMEs Upgrade Their Email Service Provider (ESP)?

Organic vs. Paid Marketing: Which Works Better and Why? [Based on Research with 130 Companies]

Build your first dashboard in 5 minutes or less.

Latest from our blog

• The State of Content Marketing and SEO [Data from 140+ Companies] August 15, 2024
• How Does Website Age Impact Performance? Insights from 145+ Companies August 8, 2024
• Metrics & KPIs
• vs. Tableau
• vs. Looker Studio
• vs. Klipfolio
• vs. Power BI
• vs. Whatagraph
• vs. AgencyAnalytics
• Product & Engineering
• Inside Databox
• Terms of Service
• Privacy Policy
• Talent Resources
• We're Hiring!
• Help Center
• API Documentation

8 Key Stages in the Consumer Research Strategy

July 8 2022

• Table of content

What Is Consumer Insights Research And Why It's Important For Any Brand?

Consumer research process and steps, how does peekage run market research, how to optimize the process of conducting consumer research.

If you want to catch and keep your consumer's attention , you really need to peruse the options available on your menu and give them something smart based on their preferences.

Your marketing strategy should not be based on your hunch but solid verifiable facts. In order to grow as a business, you need to know how your products & services are performing with your target audiences, how those consumers are responding to your campaigns, and how these customers feel about your brand.

Customer research can provide you with the missing information.

In today's consumer-centric world, research is key to personalization of products & services, and consistently delivering an excellent experience to your customers comes with a number of benefits, such as:

• Increased purchase frequency
• Higher average order values
• Better referrals and cheaper acquisitions

Additionally, acquiring insights on consumer needs gives you a strategic position over the race on delivering customers what they want -more personalized products and experiences. This way you stay ahead of your competitors and remain in line with consumers' needs.

At its core, consumer research focuses on understanding your consumers by exploring their attitudes, needs, motivations, and behavior as they relate to your brand & products. This helps you to better identify, understand, investigate and hold your customers.

It's nothing unexpected that the majority of professional advertisers make their strategic decisions after a phase of extensive consumer research process.

Read also: Differences Between Market Research and Consumer Insights Research

Consumer insights research is the process of recognizing the inclinations, attitudes, inspirations, and purchasing behavior of the targeted consumers. Utilizing consumer research strategies on this data, shared characteristics among consumer groups are distinguished and classified into client segments and buyer personas. This information then used to make promoting campaigns focusing on a particular fragment or persona.

Consumer research is the key to enhancing your products & services and effectively advertising to clients who want to do commercial enterprise with you. Interviews, surveys, and other consumer research techniques are your dearest companions with regards to aiding your organization reliably to increment its income year on year.

Consumer research strategy is the procedure of gathering facts to first identify the target audiences and afterward focus on their inclinations, insights, attitudes, and shopping drivers for an item, service, or brand.

The main purposes of consumer research are:

• Formalize the ideal customer personas
• Upgrade brand positioning 
• Discover new or similar consumers
• Get feedback on current products & services
• Mapping the customer decision-making procedure

Customer research is a part of market research that uses research techniques to provide actionable information about what clients need. Utilizing this data businesses can make changes in their items and services, making them more client-centric thereby expanding consumer loyalty.

Consumer research helps brands understand consumer psychology and create purchasing behavior profiles for them.

A business that has an in-depth comprehension of the client decision-making process is most likely to design an item, decide on a certain price for it, establish a distribution path and promote a product based on customer research insights such that it produces increased consumer satisfaction and loyalty.

The ultimate goal of consumer research is to make a more profound understanding of your target client. You need to know what they care about and what impacts them to make purchasing decisions. This helps you to target them with more customized and significant brand experiences.

Consumers are now inundated with various options & choices and they have boundless data about these products readily available. In fact, they have power over their choices and want only the best.

So how do you make an unforgettable customer experience? By research!

By identifying the needs and inclinations of your clients, you can develop effective methods and strategies to use in your marketing plan. This will help you:

• Leverage your brand positioning compared to the competitors
• Help empower your marketing and product strategy
• Exclude weak points and lessen redundancies
• Remain in line with client opinion ahead of new product launches
• Draw in more clients
• Set the optimized price for your products
• Produce the proper marketing message
• Increase how much your clients spend
• Increase how frequently your clients spend
• Increase your sales
• Decrease your costs
• Refine your approach to customer support.

Now that you know what consumer research is and you understand its importance in developing your business, let's take a closer look at how it's done; the process & steps of conducting consumer insight research.

Also read: How Consumer Insights Help Your Business Grow

The consumer research process began as an extension of the market research process. Just as the results of market research are used to further develop the decision-making potential of a brand or business, so is consumer research.

Consumer research is a sequential procedure. It must be well organized, tied together by the proper method, and upheld by supporting facilities and tools. Without these considerations, you may get into research chaos.

Therefore, you need a framework for conducting consumer research. The consumer research process can be divided into the following steps:

1. Develop research goals

Developing research goals is actually answering the question; "why is the research being conducted? to find out what?" A statement of consumer research objectives can help emphasize the purpose.

2. Define your research personas

A target consumer addresses the specific client segments and ideal buyer personas you wish to analyze.

3. Select your research methods and tools

Before you jump into the research phase, you should create a supporting "foundation". That is to distinguish your key method for gathering information and data.

Consumer data comes in two structures:

Quantitative - data, in the form of numbers

Quantitative consumer research includes extracting facts and statistics from customer opinions. By posing questions like, "how many", "how often", or "how likely", you can record customer needs and inclinations as specific numbers.

Utilizing a qualitative research method, you can gather information around measures such as duration, price, amount, length, etc. You can then utilize this information to shape your product's marketing.

Qualitative - non-numerical data that describe and characterize

A qualitative consumer research strategy gathers the conversational voice of customers (VOC), making sense of the inspirations behind customer behaviors. Open-ended questions, conversations, and observations can help us answer the whats, whys, and hows of consumers' decisions. Furthermore, develop a better comprehension of the consumers' attitudes, beliefs, and values.

Also read: Seven Consumer Research Methods; 2022 Version

4. Collect secondary data

Secondary research tries to interpret your audience's behaviors by utilizing internal and external data. CRM or social media analytics, and different kinds of BI tools come to use here. Utilizing external information such as trend reports, market statistics, and public polls can also help obtain a more accurate image of your target clients.

Secondary research is a strong method to analyze the competition, understand your actual position in the market, and discover new secondary consumers.

Collect secondary data as the earliest stage of your research, it helps finding out if the research has been conducted before and if there is any information that can be used by your business to make informed decisions regarding customers.

Secondary research adds additional background information to your brand strategy. By discovering what your competitors do and finding out what other factors and variables affect the demand on the market, you can refine your brand differentiation on the market.

Thus, as part of customer research, you need to assess the competition. Specifically, collect data about:

• Competition market positioning
• Brand differentiators
• Macro market trends
• Niche market trends

5. Primary research

Primary research can be an exploratory and explicit phase of your consumer research. In the principal case, you are projecting a wider net to comprehend the general customer opinion and market trends. Exploratory research is helpful for consumer segmentation and buyer persona development.

Explicit consumer research plans put the magnifying lens on distinguished areas of interest like brand preference or product usability. For this situation, it's a good idea to work with a specific consumer segment and ask questions related to a specific issue.

In primary research brands or businesses collect their own information or employ a third party to gather information for them. This kind of research utilizes different data collection methods (qualitative and quantitative).

6. Collect and analyze information

Data is gathered and analyzed and inference is drawn to comprehend client behavior and purchase pattern.

7. Prepare a report

At the final stages of your consumer research process, a report is prepared based on all the findings by analyzing information collected so that businesses are able to make informed decisions and think of all probabilities related to customer behavior. By incorporating the study, businesses can become more customer-centric and provide products or services that will help them achieve customer satisfaction.

8. Put consumer research to action

The ultimate objective of consumer research is to illuminate your actions. There are numerous excellent ways of utilizing customer research information:

• Refine your brand positioning and brand statement
• Develop strategies for engaging with secondary clients
• Foster new creative and collateral for advertisement campaigns
• Refine your advertisement targeting to lessen promotion waste
• Expand into new markets with more confidence

Utilizing its app-based platform, Peekage conducts market research by product sampling .

Clients share their information through the application and then the Peekage team discovers the right users to test your product or services and provide you feedback. This strategy is the most efficient way to invest the market research budget and gain actionable insights from your target market.

Read Also: Ultimate guide: product sampling strategies, methods & techniques

By providing proper consumer research insight, strategies that are utilized to draw in customers can be improved and brands can make a profit by knowing what customers need exactly. It is also important to understand the buying behavior of customers to know their attitude towards businesses and products.

Artificial intelligence helped advertisers & marketers with accomplishing precise targeting, effective optimizations, better analysis, and so much more. However, before these items come into play, understanding the customer is on top of any advertiser's list.

Optimizing consumer research can really make the entire procedure more effective, saving businesses tons of time assembling and analyzing data that is of little worth. 

There are 4 different ways AI can optimize the consumer research process. 

Recruitment Efficiency 

Your customer base is expanded. Panel recruitment parameters that expanded properly in one place may not function admirably in an alternate situation. And with steadily developing markets, checking only a couple of fundamental parameters like age, ethnicity, and education is hard enough for a team of staff to work on for weeks or even months. 

businesses need niche parameters. For example, interests, work profiles, income level, language proficiency, and more to draw significant insights that give them an upper hand in the market. This kind of information uncovers sweet spots in the target clients that have a high chance of a conversion.

Panel Relevancy Map

Words usually can't do a picture justice. In advertising, this image is worth thousands of hours of man work. In fact, we are discussing the times when advertisers analyze various segments and try to find similar client bases that can be clustered together. AI can do this in a matter of seconds, if not real-time. It analyzes millions of psychographic and demographic elements alongside other incidental factors and makes a relevancy map. This helps the advertiser with building panels of relevant clients based on the targeting variables that the research requests.

Statistically Accurate Panel

You can simply not include all of your clients for research purposes. Yes, you can do it by taking a representative sample of your consumer's society. This means your panel will contain at least one or more clients from each segment of your overall target client. This way you have a panel that is statistically the most accurate representation of your clients.

Engagement Efficiency 

While a statistically accurate panel is of importance, the research can only be called effective and successful if the optimal number of consumers take part in the research. Here, the AI helps the advertiser get the maximum number of research respondents at the minimum cost. Engagement patterns help the AI to rank the quality of client segments. The higher the engagement with the research, the higher the quality of the client. 

Research that creates impact

In fact, finding out what the client is thinking is technically impossible. businesses can still be very accurate by using the agility and scalability of AI. Making accurate and reliable client panels, running AI-led agile research, and developing strategies based on them is the guaranteed plan for successful consumer research.

Consumer research is a significant endeavor; however, the payoffs are extravagant too. Learning who your consumers are, how they think, and what prompts them to buy your products or services is essential to improving your market presence, growing brand value, and of course income numbers.

Utilizing the above eight steps, you can figure out how to coax clarity out of the tumultuous pile of analytics data and spoken customer insights. Keep in mind: a clear and optimal research method, succinct hypothesis, and supporting tools are the frameworks you need to run effective consumer research.

What customers need should be a part of market research and ought to be carried out routinely. Consumer research provides you with in-depth data about the needs, wants, expectations, and behavior of consumers.

Like the article? Spread the word

Ready to see what we’re building?

More from Peekage

Peekage CPG Insights: How much do the consumers spend on CBD?

About 40% of people in North America have tried CBD products. CBD products are helpful for chronic pain, anxiety, depression, focus, sleep, well-being, and more. But how often do consumers use them? why do they…

Concept Testing in New Product Development: A Comprehensive Guide

Discover the essentials of concept testing in new product development. Learn how to reduce risks, validate market demand, and refine product ideas.

A Simple Step-by-Step Guide for Brand Activation

To provide a brand activation strategy that works, brands need to have a clear vision and well-defined goals. In the following, you will explore the crucial steps of planning a unique brand activation before getting…

Peekage CPG insights: How Plant-Based Products are Taking Over the Food Industry?

The majority of consumers in North America have tried plant-based grocery products. The plant-based substitutes of meat, eggs, and dairy in addition to plant-based snacks and ingredients used for cooking are becoming increasingly popular. In…

9 Best Marketing Research Methods to Know Your Buyer Better [+ Examples]

Published: August 08, 2024

One of the most underrated skills you can have as a marketer is marketing research — which is great news for this unapologetic cyber sleuth.

From brand design and product development to buyer personas and competitive analysis, I’ve researched a number of initiatives in my decade-long marketing career.

And let me tell you: having the right marketing research methods in your toolbox is a must.

Market research is the secret to crafting a strategy that will truly help you accomplish your goals. The good news is there is no shortage of options.

How to Choose a Marketing Research Method

Thanks to the Internet, we have more marketing research (or market research) methods at our fingertips than ever, but they’re not all created equal. Let’s quickly go over how to choose the right one.

Free Market Research Kit

5 Research and Planning Templates + a Free Guide on How to Use Them in Your Market Research

• SWOT Analysis Template
• Survey Template
• Focus Group Template

Download Free

All fields are required.

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

1. Identify your objective.

What are you researching? Do you need to understand your audience better? How about your competition? Or maybe you want to know more about your customer’s feelings about a specific product.

Before starting your research, take some time to identify precisely what you’re looking for. This could be a goal you want to reach, a problem you need to solve, or a question you need to answer.

For example, an objective may be as foundational as understanding your ideal customer better to create new buyer personas for your marketing agency (pause for flashbacks to my former life).

Or if you’re an organic sode company, it could be trying to learn what flavors people are craving.

2. Determine what type of data and research you need.

Next, determine what data type will best answer the problems or questions you identified. There are primarily two types: qualitative and quantitative. (Sound familiar, right?)

• Qualitative Data is non-numerical information, like subjective characteristics, opinions, and feelings. It’s pretty open to interpretation and descriptive, but it’s also harder to measure. This type of data can be collected through interviews, observations, and open-ended questions.
• Quantitative Data , on the other hand, is numerical information, such as quantities, sizes, amounts, or percentages. It’s measurable and usually pretty hard to argue with, coming from a reputable source. It can be derived through surveys, experiments, or statistical analysis.

Understanding the differences between qualitative and quantitative data will help you pinpoint which research methods will yield the desired results.

For instance, thinking of our earlier examples, qualitative data would usually be best suited for buyer personas, while quantitative data is more useful for the soda flavors.

However, truth be told, the two really work together.

Qualitative conclusions are usually drawn from quantitative, numerical data. So, you’ll likely need both to get the complete picture of your subject.

For example, if your quantitative data says 70% of people are Team Black and only 30% are Team Green — Shout out to my fellow House of the Dragon fans — your qualitative data will say people support Black more than Green.

(As they should.)

Primary Research vs Secondary Research

You’ll also want to understand the difference between primary and secondary research.

Primary research involves collecting new, original data directly from the source (say, your target market). In other words, it’s information gathered first-hand that wasn’t found elsewhere.

Some examples include conducting experiments, surveys, interviews, observations, or focus groups.

Meanwhile, secondary research is the analysis and interpretation of existing data collected from others. Think of this like what we used to do for school projects: We would read a book, scour the internet, or pull insights from others to work from.

So, which is better?

Personally, I say any research is good research, but if you have the time and resources, primary research is hard to top. With it, you don’t have to worry about your source's credibility or how relevant it is to your specific objective.

You are in full control and best equipped to get the reliable information you need.

3. Put it all together.

Once you know your objective and what kind of data you want, you’re ready to select your marketing research method.

For instance, let’s say you’re a restaurant trying to see how attendees felt about the Speed Dating event you hosted last week.

You shouldn’t run a field experiment or download a third-party report on speed dating events; those would be useless to you. You need to conduct a survey that allows you to ask pointed questions about the event.

This would yield both qualitative and quantitative data you can use to improve and bring together more love birds next time around.

Best Market Research Methods for 2024

Now that you know what you’re looking for in a marketing research method, let’s dive into the best options.

Note: According to HubSpot’s 2024 State of Marketing report, understanding customers and their needs is one of the biggest challenges facing marketers today. The options we discuss are great consumer research methodologies , but they can also be used for other areas.

Primary Research

1. interviews.

Interviews are a form of primary research where you ask people specific questions about a topic or theme. They typically deliver qualitative information.

I’ve conducted many interviews for marketing purposes, but I’ve also done many for journalistic purposes, like this profile on comedian Zarna Garg . There’s no better way to gather candid, open-ended insights in my book, but that doesn’t mean they’re a cure-all.

What I like: Real-time conversations allow you to ask different questions if you’re not getting the information you need. They also push interviewees to respond quickly, which can result in more authentic answers.

What I dislike: They can be time-consuming and harder to measure (read: get quantitative data) unless you ask pointed yes or no questions.

Best for: Creating buyer personas or getting feedback on customer experience, a product, or content.

2. Focus Groups

Focus groups are similar to conducting interviews but on a larger scale.

In marketing and business, this typically means getting a small group together in a room (or Zoom), asking them questions about various topics you are researching. You record and/or observe their responses to then take action.

They are ideal for collecting long-form, open-ended feedback, and subjective opinions.

One well-known focus group you may remember was run by Domino’s Pizza in 2009 .

After poor ratings and dropping over $100 million in revenue, the brand conducted focus groups with real customers to learn where they could have done better.

It was met with comments like “worst excuse for pizza I’ve ever had” and “the crust tastes like cardboard.” But rather than running from the tough love, it took the hit and completely overhauled its recipes.

The team admitted their missteps and returned to the market with better food and a campaign detailing their “Pizza Turn Around.”

The result? The brand won a ton of praise for its willingness to take feedback, efforts to do right by its consumers, and clever campaign. But, most importantly, revenue for Domino’s rose by 14.3% over the previous year.

The brand continues to conduct focus groups and share real footage from them in its promotion:

What I like: Similar to interviewing, you can dig deeper and pivot as needed due to the real-time nature. They’re personal and detailed.

What I dislike: Once again, they can be time-consuming and make it difficult to get quantitative data. There is also a chance some participants may overshadow others.

Best for: Product research or development

Pro tip: Need help planning your focus group? Our free Market Research Kit includes a handy template to start organizing your thoughts in addition to a SWOT Analysis Template, Survey Template, Focus Group Template, Presentation Template, Five Forces Industry Analysis Template, and an instructional guide for all of them. Download yours here now.

3. Surveys or Polls

Surveys are a form of primary research where individuals are asked a collection of questions. It can take many different forms.

They could be in person, over the phone or video call, by email, via an online form, or even on social media. Questions can be also open-ended or closed to deliver qualitative or quantitative information.

A great example of a close-ended survey is HubSpot’s annual State of Marketing .

In the State of Marketing, HubSpot asks marketing professionals from around the world a series of multiple-choice questions to gather data on the state of the marketing industry and to identify trends.

The survey covers various topics related to marketing strategies, tactics, tools, and challenges that marketers face. It aims to provide benchmarks to help you make informed decisions about your marketing.

It also helps us understand where our customers’ heads are so we can better evolve our products to meet their needs.

Apple is no stranger to surveys, either.

In 2011, the tech giant launched Apple Customer Pulse , which it described as “an online community of Apple product users who provide input on a variety of subjects and issues concerning Apple.”

"For example, we did a large voluntary survey of email subscribers and top readers a few years back."

While these readers gave us a long list of topics, formats, or content types they wanted to see, they sometimes engaged more with content types they didn’t select or favor as much on the surveys when we ran follow-up ‘in the wild’ tests, like A/B testing.”  

Pepsi saw similar results when it ran its iconic field experiment, “The Pepsi Challenge” for the first time in 1975.

The beverage brand set up tables at malls, beaches, and other public locations and ran a blindfolded taste test. Shoppers were given two cups of soda, one containing Pepsi, the other Coca-Cola (Pepsi’s biggest competitor). They were then asked to taste both and report which they preferred.

People overwhelmingly preferred Pepsi, and the brand has repeated the experiment multiple times over the years to the same results.

What I like: It yields qualitative and quantitative data and can make for engaging marketing content, especially in the digital age.

What I dislike: It can be very time-consuming. And, if you’re not careful, there is a high risk for scientific error.

Best for: Product testing and competitive analysis

Pro tip:  " Don’t make critical business decisions off of just one data set," advises Pamela Bump. "Use the survey, competitive intelligence, external data, or even a focus group to give you one layer of ideas or a short-list for improvements or solutions to test. Then gather your own fresh data to test in an experiment or trial and better refine your data-backed strategy."

Secondary Research

8. public domain or third-party research.

While original data is always a plus, there are plenty of external resources you can access online and even at a library when you’re limited on time or resources.

Some reputable resources you can use include:

• Pew Research Center
• McKinley Global Institute
• Relevant Global or Government Organizations (i.e United Nations or NASA)

It’s also smart to turn to reputable organizations that are specific to your industry or field. For instance, if you’re a gardening or landscaping company, you may want to pull statistics from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

If you’re a digital marketing agency, you could look to Google Research or HubSpot Research . (Hey, I know them!)

What I like: You can save time on gathering data and spend more time on analyzing. You can also rest assured the data is from a source you trust.

What I dislike: You may not find data specific to your needs.

Best for: Companies under a time or resource crunch, adding factual support to content

Pro tip: Fellow HubSpotter Iskiev suggests using third-party data to inspire your original research. “Sometimes, I use public third-party data for ideas and inspiration. Once I have written my survey and gotten all my ideas out, I read similar reports from other sources and usually end up with useful additions for my own research.”

9. Buy Research

If the data you need isn’t available publicly and you can’t do your own market research, you can also buy some. There are many reputable analytics companies that offer subscriptions to access their data. Statista is one of my favorites, but there’s also Euromonitor , Mintel , and BCC Research .

What I like: Same as public domain research

What I dislike: You may not find data specific to your needs. It also adds to your expenses.

Best for: Companies under a time or resource crunch or adding factual support to content

Which marketing research method should you use?

You’re not going to like my answer, but “it depends.” The best marketing research method for you will depend on your objective and data needs, but also your budget and timeline.

My advice? Aim for a mix of quantitative and qualitative data. If you can do your own original research, awesome. But if not, don’t beat yourself up. Lean into free or low-cost tools . You could do primary research for qualitative data, then tap public sources for quantitative data. Or perhaps the reverse is best for you.

Whatever your marketing research method mix, take the time to think it through and ensure you’re left with information that will truly help you achieve your goals.

Don't forget to share this post!

Related articles.

SWOT Analysis: How To Do One [With Template & Examples]

28 Tools & Resources for Conducting Market Research

What is a Competitive Analysis — and How Do You Conduct One?

Market Research: A How-To Guide and Template

TAM, SAM & SOM: What Do They Mean & How Do You Calculate Them?

How to Run a Competitor Analysis [Free Guide]

5 Challenges Marketers Face in Understanding Audiences [New Data + Market Researcher Tips]

Causal Research: The Complete Guide

Total Addressable Market (TAM): What It Is & How You Can Calculate It

What Is Market Share & How Do You Calculate It?

Free Guide & Templates to Help Your Market Research

Marketing software that helps you drive revenue, save time and resources, and measure and optimize your investments — all on one easy-to-use platform

• Top Articles
• Experiences
• Enhancing the User Experience By Leveraging Customer Feedback

Customer feedback is the cornerstone of successful UX design, providing valuable insights that inform a business how to improve and deliver better products and services. That said, collecting customer feedback and understanding how to use it to drive the UX design process can be challenging. In this article, I’ll examine why customer feedback is important, some methods for gathering feedback, and best practices for integrating customer feedback into a UX design.

Why Customer Feedback Matters

Customer feedback is essentially any information that customers have provided about their interactions and experiences with a business and the products and services it provides. This could include their general opinions, what they dislike, what is working for them, and what they think could use some improvement.

The insights a team gathers from customer feedback can inform the UX design process, helping to ensure the success of a company’s products and services going forward. In other words, consistently using customer feedback is a way of future-proofing an organization.

There are, of course, many other ways of ensuring a company’s future success, including regular audits, prioritizing strong communication, implementing risk management, and investing in high-quality employee training. However, soliciting customer feedback is often at the top of the list for a reason: To be truly successful, a company must have loyal customers who continue to return and buy what they’re selling. There is no better way to please your customers than by listening to what they have to say.

This is why customer feedback is so important . However, stating that customer feedback enhances the user experience is a bit of a simplification. There are actually many advantages and benefits that a business can experience by using customer feedback, including the following:

• more product innovation
• improved service quality
• higher perception of value
• better understanding of customers
• higher customer satisfaction and retention rates
• enhanced decision-making
• cost reductions

Another advantage is that customer feedback can help a company eliminate biases from their product designs. Many products unintentionally carry biases from the designers who made them, but when designers know exactly what customers want and how they interact with a product, a team can create something that strips away biases and is made just for customers.

Methods for Gathering Customer Feedback

Before diving into methods for gathering customer feedback, it would be helpful to understand the different types of customer feedback, which include the following:

• direct feedback —As the name suggests, this type of feedback comes from communicating directly with customers about their opinions and experiences—for example, through phone calls, email messages, and even in-person interactions.
• indirect feedback —While this type of feedback is unsolicited, it still comes directly from the customers—often in the form of online reviews or social-media comments.
• inferred feedback —Perhaps the most subtle type of feedback, inferred feedback comes from analyzing customer data such as their online behaviors, which can include purchasing habits and browsing patterns.

Once you understand the types of feedback that exist, you’ll have a better idea of where to look for feedback. To make this easy for you, I’ll outline some methods of gathering customer feedback.

Surveys and questionnaires are a great way to obtain direct feedback from customers. You can create targeted questions to unveil very specific information that your UX team might be looking for to help them improve a company’s products and services. This is a very structured approach that can give you exactly what you are looking for to better understand customers.

Online Feedback Forms

Another great way to obtain direct feedback is by placing feedback forms on a company’s Web site that customers can fill out at their leisure. While surveys and questionnaires can sometimes include biased questions and, thus, be limiting, feedback forms let customers say whatever is on their mind at the moment, without their being directed by specific questions.

Focus Groups

Focus groups can help customers feel more comfortable opening up about what they think. Instead of placing one individual on the spot, focus groups let customers open up in a more supportive setting. The key to using this method is to create a comfortable environment and have someone guide the conversation without controlling it.

Interviews allow a more engaging one-on-one interaction with customers, during which you can get their opinions and thoughts. They let you have more in-depth conversations with customers by letting you dig deeper into their responses and asking follow-up questions. However, it’s important to ensure that customers feel comfortable and confident that you won’t judge them for their opinions. Active listening is also key.

Behavior Analytics

This method of gathering customer feedback is all about collecting online user data, then analyzing it to identify patterns or trends in users’ behaviors. Analytics can reveal useful information about customers’ shopping habits and preferences that customers might not be willing to admit openly. You can gain these insights from various kinds of data such as click-through rates, bounce rates, pageviews, and looking at the amount of time customers spend on different pages.

Social-Media Comments

Monitoring a company’s or product’s social-media accounts is another way of gaining indirect feedback from customers. Many online users feel very comfortable on social-media spaces. Therefore, they often comment freely, giving their opinions about a company, its services, and its products. This is not only a great way to get to know your customers and what they think but also lets you engage with customers in real time and quickly address any concerns they might have.

While these are some common and easy ways of gaining customer feedback, there are many other methods that you can also use, including the following:

• usability testing
• customer-support tickets
• online review platforms
• A/B and multivariate testing
• beta testing

You can also reach out to customers by email to ask for their feedback. Or, after customers have made a purchase, you can send them a thank-you email message, including a request for feedback on their experience.

Best Practices for Integrating Customer Feedback into the UX Design Process

Knowing where to collect feedback is one thing, but having a framework for deriving insights from that feedback to inform your UX design process is another thing altogether. Here are some tips to help you successfully integrate customer feedback into your UX design process.

• Clearly define your feedback goals.
• Identify who you want to collect feedback from and why.
• Choose your methods and tools for gathering feedback.
• Remember to remain unbiased when collecting feedback and keep an open mind.
• Sort and organize the feedback by the topic to which it pertains such as aesthetics, usability, sentiment, or technical feedback.
• Analyze the data to identify common patterns or recurring trends.
• Prioritize the feedback by categories such as feedback on which you need to act right away that would provide substantial value or low-priority feedback that offers limited value, but would still be useful.
• Implement the feedback by making changes to the product.
• Test the changes and see how users respond.
• Iterate and improve, as necessary.

If you have a lot of feedback, but aren’t really sure what to do with it, brainstorming tools can help. Brainstorming sessions can be great for getting teams involved and ideas flowing. Brainstorming tools can help you organize the ideas so you can turn the best feedback and ideas into action. 

Final Thoughts

On a final note, it’s also important to build an internal feedback system that works for your product teams. Gathering external feedback from customers is one thing, but you also need an internal means for everyone to communicate about that feedback and provide their own.

No Comments

Join the discussion, ainsley lawrence.

Freelance Writer

Seattle, Washington, USA

Other Articles by Ainsley Lawrence

• Personalization in Orthodontic Care: The UX of Customized Treatment Plans
• The Psychology Behind the User Experience
• Utilizing Data Analytics to Improve the User Experience

Other Articles on UX Design

• The Role of Sound Design in UX Design: Beyond Notifications and Alerts
• Effective Strategies for Enhancing the User Experience During Waiting Periods
• Leveraging the Psychology of Color in UX Design for Health and Wellness Apps
• Elevating the User Experience and Fostering Loyalty: Accessible Design for Travel-Booking User Interfaces

New on UXmatters

• Innovating the Next Generation of Mobile Apps
• How Good UX Design Can Transform Lead Generation

Share this article

• Sales  +1 (800) 646-0520
• Online Survey Tool (DIY)
• Survey Design
• Survey Distribution
• Survey Participation
• Data Management
• All Features
• Enterprise Feedback
• Take a Tour
• Form Builder
• Customer Experience Overview
• Omnichannel Experience
• Voice of Customer
• Customer Analytics
• Customer Journey
• Alerts and Action
• Employee Experience Overview
• Employee Engagement
• Employee Pulse
• HR Analytics
• Help Desk Ticketing
• Closing the Loop
• Automation and Integration 
• Managed Services
• Survey Templates

From design to distribution to data, our comprehensive solution is both intuitive and powerful.

• Customer Service
• Market Research
• Risk Assessment
• Event Planning
• Legal and Compliance
• Resident Satisfaction
• Credit Union
• Financial Services
• Travel & Hospitality
• Higher Education
• Manufacturing

Our top-tier certifications and practices ensure your data privacy and security every step of the way.

Professionally designed questionnaires for a wide range of projects allow you to go live in no time.

Our powerful, flexible solutions serve clients across industries and around the world. Their success is our success.

• See Case Studies

Enabling individuals and small teams to create and manage professional-looking surveys, forms, and polls.

Empowering businesses to gather and analyze feedback through a comprehensive platform that supports secure collaboration.

Enabling companies to improve customer experience and loyalty by examining trends and drivers across the customer journey.

Transforming always-on feedback collection into a streamlined triage and follow-up flow to close the loop efficiently.

Helping organizations to listen more deeply to their employees to uncover key drivers that impact engagement and retention.

• SogoConnect
• Video Library
• Latest Release
• Sign Up Free Sign Up Free
• Request a Demo Request a Demo

The 11-Minute Marketing Research Process Guide You Need for 2024

Estimated Reading Time : 9 mins

Is marketing research relevant for data-led marketers? How does it impact business success in today’s digital-first environment? Why do top marketers rely on it to maximize customer engagement? Do traditional market research surveys still serve as effective channels?

In this article, we decode the ideal marketing research process for the modern, tech-savvy marketer. Got 11 minutes? Dive into this step-by-step guide to approaching marketing research from processes that add CX value to benefits that maximize customer lifecycle value.

What is market research?

We’d say 99% of marketing is understanding the human behind the customer. And marketing research helps you decode things that make this human tick. It lets you explore the many factors that influence your customer; similar to mapping the customer experience across touchpoints. 

Effective market research tools and methods help you with the precise insights you need to get an edge in the market – right from competition sentiment to ideal product pricing. Over the years, marketing research has even been synonymous with stellar business insights and even turnarounds.   

Take, for instance, the case of LEGO. After struggling to stay profitable in 2003, the toy manufacturer was able to recapture the imagination of customers owing to high-impact market research .

Contrary to what many digital-first marketers think, marketing research isn’t limited to large companies with giant budgets. Whether you are an established mid-size firm or a team of two, consistent marketing research is key to engaging and winning your customers. Don’t worry about investing and training resources.

Depending on your immediate to mid-term priorities, you can choose to limit your marketing research . This may mean understanding evolving pricing sensibilities. Or you may want to narrow down your research to the top 3 purchase triggers for Gen Zs. Using intelligent marketing research tools and methods , you can develop a process ecosystem that is not resource or skill-intensive which will help you find out why you should conduct a market research survey .

The efficacy of your marketing research is shaped by a single factor – the emotional intelligence and design quotient of your marketing research surveys. The metrics and methods you use to analyze customer responses come a close second.

Top benefits of marketing research

Before you get down to developing your marketing research process, you must weigh the top benefits. This lets you arrive at the business value you stand to get from the exercise

Benefit #1 – Retain customer trust

Your customer’s needs and expectations are changing faster than ever. And a growing percentage of them expect brands and businesses to keep pace. As personalization becomes integral to Customer Experience (CX), customers want to do business with companies that put them first.

When a business fails to deliver on this expectation, it loses customer trust. This demands that you invest in a CX-focused marketing research ecosystem. By using effective market research tools and conducting on-point market research surveys , you stand to gain deep, impactful insights into every customer’s psyche. When you leverage these insights to engage with the customer across touchpoints, you earn their trust.

Benefit #2 – Win the ‘speed-to-market’ race

Being the first to own a category or introduce a breakthrough offering always comes with a massive advantage – you can gain a huge market share and forge strong customer relationships before the competition kicks in.  

Whether you are weeks away from launching a new offering or want to know the viability of expanding to a new category, market research lets you know where you stand in the context of your competition. This works to your advantage – alter your launch strategy… get your pricing right…invite pre-orders. It lets you build a go-to-market strategy that is far more likely to succeed.   

Benefit #3 – Build a strong brand

It takes more than a great product or a powerful marketing campaign to make customers fall in love with your brand. Following a marketing research process consistently gives you access to the many facets that customers will value in your brand. When you engage customers across markets, you arrive at a gold mine of research. It helps you build a brand that caters to the emotional and rational needs of customers.   

Right from your innovation and product design team to your sales and finance teams, everyone aligns with a perspective that is rooted in market reality. For instance, it can help you understand how the market is keeping up with customer-first pricing in a subscription economy.   

Benefit #4 – Pivot at the right time

The decision to scale or innovate, when implemented in isolation, can be dangerous for profitability. On the other hand, investing in a marketing research process lets you gain significant business velocity

With tech and AI disrupting markets in the most unimaginable ways, strategic market research methods help you move your business in the direction of changing customer needs. The Fujifilm pivot to new verticals outside of film photography remains an industry favorite example in this context. Your marketing research exercise may even point you in the direction of an unconventional collaboration. This makes it critical to approach the process with an open mind.   

The marketing research process

The process you deploy can define the success of your marketing research exercise. It also helps everyone on the team see the value in investing and aligning with the preferred method and the results.   

Here are some step-by-step examples of the marketing research process :  

• Identify your marketing research goal(s)
• Define the type of marketing research
• Design your research framework and methods
• Map your sample cohorts
• Onboard partners and tools
• Gather data and insights
• Action change

Have you ever wondered what top marketers do differently to get the most out of their marketing research? They act upon micro insights without a moment’s delay. This is often key to staying ahead of competitors as well as retaining customer confidence. How? By investing in marketing research and survey tools that make sense of data for them. 

Types of marketing research with examples

Depending on your business and marketing goal, you can choose one or a mix of marketing research designs to build your research framework.

Primary research

Secondary research, exploratory research, descriptive research, causal research, putting your marketing research results to work.

Ready to build your marketing research process? Learn how SogoCX can help you build an integrated ecosystem.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the marketing research process.

Depending on the goal and scale of the research, every marketer’s process may differ. But in essence, it involves taking a structured, step-wise approach to gain deep, precise insights into various or specific market dynamics.

What is the role of marketing research?

In a highly dynamic business environment, market research ensures you are in sync with changing customer preferences, evolving stakeholder sentiment, competitor strength, and other external factors. It allows you to resolve a marketing challenge or unlock new opportunities, depending on your business priority.

Why is the marketing research process important?

Adopting a marketing research process makes it quicker and easier for everyone on your team to action research and act swiftly on the findings. A step-wise framework ensures the results are credible and relevant. This greatly increases the chances of thriving in an immensely competitive market. It can also enable you to compare results each time on a couple of common metrics even if every research’s primary goal is unique.

What are the 7 steps in the marketing research process?

Many marketers choose to create their own steps and framework to arrive at a marketing research process. Broadly, these align to the below 7 steps:

Recent Posts

• The Power of Brand Loyalty In Today’s Marketplace: Study Results August 9, 2024
• The 11-Minute Marketing Research Process Guide You Need for 2024 July 23, 2024
• 5 Communication Styles in the Workplace You Need to Know July 18, 2024
• New Hire Onboarding Survey Questions to Improve Employee Experience and Retention July 17, 2024
• Buyer Journey vs. Customer Journey: Key Differences and Why They Matter July 16, 2024

Subscribe for tips and insights to drive better decisions!

• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Service
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Data & Security

The Straits Times

• International
• Print Edition
• news with benefits
• SPH Rewards
• STClassifieds
• Berita Harian
• Hardwarezone
• Shin Min Daily News
• Tamil Murasu
• The Business Times
• The New Paper
• Lianhe Zaobao
• Advertise with us

Singapore's Best Customer Service 2024/2025

The third edition of this annual survey conducted jointly by The Straits Times and international market researcher Statista identifies Singapore’s best customer service providers from among 1,800 brands in 99 categories. These organisations provide customer experiences in traditional retail, online and service segments. The results are based on more than 96,000 evaluations from over 10,000 respondents in Singapore.

PUBLISHED: AUG 21, 2024

Methodology

The Singapore's Best Customer Service 2024/2025 rankings are based on the results of an independent online survey. The respondents are customers in Singapore who have made purchases, used services or gathered information about products or services in the past three years.

The survey was set up and run independently. Companies were not involved in the project and customers answered the questions anonymously. The survey was conducted using online access panels, providing a representative sample of customers in Singapore. Each customer gave an evaluation of several brands. The survey was also open to readers of The Straits Times. Answers from almost 10,000 respondents and more than 96,000 evaluations of customer service were analysed. Evaluations from the previous year’s edition were considered with a smaller weighting.

Longlist of companies

The survey covered retailers and service providers in 99 categories, providing results for customer experiences in traditional retail, online and service segments. To obtain a solid evaluation base, each category included relevant brands used as a reference and benchmark. The reference brands were selected for their reputation, presence and availability in Singapore, and their turnover and market share. Every category included at least five companies for reference. Survey respondents had the option to add companies which they wanted to be part of the survey. Only companies that are active and offer their services in Singapore were taken into account.

Variables and calculation of scores

The final assessment and rankings were based on the likelihood of recommendation (50 per cent of the final score), indicating the willingness of the customer to recommend a company, and five evaluation criteria (making up the other 50 per cent of the final score):

1. Quality of communication

Measured whether the contact (via e-mail, telephone or face to face) was friendly and polite.

2. Professional competence

Measured the quality of information received and whether questions were answered correctly and in sufficient detail.

3. Range of services

Measured the variety of solutions available to fulfil the customer’s personal expectations.

4. Customer focus

Measured whether the customer felt acknowledged and important.

5. Accessibility

Measured the availability of customer service in a shop or on a helpline.

These criteria formed the base for the score calculation. Every company was evaluated on a scale from zero to 10, where zero is the minimum and 10 the maximum. Overall, more than 1,800 companies were evaluated and 327 of them comprising the top three to five brands with the highest scores in each category – were given Singapore’s Best Customer Service 2024/2025 awards.

Source: Statista

The hard stuff: Navigating the physical realities of the energy transition

At a glance

• The energy transition is in its early stages, with about 10 percent of required deployment of low-emissions technologies by 2050 achieved in most areas. Optimized over centuries, today’s energy system has many advantages, but the production and consumption of energy accounts for more than 85 percent of global carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions. Creating a low-emissions system, even while expanding energy access globally, would require deploying millions of new assets. Progress has occurred in some areas, but thus far has largely been in less difficult use cases.
• Twenty-five interlinked physical challenges would need to be tackled to advance the transition. They involve developing and deploying new low-emissions technologies and entirely new supply chains and infrastructure to support them.
• About half of energy-related CO 2 emissions reduction depends on addressing the most demanding physical challenges. Examples are managing power systems with a large share of variable renewables, addressing range and payload challenges in electric trucks, finding alternative heat sources and feedstocks for producing industrial materials, and deploying hydrogen and carbon capture in these and other use cases.
• The most demanding challenges share three features. First, some use cases lack established low-emissions technologies that can deliver the same performance as high-emissions ones. Second, the most demanding challenges depend on addressing other difficult ones, calling for a systemic approach. Finally, the sheer scale of the deployment required is tough, given constraints and the lack of a track record.
• Understanding these physical challenges can enable CEOs and policy makers to navigate a successful transition. They can determine where to play offense to capture viable opportunities today, where to anticipate and address bottlenecks, and how best to tackle the most demanding challenges through a blend of innovation and system reconfiguration.

Today’s energy system, encompassing both the production and consumption of energy resources, is massive and complex. 1 This research considers both the use of energy resources like oil, gas, and coal to provide energy, as well as their nonenergy uses in materials production, namely as inputs or feedstocks (for example, the use of oil as a feedstock for the production of plastics). For comprehensive definitions relating to the energy system, see “Glossary” in Climate change 2014: Mitigation of climate change , Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC), Cambridge University Press, 2014. The system has been optimized over centuries, is deeply embedded in the global economy, and serves billions of people, if not yet all of humanity. 2 Number of people lacking access to reliable electricity services , United Nations Development Programme, 2022. And it is high-performing. Energy can be dispatched relatively easily where and when it is needed because current fuels are energy-dense and easily transportable. Supply can be ramped up and down quickly.

Acknowledgments

The research was led by Mekala Krishnan, an MGI partner in Boston; Chris Bradley, a McKinsey senior partner and a director of MGI in Sydney; Humayun Tai, a senior partner in the New York office; Tiago Devesa, an MGI senior fellow in Lisbon; Sven Smit, McKinsey senior partner in Amsterdam and chairman of MGI; and Daniel Pacthod, a senior partner in the New York office. We give particular thanks to Lola Woetzel (alumna), a former McKinsey senior partner and director of MGI, who helped us drive the research that led to this report.

A group of McKinsey colleagues coauthored  chapters dedicated to the seven domains of the energy system: for power, Jesse Noffsinger, a McKinsey partner in Seattle, and Diego Hernandez Diaz, a McKinsey partner in Geneva; for mobility, Timo Möller, a McKinsey partner in Cologne and coleader of the McKinsey Center for Future Mobility; for industry, Michel Van Hoey, a McKinsey senior partner in Luxembourg; Christian Hoffmann, a McKinsey partner in Düsseldorf; Ken Somers, a McKinsey partner in Brussels; and Adam Youngman, a McKinsey senior asset leader in Los Angeles; for buildings, Daniel Cramer, a senior McKinsey asset leader in New York; for raw materials, Michel Foucart, a McKinsey associate partner in Brussels; Michel Van Hoey; and Patricia Bingoto, a McKinsey senior expert in Zurich; for hydrogen and other energy carriers, Rory Clune, a senior partner in Boston; and for carbon and energy reductions, Clint Wood, a McKinsey partner in Houston, and Santhosh Shankar, a US-based McKinsey expert. For their considered contributions to the research, we also thank Olivia White, McKinsey senior partner and a director of MGI in San Francisco, and Jan Mischke, MGI partner in Zurich.

The project team was led by Masud Ally, Francisco Galtieri, Kasmet Niyongabo, and Luc Oster-Pecqueur, and comprised Kemi Ajala, Sanjana Are, Maya Berlinger, Andrea Boza Zanatta, Susan Cheboror, Patrick Chen, Thibault Courqueux, Anurag Dash, John Grabda, Muriel Jacques, Myer Johnson-Potter,  Pauline Leeuwenburg, Pierre Salvador, Girish Selvaraj, Anna Schneider, Casey Timmons, Tse Uwejamomere, Marnix Verhoeven, and David Wu. We are grateful to Janet Bush, MGI executive editor, who helped write and edit the report, and Juan M. Velasco, who helped with data visualization.

For kindly sharing their insights, we thank advisors Simon Dietz, professor, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment; Marion Dumas, professor, Grantham Research Institute; and John Ward, founder, Pengwern Associates, and visiting senior fellow, Grantham Research Institute.

We are also grateful to the following for taking the time to discuss the findings of this research and sharing their views with us: Jesse Jenkins, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University; Ted Nordhaus, founder and executive director of the Breakthrough Institute; Vijay Modi, a professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia University and faculty member of the Earth Institute; and Gregory F. Nemet, Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor, La Follette School of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Daniel Schrag, the Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology, Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering at Harvard University, and Co-Director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School.

Many McKinsey colleagues gave us input and guidance. We want to thank Enric Auladell Bernat, Deston Barger, Henrik Becker, Christian Begon, Michele Benoit, Krysta Biniek, Milo Boers, Brodie Boland, Janice Bolen, Michaela Brandl, Greg Callaway, Julian Conzade, Peter Cooper, Andreas Cornet, Matteo Cutrera, Thomas Czigler, Danny Van Dooren, Treina Fabre, Javier Ferrer, Lauritz Fischer, Wenting Gao, Godart van Gendt, Nicolas Goffaux, Jose Luis Gonzalez, Anna Granskog, Darya Guettler,  Rajat Gupta, Marcin Hajlasz, Bernd Heid, Tom Hellstern, Russell Hensley, Anna Herlt, Ruth Heuss, Ann Hewitt, Autumn Hong, Blake Houghton, Thomas Hundertmark, Lionel Johnnes, Adam Kendall, Arjen Kersing, Per Klevnäs, Anna (Orthofer) Kortis, Kevin Laczkowski, Joh Hann Lee, Mateusz Lesniak, Christopher Martens, Eduardo Mencarini, Takashi Nakachi, Tomas Nauclér, Geoff Olynyk, Alex Panas, Jan Paulitschek, Sebastian Reiter, Gustavo Ribeiro, Daniel Riefer, Alexandre Van de Rijt, Moritz Rittstieg, Giulio Scopacasa, Suvojoy Sengupta, Bram Smeets, Hady Soliman, Brandon Stackhouse, Stephanie Stefanski, Michelle Stitz, Carlo Tanghetti, Tom Thys, Felix Tigges, Joaquin Ubogui, José Urgel, Steven Vercammen, Tom Voet, Maurits Waardenburg, Jeremy Wallach, Markus Wilthaner, Marita Winslade,  and Nicola Zanardi.

For all its advantages, today’s system also has critical flaws. About two-thirds of energy is currently wasted. 3 Clemens Forman et al., “Estimating the global waste heat potential,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, volume 57, May 2016; Energy flow charts , Flowcharts, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Department of Energy, accessed July 2024; and Paul Martin, The primary energy fallacy – or, committest thou NOT the 2nd sin of thermodynamics! , June 25, 2024. And the system generates more than 85 percent of global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). 4 Global CO 2 emissions from energy combustion and industrial processes total about 37 gigatons, with about five gigatons in agriculture, forestry, and other land use. In the case of methane, more than approximately 35 percent of global emissions arise from the energy system, from combustion and industrial processes, with the remaining 65 percent divided between agriculture, at about 40 percent, and waste and other sectors at about 25 percent (data for 2021); McKinsey EMIT database, 2023.

Companies and countries are now engaged in an effort to transition the energy system and reduce those emissions—and to do so in just a few decades. That is a big ask. In the digital age, we have become accustomed to lightning-fast transformations. TikTok took nine months and ChatGPT only two months to gain 100 million users. 5 “ChatGPT witnesses massive rise, Chatbot gains 100 million users in two months,” Economic Times , March 2023. But an energy system is a physical entity, and historical energy transitions have taken many decades or even centuries. Complicating the task of building a new low-emissions energy system is that it coincides with the need for it to continue to grow to expand access to energy for billions of people who still do not have it, thereby economically empowering them.

Real progress has been made, but the transition remains in its early stages. Thus far, deployment of low-emissions technologies is only at about 10 percent of the levels required by 2050 in most areas, and that has been in comparatively easy use cases. More demanding challenges are bound to emerge as the world confronts more difficult use cases across geographies.

Low-emissions technologies such as solar and wind power and electric vehicles (EVs) have advantageous properties and can be brought together to deliver high performance. But deploying them well and progressing the transition further requires understanding the physical realities of the energy transition—the “hard stuff.” Recognizing that the energy transition is first and foremost a physical transformation is a truth that can get lost in the abstraction of net-zero scenarios. But it is vital if the new energy system is to retain, or even improve on, the performance of the current one and secure an affordable, reliable, competitive path to net zero. 6 An affordable, reliable, competitive path to net zero , McKinsey Sustainability, November 2023. It is also important to take a holistic view of the socioeconomic impacts of different transition pathways and to use this perspective to help inform decision making. See Climate Transition Impact Framework: Essential elements for an equitable and inclusive transition , McKinsey Sustainability, December 2023; and “Solving the net-zero equation: Nine requirements for a more orderly transition,” McKinsey Sustainability, October 2021.

The observation has widely been attributed to Albert Einstein that, given an hour to solve a problem, he would spend 55 minutes defining the problem and five thinking about solutions. 7 Nell Derick Debevoise, “The third critical step in problem solving that Einstein missed,” Forbes , January 26, 2021. It is in that spirit that this research builds on the vast body of literature on the energy transition and pathways to net zero. Across seven domains, it identifies 25 significant physical challenges that must be overcome if the transition is to succeed. Three aspects stand out across these challenges: the maturity and performance of low-emissions technologies; the degree of scaling these technologies and their support infrastructure and supply chains would need as this massive energy system is transformed; and interdependencies across the different parts of the system.

Click on the tiles for summaries of 25 challenges across 7 domains

Download the full report  for an in-depth review of each domain and associated physical challenges.

Seven domains of the energy system would need to be transformed, and this effort is in its early stages

The energy transition involves the physical transformation of seven deeply interlinked domains. The first is the power domain, which needs to reduce its own emissions and to scale dramatically to provide low-emissions energy to the three large consuming domains: mobility , industry , and buildings . The final three domains are enablers of the energy transition: raw materials , especially critical minerals; new fuels, such as hydrogen and other energy carriers ; and carbon and energy reduction (see sidebar, “Why understanding the physical realities of the transition matters”).

Why understanding the physical realities of the transition matters

Understanding the physical realities of the energy transition—namely the physical properties of low-emissions solutions and the nature of the physical transformation—is critical to many aspects of designing a successful transition.

First, understanding the physical properties of low-emissions solutions can help design a new system that delivers performance on a par with the current system and does so reliably. This matters because the energy system is vital for driving economic growth and progress. As discussed later, this is not a trivial task and it requires a careful understanding of the performance and advantages of low-emissions technologies, innovation needs, and how such technologies can effectively be brought together in an interconnected system to deliver performance.

Second, looking at the nature and scale of the underlying physical transformation helps design a feasible transition. In an energy system made up of thousands or millions, and in some cases billions, of individual assets, the transformation that would be needed is monumental. With such a massive scale-up, bottlenecks in the build-out of supply chains could lead to shortages of critical minerals and manufactured goods. Installing or building new low-emissions assets at the scale and pace needed may be similarly difficult if not planned for well.

Third, and relatedly, applying a physical lens to different components of the energy system can highlight critical interdependencies, which similarly need to be factored into the design of a reliable and feasible energy transition.

Fourth, understanding the physical properties and maturity of different technologies, and the nature of the physical transformation, also helps to shed light on their costs and therefore on the affordability of the transition. 1 It is also important to take a holistic view of the socioeconomic impacts of different transition pathways, and to use this to help inform decision making. See Climate Transition Impact Framework: Essential elements for an equitable and inclusive transition , McKinsey Sustainability, December 2023; and “ Solving the net-zero equation: Nine requirements for a more orderly transition , McKinsey Sustainability, October 27, 2021. Prior McKinsey research has highlighted the large scale-up needed in low-emissions capital spending and various challenges associated with the affordability of the transition. 2 See, for example, The net-zero transition: What it would cost, what it could bring , McKinsey Global Institute, January 2022; An affordable, reliable, competitive path to net zero , McKinsey Sustainability, November 30, 2023; and From poverty to empowerment: Raising the bar for sustainable and inclusive growth , McKinsey Global Institute, September 2023. While costs associated with the transition are not the core focus of this research, appreciating the physical realities of the transition is crucial to better understand cost challenges. For example, in the case of carbon capture technologies, expanding their use to new use cases would require deploying them in processes where CO 2 makes up a small portion of the gases that are emitted (that is, is present in lower concentration in flue gases) and is therefore harder to capture. This could be about three times more expensive than the cost of capture of higher-concentration use cases deployed today. 3 See chapter 7, Challenge 24. The massive physical scale-up of the assets needed for a new system could also lead to shortages of raw materials and, as a result, contribute to price increases and create volatility. In 2022, prices of cobalt, lithium, and nickel surged, leading to an increase in the price of batteries of nearly 10 percent globally. 4 Energy technology perspectives 2023 , IEA, January 2023; IEA clean energy equipment price index, 2014–2023 , IEA, September 7, 2023; and Trends in electric vehicle batteries , IEA, April 2023. A sharp drop in prices quickly followed. This volatility generated uncertainty that contributed to the postponement of new mining projects. 5 Thomas Biesheuvel, “Battery metal price plunge is closing mines and killing deals,” Bloomberg Law, January 9, 2024; and Aya Dufour, “Some minerals are ‘critical’ to the digital economy, but current prices don’t reflect that,” CBC News, March 4, 2024.

Thus, a physical lens brings focus on not just how to achieve emissions reduction feasibly but also to do so while ensuring affordability, maintaining the reliability of the energy system, and thus also securing the competitiveness of companies and economies—three other objectives that McKinsey research has identified as vital for a successful transition. 6 An affordable, reliable, competitive path to net zero , McKinsey Sustainability, November 2023.

This research primarily uses the 2023 McKinsey Achieved Commitments scenario, not as a forecast, but to understand the physical challenges to overcome. 8 This scenario assumes that countries that have committed to net zero (some by 2050, some later) meet those commitments and that warming reaches 1.6ºC relative to preindustrial levels by 2100. See Global energy perspective 2023 , McKinsey, October 2023. Other net-zero scenarios may contain slightly different combinations of technologies and rates of deployment, but the broad trends and themes described in this research would still apply. This report is based on analysis as of September 2023. Subsequent developments in the energy system may lead to different outcomes, which will be covered in forthcoming McKinsey research. Under this scenario, billions of low-emissions assets—for instance, about one billion EVs, over 1.5 billion heat pumps, and about 35 terawatts of low-emissions power generation capacity—would need to be deployed by 2050 alongside scaling supporting infrastructure such as the grid, EV charging stations, and supply chains (Exhibit 1).

Image description:

A stacked area chart shows that primary energy consumption grew steadily from 1990 to 2022. Fossil fuels accounted for about 80 percent of the total in 2022. Other non-fossil fuels accounted for most of the rest, and variable renewable energy (VRE) had a very small but growing presence. On the right side, two line charts show energy system emissions have not started to decline, with a six percent increase from 2012 to 2022. But emissions intensity, measured in million tonnes of CO2 per exajoule of primary energy consumption, decreased by 7 percent over the same period.At the bottom, a Gantt chart shows the 2022 deployment of low-emissions technologies as a share of their needed 2050 deployment in each of 7 domains, or sectors. The 2050 deployment needs are based on the McKinsey 2023 Achieved Commitment Scenario, in which most countries reach their net-zero commitments by or before 2050. In the power sector, low-emissions installed capacity is at 8–12 percent of its needed 2050 deployment. In the mobility sector, deployment has reached three percent of its needed deployment for electric vehicles (EV) stock and 15 percent of its needed deployment for EV sales. The industry sector has reached 0–10% of its needed deployment for low-emissions production of steel and cement. The buildings sector has reached 5–7 percent of its needed deployment for heat pump stock and 9–12 percent of its needed deployment for heat pump sales. The raw materials sector has reached 10–35 percent of its needed deployment for the supply of critical minerals. The hydrogen and energy carriers sector has reached less than one percent of its needed deployment for the production of low-emissions hydrogen. Finally, the carbon and energy reduction sector has reached less than one percent of its needed deployment for CO 2 capture by point-source facilities.Overall, the charts show that the energy transition is at an early stage.

End of image description.

Recent years have seen momentum on many—but not all—fronts. For instance, about 90 percent of all battery EV sales and almost 60 percent of solar and wind power capacity added was in the past five years. 9 Global EV Data Explorer , IEA, April 23, 2024; Renewable capacity statistics 2023 , International Renewable Energy Agency, 2023. But overall, the transition is in its early stages. Deployment of low-emissions technologies is currently only about 10 percent of the levels required by 2050 in most domains—and largely in comparatively easy use cases. 

While some areas like solar have grown rapidly, others have not. In cases such as low-emissions hydrogen, carbon capture, and low-emissions primary production (excluding recycling) of large industrial materials, less than 1 percent of required deployment by 2050 has been achieved thus far.

Abating about half of energy-related emissions depends on addressing the hardest of 25 physical challenges

To progress the transition further, 25 physical challenges—defined as barriers to switching from high-emissions physical assets and processes to low-emissions ones—across the seven domains would need to be addressed (Exhibit 2).

An hexagon chart presents 25 physical challenges that must be addressed for a successful energy transition, categorized by domain. The challenges are grouped into three levels, according to the level of difficulty of addressing them. Level one challenges require deploying established technologies that face the least physical hurdles. Level two challenges require deploying known technologies to accelerate and scale them. Level three challenges occur when technological performance gaps meet demanding use cases and the transformation is just beginning. The challenges are arranged in a honeycomb pattern. The first domain is the power sector, with six challenges: managing renewables' variability (level 3); scaling emerging power systems (level 3); flexing power demand (level 2); securing land for renewables (level 2); connecting through grid expansion (level 2); and navigating nuclear and other clean energy (level 2). End-Use Sectors include three domains: mobility, industry, and buildings. Mobility challenges include driving battery electric vehicles (BEVs) beyond breakeven (level 1); going the distance on BEV range (level 1); loading up electric trucks (level 3); charging up EVs (level 2); and refueling aviation and shipping (level 3). The challenges in the industry domain are furnacing low-emissions steel (level 3); cementing change for construction (level 3); heating other industries (level 3); synthesizing low-emissions ammonia (level 3); cracking the challenge of plastics (level 3); synthesizing low-emissions ammonia (level 3); and heating other industries (level 2). Challenges in the buildings domain include facing the cold with heat pumps (level 1); and bracing for winter peaks (level 2). The last three domains are categorized as enablers. They are: raw materials, H2 and other energy carriers, and carbon & energy reduction. Raw materials include one challenge: unearthing critical minerals (level 2). H2 and other energy carriers include harnessing hydrogen (level 3); scaling hydrogen infrastructure (level 3); and managing biofuels footprint (level 2). Carbon and energy reduction challenges are expanding energy efficiency (level 2); capturing point-source carbon (level 3); and capturing atmospheric carbon (level 3).

Some challenges are harder to address than others, and they have been categorized into three levels of difficulty based on technological performance, interdependencies across different challenges, and scaling needs:

Three Level 1 challenges require progress in deploying established technologies and face the least physical hurdles.

Ten level 2 challenges require the deployment of known technologies to accelerate, and associated infrastructure and inputs to be scaled., twelve level 3 challenges have technological performance gaps and interdependencies, and are early in their transformation..

Eliminating between 40 and 60 percent of the energy system’s CO 2 emissions depends on addressing Level 3 challenges (Exhibit 3).

A donut chart shows the share of direct and indirect emissions in 2022 that are associated with Level 3 challenges, which are defined as the most challenging physical aspects of the energy transition. The chart shows that Level three challenges account for 40–60 percent of total emissions from the energy system. The chart further shows that the power domain is responsible for about 40 percent of the emissions associated with Level three challenges, while mobility and industry contribute about 20 percent and 40 percent, respectively. The challenge levels are based on the McKinsey 2023 Achieved Commitment Scenario, in which most countries reach their net-zero commitments by or before 2050.

Each domain faces physical challenges

The research looks at physical challenges in seven domains (see sidebar, “Scope and methodology”). Click on each domain name to go to the chapter in the full report.

Scope and methodology

This research focuses on understanding the physical challenges of the energy transition. Important methodological choices were made to do this.

The focus is the energy system, encompassing both production and use (including the current use of fossil fuels as feedstock for industrial processes). The system accounts for more than 85 percent of current CO 2 emissions. 1 Global CO 2 emissions from energy combustion and industrial processes total about 37 gigatonnes, with about five gigatonnes in agriculture, forestry, and other land use. In the case of methane, more than 35 percent of global emissions arise from the energy system, from combustion and industrial processes, with the remainder split between agriculture at about 40 percent and waste and other sectors at about 25 percent; McKinsey EMIT database, 2023. Sources of emissions outside the energy system, including in agriculture, forestry, and other land use, are not included. Other important sustainability topics, including the preservation of natural capital and the impact of pollution beyond greenhouse gas emissions, are also not within scope. In each domain of the energy system, the analysis explores what physical asset and process transformations would be required when switching from high-emissions assets to low-emissions alternatives. Examples include switches from fossil-fuel-based power generation, such as coal power plants, to low-emissions sources like variable renewable energy in the form of solar and wind, and clean firm power like nuclear or hydropower in the power domain; from ICE vehicles to EVs in the mobility domain; and from gas boilers to low-emissions heat sources in industry or buildings. The associated infrastructure and supply chains that would need to be built to support these switches are also analyzed.

Based on these transformations, the research then identifies 25 physical challenges that must be addressed for CO 2 emissions of the energy system to be reduced while replicating the performance of the existing energy system. These challenges were identified in consultation with more than 50 industry experts and academics within and outside McKinsey alongside an extensive literature review of analysis of the energy system. 2 This includes reviews of the level of progress in clean technologies and associated challenges by McKinsey and others. Among other research, see, for instance, Hauke Engel, Mekala Krishnan, Hamid Samandari, Humayun Tai, Daniel Pacthod, Simran Khural, and Mackenzie Murphy, A sector progress tracker for the net-zero transition , McKinsey Sustainability, November 2023; Energy technology perspectives 2023 , IEA, January 2023; Tracking clean energy progress 2023 , IEA, July 2023; Net zero roadmap: A global pathway to keep the 1.5ºC goal in reach , IEA, September 2023; World energy transitions outlook 2023 , International Renewable Energy Agency, 2023; Systems Change Lab data dashboard, accessed May 2024; Climate change 2022: Impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability , Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, 2022; ETP Clean energy technology guide , IEA, updated September 14, 2023; The state of clean technology manufacturing , IEA, May 2023; New energy outlook 2023 , BloombergNEF, 2023; Global critical minerals outlook 2024 , IEA, May 2024; The state of clean technology manufacturing , IEA, May 2023; Material and resource requirements for the energy transition , Energy Transitions Commission, July 2023; and Better, faster, cleaner: Securing clean energy technology supply chains , Energy Transitions Commission, June 2023.

The 25 challenges are prioritized based on the potential of new, low-emissions technologies to abate emissions. Some exclusions help bound the scope of the work.

First, challenges that are expected to affect only a small portion of total emissions are not included. Second, incremental improvements to existing assets that do not involve major switches in technologies are not directly discussed as individual challenges; two examples are improved ICE fuel efficiency and insulation in buildings. Nevertheless, their collective impact is recognized in Challenge 23. Third, as noted, the challenges focus only on the energy system; those related to the transition of agriculture and other land use are not discussed directly, although the role of land as a physical challenge is discussed as part of the power domain challenges. Fourth, the focus is on challenges of a physical nature; any challenges that are purely related to market adoption or policies are excluded. Fifth, this research does not explicitly cover challenges related to labor. Finally, since this work focuses on analyzing the physical realities of the transition, costs are not the main focus, although, as noted, physical realities can help shed light on cost challenges.

The choice and precise boundaries of the 25 challenges is subjective to a degree, and some challenges are broader in scope than others. Different taxonomies, granularity, or segmentation of some challenges would certainly be possible. For example, circularity and recycling are important cross-cutting challenges that are discussed in the context of individual materials, such as plastics and critical minerals, but they could be deemed challenges in themselves. The list of 25 is neither collectively exhaustive (as noted, a prioritization lens has been used) nor mutually exclusive (many challenges share interdependencies).

The challenges are categorized into three levels, reflecting both the progress made to date in addressing them and the nature of the hurdles to overcome. Three features of difficulty, discussed further in chapter 3, are considered to do this: technological performance; gnarly interdependencies with other challenges; and degree of, and constraints on, scaling.

In examining the 25 challenges, this research builds on existing analyses of the transition in three ways. First, the examination of the performance of individual technologies is done in the context of specific use cases rather than their technological maturity in general. Second, this analysis goes beyond assessing technological maturity to consider other physical challenges, such as the required scale-up of supply of critical minerals. Finally, it considers how the system as a whole interacts—including how a particular individual technology relies on others—and the implications of that interaction.

Of course, the precise boundaries between the levels of challenges can be debated, and the classification into levels can vary by region. Parts of a Level 3 challenge could be categorized as Level 1 or 2. For instance, overall, decarbonizing cement is a Level 3 challenge that requires substantial technological innovation, but some decarbonization approaches, such as using biomass for heating or deploying clinker substitutes, are already widespread in some markets.

A global view of challenges is taken, but deployment of different technologies varies among regions. Some challenges may be more or less important—and difficult—depending on the region.

Across challenges, the research looks at the required deployment of low-emissions assets in 2050, comparing it with today’s levels using McKinsey’s 2023 Achieved Commitments scenario. 3 This research uses the 2023 McKinsey Achieved Commitments scenario because it provides detail across different economies and types of assets about the deployment levels that would be required for those economies to meet the climate commitments they have made. The scenario assumes that countries that have committed to net zero (some by 2050, some later) meet those commitments, and that warming reaches 1.6ºC relative to preindustrial levels by 2100. See Global energy perspective 2023 , McKinsey, October 2023. Other net-zero scenarios may have slightly different combinations of technologies and rates of deployment, but the broad trends and themes described in this research would still apply. In some instances, this research also uses insights from other external scenarios for reasons of data availability.

Among the external sources of data used in this report are publicly available data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris, namely Energy technology perspectives 2023 , IEA, January 2023; and Net zero roadmap: A global pathway to keep the 1.5ºC goal in reach 2023 update , IEA, September 2023. All are license CC BY 4.0. We note that some analysis in this research was derived from IEA material, and MGI is solely liable and responsible for it; it is not endorsed by the IEA in any manner. This holds true for all providers of the data that went into our analysis. We gratefully acknowledge their input, but the conclusions and any errors are our own.

• Power . Overall, low-emissions power generation capacity would have to increase about ten times by 2050. There are two Level 3 challenges: managing variability in the power system as solar and wind generate a greater share of power, and doing so in emerging power systems that need to grow particularly rapidly. The flexible capacity that would be required to manage this variability, including backup generation, storage, and interconnections of grids in different regions, would need to grow two to seven times faster than power demand, but all face barriers. 10 Simulations are based on the McKinsey Power Model using the McKinsey 2023 Achieved Commitments scenario. Four other Level 2 challenges relate to securing enough land for renewables, investing in current transmission and distribution infrastructure and even expanding the grid, accelerating deployment of nuclear and other clean firm energy power, and increasing flexibility in power demand .
• Mobility . The number of EVs would need to surge from about 30 million on the road today to about one billion by 2050. Two challenges are Level 1: ensuring lifetime emissions savings from passenger battery EVs relative to ICEs, and ensuring that EVs have sufficient range for all needs. 11 A range of nonphysical factors, notably cost and consumer preferences, could also be important in determining EV adoption, but these are not the focus of this research. For the latter, battery EVs already do so for roughly 70 percent of households. Scaling EV charging infrastructure and supply chains has further to go and is Level 2. Trucking, aviation, and shipping are harder to decarbonize, given that they require travelling long distances with heavy payloads, and are Level 3 challenges.
• Industry . Decarbonization of the “big four” industrial material pillars of modern civilization—steel, cement, plastics, and ammonia—are all Level 3 challenges, where the transformation is just beginning. All rely heavily on fossil fuels as inputs and/or fuel for high-temperature heat. 12 Vaclav Smil, “The modern world can’t exist without these four ingredients. They all require fossil fuels,” Time , May 12, 2022; and Global energy perspective 2023 , McKinsey, October 2023. A combination of more energy efficiency; different feedstock s, including hydrogen and recycled inputs; use of alternative materials; electrification; alternative fuels like biomass; and carbon capture would be needed. Other industries, such as general manufacturing, generally do not need high-temperature heat and tend not to use fossil fuels as feedstocks, but low-emissions processes to deliver heat would still need to be scaled and this constitutes a Level 2 challenge.
• Buildings . Heating accounts for the largest share of buildings-related emissions. Heat pumps are already established technologies and perform well, but still face two physical challenges. 13 Other operational challenges related to the scale-up of heat pumps are not discussed in this research. They include the need to scale up manufacturing capacity for heat pumps, whether sufficient skilled labor is available to install them, whether consumers adopt them given their associated costs, and the large turnover and retrofits that the installation of heat pumps would entail so that they can perform effectively. Ensuring that they are efficient at cold temperatures is a Level 1 challenge, reflecting the fact that more than 95 percent of people live in places where existing heat-pump technologies do the job. More demanding, and therefore Level 2, is managing a potential doubling or tripling in peak power demand in some regions if heat pump use expands. 14 Under a scenario in which all heating of buildings is electrified. See Michael Waite and Vijay Modi, “Electricity load implications of space heating decarbonization pathways,” Joule , volume 4, issue 2, February 2020. Other McKinsey and external research found similar increases of two to three times for colder states. The role of natural gas in the move to cleaner, more reliable power , McKinsey, September 2023; and 2050 transition study , ISO New England Inc. Transmission Planning, February 2024.
• Raw materials . Demand for critical minerals, like lithium, cobalt, and rare earths, is expected to surge, but current supply is only about 10 to 35 percent of what would be needed by 2050. 15 This depends on the specific critical mineral. McKinsey MineSpans. This is a Level 2 challenge, where supply would need to be scaled, alongside managing demand for such minerals.
• Hydrogen and other energy carriers . New energy carriers would be needed to serve as alternative fuels and feedstocks for industrial processes. One option is hydrogen, which faces two Level 3 challenges. First, the hydrogen molecule goes through many steps and, therefore, energy losses before it can be used; these would need to be minimized and considered against its advantageous properties to identify appropriate use cases for hydrogen. Second, hydrogen production and infrastructure would need to expand hugely. Few large-scale low-emissions hydrogen projects are currently operational. 16 Hydrogen insights 2023 , Hydrogen Council and McKinsey, May 2023, updated December 2023. Managing the growing land footprint of biofuels is Level 2.
• Carbon and energy reduction . Alongside measures to substitute high-emissions technologies for low-emissions ones, reducing the amount of energy consumed and the emissions of current technologies would also be needed. Expanding energy efficiency through established approaches—for example, improving building insulation—is a Level 2 challenge. Carbon capture from new “point sources” such as cement could be three times harder—and costlier—than for less demanding current use cases, and removing carbon from the atmosphere through direct air capture could be even more costly. Both are Level 3 challenges.

Understanding the physical challenges can help CEOs and policy makers navigate the transition

Making progress on the transition requires understanding physical challenges. If the most demanding challenges are to be addressed, performance gaps would need to be confronted. Innovation of technologies, such as improving the energy density of batteries and developing more efficient hydrogen electrolyzers, would need to continue and be scaled. Broader system-level changes would also be needed—shifting the way technologies mesh together. For instance, the potential increased variability of low-emissions power supplies could be balanced by making demand for power more flexible and using gas peaker plants as backup power. Even the way energy and materials are consumed could be adapted. For instance, alternative materials could replace industrial materials that are difficult to decarbonize.

It would be important to consider how to ramp down the old system and ramp up the new one smoothly, and what investments could both support today’s energy system and lay the groundwork for tackling future emissions and physical challenges. Examples include investing in energy efficiency, transmission and distribution infrastructure, and considering the role of “hybrid” technologies, such as hybrid passenger cars to address vehicle range issues.

CEOs and policy makers both have a role to play in tackling physical challenges. Their plans for the way forward could be calibrated by carefully considering challenges across the three levels:

For Level 1 challenges, how can near-term opportunities from the deployment of fast-maturing technologies be captured?

For level 2 challenges, what bottlenecks need to be addressed today to unlock the next tranche of opportunities, for level 3 challenges, where and how can these hardest challenges be addressed.

The physical transformation of the energy system is complex and difficult, and the path forward uncertain. What lies ahead is a new energy transition on a monumental scale that would require setting a bold aspiration and proceeding with commitment and action. Above all, understanding the physical realities can help navigate the way forward to success.

Want to know more about the physical realities of the energy transition?

Download the full report

Mekala Krishnan is an MGI partner in Boston. Chris Bradley is a McKinsey senior partner and an MGI director in Sydney. Humayun Tai is a McKinsey senior partner and coleader of McKinsey’s Global Energy & Materials practice in New York. Tiago Devesa  is an MGI senior fellow in Lisbon.  Sven Smit  is a McKinsey senior partner and MGI chairman in Amsterdam.  Daniel Pacthod is a McKinsey senior partner in New York. 

This article was edited by MGI executive editor Janet Bush with data visualizations by Juan M. Velasco and visuals by Nathan R. White.

Explore a career with us

Related articles.

An affordable, reliable, competitive path to net zero

The net-zero transition: What it would cost, what it could bring

Global Energy Perspective 2023