If your marketing budget is lean and mean, and your days are jam-packed with responsibilities, the thought of adding research to your to-do list can be daunting.

But research can very well be the most important tactic to ensure a successful marketing initiative - and it doesn't have to be scary. In fact, it can be scary if you don't research.

If you want to impact the attitudes and behaviours of your customers, make sure you know how your customers think. How do you do that? Ask them. There are lots of ways to do this simply and inexpensively. You don't always need professional facilitators, two-way mirrors or scores of phone operators.

However, your customer research does have to be well thought out. You need to know that you are asking the right questions of the right people. To develop questions, think about what you want to know and learn from your customers. It sounds easy, but giving additional thought to your goals and objectives is important before you develop questions.

Then make sure you test an important message or campaign by sharing it with some of your customers prior to launch. You need to do what seems obvious, but is often disregarded: You must listen to your research and adapt your messages and campaign accordingly.

In today's world, there are countless ways to gain information. But they all come down to two types of research: quantitative and qualitative.

Quantitative versus qualitative research

Quantitative market research allows you to gather measurable results. Think in terms of a telephone, mail, e-mail or onsite (intercept) survey. At the end of the survey process, measure or quantify your responses. For instance, if you can say that a certain percentage of respondents would buy your product based on seeing your advertisement, then that is quantitative.

A less analytical yet still revealing way to obtain solid information is through qualitative market research. In this type of research, you are less after percentages or numbers as you are after opinions.

• What do your customers think about your messages, promotional concepts and advertisements?
• Does your message inspire your customers to action?
• Are they more likely to buy the product based on your campaign?
• Have they seen your advertisements? If so, where?
• How do they want to receive the message (advertisements, direct mail or email)?
• Most importantly, how did they hear about you?

Responses to these questions are gained from focus groups, which are small-group discussions guided by a facilitator with a set of specific questions. They are meant to inspire discussion and contemplation. Once you get a group talking about your messages and your promotional ideas, you'll find it wonderfully informative and fun. A typical focus group should have anywhere from six to 10 people.

However, you don't have to gather a crowd to gain qualitative information. The information you need can be simply obtained by approaching individuals in your target audience and asking them the questions you've developed. One-on-one interviews take a little more time, but they are well worth the effort.

Gathering the necessary information

Regardless of whether you are gathering quantitative data or qualitative opinions, here are some standard procedures to ensure you are tackling this effort in the right way.

• 1. Carefully draft questions that will give you the information you seek. Test those questions with your peers and other internal audiences to make sure they elicit the kinds of responses that you need to develop your campaign.
• 2. Identify the profiles of the individuals from whom you need to learn and with whom you need to communicate. Students? Mothers? Sports fans?
• 3. Determine how to identify those individuals in the marketplace. Telephone book? Trade organisations? Social clubs? Chambers of commerce?
• 4. Administer and tabulate the survey.
• 5. Listen carefully to what is being said to you.

So what can go wrong? Here are the challenges that can impact your effectiveness.

• Make sure you are seeking information from your target audience.
• Make sure you have talked to enough people in your target audience to have a well-rounded perspective. One response from one individual does not make a valid survey. Be careful of domineering personalities in focus groups. Be sure to encourage all participants to offer their thoughts.
• All too often, people do their due diligence, seek information to help them make decisions and then ignore it. They either don't believe or don't want to believe the responses, or they don't take the time to incorporate what they have learned into their marketing efforts. If you have taken the time to do the research, trust it - even if it is completely opposite of what you expected. It's important to remove all pre-conceived notions from your thought pattern when conducting research.
• Do not get discouraged when you hear negative feedback. You simply can't please everyone all the time. The purpose of research is to make sure you're on the right track with your message, and are reaching the majority of your customers and potential customers, Do not allow a few criticisms to change the campaign's direction completely.

Research is necessary to make sure you're reaching your target audience with the right message through the right communication channels. Without research, you might not achieve the success you desire from your marketing initiatives.

© srt marketing 2009