7 Essential Tools for Business Market Research Plus Recommendations

Launching into market research without the right tools is like trying to build a house with just a hammer. Whether you’re a startup founder validating your idea or an established business exploring new markets, these tools can make the difference between informed decisions and costly guesswork. In this article, you will learn about 7 essential category tools for market research and our recommendations.

Survey and Feedback Tools

Let’s face it – guessing what your customers want is like trying to read minds. That’s where survey tools come in clutch. Survey & feedback tools are a direct line to customer thoughts, preferences, and pain points. They help you skip guesswork in market research and understand what your target audience thinks about the idea, product and expectations.

For example, if you are launching a coffee shop in a new location, a survey tool can help you get customers’ preferences. You can find out their preferred coffee types, price points, occupations, habits and any displeasure with existing brands. This information will enable you to tailor your menu and offers for that location and increase market penetration. Some examples include SurveyMonkey, Typeform & Google Forms.

Why are survey tools essential in market research

• Provides direct, quantifiable feedback from your target audience
• Helps validate (or challenge) your business assumptions
• Offers statistical data for making informed decisions
• Tracks customer satisfaction over time

Social Media Monitoring and Analytics Tools

Besides regular interaction via surveys, social media is another place to gather information and insight from the target audience for market research. You need monitoring and analytics tools for these activities because there are millions of data to sieve through. With social media monitoring and analytics tools, it’s like having an ear to the ground across different platforms. You can track trends, conversations, keywords, and gaps in competitors’ offerings. Examples include Sprout Social, Hootsuite, and Brandwatch.

Why are social media monitoring and analytics tools essential to market research

• Tracks brand mentions and sentiment in real-time
• Identifies trending topics in your industry
• Monitors competitor social media performance
• Helps measure marketing campaign impact

Competitive Analysis Tools

Competitive analysis tools are like having a map showing where your competitors are. They reveal your competitors’ strategies, helping you spot opportunities they might have missed. For example, if you’re running an e-commerce store. These tools can show you which keywords your competitors are ranking for, their top-performing content, and even their advertising strategies. Examples include SEMrush, Ahrefs and SimilarWeb.

 Why They’re Essential

• Reveals competitors’ online strategies
• Identifies market gaps and opportunities
• Helps benchmark your performance
• Provides insights for content and SEO strategy

Audience and Demographic Analysis Tools

These tools are like having X-ray vision into your audience’s world. They help you understand who your customers really are, not just who you think they are.

Imagine you’re launching a fitness app. The usual assumption will be that your target audience is gym enthusiasts. But this isn’t often the full scope of things. These tools can reveal deeper audience insights. It can help you see that your audience extends to busy parents looking for quick, effective workouts, too. These new insights will completely change how you market your product. Examples include Facebook Audience Insights, Google Analytics & YouGov.

Why They’re Essential

• Provides detailed audience insights
• Helps target marketing efforts effectively
• Identifies new market opportunities
• Supports personalization efforts

Product Testing and Feedback Tools

These tools let you test ideas and get honest feedback before investing significant resources.

Let’s say you’re developing a new app interface. These tools can show you exactly where users get confused, what features they love, and what needs improvement.

Examples include UserTesting, Alpha & Helio

Why They’re Essential

• Reduces risk of product failure
• Provides early user feedback
• Identifies usability issues
• Validates product-market fit

Trend Analysis and Market Data Tools

These tools help you spot trends before they become mainstream and back up your hunches with solid data. For instance, if you’re in the fashion industry, it can help you identify style trends, forecast demand, and understand seasonal patterns. Examples include Statista, Google Trends and Mintel.

Why They’re Essential

• Identifies emerging market trends
• Provides industry forecasts
• Offers historical data analysis
• Supports strategic planning

Customer Experience and Journey Mapping Tools

These tools help you walk a mile in your customers’ shoes. They reveal the entire customer journey, from first contact to loyal customer status. The insights from these tools help you spot and fix any bumps along the way.

Assuming you own an e-commerce business, using these tools will help you discover where customers get frustrated in the order process. The information enables you to streamline the experience and reduce bounce rates. Examples are Qualtrics, Hotjar and UXPressia.

Why They’re Essential

• Maps customer interactions
• Identifies pain points
• Improves customer satisfaction
• Supports service design

Other Tools

Besides the tools listed above, there are others you should consider depending on your market research needs

• Secondary (Desk) Research: Statista, IBISWorld, Gartner, Forrester Research.
• Customer Feedback and Review Analysis: Trustpilot, Yelp, ReviewTrackers, Google Reviews.
• Sentiment Analysis and Text Mining: MonkeyLearn, Lexalytics, IBM Watson, SAS Text Miner.
• Conjoint Analysis: Qualtrics, Sawtooth Software.

Next steps

Remember, you don’t need to use every tool out there. Start with the ones that align best with your current business needs and gradually expand your toolkit as your research needs grow. The key is to choose tools that provide actionable insights rather than just collecting data for data’s sake. If you need to outsource your market research to a professional agency for better results, Digitezz can help. Book a free consultation today to see how our market research services can help you gain a competitive advantage in your industry.