How to collect regular market research for your brand

Find your target audience on ExpertVoice and build a survey within a few minutes using self-serve tools in the Advocacy Platform. 

Note: Access to Survey Campaigns varies based on your Advocacy Platform subscription.

As a consumer, I get a lot of emails after purchasing a product about how it performed. The messaging is automated and a quick way to collect shopper feedback at scale.

Do these subject lines ring a bell? 

• “We would love to get feedback about your purchase.”
• “Did your recent purchase meet your expectations?” 
• “Please provide feedback on your experience.”

These emails are an excellent way to share my voice, personal experiences and any room for product improvements. I appreciate these digital opportunities to connect with brands and retailers.

Brands that host their product catalog on ExpertVoice already capture post-purchase feedback like this through automated emails that the platform sends on their behalf. The insights shared in written reviews by verified purchasers are a great way to monitor high-level product sentiment and average star ratings. But did you know only 5-10% of average consumers leave product reviews online? If you only rely on product reviews to understand product perception, your brand could miss out on more detailed consumer insights. For a more in-depth understanding, it’s best practice to run surveys throughout the year to collect ongoing feedback from your most important audiences. Over 120 brands have launched surveys on ExpertVoice and received hundreds of qualitative and quantitative responses to understand product insights and their marketplace position better.

Feeling heard is critical in the consumer and buyer relationship, no matter where you are in the product lifecycle. No need to use a separate surveying tool or third-party agency to conduct your market research. With the self-serve features of the Advocacy Platform, you can prompt audiences to share real-time feedback about your products, gauge brand sentiment and more.  

Example calendar to collect regular market research.

Here’s a quick example of what a market research calendar could look like, complete with example survey questions to get your wheels turning. 

1st Quarter: January – March

• Net Promoter Score (NPS): Ask your target audience a set of standardized brand perception questions to quickly collect insights at scale. Early feedback will give you a benchmark for success, help you understand areas for improvement and inform your advocacy marketing campaign strategy for Q1 and beyond. 

• Early Product Research: Before developing a new product or bringing it to market, hand-select a group of target individuals to complete a short survey on behalf of your brand. Their answers and insights can help inform your company’s go-to-market positioning, pricing and messaging. 

2nd Quarter: April – June

• Competitive Insights: Ask specific audiences on ExpertVoice about your company’s ranking compared to new and existing competitors in the industry — this can help you understand product gaps and perceptions. 

• Quick Poll: Get quick feedback about your new potential product colors, flavors and more. Ask multiple-choice questions and a freeform response to gather instant insights that drive decisions forward.

3rd Quarter: July – September

• Post-launch Feedback: After your products hit retail and e-commerce, collect in-depth insights about how your products are used or perceived in the market. Include an open-ended question asking sales associates to share the product feedback they hear from shoppers. 

After analyzing your survey results, share high-level insights with other departments and prioritize any product improvements before the Q4 selling season.

• Post-Product Sampling Campaign Survey: Hand-select a group of qualified experts, send them free products and collect authentic product reviews and insights right before the busy holiday season. After the campaign ends, ask samplers to complete a short survey that will give you feedback about ways to improve your future sampling campaigns. 

4th Quarter: October – December

• Net Promoter Score: Ask the audiences you surveyed earlier in the year the same questions to see how their perception of your brand has changed since Q1. Because it’s the end of the year, give respondents an additional reward for completing your survey, such as an extra 10% off or a free product. Thanking respondents for their time and insights will strengthen relationships with them and go a long way at the end of the year.

When you’re ready to start collecting market research, use the Campaign Manager in the Advocacy Platform to develop a custom survey and monitor its results. If you don’t have the time to build your own on-demand survey, ExpertVoice Studios can manage your survey for you from start to finish. 

Survey tips:

• Always remember first impressions: Put simple questions towards the top of surveys to ensure respondents don’t drop off early.
• Timing is everything: Give participants at least four weeks to complete a survey. Add critical deadlines in your survey messaging if you want to collect responses by a specific date. Remember that completing a survey can take a lot of time and energy; we recommend spreading your surveys out and surveying the same member only once per quarter.
• Consider the question difficulty: To get a higher response rate, make questions optional that take a little more time and effort to complete. Keep your survey short and sweet — 10 questions maximum. 
• Help get the word out: Send people a direct link to your survey through a brand-dedicated email, push notification or onsite promotion. If you have a Community, share the survey link and deadline as a post. Your survey will be promoted as a digital questionnaire on ExpertVoice and target the audiences that matter most to you — from frontline retail sales associates on your dealer list to key industry professionals.

Contact your Account Executive to get started with surveys, or learn more about ExpertVoice here.