What is the hardest part of designing and implementing a marketing strategy? It’s figuring out how to connect with consumers and avoid wasting money on ideas that never hit. You want everything to have an impact – but that means you need to understand the consumer on the deepest possible level.
Some of the key questions you’ll need to answer are:
- Who is your target consumer?
- What problems do they need to solve?
- What outcomes are they looking for?
- How does your business help them?
- Why would they choose you over other brands?
- Where do they spend time online?
- What influences their decisions?
You’ll probably end up with many additional questions, but consider these the starting points for good consumer research. There’s now one extra problem: how will you carry out this research? Most businesses – particularly small ones – lack the resources to conduct full-scale consumer research. Keeping that in mind, market research agencies offer a solution by giving businesses the tools to carry out as much research as possible.
But which agencies are the best at this? To save you some time, here’s a collection of the top-rated companies to help you with consumer research.
#1 Vision One Research
An award-winning agency with game-changing insights
Vision One Research is at the top of most lists when it comes to consumer research partners. It’s actually a full-service market research company, which means it will help you with things outside of consumer research if you need it.
Switching the focus back to the consumer side of things, Vision One Research excels at gathering as much data for you as possible. You’ll learn all you need to know about your consumers and their behaviours – the company deploys various tactics to gather information, such as:
- Focus groups
- Surveys
- Brand tracking studies
With expertise in a wealth of common business areas (retail, tech, sports & leisure, fashion and more), you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more complete consumer research agency out there.
#2 MMR
Where sensory science meets creative research
MMR uses a lot of buzzwords when describing what it does, most notably this idea of sensory science. It holds a worldwide network of sensory experts who work with global brands to build amazing customer experiences. The core focus here is on getting to know your consumers so you can develop ideas that hit their senses. You want them to feel a connection to your brand, so it goes deeper than just learning what they do or don’t like.
It’s an unconventional approach to consumer research, but the success stories speak for themselves. Partnering with MMR means you can opt for a range of solutions, including:
- Sensory insights
- Product testing and research
- Packaging research tied to consumers
If you’re struggling to stand out in a saturated market, the quirkiness of this agency might be what you’re looking for.
#3 Clusters Insights & Analytics
Cost-effective customer research
Clusters is a UK-based market research agency that wants you to make smarter business decisions. Like most of these companies, it uses data to help you learn more about customers. Some of the key focus areas for this agency are:
- Customer segmentation
- Pricing analysis
- Product testing
- Advertising tracking
- Brand health tracking
They’ve worked with major brands around the country (including BBC Worldwide and Vision Express), and claim to offer 98% accuracy on their consumer insights. The fascinating thing with this agency is that it also likes to provide cost-effective solutions to suit your budget. You pick and choose the analysis and research you require, and a plan will be moulded to your needs.
#4 Brandspeak
Get consumer research & brand consulting
Brandspeak provides strategic market research that helps your business grow. It’s definitely more of a research-first company, focusing on:
- Qualitative research
- Quantitative research
- Ethnography
- Neuromarketing
You will call upon all manner of research methods to secure the information you’re after. It’s a simple case of sitting down with the team and discussing the insights you hope to find. This will then lead to the research phases, where Brandspeak collects as much data as possible. Interestingly, it will also give you the opportunity to pay for brand consulting services. Many clients choose this because it’s a great way to take the consumer research and apply the learnings to their brand.
#5 Kantar
Build accurate consumer profiles
Kantar is an impressive company with all kinds of solutions for your brand. It’s mainly about growing your brand and understanding how to get ahead in the modern world. However, if you’re interested in consumer research, then it offers “Profiles by Kantar” – a strategic way to collect consumer information and build profiles for your customers.
How does it do this?
- Custom survey services
- DIY survey solutions
- Connected data solutions
Kantar will operate various surveys for you to find your target audience. It then goes a step further and uses the data gained from surveys to build consumer profiles. Each one represents the type of customer you’re targeting, along with the best ways to target them. Also, businesses can use Kantar Marketplace to gain valuable brand and consumer insights. It’s effectively an AI platform that lets you carry out consumer research on your own terms, in your own time. A really intriguing solution – particularly if you can’t afford the standard services.
Tips For Choosing A Consumer Research Agency For Your Brand
There’s no denying that small business owners will benefit from a consumer research partner. They handle all of the technical research while you focus on other things. Using the data they’ve provided, you can now create smarter marketing strategies built for your target consumers.
That being said, how do you choose the right agency for your business? Here are some key questions to ask before signing any contracts:
- How much experience does the agency have?
- Can they provide examples of past work/testimonials?
- What are the average reviews for the company?
- How much does it cost/does the service fit your budget?
- What tactics do they use to collect consumer research?
- How do they display their research findings?
- Will they offer additional services to help you get the most out of their research?
Ask all of those questions when you contact the various consumer research agencies and it will slowly help you work out which one is right for you. Then it’s time to initiate your research, understand consumers and develop a killer marketing strategy.
