In today’s date, successful businesses have figured out how their customers research, shop, and buy. If you want your business to succeed, you must develop a thorough understanding of who your customers are, your target market, and what influences their purchase decisions and behaviors. That is where market research comes in.
According to HubSpot, market research is a process of collecting data about your company’s buyer personas, target audience, and customers to figure out viable and successful your service or product is going to be in this market, among these people.
A marketing research report is a document where you need to present market data, including current market trends, consumer behavior, and competitive analyses.
The primary objective of such reports is to identify business opportunities in the market. Needless to say, such reports play a crucial role in the success of a brand’s marketing strategy.
How to Prepare an Effective Marketing Research Report?
If you haven’t worked on a marketing research report before, the task may seem a bit challenging for you. In reality, however, it can be dealt with quite easily by following several tips.
#1. Understand the objectives of the report
Just like an essay writer needs to identify the objectives of the essay he/she is writing, you also need to determine the objectives of your marketing research report before you prepare one. The objectives, as you may know, justify why the research is being conducted.
Take some time to identify and understand the objectives so that you can use them as the starting point for your report. The whole report is just about answering the objectives, nothing more.
#2. Conduct thorough research
Since you are writing a report on marketing research, it is quite evident that you need to perform in-depth research of the market before you develop the report. Learn about the target market as much as you can.
Gather information about the target audience members, their purchase behaviors, and other market dynamics. Basically, you need to collect all the necessary data that will help you prepare a report in compliance with the objectives.
#3. Prepare an outline for the report
Once you are done gathering the necessary information, you need to develop the outline of your report. As you may already know from your academic years, the outline helps you organize the information in your paper and works as a skeleton of the report.
Since you have not prepared a proper marketing research report before, let me tell you about the crucial aspects of its outline:
A marketing research report generally has the following segments:
- Title page
- Table of contents
- Introduction
- Background and methodology
- Executive summary
- Results
- Conclusion
- Appendix
#4. Add the relevant details only
It is important that you realize that your research findings may not make it to the report. If a few pieces of information do not add value to the objectives of the report or seem insignificant to your report, you should leave them out.
Include only the relevant pieces of information. If you think some details may not be that important to the report you are preparing but can help the readers, you can add details in the appendix section.
#5. Include an executive summary
Let’s say that you are able to develop an impressive marketing research report on your first try. But there are still going to managers or other important people who just don’t have the time to read the entire report.
However, their inputs are still important. So, you need to prepare a shorter version of that report with only the most important details in the form of an executive summary. The summary should include just the details those managers (or other important position holders in the company) will need to make the business decisions.
#6. Tell a story
No one would be interested in reading a report if it only offers statistics and data points. You need to tell a story that will make your researched and analyzed data sound practical and interesting, compelling the readers to take the necessary measures.
For instance, you can form a story of how the findings of your marketing research will allow you to serve your ideal customers better. It is important to acknowledge that stories are generally more memorable. When you present your findings in the form of a story, they often become the guiding principles for future decisions.
#7. Put the least amount of methodological information at the start
To regular people, methodological information sounds boring. Instead of putting off the readers by presenting such data at the beginning, just mention the details that the readers will need to understand the context of the data you are about to present in your report.
Details such as who took part in your research survey, the sample size, how you collected the data will allow the readers to interpret the data more effectively. So include these data, and put the rest of the details regarding methodology in the Appendix.
#8. Use pictures or other visual elements when possible
There is no denying that pictures and other visual elements such as infographics, charts, graphs, etc., are more convenient for the readers. Besides, you can communicate complex concepts with much ease when using such visual elements instead of just texts.
You also need to consider the fact that your report will not just be handed to the readers in the form of a brochure but also be presented in PowerPoint. So it is wiser to use more visual elements in your report to make it more consumable for the readers who often lose interest while reading long chunks of texts and data.
#9. Proofread and edit
Once you are done writing the report, spend some time proofreading the content of the report. While having spelling or grammatical errors in your report can cause embarrassment for you in front of your colleagues, you should also be focusing on the fact that the report you have prepared fulfills all the objectives that were identified in the beginning. Also, make the necessary editing changes in the paper to make the report more reader-friendly and comprehensive.
#10. Get it checked by a person with experience
Since you do not have much experience in preparing marketing research reports, it is possible that you may still have something missing in your report, even if you have followed all the tips. So, it will be better if you have someone read your report and offer you constructive feedback on the paper.
Make sure that the person you are asking for feedback from has enough experience in preparing such reports. Such people can tell you how to make a more practical report for the business.
In conclusion
As you can see, preparing a marketing research report is not much different from preparing an academic paper. But the problem is that you are no longer a student. So, if you make a mistake, you will have to face the consequences as well.
This is why it is important that you stick to the basic guidelines of report writing and seek guidance from people with some quality experience.
About the Author!
Clara Smith is a senior marketer who is currently working for a reputed MNC based in California, US. She is also a part of the team of experts at Essaygator.com, where she offers coursework help by AssignmentHelp.us to students on their requests.
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