Marketing Research Benchmark Report PDF

MARKETING RESEARCH
LANDSCAPE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
3 Introduction 29 Analyst Bottom Line
4 Executive Summary 30 Acknowledgments
5 Marketing Research’s Importance & Focus 31 About SurveyGizmo
9 Initiating & Conducting Research 32 About Demand Metric
14 Methods & Tools 33 Appendix A – Survey Background
20 Education, Capabilities, Credibility & Impact 34 Appendix B – New Tools Used in the Last Year
24 Challenges & The Future of Research

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is involved in a lot of big decisions, many of them involving risk: whether to enter a new market, how to respond to
competitive pressure, if a new product launch makes sense or what services to offer. Ideally, these decisions are driven by data,
and quite often that data is the product of research. Marketing research can help mitigate risk, and while research
conclusions themselves don’t make decisions, decision-makers value having research to guide them.
The marketing organization is often responsible for conducting the research that influences many of these decisions. Housing
this responsibility in the marketing organization seems logical given the nature of the decisions the research influences.
However, “marketing” and “marketing research” are not interchangeable functions. While they are related, even a brilliant
marketing team isn’t necessarily equipped to properly conduct marketing research. There’s simply too much at stake for
marketing to lead research efforts and draw conclusions based on flawed methods and faulty assumptions. This is not to say
that the marketing organization can’t conduct marketing research effectively, but does it do so?
In a study sponsored by SurveyGizmo, Demand Metric partnered with the Marketing Research Association (MRA) to
provide a unique view of marketing research from two perspectives. The first is from the perspective of the marketing
community – CMOs, vice-presidents of marketing, directors of marketing and their teams that have marketing research on their
list of responsibilities. The second view comes from corporate marketing researchers who are members of the MRA whose
focus and specialty is marketing research.
As this report will reveal, there are differences in how these two groups approach conducting marketing research. By
comparing and contrasting the focus, methods, tools, importance and capabilities between these groups, marketers
will have data and parameters to help them become more effective marketing researchers.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Primary research for this study was done using a survey, and the data analysis provides these key findings:
 The top two research focus areas for marketers and marketing researchers alike are Customers and the Market.
 Marketing researchers serve a more balanced group of research initiators than do marketers, who primarily address their own
research needs.
 It if far more common for marketers to conduct marketing research in small companies (30%) than larger ones (7%).
 Marketing researchers conduct research far more frequently than marketers: 63% of marketing researchers conduct daily or
ongoing research, compared to just 15% of marketers.
 In a ranking of tools used to conduct marketing research, statistical analysis tools are virtually tied for first place for
marketing researchers, but rank seventh for marketers.
 Over three-fourths of marketers report that they don’t have the capabilities to tackle advanced marketing research questions.
 Over 90% of both marketers and marketing researchers project their marketing research workload will stay the same
or increase in 2014 compared to 2013.
This report details the results and insights from the analysis of the study data. Data for this study was gathered using two
identical surveys, one of which was fielded to the Demand Metric marketing community, the other to members of the Marketing
Research Association. This approach created the opportunity to compare how these groups conduct marketing research. For
more details on the survey participants, please see the Appendix A.
MARKETING RESEARCH’S IMPORTANCE & FOCUS
Figure 1: 83% of marketers believe marketing research is moderately or very important to their
organizations, and 91% of marketing researchers feel this same way.
Importance of Marketing Research

Marketers Marketing Researchers
60% As stated in the introduction, research supports many

important decisions.
50% 54%
The first question the study survey asked was to gauge the
40% perception of the importance of marketing research.
43%
40%
37% The results of this question are presented in Figure 1.
30%
Marketers and marketing researchers alike attach a

20%
high importance to the work of marketing research.
10%
The fact that marketing researchers attach greater
importance to it should surprise no one – it is the focus of
0% their work.
Moderately important Very important
Marketing Research Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, March 2014, n=307
5
Figure 2: More marketing researchers are focused on customers, product and service research
than are marketers.
When it comes to marketing research efforts, does the
Marketing Research Focus Areas focus between these groups differ? The survey presented
Marketing Researchers Marketers the following for participants to identify their research focus:
19%  Customers: to determine satisfaction, preferences,

Other
10% perception, Net Promoter Score, etc.
65%  Market: to understand trends, share, brand awareness,
Service
49% direction, gain insights, etc.
76%
Product
57%  Competitors: to detect competitive threats, share, etc.
58%  Product: to get ideas for new products, features,
Competitors
66%
measure reliability, satisfaction, etc.
84%
Market
85%  Service: to measure service quality or other attributes of
89% services provided.
Customers
80%
 Other research types
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Participants were able to select any of these areas of focus
that applied to them, and Figure 2 summarizes the results
for each group in this study.
The statistically significant differences in the focus

areas of research were for the “Product”, “Service”
6 and “Other” response options.
In one of the top two marketing research focus areas – market – there is no difference across the two groups. For the other top
focus area – customer – the difference isn’t substantial but it is statistically significant. It is a bit surprising that marketers are
not placing the greatest emphasis on marketing research to understand customers more deeply.
Christine Crandell, President of New Business Strategies and a Research Director at Demand Metric, observed in the 2014
Outlook Study:
“The shift in 2013 that had the most impact is the rise of the customer. Companies have intellectually embraced the need to be
customer-centric. In 2013, progressive CEOs in all industries realized that becoming customer-aligned was an across-the-board
initiative that touched everything and everyone in their organizations. It is a transformation and that is driving the rise of the
Chief Customer Officer.”
Achieving a high degree of customer-centricity involves a number of influences, culture and leadership occupying the top of the
list. However, being customer driven is fundamentally a data-driven proposition. Marketers must lead the way in the effort, and
guesswork about customer sentiment, preferences, needs and dispositions is not only foolish, it’s dangerous. To look inside
any company that is widely admired as customer driven will reveal a relentless pursuit of a better customer
understanding through research.
Marketers that aspire to lead their companies to higher levels of customer centricity must have this research at the top
of the agenda. Companies must remain in a perpetual state of customer marketing research because the shelf life of findings is
typically quite short. Marketing researchers seem to understand this better than the broader marketing community.
7
Almost 20% of the marketing researchers’ sample selected the “Other” response option, and many participants wrote
in comments that help illustrate the richness and variety of the marketing research they conduct. The scope of their
efforts includes research on consumer behavior, testing creative or messaging, pricing, demographics, benchmarking and other
types. Here is a sample of some of their write-in comments:
 “Validate ads and concepts, develop ads and concepts, consumer understanding...”
 “Test positioning and messaging, test promotional materials.”
 “Help assess impact of our sales force.”
 “Opinions: to measure perceptions about issues, policies, new development, corporate image and reputation.”
 “User experience, including advanced methodologies such as eye tracking.”
 “Advertising research, behavioral modeling.”
 “Price testing.”
 “Corporate strategy, M&A, etc.”
 “Customer experience.”
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INITIATING & CONDUCTING RESEARCH
Figure 3: The initiators for marketing research is more balanced for marketing researchers than for
marketers.
Knowing who initiates marketing research requests often
Marketing Research Initiators provides insight into how and why an organization
Marketing Researchers Marketers undertakes marketing research efforts.
Marketing
68% Study participants were asked to identify who initiates most
73% of the marketing research for their firms, and they were
46%
C-level exec
36%
encouraged to identify as many initiators as applied.
Product management
46%
27% Figure 3 displays the data from this survey question for
Sales
19% each group.
22%
41%
R&D
19% In terms of statistical significance, there were no differences
Customer support
20% between groups for the marketing team, sales team and
13% finance team as initiators of research, and only a marginal
Other
18% difference for the customer support team.
6%
Finance
2%
1% The big differences in initiators were seen in C-level
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% executives, the product management team, the R&D
team and the “Other” response option. The data tells us
that both groups are serving the same set of research
initiators:
So, why the difference?
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Marketing researchers seem to better understand who initiates research, and tend to serve requests regardless of their
source in the organization. Marketing either feels a lesser obligation to service requests from these parts of the organization,
or they’re simply not getting them as often.
While this study did not explore the reasons, some possible explanations are availability, motive, competency, mission or
reputation. Whatever the reasons, the fact remains that marketing researchers are more often seeing and servicing
requests from outside of marketing than are marketers.
Marketing researchers selected the “Other” response option more frequently than marketers, and a sampling of their write-in
comments provide more insight into who is initiating requests for marketing research:
 Insights & Analytics department  Retailers and retail support staff
 Client teams  Insight and Innovation team
 Management in various divisions  Membership relations
 Continuous improvement team  Education department
 Brand strategy and Rewards Program teams  Public relations team
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Figure 4: Who conducts most of the marketing research seems related to who is asked.
Who is conducting the marketing research within the firms
Who Conducts Most of the Marketing Research that are doing it?
Here too there are differences, not only between the two
50% groups this study is comparing, but also between the sizes
of companies that initiate the research.
40%
45% 44%
The data in Figure 4 is the result of a survey question that
asked:
30%
29% “Who conducts most of the marketing research at your
20% firm?”
21%
19% 20%
16% It appears that the answer depends on who is asked:
10% 14% marketers most frequently claim to do most of the
research at their firms, and the same is true for
0% marketing researchers.
Outside firm Dedicated marketing Marketing Other
researcher(s)
There are no surprises in this data.
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A far more interesting view of the date from Figure 4 results from a cross-tabulation with annual sales. The survey
provided six response bands for annual sales, and this data provides a means to estimate company size. Refer to the appendix
to see a summary of the annual sales data from this survey.
This cross tabulation provides these results:
 Marketers are far more likely to conduct marketing research in the smallest companies (30%) than larger ones (7%).
 Over one-third of the smallest companies use a dedicated marketing researcher to conduct their research, and the
frequency grows as companies grow, with more than half of the largest companies using a dedicated resource.
 Outside marketing research firms are in use by 17% of the smallest companies, and their use grows as firms increase in
annual sales, with 30% of the largest firms using an outside resource.
The large percentage of “Other” responses to who conducts research includes business analysts, members of the sales team,
product management, customer support, operations, consumer insights teams, experience innovation consulting teams and a
blend of internal and external resources.
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Figure 5: Marketing researchers conduct marketing research far more often than marketers.
Frequency of Marketing Research Projects

Marketing Researchers Marketers
2%
Other
13%
3%
Annually
24% To close out this section of the study on research initiators
Quarterly
7% and conductors, it’s useful to also understand how often
24% the groups in our comparison are conducting
18% marketing research.
Monthly
17%
7% Figure 5 summarizes this frequency data.
Weekly
7%
63%
Ongoing/daily
15%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
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METHODS & TOOLS
Methods of conducting marketing research were explored in this study by presenting a list of methods and asking survey
participants to rank their use of them. Figure 6 presents the rankings for each group.
Figure 6: Rankings of marketing research methods for marketers and marketing researchers.
Ranking Marketers (n=119) Marketing Researchers (n=161)

1 Secondary research Surveys
2 Surveys Secondary research
3 Interviews Focus groups
4 Focus groups Interviews
5 Observation Usability studies
6 Experiments or field trials Observation
7 Usability studies Experiments or field trials
8 Other methods Other methods
The rankings for these marketing research methods were derived by having participants drag and drop the response options into
priority order. An analysis of the detailed data behind these rankings reveals that marketers’ top two-favored research
methods – secondary research and surveys – are virtually tied.
Furthermore, the rankings fall off sharply beginning with the third ranked item on the marketers’ list: interviews. This suggests
that the use of methods ranked third and lower are not frequently used.
METHODS & TOOLS
The rankings data for marketing researchers suggests they use a broader set of methods to do their work than do marketers.
The top four methods – surveys, secondary research, focus groups and interviews – rank relatively high. The
significant drop off occurs with the fifth ranked method: observation.
Both groups identified “Other” methods, and in the comments section provided a rich set of qualitative data about what some of
these other methods are.
Marketers:
 Analytics  Customer Advisory Boards  Research from industry analysts

as well as underwriting specific
 Appending customer lists with  Data Analysis research
big data to identify look-alikes
and cluster them and identify  Ethnographic research  RL Polk sales data, manufacturer's
best means of addressing them sales data
 Ethnography and semiotics
 Before and after studies  Software tools and info
 Internal staff testing on products aggregators
 Comparison across clients and services
 Third-party
 Crowd sourcing, customer  Market Assessments to determine
surveys at trade shows, new facilities and locations  Win/loss analysis
customer visits
 Microsoft Customer Survey Tool
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METHODS & TOOLS
Marketing Researchers:
 Client data appending and analysis  Internal metrics available
 Customer Advisory Board  Neuro marketing, web scraping
 Database analysis/analytics  Online blogs, chat sessions and focus groups
 Digital open source analysis  Online Qualitative (focus blogs, video ethnography,
community chats)
 Discussion Boards
 Phone Studies
 Ethnography
 Quant-Discrete Choice, Price-Demand, etc.
 Immersions
 Social Media Reviews
 Institutional Assessments (mix of interviews, focus groups
and secondary research)  Syndicated transactional databases provided by 3rd parties
 Integrated approaches across multiples of these methods  Webcam IDIs, online community, in-person meetings
 Intercepts or online focus groups  Ethnography, co-creation, prototyping
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METHODS & TOOLS
In addition to methods, study participants were asked to rank the tools they use to conduct marketing research. Figure 7
displays the comparison across the two groups.
Figure 7: Rankings of marketing research tools for marketers and marketing researchers.

1 Spreadsheets Surveying solutions
2 Surveying solutions Statistical analysis solutions
3 Commercial research databases Spreadsheets
4 Web analytics tools Commercial research databases
5 Social media Presentation solutions
6 Data mining tools Data mining tools
7 Statistical analysis solutions Web analytics tools
8 Data visualization tools Data visualization tools
9 Presentation solutions Social media
10 Web conferencing/meeting solutions Web conferencing/meeting solutions
11 Other tools Other tools
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METHODS & TOOLS
Perhaps the most telling aspect of the rankings in Figure 7 is where “Statistical analysis solutions” fall. For marketers, it’s
seventh on the list, while for marketing researchers it ranks second and is virtually tied for first based on its score.
The ability to perform statistical analysis on primary data gathered through a survey (or any means) is often necessary to draw
valid conclusions.
In fairness to marketers, there are many obligations they must fund out of their marketing budgets, and statistical
analysis tools can be expensive. As less frequent marketing researchers (Figure 5), it’s no surprise that statistical analysis
tools don’t survive the budget negotiation process.
In terms of statistical analysis, sometimes frequency counts provide enough information, but more often, deeper analysis is
needed to find and establish the validity of the data and the relationships between variables. The difference in this ranking
may suggest that marketers either don’t understand how to use statistical analysis tools to analyze primary research
data, or they don’t understand the need to use these tools.
Marketers that go to the trouble and expense of gathering primary data, but then don’t use the proper tools and methods to
analyze the data are either getting a fraction of the value from that data, drawing potentially erroneous conclusions from it, or
both. As they conduct marketing research, marketers need to exercise caution that they’re not drawing conclusions
they can’t be sure of, and to also have a large enough sample from which to draw those conclusions.
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METHODS & TOOLS
Figure 8: Email is by far the most commonly used survey distribution method used by both
marketers and marketing researchers alike.
Both groups ranked surveys first or second as a method or
Survey Distribution Methods tool, and this study’s survey asked participants to share the
methods they use to distribute these surveys.
Email 89%
Social media 24%
There was no significant variance between marketers and
Website embeds 22%
marketing researchers in response to this question, so
Direct mail 21%
Figure 8 displays the combined set of responses.
Website pop-up 18%
Forums 18%
As far as the use of new tools for marketing research
Other 15%
deployed in the past year, there was no significant variance
Mobile phone 14%
in the responses between the two samples.
IVR/CATI 14%
Offline 11%
Customer receipts 4%
In the past year, roughly one-third of marketers and
Text message 3%
marketing researchers reported that they began using
Kiosk mode 3% a new tool, technology or methodology.
QR codes 2%
Geo-fencing 2% The participants who did use something new were asked to
identify what it was, and a comprehensive list of their
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
responses is found in Appendix B.
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EDUCATION, CAPABILITIES, CREDIBILITY & IMPACT
Figure 9: Almost two-thirds of marketers have had no formal training in marketing research.
It’s expected that there are differences in the educational
Basis of Marketing Research Education background and capabilities for marketing research
Marketers Marketing Researchers between marketers and marketing researchers. How
significant are these differences and what impact might
60% they have on the credibility and influence of the research
result? This study asked a series of questions in an effort
50% to find out, beginning with the educational background
49% (Figure 9).
40%
40% This data doesn’t contain any surprises. Marketing
30%
36% researchers are better educated for the task of
marketing research. It’s a matter of marketers as
27%
20% 25% generalists, and marketing researchers as specialists. The
important question is: Do marketers have the education
10% necessary to pursue the research questions with which they
4% 11% are challenged?
8%
0%
Self-taught On-the-job Prof./Academic Mktg research Marketing is an increasingly complex proposition, with
degree
increasing volumes of data from a broadening set of
sources. Yesterday’s marketing research approaches
and skills may not adequately address today’s
Marketing Research Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, March 2014, n=307 marketing research questions. The recent Demand
Metric study, “Keeping our Seat at the Table: A Marketing
Report Card” identified marketing skills as a critical factor in
20 the success of a marketing organization.
Figure 10: Just less than one-third of marketers report their marketing research capabilities as very
basic or basic.
Skills are related to capabilities, and the study asked
Marketing Research Capabilities participants to rate how basic or advanced their marketing
Marketers Marketing Researchers research capabilities are (presented in Figure 10).
60% As with the data about education, this data doesn’t surprise.
It is expected that marketing researchers have more
50% advanced capabilities. What this data does confirm is
50%
47% that over three-fourths of marketers don’t have the
40% capability to tackle advanced research questions.
30% In a world where advanced problems aren’t faced, this data

31% shouldn’t cause concern. But that is not the world in which
20% 24% marketers ply their craft. The organizations marketers
19% serve don’t have the patience or budget for marketing
16% driven by guesswork. They demand a degree of rigor and
10%
4% precision from marketing that often requires advanced
1% 2%
6% marketing research capabilities. It is the more advanced
0%
Very basic Basic Mid-range Advanced Very advanced types of marketing research that have the promise of
providing a company with a sustainable competitive
advantage that is so highly coveted by marketing.
Marketing Research Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, March 2014, n=307 Furthermore, when the stakes are high, such as when
research is conducted to reduce risk in advance of a
significant investment, marketing should not hesitate to get
21 help to make sure the research is done well.
Figure 11: 84% of marketing researchers report that their organizations have high or
very high confidence in the results of their research.
Perhaps the best gauge of marketing research skills
Confidence in Results of Marketing Research and capabilities is the confidence that the organization
Marketers Marketing Researchers has in the results of that research.
70%
Figure 11 displays the comparison the study results that
asked participants to report this data.
60%
59%
50%
Neither marketers nor marketing researchers seem to
52% suffer very low or low organizational confidence in the
40% results of their marketing research.
40%
30% Marketing researchers, however, are far more likely to
report high or very high organizational confidence
20% 25% (84%) than are marketers (58%).
10% 15%
The confidence of the organization is earned by having the
2% 1%
0% 0% 6% skills and experience not just to perform the work, but also
0% to explain and defend it, and most importantly, having a
Very low Low Moderate High Very high
record of producing reliable research results.
22
Figure 12: The rest of the organization gives more credit to marketing for understanding its impact
on revenue than marketing itself does.
All professionals desire to have the confidence of the
Influence of Marketing Research Results organizations they serve. More important than
Marketers Marketing Researchers confidence, however, is influence.
60% How influential are the results of the marketing research

that participants conduct on business plans and strategies?
50%
52%
Figure 12 displays the comparison of this data between
40%
46% marketers and marketing researchers.
41%
30%
36%
It is the purpose of marketing research to influence
20% business plans and strategies, and this study shows
that regardless of who is conducting the research, a
16% vast majority of the time the results do have moderate
10%
to significant influence.
2% 1% 6%
0%
Largely ignored Slight Moderate Significant
23
CHALLENGES & THE FUTURE OF RESEARCH
What challenges exist to successfully conducting marketing research?
A list of challenges was presented to study participants, which they ranked. The comparison of those rankings for the two
groups is presented in Figure 13.
Figure 13: Marketers and marketing researchers share the same top challenge about funding.

1 Funding to support marketing research efforts Funding to support marketing research efforts
2 Availability of affordable tools Availability of staff to conduct marketing research
3 Availability of staff to conduct marketing research Availability of affordable tools
4 Availability of marketing research skills Internal support for marketing research
5 Availability of quality tools Communicating results
6 Lack of responses Identifying meaningful conclusions
7 Internal support for marketing research Lack of responses
8 Identifying meaningful conclusions Availability of quality tools
9 Credibility of results Availability of marketing research
10 Communicating results Credibility of results
11 Other challenges Other challenges
Marketing Research Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, March 2014
24
Marketers are more concerned about the availability of skills than are marketing researchers, and marketing
researchers are more concerned about communicating results than are marketers.
This difference in ranking the challenge of communicating results is perhaps explained by marketing researchers almost always
working on behalf of a research client outside their own department, while 73% of the time (see Figure 3), marketers do research
for their own benefit.
Some of the write-in challenges for those who chose the “Other” response option include:
 Developing meaningful sample frames in hard to reach markets in a cost effective manner.
 Getting some to act on the research when they feel change is a burden.
 Lack of process to integrate research into business planning and strategy timelines.
 Tracking participant contact/avoiding over-contact (We're at risk of exhausting some client segments with research requests).
 Those requesting research want to leave everything to research - minimal thought on goals, target, etc.
25
Figure 14: Over 90% of both groups project their marketing research workload will stay the same
or increase in 2014 compared to 2013.
What will happen with respect to the marketing research
Prediction of Research Workload (2014 vs. 2013) workload in the future?
Intentions are difficult to assess and therefore data
60% from intentions questions is often viewed more
critically.
50%
51%
Regardless, study participants were asked to predict how
46%
40% much marketing research they will conduct in 2014
42%
39% compared to 2013.
30%
The summary is this data is shared in Figure 14. The
results of this comparison are almost identical:
20%
Over half of both groups predict their marketing

10% research workload will increase in 2014 compared to
3%
1% 0% 6% 6% 6% 2013.
0%
Far less Less Same More Far more
The demand for marketing research in the organizations
that these groups serve is overwhelmingly remaining
steady or increasing.
26
Figure 15: Marketers are more likely to view marketing research as increasing
in importance in 2014.
Changing Importance of Research in 2014

60% The final area this study considered was the changing
importance of marketing research in participant
50% 53% organizations in 2014. The frequency of marketing
research efforts is on the rise:
40% 45%
43%
Does that also signal increased importance?
30%
31% Figure 15 summarizes the comparison of responses for the
two groups in this study.
20%
This data makes it clear that marketing research is not

10% 13% diminishing in importance, and in fact for 66% of
10%
1% 0%
2% 2% marketers and 55% of marketing researchers, it’s
0% becoming more important.
Much less Less Same More Much more
27
Those study participants were asked to provide a qualitative response to explain their answer choice. Figure 16 provides a
sample of their responses.
Figure 16: Selected comments on why marketing research is becoming more important.
Ranking Marketers Marketing Researchers

As the company witnesses market impact from research, there is a stronger
1 Consumers are buying differently and we need to remain competitive.
buy-in
2 Because the competition gets higher. Becoming more customer-centric.
3 Complexity is growing. Establishing more relationships with internal clients, receiving more requests.
4 Need to better justify marketing expenses. Executive project on Customer Experience.
We are in a growth phase and it’s extremely important that we grow

5 strategically.
Increasing need for innovation
6 We are selling, but don’t know why people are buying. More clients who want to gauge customer perception and expectation.
We need to learn more about why customers aren’t doing more business New CEO tying many of our organizational goals to metrics tracked by our
7 with us or leaving. research team.
Focus on informed decisions, targeted campaigns and measureable
8 results.
Senior leaders are asking strategic questions that need input form consumers.
Dollars are stretched – the organization needs to make smart, informed

9 Must know the customer better.
decisions.
Past product launch failures where market research was ignored emphasized
10 We want to become more targeted in efforts throughout the business.
the need to pay attention to consumer opinions.
Growing importance to make data-driven decisions relative to our target
11 audience and develop more effective marketing.
New challenges resulting from the Affordable Care Act.
Marketing Research Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, March 2014
28
ANALYST BOTTOM LINE
This study provides a unique comparison of how marketing research is viewed by marketers and marketing researchers. This
study’s purpose was not to promote an “us versus them” mentality between these parties. When it comes to marketing
research, marketers don’t do everything wrong, nor do marketing researchers do everything right.
What this data tells us is that marketing research is vitally important and in most organizations it’s growing more so. There are
also differences in how these two groups conduct marketing research as well as in how credible and influential the results are. In
almost every comparison, the advantage goes to the marketing research group.
Marketers are feeling the pressure to function as a more agile department: to understand their customers better and to
help their organizations remain competitive. While marketing was once viewed as largely a creative endeavor, it’s increasingly
important for marketers to lead and make decisions on the basis of data.
For these reasons, having marketing research acumen isn’t just nice for a marketing department to have; it’s imperative.
As the problems marketing is called upon to solve grow increasingly complex, marketing not only needs a robust marketing
research capability to solve them, but to help explain the logic of the solution to the rest of the organization.
Every marketing leader should assess the marketing research skill set of the marketing team. Some (23% according to this
study) have already made the appropriate skills investment and have advanced marketing research capabilities. The largest group
– 47% in this study - has mid-range marketing research skills. This group needs to determine if their skills will allow them to do
research at a level necessary to serve their organizations well. Finally, the 30% of marketers in this study that rated their skills as
very basic or basic need to realize that they are not equipped to do everything their organizations may need of them.
If they choose not to invest in marketing research skills development, they must have an answer as to why and be willing
to live with the consequences.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Demand Metric is grateful to SurveyGizmo for sponsoring this benchmarking study.
Demand Metric is also grateful to the Marketing Research Association (MRA), and to Amy Shields, Research Director, in
particular for partnering with Demand Metric on this study. The contribution of the MRA and its members that participated in this
study was invaluable in helping the marketing community gain a valuable perspective on the issue of marketing research.
Demand Metric acknowledges the advice and assistance of Dr. Tom Brown, Noble Foundation Chair in Marketing Strategy and
Professor of Marketing in the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University, in facilitating and providing counsel and
assistance on the analysis of these survey results.
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ABOUT SURVEYGIZMO
SurveyGizmo is a web-based software company giving researchers, and small and enterprise companies powerful tools to create
online surveys, questionnaires and forms – allowing capture and analysis of virtually any type of data essential for business.
Founded in 2006 and based in Boulder, Colorado, SurveyGizmo is an industry thought leader focused on bringing its customers
new solutions for gathering and managing data, while delivering unparalleled support. SurveyGizmo has developed some of the
most innovative technologies in the online survey industry, and its API provides easy integration of its robust data collection
platform with external enterprise software.
For more information, please visit: www.surveygizmo.com.
31
ABOUT DEMAND METRIC
Demand Metric is a global marketing research & advisory firm serving a membership community of over 38,000 marketing
professionals, CEOs, and business owners with advisory services, custom research & benchmarking reports, vendor studies,
consulting methodologies, training, and a library of 500+ practical tools and templates.
Using Demand Metric resources, members complete projects faster and with greater confidence, boosting respect for the
marketing team and making it easier to justify needed resources. Our 1,000+ corporate clients range from start-ups to consulting
firms to members of the Global 1000.
To learn more about Demand Metric, please visit: www.demandmetric.com.
32
APPENDIX A – SURVEY BACKGROUND
The Demand Metric 2014 Marketing Research Landscape study was administered online during the period of January 30, 2014
through February 21, 2014. Separate but identical surveys were administered to two populations: the Demand Metric marketing
community and the Marketing Research Association membership. Members of the Demand Metric marketing community
contributed 142 complete or usable partial responses. MRA corporate marketing research members contributed 165 complete
or usable partial responses. The survey data was analyzed using IBM SPSS statistical analysis software to ensure validity.
Summarized below is the basic categorization data collected about respondents to enable filtering and analysis of the data:
Annual Revenues: Primary Role of Respondent:
 $10 million or less (33%)  President, CEO or Owner (10%)

 $11 to $25 million (10%)  Marketing (47%)
 $26 to $100 million (12%)  Marketing Researcher (33%)
 $101 to $500 million (12%)  Sales (3%)
 $501 million to $1 billion (9%)  Business Analyst (6%)
 Over $1 billion (24%)  Other (2%)
Type of Organization:
 Mostly or entirely B2B (44%)

 Mostly or entirely B2C (24%)
 Blend of B2B/B2C (22%)
 Agency (10%)
33
APPENDIX B – NEW TOOLS USED IN LAST YEAR
 AdMall for Secondary  Gtec Method
 Ad-Ology for Primary  Hired new marketing research firm
 Advance  IBM SPSS
 Append studies  Idea screening
 Co-creation in person focus group  Innovative 1-1 interview techniques
 Combining several methods into one  In-store intercepts
 Community management software  instant.ly
 Consumer Panel  Interactive dashboard
 Crowd sourcing at trade shows using iPads  Kiosks and IVR
 Customer uploaded pictures & visuals during survey  Linescale Category Reviews
 Cvent survey software  Mobile Ethnography
 Demand Metric  Mobile optimized surveys
 Email survey  Mobile surveys
 EnalyZer web based questionnaire  Monadic concept testing
 Ethnographic research  Monkey
 External firm  More digital tools then before
 Facebook app  Net Promoter Score
 Feedback form  New databases
 File Share  New online survey tool
 Forrester  New survey platform
 Gamification elements & processes  Nielsen Answers Core
 Google Surveys  Net Promoter Score & dashboard reporting tool
34
APPENDIX B – NEW TOOLS USED IN THE LAST YR.
 Observatory  Social media scanning
 Online focus groups  Social engagement trials
 Online blogs  Social Media listening/monitoring
 Online bulletin boards  Socrates on Demand
 Online discussion boards  Sparq online survey
 Online focus groups  Standardization of wants/needs into
 Online panels functions
 Online panels  Survey Gizmo
 Open source digital landscape research  Survey Monkey
 OTS  Tableau for data visualization
 Outside firm  Tablets
 Pardot  TechValidate
 Partnered with Vision Critical  Text analytics
 Pinterest  TheseusdM
 Prediction market for concept test  Visible Technologies
 Pulsing ATU study  Visualization Tools
 Qualtrics  Voice of the customer surveys
 Real-Time UX monitoring tools  Voxco survey system
 Respondent-created video submissions  Web scraping
 Salesforce.com  Web surveys
 Sawtooth  Web-based surveys
 SEO Platforms  Yesware
 Social commerce
35
Benchmark Report
For more information, visit us at:

www.demandmetric.com
Demand Metric Research Corporation

562 Wellington Street
London, ON, Canada N6A 3R5
© 2013 Demand
© 2014 Demand Metric Research Corporation. Metric Reserved.
All Rights Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

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MARKETING RESEARCH

3 Introduction 29 Analyst Bottom Line

4 Executive Summary 30 Acknowledgments

5 Marketing Research’s Importance & Focus 31 About SurveyGizmo

9 Initiating & Conducting Research 32 About Demand Metric

14 Methods & Tools 33 Appendix A – Survey Background

24 Challenges & The Future of Research

Importance of Marketing Research

60% As stated in the introduction, research supports many

Marketers and marketing researchers alike attach a

Marketing Research Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, March 2014, n=307

19%  Customers: to determine satisfaction, preferences,

The statistically significant differences in the focus

 “Test positioning and messaging, test promotional materials.”

 “Help assess impact of our sales force.”

 “User experience, including advanced methodologies such as eye tracking.”

 “Advertising research, behavioral modeling.”

 “Corporate strategy, M&A, etc.”

So, why the difference?

 Insights & Analytics department  Retailers and retail support staff

 Client teams  Insight and Innovation team

 Management in various divisions  Membership relations

 Continuous improvement team  Education department

 Brand strategy and Rewards Program teams  Public relations team

Marketing Research Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, March 2014, n=307

This cross tabulation provides these results:

Frequency of Marketing Research Projects

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Marketing Research Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, March 2014, n=307

Ranking Marketers (n=119) Marketing Researchers (n=161)

2 Surveys Secondary research

3 Interviews Focus groups

4 Focus groups Interviews

5 Observation Usability studies

6 Experiments or field trials Observation

7 Usability studies Experiments or field trials

8 Other methods Other methods

Marketing Research Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, March 2014, n=307

 Analytics  Customer Advisory Boards  Research from industry analysts

 Client data appending and analysis  Internal metrics available

 Customer Advisory Board  Neuro marketing, web scraping

 Database analysis/analytics  Online blogs, chat sessions and focus groups

 Intercepts or online focus groups  Ethnography, co-creation, prototyping

Ranking Marketers (n=111) Marketing Researchers (n=160)

2 Surveying solutions Statistical analysis solutions

3 Commercial research databases Spreadsheets

4 Web analytics tools Commercial research databases

5 Social media Presentation solutions

6 Data mining tools Data mining tools

7 Statistical analysis solutions Web analytics tools

8 Data visualization tools Data visualization tools

9 Presentation solutions Social media

10 Web conferencing/meeting solutions Web conferencing/meeting solutions

11 Other tools Other tools

Marketing Research Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, March 2014, n=307

Marketing Research Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, March 2014, n=307

30% In a world where advanced problems aren’t faced, this data

Marketing Research Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, March 2014, n=307

60% How influential are the results of the marketing research

Marketing Research Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, March 2014, n=307

Ranking Marketers (n=111) Marketing Researchers (n=160)

2 Availability of affordable tools Availability of staff to conduct marketing research

3 Availability of staff to conduct marketing research Availability of affordable tools

4 Availability of marketing research skills Internal support for marketing research

5 Availability of quality tools Communicating results

6 Lack of responses Identifying meaningful conclusions