market research proposal for new product

Market research for new product development in 6 steps

Market research for new product development will help you understand your users' needs, as well as potential risks and market opportunities.

What is market research in new product development?

Why do market research for new product development, the importance of market research in product development, choose the correct type of market research, how to conduct market research for a new product , examples of market research for new products, what product development idea have you been dallying off.

Picture this: you’ve got a great idea for a new product, or for improving your current product or service. At least, you think it’s great. When you explain it to others, they raise their eyebrows.

While you are incredibly enthusiastic about the product, they have critical questions about consumer trends , the market , and those latest developments in the world. Ouch.

‘My gut told me to go for’ won’t convince a lot of investors to invest in your idea. Plus, your designers, marketers and engineers will work in a much more confident way if they know that what they’re working on has a chance to succeed. The only way to give them that confidence, is through market research. And one of the most valuable types of research is that which you’ve carried out among your target consumers. This research provides you with proprietary data (also known as zero-party data ).

In this article, we’ll explore why consumer research is so important when you’re developing a new product or want to change something you’re currently already selling. We’ll take you through five crucial steps and give you some valuable tips along the way.

Market research for new product development can focus on different areas. You can research market viability, the demand for the product you have in mind, the features your target group is looking for, or the best way to position, price, communicate and market your product to your target audience. You take into account your competitors, market developments, and important trends. And whether you’re running market research for a startup or a massive brand, it’s an essential step to make sure your new products hit the mark. This can be a difficult task, leading many to consult US market research companies .

Market research for new product development is all about identifying opportunities and finding out if it’s worth bringing your product idea to life. And if so, how to do that in the best way.

It’s about more than what the competition is doing, and if your target audience would be willing to spend money on you. You can also dive into market trends to identify the best ways to market your product.

You can use market research to fine-tune your product development and the relevant aspects around it. Based on how your audience is developing, what price and type of message would grab their attention? What kind of marketing tactics are likely to work, and what channels dominate your market?

Consumer research is about understanding all the aspects of your market. You can approach it as a big puzzle, and once you have all the pieces in place, you can proudly present a solid plan or research to your investors and team, to help them understand why your product development idea is worth working on.

To get the best consumer insights, send a survey with our concept testing template . And for a sector-specific lowdown, find out all about the food product development process .

Market research for your new product development strategy helps you minimise risks and prepares you for a successful product launch. You get to know your market and audience in a way that helps you create not just the perfect product concept, but also the right messaging and marketing around it—something that will actually resonate with your audience.

Market research is used to base your decisions on facts, not just ideas and hunches – however good you might be at guessing games. Before spending time and money on a product idea, you get a good idea of how likely it is to be a success. This will also help you plan how much time and money you’ll actually need.

Investors and stakeholders will also want to see market research if you want to launch a new idea: they want some kind of security that the product will actually sell. Even though market research isn’t a crystal ball and doesn’t exactly predict the future, when it’s done right it can definitely give you a clear picture of how your product concept will be welcomed into the market.

Market research is not only important to verify if your completely new product idea is worth the work. You can also use it to optimise existing products, by keeping a close eye on how competitors are changing their products. You might even read online reviews on products similar to yours and see that customers are asking for specific features. This is also market research.

This also goes for adding new products to a line to supplement your current assortment, or if you want to start an entirely new adventure with your breakthrough product idea.

Market research for product development, whether new or existing, is all about listening to what is happening in the market. Step outside of your organisation and ask the people who pay for your products how you would make them even happier, or find out what trends you can jump onto now, so you can become a frontrunner in the future.

Product development shouldn’t just be done in-house, with your designers and developers closely looking at the product. It’s easy to get tunnel vision and build a product that’s more focused on what you can and want to deliver, and less on what the customer wants.

Market research done right forces you to step out of that bubble and not just look at how you can make the product shinier, faster and stronger, but how you can give it the right place in the market . Because product development is also developing a marketing and sales strategy . It’s having a customer journey and experience ready to put the product in and turn your customers into fans. All you need to do, is go talk to them!

Moreover, market research helps you determine what the marketing mix should look like, since developing a new product is never just about a product.

Turn customers into fans with market research tools

Compare the top market research tools of 2022, including details on their features and the best ways to use each tool.

Let’s get back to basics: what types of market research are there? We often lose ourselves in the wide variety of tools out there that give you data – but what kind of data is available, and how relevant is it to you?

It’s important to understand where data is coming from and how complete it is. How can you supplement it with additional research to get the full picture? Let’s look at the types of research you can – and should! – combine.

Quantitative market research

Don’t let the saying ‘quality over quantity’ fool you for this one—if you’re trying to make money, quantity certainly does matter. Quantitative research focuses on things you can measure .

How many people are interested in your type of product? What are they willing to spend, on average? Has that number been growing, been steady or are they willing to pay less and less? And if the latter is the case, is the group growing in size at least?

You can also gather information on how happy people are about a product or service. What’s lacking in this type of information is the motives behind it. For that, you need qualitative market research .

Qualitative market research

Qualitative research gives context to the numbers . Yes, people are increasingly interested in product X – but why is that? What were they looking at before, and what made them make the switch? Was it a change in price, a recommendation from a friend, something they saw in the news?

Now, it’s nearly impossible to gather qualitative data for all the quantitative data you measure. That’s why it’s incredibly important that you get that qualitative data from a hyper-relevant part of your target group. Don’t send out surveys to gather quantitative data from a specific part of your target group, and then ask another part to explain those numbers. That wouldn’t be helpful at all.

Qualitative data often comes from focus groups . You could find a focus group in the people that you survey, or by interviewing existing customers that fit the profile you’re studying. This will help you get a real-life picture of consumer needs and consumer problems. The best person to ask is the one you’re trying to fit into a buyer’s persona.

How is qualitative market research important for your product development process? It’ll help you understand the needs of your target market better. You conduct research that will steer your product idea generation in the right direction, gathered by real consumer insights and consumer feedback.

Of course, you can’t come to your market consumer in the initial stages of the process and ask them to design the product for you. You’ll gather the base information you have through quantitative methods and online new product development surveys , so you can ask focused concept testing questions to your focus group.

Primary market research

Primary market research is collecting raw data directly from your target customers or market by doing your own research. It simply means you only use data you yourself have collected,  from things like surveys and focus groups – no trend reports from third parties.

This is important for product development research , because you can’t base your decisions and product development process on someone else’s findings for different product and target group entirely.

Anything you directly collect from your market, whether it’s through focus groups, surveys, interviews or product research is primary data.

Inform your product development with our JTBD template

Get up and running with your next product development project and learn what customers really need with our jobs-to-be-done (JTBD) template.

Secondary market research

Secondary research can be done using existing data . The fact that it’s not brand-new information, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hold valuable insights. You just need to collect the right information and connect that to information that’s relevant for your case specifically.

Secondary research can be done to identify business risks, for instance by looking at market developments. Competitor research is also a valuable form of secondary research. Through competitor research you’ll get a real understanding of the other options your potential customers have – a good starting point for any new product development strategy.

What parts of market research can you not skip over when your goal is using it for product development research? We’ve divided it up into five bite-sized steps that will give you a solid framework to work within.

Step 1. Exploratory research

Basically, this is researching what you specifically want to research. It’s completely normal not to immediately know what your research goal is, or how you’ll get there. That’s where exploratory research comes in.

You start by gathering secondary data on all kinds of aspects. Find things that stand out, developments that you hadn’t thought about and things you want to know more about.

With that information, you can start defining what’s most relevant for you in this stage. Where are your knowledge gaps, and how do you make sure you get the relevant data to make wise business decisions?

This is not necessarily about gathering as much data as you can – you want to keep it manageable and relevant. Find out what questions you can’t answer straight away, and focus your exploratory research on that.

Step 3. Define research objectives

After your exploratory research, you can start pinpointing what you really need to know to move forward in your product development process.

Will you be focussing on customer needs, or how to get a competitive advantage? Will the market analysis focus on product demand and pricing, or is there still a lot of ground to cover in the physical product and usage habits?

It’s important to have a clear idea of what you’ll be researching. Ask yourself: what actionable insights do I need to win in this market segment? Make your objectives as concrete as you can, so your answers will be focused and you can confidently use them to base your next step on.

Step 4. Define the scope of the research

Of course, market research is a way to minimise risk. But there’s always a risk if you’re venturing out with a new product. You can never get a 100 percent guarantee of what will happen, until you launch your product.

That’s why it’s important to define a scope around your objectives. It can also help you to decide where you can use secondary data, and where you definitely need primary data.

Step 5. Decide on market research tools or partners

Are you going to focus on the product or business as usual while a research agency does the heavy lifting? Or do you want to keep everything in-house? In that case, you’re going to be in charge of deciding what market research tools you use. And the possibilities are nearly endless…

There’s a tool for every part of research, but it’s important that you use tools that are easy to work with, and collect all the data you want, so you don’t need to glue it all together from different tools. Especially if you’re going to talk directly to your consumers, you want to use a tool that’s as easy and pleasant to use for them as it is for you.

Of course, we have some suggestions. Check out our article on the 6 best—tried and tested—market research tools out there. And if you’re leaning towards agencies in the UK, here’s our rundown of the top market research agencies in London . And here are the top market research companies in the US .

Or, if you’d prefer to focus on sending out insightful customer insights surveys, see our list of the top 11 Qualtrics alternatives .

Step 6. Concept testing

As interesting as the market itself may be, this specific research is still about your product development idea. Is the idea you have in mind good enough to enter the market, or do you need input to fine-tune it?

That’s where concept testing comes in. With concept testing, you create an MVP that you can show to your focus groups. You find out what they think about it. What features do they miss and love? What would they pay for this? How easy is it to use?

But, like we said, you’re not just developing a product. You are also developing the marketing and communication around it, and that also needs to be tested thoroughly. That’s why you can also target your market research at your marketing for the new or improved product, by creating mock-ups and testing messaging with your focus group. 

How are brands you love using Attest to do market research around product development? Let’s tale a look at US farming cooperative,  Organic Valley . They save time and money by using quantitive analysis for new product development.

‘For a lot of our day-to-day work we had been using other tools that weren’t necessarily user-friendly, easy to use or intuitive. We were looking for a tool with a fairly rapid turnaround and I wanted my team to be able to use it themselves, I didn’t want to have to go out and hire somebody else,’ says Tripp Hughes, Organic Valley’s Senior Director of Consumer Strategy. He saw a need for a tool that his team could use, without having to go through excessive training.

After seeing Attest demoed at a conference, Hughes brought in some of his peers to take a look. They now use it for market analysis, concept ideation and testing, creative testing, and messaging testing.

Hughes estimates that being able to make quick initial learnings through Attest saves Organic Valley between 10 to 20 times what it would cost to make the discoveries later down the line.

‘The impact is coming in reduced time and improved next-round thinking that we’re taking into focus groups where we’ve got a high-cost factor. If we don’t go in with the right materials and the right framework, we’re wasting money. And so Attest has helped us do a lot of the front-end work that then we’re able to go and build on.’

Read more about how Organic Valley is developing awesome products with insights from Attest in this case study.

We get it – taking risks is scary. But developing new products is exciting, and could lift your business to the next level. And while doing product development research, you could find a lot more inspiration about other improvements you can make in your business.

If you’re looking for a tool that brings you closer to your target audience and helps you find hyper relevant results, try Attest.

Ask the right questions for NPD

Learn which product development survey questions you should ask to discover what customers value most, from pricing to features.

Customer Research Lead 

Nick joined Attest in 2021, with more than 10 years' experience in market research and consumer insights on both agency and brand sides. As part of the Customer Research Team team, Nick takes a hands-on role supporting customers uncover insights and opportunities for growth.

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Market Research for Launching New Products: A Step-by-Step Guide

• Posted on March 6, 2024
• |     Modified on March 13, 2024
• |     Starting Your Business
• March 6, 2024

Key Points:

• Understand FMCG vs CPG Differences
• Methods: Primary, Secondary Research
• Critical Steps in the Pre-launch Process
• Cost-Conscious Market Research Methods

Key Steps After Gathering Market Insights

Article summary.

• Business owners must know the difference between FMCG and CPG.
• Doing thorough research is vital for a successful product launch.
• Research helps owners understand what customers need and who they’re up against.
• Use both primary and secondary methods to research well.
• Key steps: know the market, target customers, create a unique product, plan marketing, test, launch, and track.
• Use surveys, social media, and interviews for affordable research.
• After research, work with a CPG branding agency for clear strategies.

Market Research Can Make or Break Your Business

If you’re launching a new food , beauty, or supplement product, making your product stand out amidst intense competition is likely top of mind. Going up against industry giants and established FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) and CPG (consumer packaged goods) brands can seem daunting. To effectively launch a FMCG or CPG brand and compete against established products, new brands must undergo methodical branding and packaging development and conduct thorough market research to define their niche and find opportunities. Our step-by-step guide on market research for launching new products will help you get started on the right path to a profitable business.

Before we explore the specific steps for market research tailored to new product businesses, let’s first define what is CPG vs FMCG.

What is CPG vs FMCG?

What is CPG?

CPG is a broader category that includes FMCG but also includes other consumer products for personal or household use beyond just consumables. In addition to foods and beverages, CPG spans apparel, cosmetics, cleaning products, pet supplies, and consumer electronics – essentially any product designed for frequent replenishment or personal consumption from traditional retail channels.

What are the 5 main categories of CPGs?

• Food and beverages:  This includes items like bread, juice , soups , cookies , and sauces .
• Household products:  This includes items like laundry detergent, paper towels, trash bags, and cleaning supplies.
• Personal care products:  This includes items like shampoo, soap, toothpaste, and deodorant.
• Beauty products:  This includes items like makeup , skincare products , and hair care products .
• Over-the-counter drugs:  This includes items like pain relievers, allergy medication, and cold medicine.

Examples of well-known CPG companies

• Food and beverages:  Nestle, Unilever, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Kraft Heinz
• Household products:  Procter & Gamble, Clorox, Kimberly-Clark, SC Johnson & Son
• Personal care products:  L’Oreal, Johnson & Johnson, Colgate-Palmolive, Unilever
• Beauty products:  Estee Lauder, L’Oreal, Avon , Shiseido

What is FMCG?

FMCG refers to affordable consumer products that are purchased frequently and consumed rapidly. These fast-moving goods include food items, beverages, toiletries, over-the-counter medicines, and other consumables found in grocery, convenience, and drugstore settings. Key attributes of FMCG products are their low cost, high volume, and short shelf life.

FMCG Key Market Segments:

• Food and Beverages : Juice, Soda, Snacks, Tea, Coffee , Chocolate .
• Personal care products: Skincare, Cosmetics, Hair care
• Health care products: Over-the-counter Drugs, Vitamins & Dietary Supplements , Oral Care, Feminine Care

Examples of top FMCG companies

• Procter & Gamble (P&G): Including Pampers, Tide, Gillette, and Crest.
• Nestlé: Popular brands under Nestlé’s umbrella include KitKat, Nescafé, Maggi, and Purina.
• Unilever: Some of its famous brands are Dove, Knorr, Lipton, and Axe.
• The Coca-Cola Company: Including Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, and Minute Maid.
• PepsiCo: Including soft drinks (Pepsi, Mountain Dew), snacks (Lays, Doritos), and beverages (Gatorade, Tropicana).

Here are the key differences:

Cpg – consumer packaged goods.

• A broader category that includes FMCG as well as other consumer products
• Encompasses both durable and non-durable goods used for personal/household purposes
• Examples: food, beverages, cosmetics, cleaning products, apparel, electronics
• Sold through various channels – retail, wholesale, online etc.

FMCG – Fast Moving Consumer Goods

• Refers to low-cost, non-durable products that are frequently purchased and rapidly consumed
• Examples: food, beverages, toiletries, over-the-counter drugs
• High volume and high turnover products
• Typically sold at retail stores, supermarkets, convenience stores

So in essence:

• CPG is the overall umbrella term for most consumer products packaged for purchase
• FMCG is a sub-category focused on faster turnover consumer items

Some other key differences:

• FMCGs generally have lower price points than other CPGs
• FMCG marketing emphasizes volume, impulse purchases, constant promotions
• CPG marketing varies based on product category and purchase cycles

While there is overlap, FMCG goods are consumed rapidly and purchased frequently, while the CPG category also includes more durable, higher-priced goods meant for longer-term consumption. 

While FMCG places more emphasis on value pricing and rapid turnover, CPG products can span a wider range in terms of price point, purchase cycles, and shopping experiences. However, both categories are consumer-driven and highly competitive when it comes to earning enduring brand loyalty and market share.

Understanding where your new product offering fits within the CPG or FMCG landscape is critical before undertaking market research. 

What is market research and why is it done?

Market research is about figuring out if new opportunities are worth pursuing by looking at how much they can grow, who else is competing, and if customers are interested.

The primary purpose of market research is to tackle complex issues related to new product development, technology innovation, market exploration, strategic planning, and competitive analysis . Market research provides a crucial customer-centric foundation for businesses by deeply understanding their target audience . 

Why do you do market research before starting a business?

Conducting market research before launching a product business is crucial for laying a strong brand foundation . It provides essential insights and foresight necessary for estimating, refining, and precisely planning various aspects of the business. 

Two main benefits are:

Maintaining a customer-centric approach.

• Market research reveals customer needs, desires, pain points
• This allows companies to truly prioritize the customer experience
• Customer-centric businesses are 60% more profitable
• The STP (segmentation-targeting-positioning) process enables laser-focused customer-centricity

Making More Effective Connections with the Audience

• Research identifies the right marketing channels for reaching the target market
• It prevents wasting resources on ill-fitted platforms
• Content and messaging can be tailored to “speak the language” of the audience
• This resonates better and drives higher engagement

Investing in market research upfront highlights specific characteristics and preferences of the intended customer base. This insight allows businesses to align their entire product, positioning, and promotion strategy around those customers which leads to a more profitable business.

Types of Market Research:

Market research typically involves two main types: primary and secondary. Each serves distinct purposes and offers unique advantages.

What is Primary Market Research?

Primary market research for a new product involves conducting a specialized study by yourself to uncover the wants and needs of individuals who match the profile of your target market, typically by directly engaging with them and asking them questions about your product. You can achieve this using various interviewing techniques: face-to-face, phone calls, focus groups, and online surveys and competitor visits, to gather information directly from customers or potential customers.This method aims to delve into individual preferences, behaviors, and experiences.

What is Secondary Market Research?

Secondary research involves accessing pre-existing data, reports, and studies compiled by others, such as government agencies, trade associations, or industry publications, which can be obtained faster and more affordably, primarily through online sources, articles, reference libraries, or industry associations. Yet it also comes with constraints. The information gathered from a different audience may not align with your target audience, leading to biased data. Simply put, if you didn’t gather the data firsthand, it’s secondhand information that may not be as trustworthy as primary research data. It provides insights into market size, trends, competitors, and industry dynamics. 

Differences between primary and secondary research:

Primary research offers firsthand product insights into individual consumer behavior, while secondary research provides a broader understanding of market dynamics and trends. Both types of research play crucial roles in informing strategic business decisions for new product businesses.

Primary research typically requires more time as it involves conducting surveys, interviews, or focus groups. Secondary research, on the other hand, is quicker as it relies on existing data sources.

Data Collection Methods

Primary research utilizes techniques like surveys and focus group discussions, while secondary research relies on online sources and published materials.

Presentation of Insights

Primary research often presents findings through charts, tables, and participant quotes. Secondary research uses decision-making models such as Porters 5 Forces , SWOT analysis , and value proposition canvases to organize and present information effectively.

Why do CPG & FMCG Companies use Market Research?

Companies use market research for several key reasons:

Understanding customer needs.

Market research for new and existing products help companies grasp what their customers want, their preferences, and behaviors. This knowledge is vital for tailoring products and services to meet customer demands effectively.

Gaining competitive insight

Market research offers valuable information about competitors, their strengths, weaknesses, and strategies. This allows companies to identify opportunities, stay ahead of rivals, and make strategic decisions.

Developing new products

Market research enables companies to test new product ideas and gather feedback from potential customers before launching. This minimizes the risk of product failure and ensures that products align with customer needs.

Analyzing markets

Product market research helps companies determine the size of their target market and segment it into different customer groups with distinct needs and behaviors. This segmentation aids in targeting and positioning new products effectively.

Setting prices

Product market research assists companies in determining optimal product pricing strategies by considering factors like customer willingness to pay, market conditions, and competition.

Overall, market research equips companies with crucial insights to make informed decisions, spot new product opportunities, and enhance their operations.

How is consumer research conducted in FMCG & CPG companies?

Major FMCG and CPG companies conduct a variety of market research methods and techniques to gain insights into consumer behavior, preferences, and trends. 

Here are some common ways CPG & FMCG companies conduct market research:

Consumer surveys and polls.

Companies use online surveys, phone interviews, focus groups, and in-person polls to gather data directly from consumers about their purchasing habits, brand perceptions, product usage, and feedback.

Retail Data Analysis

CPG and FMCG companies closely analyze point-of-sale (POS) data from retailers to track sales volumes, market shares, pricing dynamics, and distribution metrics across product categories and geographic regions.

Ethnographic Research

Companies send researchers to observe consumers in their natural environments (homes, workplaces, etc.) to understand how existing products are used, shopped for, and consumed in real life.

Online Behavior Tracking

With consumer permissions, companies can track online activity like website visits, social media engagement, search queries, and ecommerce purchases to map the digital consumer journey.

Product Testing and Sampling

New products, packaging , and marketing campaigns are tested amongst consumer panels to measure product appeal, buying intent, and feedback before launching.

Ad Tracking and Testing

Advertising concepts, campaigns and media placements are continuously tested and optimized based on ongoing measurement of their impact on consumer perception and behavior.

Leading Indicator Monitoring 

Economic and demographic data as well as cultural/lifestyle trend reports are analyzed to forecast emerging consumer needs and sentiments.

Market Intelligence

Companies subscribe to market research firms and industry reports to access detailed consumer insights, sales data, competitor analysis, and macro market trends. Market research firms help companies understand audience behavior across media platforms by providing valuable data and insights for informed decision-making.

FMCG & CPG giants are data-driven

Successful FMCG & CPG giants are heavily data-driven, constantly gathering intelligence from multiple sources to fine-tune products, promotions and positioning in an intensely competitive landscape. 

For industry giants like Coca-Cola and Starbucks, product market research is an extremely detailed and multi-pronged exercise. Focus groups provide a broad understanding, complemented by surveys, questionnaires, social media monitoring and other techniques to uncover deeper consumer motivations, unmet needs, and emotional connections with products.

This comprehensive market analysis identifies potential threats and opportunities, tracks evolving tastes, informs improvements to existing products, and ultimately aims to boost sales by giving customers more of what they truly want.

While focus groups are powerful, companies leverage a diverse toolkit for research – from surveys to digital tracking to observational studies – to assemble a 360° view of the market landscape. Investing in rigorous, professional market research is critical for large enterprises to stay ahead of customer needs and make smart, data-backed decisions. 

Major market research firms like Nielsen , Euromonitor , and Mintel are well-known for conducting syndicated research studies spanning consumer insights, product categories, geographies and more. Their off-the-shelf reports provide ready market intelligence.

What is syndicated market research?

The key difference between syndicated and custom market research is that custom studies are proprietary, conducted for and funded by a single client company. Syndicated research follows a standardized methodology with broader scope, with the findings packaged into reports sold across multiple clients in that industry.

Many companies utilize both syndicated and custom market research, because syndicated provides shared comprehensive market intelligence more economically, while custom offers narrow but personalized insights.

For new businesses in CPG and FMCG categories, syndicated research offers a cost-efficient way to gain comprehensive understanding of market dynamics, unmet consumer needs, white spaces and the competitive landscape. This can be invaluable for guiding product development and marketing strategies.

What is the first step in marketing research?

For new businesses launching products in the CPG space, the first step in marketing research is clearly identifying the specific consumer need or problem you are trying to solve.

• For a new food product line, your goal may be to understand what flavors or nutritional aspects consumers are lacking in current offerings.
• For a beauty brand, you may want to research what skincare concerns are not being adequately addressed by existing products.
• For a supplement company, you need to identify gaps in the market for certain vitamin formulations or health focus areas.

In simple terms, this boils down to asking yourself – “What consumer pain point or desire is my new product fulfilling that competitors are not adequately serving?”

Conducting research at this initial stage aims to validate that you have pinpointed a genuine unmet consumer need before investing further into product development.

This step involves:

• Clearly defining the consumer segment/target audience you want to serve.
• Exploring their current frustrations, challenges or desires related to your product category through surveys, social listening, focus groups etc.
• Assessing how well existing CPG/FMCG brands are solving those consumer problems based on their product portfolios.
• Identifying the specific whitespace opportunity for your new product to fill that unmet need better than incumbents.

Without this crucial upfront validation, you risk developing a product that lacks a meaningful point of differentiation or consumer rationale for purchasing it over established brands.

Getting clarity on the core consumer insight problem you are solving lays the strategic foundation to then build out the rest of your marketing research, product development, branding and go-to-market planning. We will dive further into this topic in the next section.

How do you conduct market research for a new business? 

When thinking about market research for launching new products, new CPG or FMCG businesses need to first start with researching their market and understanding what gaps are in the market and where their is a need for a new product. Most new businesses do their own market research for launching new products versus hiring expensive market research firms.

There are seven critical steps in the pre-launch market research process:

Understand the market and competition.

Uncover surprising insights about the market. For instance, successful snack products often incorporate food-like ingredients such as cereal, nuts, or fruit to appeal to customers.

Analyze competitors’ offerings and marketing materials to identify your product’s unique selling points and potential threats to success. You’ll want to make notes about their packaging, website and social media. How are they talking to their customers? Is there anything your competitors are doing well? That may be a niche for you to explore. Download the competitive analysis worksheet .

Analyze pricing to understand how to price your product. Use the product pricing sheet .

Target Your Customer

Focus on prospects most likely to purchase your product. Consider customers currently buying similar products and how your offering adds value to their experience. Create a buyer persona for your brand.

Define Your Unique Value Proposition

Determine what sets your product apart from competitors and why customers should choose it. Communicate your unique value proposition effectively to attract buyers.

Determine Your Marketing Strategy

Utilize market insights to craft an effective marketing plan. Consider various channels such as retailers, online platforms, and email marketing for high ROI .

Test the Product and Approach

Conduct thorough testing of the product and marketing approach before the launch. Gather feedback from potential customers to identify areas for improvement and ensure alignment with their needs and preferences. For example if you have a food product, test at your local farmers market to get feedback on your product.

Roll Out Your Campaign

Implement your marketing strategy across chosen channels, keeping consistency in messaging and branding . Monitor the performance closely and make adjustments as needed to optimize results.

Track the Overall Customer Lifecycle

Continuously monitor the product’s performance in the market and gather feedback from customers. Stay adaptable and be prepared to make changes to the product or marketing strategy to maintain competitiveness and meet evolving consumer demands.

How to do cost-effective market research for a new product?

If hiring a market research is not within your budget don’t worry. It is absolutely possible to conduct market research for launching new products on a budget.

Here are some cost-effective strategies:

Leverage online surveys.

• Use free survey tools like Google Forms, SurveyMonkey, Typeform
• Share surveys through your website, email lists, social media
• Offer incentives like discounts or giveaways to increase participation
• Keep surveys short and focused

Social Media Listening

• Monitor relevant hashtags, topics on Twitter, Instagram, Reddit etc.
• Join Facebook groups in your niche to understand pain points
• Analyze sentiment around your product category and competitors

Interview Your Current Customers

• Ask for feedback calls/emails with loyal customers
• Incentivize with samples/discounts for their time
• Discuss what they like, what’s missing and suggestions

Low-Cost Focus Groups

• Recruit friends, family or offer cash incentives
• Use free conference call/screen sharing tools
• Facilitate taste tests or product demonstrations

Observe Consumer Behavior

• Visit stores/locations where your target customers shop
• Watch how they evaluate and buy similar products

Free Market Reports

• Check resources like government databases, research journals
• Look for generalized industry reports even if not product-specific

Competitive Price and Product Analysis

• Examine competitors’ offerings, pricing, marketing messaging
• Identify potential gaps or areas to differentiate

Start Small and Economical

• Test concepts/prototypes in one area before scaling
• Validate interest and refine based on early feedback

Leverage Your Network

• Discuss with distributors, retailers, influencers in your space
• Get insider insights about market demands and white spaces

Get Creative with Your Market Research

The key is getting creative, taking advantage of free or low-cost tools, and directly engaging with your target audience as much as possible on a limited budget. Start lean but make research an ongoing priority. 

Remember your brand is always evolving. As you learn more about your customers, you will continue to refine and tailor everything from your packaging design , to your messaging, to your social media marketing.

If you are just starting your brand you may be wondering how you do market research if you don’t have customers yet. Think about your family, friends, anyone who might be in your target market that will give you honest feedback. Think about who you know in your community, can you set up a table at your local gym to test out your new supplement brand , or maybe you know a the owner of the local spa and you can test your new skincare product there. If you have a food or beverage, a farmer’s market is a great way to test and gain market insights.

Steps to follow if you want to conduct market research:

• Develop a plan
• Understand the nature of the marketing problem
• Define the sampling method and sample size.
• Develop the survey tool and gather data.
• Analyze the findings and present them in a customer-centric manner.
• Extract the key insights from the data.

Segmentation, targeting, and positioning are pivotal in understanding the buyer’s journey and consumer behavior throughout this process. However, it’s important to note that market research cannot fully explain consumer behavior. 

What is one of the significant challenges for marketing research?

One thing to keep in mind is what legendary ad man David Ogilvy said:

“The trouble with market research is that people do not think how they feel, don’t say what they think, and don’t do what they say.” 

So before you base all your decisions on what people say you’ll want to consider observing their actions, analyzing their behavior, and validating their responses through various research methods. 

Another challenge for marketing research is the lack of time and resources. Gathering relevant data without falling behind the competition can be a challenge as well as conducting comprehensive marketing research can be costly and time-consuming.

Market Research Questions for a New Product

Examples of Market Research Questions

• Demographic questions e.g. How old are you? Where do you live?
• How likely are you to recommend us to a friend?
• Did you consider any of our competitors? Who and why?
• What do you wish our product could do?
• How would you rate your most recent experience with us?
• How long have you been a customer?
• How much money do you usually spend on X products?
• What’s the maximum you’d pay for X?

What to Consider When Creating Market Research Questions

Consider the following as you create your questions. Be mindful not to create biased questions .

Set SMART Goals:

• Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely.
• Keep focus on end goals throughout the process.

Understand Your Customer:

• Identify ideal customer personas.
• Address their struggles, desires, and preferences.
• Different perspectives from various departments enhance understanding.

Organize Questions into Topics:

• Prioritize essential information.
• Group questions by relevance and similarity.

Start Broad, Then Refine:

• Begin with general inquiries.
• Progress to more specific questions.
• Consider multiple surveys for detailed insights.

Use Conversational Language:

• Ensure questions are clear and unbiased.
• Read aloud for tone and clarity.
• Strive for a balance between engagement and neutrality.

Target Audience Selection:

• Focus on key stakeholders.
• Avoid surveying irrelevant or inactive customers.
• Consider diverse perspectives for comprehensive insights

Once you have gathered your market research for launching your new products or existing ones, what are your next steps? 

Whether you are looking to rebrand with your new market insights or start a new brand (check out our food packaging design guide ), working with a CPG branding agency to identify actionable insights from your market research is worth the investment. They can help you take the information you gather and design products with your target audience in mind. They possess deep industry knowledge and expertise, ensuring that CPG packaging designs not only catch consumers’ attention but also effectively communicate brand identity and product benefits. 

How to Write Product Proposals That Land Deals (+Examples)

Learn how to write product proposals with our expert tips. Discover inspiring product proposal examples and use templates to create your best deck yet.

8 minute read

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Short answer

What is a product proposal?

A product proposal is a document that outlines the concept, benefits, and roadmap of a new product. It's designed to persuade stakeholders or investors by showcasing the product's potential and how it addresses specific user needs or bridges market gaps.

Why do most product proposals fail?

Your product proposal is competing for attention against an army of competitors. For a busy decision-maker, 99% of proposals look alike.

Most product proposals fail because they fail to stand out. What are you doing to be that 1% that makes it in the door?

Stick around, and I’ll teach you how to write a product proposal that opens doors.

You’ll also get concrete examples and templates of product proposals that worked well for others like you.

Let’s dive in!

What should be included in a product proposal?

Creating a product proposal presentation is like painting a picture of your product's future – it needs to be vivid, compelling, and memorable.

Here's a list of essential elements to include, ensuring your proposal captures attention and convinces readers to buy into your vision.

11 elements of a product proposal:

Engaging introduction: Begin with a headline that grabs attention and succinctly presents your product idea.

Product overview: Provide a concise yet thorough summary of your product, highlighting its unique aspects.

Target market analysis: Clearly define and describe the intended market for your product, emphasizing its relevance to this group.

Consumer advantages: Clearly list the key benefits your product offers to its users and the problem it solves.

Market comparison: Analyze similar products in the market, showcasing how your product differentiates and excels.

Development roadmap: Outline the key stages in your product's development, including current progress and future goals.

Team: Introduce yourself, highlighting your background and experiences that add credibility to the product's success.

Promotional strategies: Detail your plans for marketing and promoting your product.

Pricing strategy: Discuss your product's pricing model, explaining how it aligns with market expectations and product value.

Financial projections: Provide calculated estimates of potential earnings, costs, and overall financial growth expectations.

Next step: End with a clear call to action, guiding readers on what to do next.

What is the best product proposal format?

When it comes to product proposals, format is key. The most popular product proposal formats include traditional documents and PowerPoint presentations.

Documents are great for detailed, text-heavy content, allowing for in-depth explanations and comprehensive data presentation.

PowerPoint presentations, on the other hand, are excellent for visually driven pitches, making them ideal for capturing attention with graphics and concise points.

Interactive decks combine the best of both worlds – the detail of documents and the visual appeal of presentations.

They stand out for their dynamic nature, allowing viewers to engage with the content through clickable elements, embedded videos, and interactive data visualizations.

It's a format that not only tells but shows the potential of your product, making it a powerful tool in any salesperson's arsenal.

You can see what an interactive product proposal looks like below:

Product proposal examples that sell your idea

Exploring product proposal examples is a great way to understand what leads to success.

In this section, we showcase a variety of proposals that have effectively achieved their goals, whether it’s securing investment, impressing stakeholders, or launching a product with a bang.

We'll break down what makes each example stand out. You'll see how clear communication, creative presentation, and a solid understanding of the audience and market come together to create a persuasive and impactful product proposal.

Product marketing proposal

This product marketing proposal outlines a strategic approach to boost business efficiency and growth, leveraging tailored consulting solutions to overcome common industry challenges.

What makes this product proposal example great:

Strategic insights and custom solutions: It offers actionable strategies and custom solutions tailored to specific business challenges, demonstrating a deep understanding of dynamic market needs.

Quantifiable success metrics: The proposal highlights proven impacts, such as revenue growth, market expansion, and client satisfaction rates, providing tangible evidence of its effectiveness.

Engaging and interactive presentation: Utilizing an interactive format, the proposal engages readers with a compelling narrative and easy-to-navigate sections, enhancing the overall user experience.

Product supply proposal

This product supply proposal shows how a well-structured presentation, combined with a clear value proposition and user-friendly design elements, can effectively communicate the benefits of a product, encouraging potential clients to take the next step.

Clear value proposition: The proposal effectively communicates a clear value proposition, emphasizing how the presented solutions address inefficiencies in IT systems.

Narrated design: It employs a narrated design approach in the key features section, making it easy for readers to understand the benefits of the offered solutions.

Embedded calendar for easy scheduling: Embedding your calendar in the deck simplifies the process for potential clients to schedule a meeting or demo, enhancing user engagement and facilitating immediate action.

Private label product proposal

This proposal effectively utilizes multimedia elements and customization options to enhance engagement and provide comprehensive insights into the product's value proposition.

Video on the cover: Incorporating a video on the cover page immediately engages viewers, providing a dynamic introduction to the product and setting the tone for the proposal.

Option to embed external links: The proposal includes the ability to embed a link to a detailed case study, offering potential clients a deeper insight into the product's impact and success stories.

Easy personalization: It offers the flexibility to easily create personalized versions of the deck in just a few clicks, allowing for a tailored presentation that can address the specific needs and interests of different clients.

Product distribution proposal

This product distribution proposal is designed to efficiently outline a strategic approach for expanding market reach through various distribution channels, leveraging digital tools for customization and adaptability.

What makes this product distribution proposal example great:

Easily customizable logo placeholders: The proposal includes easily customizable logo placeholders, allowing for quick branding personalization that aligns with the distributor or partner's corporate identity.

Option to edit details after sending the deck: It offers the flexibility to edit details even after the deck has been sent, ensuring that the information remains up-to-date and can be adjusted based on ongoing discussions or feedback.

Option to segment content in tabs: You can segment the content in tabs, making the proposal easy to navigate and allowing readers to quickly access the information most relevant to them.

Product development proposal

This product development proposal is crafted to showcase a strategic approach for creating innovative solutions, utilizing a dynamic and interactive presentation format that emphasizes key information and engages stakeholders.

What makes this product development proposal example great:

Use of grayed-out content: The proposal smartly uses grayed-out content to subtly guide the reader's attention towards the most critical information, ensuring focus on key points and decisions.

Various image and video placeholders: It is equipped with a variety of image and video placeholders, allowing for a rich, multimedia presentation of the product concept, features, and potential impact, making the proposal more engaging.

Option to add an accept button: Including an 'Accept' button streamlines the decision-making process and facilitates quicker progression to the next stages of development.

Software product proposal

This product proposal is designed to present a software solution that combines the charm of retro gaming with modern technology. This deck is ideal for showcasing software products that appeal to both nostalgia and contemporary user needs.

What makes this product proposal great:

Captivating introduction: The deck starts with a compelling introduction that sets the stage for the software's unique features and potential impact.

Mission and vision communication: The proposal articulates a mission that focuses on reconnecting generations through the shared joy of gaming, adding depth to the product's purpose.

Interactive elements for user experience: It incorporates interactive elements like demos or virtual tours, enhancing user engagement and understanding.

Physical product proposal

This physical proposal deck is specifically designed for introducing a tangible product, in this case, high-end headphones. It combines technical details with a focus on user experience, making it ideal for a product that blends technology with lifestyle.

Engaging product storytelling: The proposal opens with a compelling narrative about the product, focusing on its unique features and user benefits.

Strategic market positioning: It features a market analysis section, focusing on positioning the product in a competitive landscape.

Target audience identification: It includes a section for defining the target audience, focusing on demographics, preferences, and buying behaviors.

Product business proposal

This proposal is a specialized presentation designed to effectively communicate a product's strategic plan and development journey. It's crafted to be both informative and engaging, with features that enhance the presentation and understanding of the product strategy.

Interactive timeline: It features an interactive timeline that allows viewers to explore the key value propositions.

Built-in analytics panel: The deck features a built-in analytics panel that tracks its performance. This tool provides valuable insights into viewer engagement, helping to measure the effectiveness of the proposal and make data-driven improvements.

Smart CTA with an embedded calendar: The proposal includes a smart call-to-action feature with an embedded calendar, enabling readers to easily schedule a meeting or consultation directly from the proposal.

How to write a product proposal?

Crafting a product proposal is like telling a compelling story where your product is the protagonist. It's not just about listing features; it's about weaving a narrative that captivates, convinces, and converts. Here’s how you can do it in a few simple steps.

7 steps to write a product proposal:

1) Understand your audience

Know who you're speaking to. Whether it's investors, stakeholders, or potential customers, understanding their needs and expectations is crucial. Tailor your product proposal to address their specific interests and concerns.

2) Define your product’s unique value

What makes your product unique? Focus on the features that set your product apart from the competition. Explain how it solves a problem or fulfills a need better than anything else out there.

3) Structure your proposal effectively

Start with an engaging introduction that piques interest, such as a surprising statistic or a relatable anecdote.

Then, detail your product with a focus on benefits, not just features. Conclude with a call to action that's clear and compelling, like inviting stakeholders to a demo. Make sure every section flows logically into the next.

4) Use persuasive language

Your choice of words can make a big difference. Use persuasive language that evokes emotion and creates a sense of urgency. However, avoid over-exaggeration; stay credible and authentic.

For example, instead of saying, "Our product increases productivity," say, "Imagine reclaiming 10 hours a week with our productivity tool." This approach makes the benefit tangible and personal.

If you want to learn more, check out our guide on how to make a persuasive presentation .

5) Provide concrete data and research

Support your proposal with market research, user testimonials, or case studies. For instance, use data to show market trends that support the need for your product, or include a case study of a beta tester who significantly benefited from your product. Use generative AI to gather such insights.

6) Address potential concerns

Identify potential objections and address them head-on. For example, if cost might be a concern, include a comparative analysis showing long-term savings compared to competitors. This approach demonstrates foresight and builds trust.

7) End with a memorable conclusion

Your conclusion should be more than a summary; it should be a final, persuasive pitch. For instance, conclude with, "Be a part of the revolution in enhancing project management efficiency by arranging a demo with us today."

You can also embed your calendar directly into the proposal to make taking that next step easier than ever.

Here's a great example of a deck with an embedded calendar:

Similarly, adding an 'Accept' button to your proposal can streamline the decision-making process. This simple yet powerful feature dramatically reduces friction, letting your clients commit with just a single click.

This effectively shortens the sales cycle, paving the way for quicker, more efficient business transactions.

Here's an example of a deck with an accept button:

How to design a product proposal?

Designing a product proposal is about creating a visual journey that captivates and informs. It's not just about what you say; it's about how you present it.

A well-designed proposal can significantly enhance the impact of your message, turning a simple document into an engaging experience.

7 design tips for your product proposal:

1) Embrace scrollytelling

Scrollytelling , or scroll-based storytelling, brings your proposal to life, turning static information into an interactive journey. As the reader scrolls, they're drawn into a story that unfolds with each swipe, keeping them engaged and interested.

Here's a great example of scrollytelling in action:

2) Personalize your deck

Personalize your proposal by integrating with a CRM to automatically extract elements like the prospect's name or company name. This level of personalization shows attention to detail and creates a connection with the prospect, making the proposal feel tailor-made for them.

Here's an example of a personalized proposal slide:

3) Use data visualization

Go beyond basic charts and graphs. For example, use interactive timelines to show market trends or animated graphs to demonstrate user growth. This approach makes complex data easily digestible and engaging.

Here's a great example of data visualization use:

4) Include visuals and demonstrations

High-quality images, videos, or even interactive demos can significantly enhance your proposal. They allow the reader to see your product in action, providing a clearer understanding of its features and benefits.

For instance, a short video demo can be more effective than pages of text in explaining how your product works.

Here's an example of a visual proposal:

5) Design for all devices

In today's mobile-first world, your proposal needs to look great on any device. Responsive design ensures that your proposal adapts to different screen sizes, providing a seamless experience whether it's viewed on a desktop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here's what a responsive deck looks like:

6) Use consistent branding

Your proposal should reflect your brand's identity. Consistent use of colors, fonts, and logos reinforces your brand and builds trust. Every element of your proposal should align with your brand's aesthetic and values.

Here's an example of a branded deck:

7) Add interactive elements

Incorporate interactive elements like clickable tabs, expandable sections, or embedded ROI calculators that prospects can adjust to see the potential return on their investment.

These features not only make your proposal more engaging but also allow readers to explore your product in a way that's hands-on and make its benefits more tangible.

Here's a great example of an interactive slide:

Interactive product proposal templates

Crafting a proposal from scratch requires not only a deep understanding of your product but also skills in design, storytelling, and data presentation.

This is where interactive product proposal templates become invaluable. They offer a well-structured starting point, saving you from the blank slide syndrome and hours of design work.

With customizable features, these templates allow you to infuse your brand's identity and tailor the content to your product's unique story.

Grab one from the library below.

Hi, I'm Dominika, Content Specialist at Storydoc. As a creative professional with experience in fashion, I'm here to show you how to amplify your brand message through the power of storytelling and eye-catching visuals.

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How to Conduct Market Research for a Startup

• 17 Mar 2022

With every innovative product idea comes the pressing question: “Will people want to buy it?”

As an entrepreneur with a big idea, what’s the best way to determine how potential customers will react to your product? Conducting market research can provide the data needed to decide whether your product fits your target market.

Before launching a new venture, you should understand market research. Here’s how to conduct market research for a startup and why it’s important.

Access your free e-book today.

What Is Market Research?

Market research is the process of gathering information about customers and the market as a whole to determine a product or service’s viability. Market research includes interviews, surveys, focus groups, and industry data analyses.

The goal of market research is to better understand potential customers, how well your product or service fits their needs, and how it compares to competitors’ offerings.

There are two types of research you can conduct: primary and secondary.

• Primary research requires collecting data to learn about your specific customers or target market segment. It’s useful for creating buyer personas, segmenting your market, and improving your product to cater to customers’ needs .
• Secondary research is conducted using data you didn’t collect yourself. Industry reports, public databases, and other companies’ proprietary data can be used to gain insights into your target market segment and industry.

Why Is Market Research Important for Entrepreneurs?

Before launching your venture, it’s wise to conduct market research to ensure your product or service will be well received. Feedback from people who fall into your target demographics can be invaluable as you iterate on and improve your product.

Performing market research can also help you determine a pricing strategy by gauging customers’ willingness to pay for your product. Additionally, it can improve the user experience by revealing what features matter most to potential customers.

When assessing which startups to fund, investors place heavy importance on thorough market research that indicates promising potential. Providing tangible proof that your product fulfills a market need and demonstrating you’ve taken the time to iterate on and improve it signal that your startup could be a worthwhile investment.

Related: How to Talk to Potential Investors: 5 Tips

How to Do Market Research for a Startup

1. form hypotheses.

What questions do you aim to answer through market research? Using those questions, you can make predictions called hypotheses . Defining your hypotheses upfront can help guide your approach to selecting subjects, researching questions, and testing designs.

An example question you may ask is: “How much are people in my target demographic willing to pay for the current version of my product?” Your hypothesis could be: “If my product contains all its current features, customers will be willing to pay $500 for it.”

Another example question you may ask is: “What’s the user’s biggest pain point, and is my product meeting their needs?” Your hypothesis could be: “I believe the user’s biggest pain point is needing an easy, unintimidating way to learn basic car maintenance, and I predict that my product meets that need.”

You can and should test multiple hypotheses, but try to select no more than a few per test, so the research stays focused.

Related: A Beginner’s Guide to Hypothesis Testing in Business

2. Select the Type of Research Needed to Test Hypotheses

Once you’ve formed your hypotheses, determine which type of research to conduct.

If your hypotheses focus on determining your startup’s place in the broader market, start with secondary research. This can include using existing data to determine market size, how much of that market your startup could reasonably own, who your biggest competitors are, and how your brand and product compare to theirs.

If your hypotheses require primary research, decide which data collection method best fits your needs. These can include one-on-one interviews, surveys, focus groups, and polls. Primary research allows you to gather insights into customer satisfaction and loyalty, brand awareness and perception, and real-time product usability.

3. Identify Target Demographics and Recruit Subjects

To gather meaningful insights, you need to understand your target demographic. Do you aim to cater to working parents, young athletes, or pet owners? Determine the type of person who can benefit from your product.

If you conduct primary research, you need to recruit subjects. This can be done in several ways, including:

• Word of mouth: The simplest but least reliable way to recruit participants is by word of mouth. Ask people you know to refer others to be research subjects, then screen them to confirm they fit your target demographic.
• Promoting the study on social media: Many social media platforms enable you to show an ad to people who fall into specific demographic categories or have certain interests. This allows you to get the word out to a large number of people who qualify.
• Hiring a third-party market research company: Some companies provide full market research services and recruit participants and conduct research on your behalf.

However you recruit subjects, ensure they take a screener survey beforehand, which allows you to determine whether they fit the specific demographic you want to study or have a trait that eliminates them from the research pool. It also provides demographic data—such as age and race—that enables you to select a diverse subset of your target demographic.

In addition, you can offer compensation to boost participation, such as money, meal vouchers, gift cards, or early access to your product. Make it clear that compensation is in appreciation for subjects’ time and honest feedback.

4. Conduct the Research

Once you’ve determined the type of research and target demographic necessary to test your hypotheses, conduct your research. To reduce bias, enlist someone unfamiliar with your hypotheses to perform interviews or lead focus groups.

Ask questions based on your audience and hypotheses. For instance, if you’re aiming to test existing customers’ purchase motivations, you may ask: “What challenge were you trying to solve when you first bought the product?”

If examining brand perception, your audience should consist of potential customers who don’t yet know your brand. Present them with a list of competitor logos—with yours in the mix—and ask them to rank the brands by perceived reliability.

While the questions you ask are vehicles to prove or disprove hypotheses, ensure they don’t lead subjects in one direction. To craft unbiased research questions , use neutral language and vary the order of options in multiple-choice questions. This can keep subjects from selecting the same option each time if they sense the third option is always mapped to a certain outcome. It also helps account for primacy bias (the tendency to select the first option in a list) and recency bias (the tendency to select the final option in a list).

Once you’ve collected data, ensure it’s organized efficiently and securely so you can protect subjects’ identities .

Related: 3 Examples of Bad Survey Questions and How to Fix Them

5. Gather Insights and Determine Action Items

After you’ve organized your data, analyze it to extract actionable insights. While some of the data will be qualitative rather than quantitative, you can detect patterns in responses to make it quantifiable. For instance, noting that 15 of 20 subjects mentioned feeling overwhelmed when attempting to assemble your product.

Once you’ve analyzed the data and communicated emerging trends using data visualizations , outline action items.

If the majority of users in your target demographic reported feeling overwhelmed while assembling your product, action items might include:

• Creating different versions of assembly instructions to test with other groups, varying diagrams and instructional language
• Researching instruction manual best practices

Each round of market research can offer more information about how your product is perceived and experienced by potential users.

Market Research as an Ongoing Endeavor

While it’s useful to conduct market research before launching your product, you should revisit your hypotheses and form new ones over the course of building your venture.

By conducting market research with each version of your product, you can gradually improve it and ensure it continues to fit target customers’ needs.

Are you interested in bolstering your entrepreneurship skills? Explore our four-week online course Entrepreneurship Essentials and our other entrepreneurship and innovation courses to learn to speak the language of the startup world.

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Home • Knowledge hub • How to write a market research report for a new product launch

How to write a market research report for a new product launch

When launching a new product to market, it’s imperative to be prepared with relevant information. You need a deep understanding of your market, how your products will benefit that market, the potential challenges you might run into, and much more.

This is why it’s so important to write an in-depth, professional, and relevant market research report. Not only to gather and display all the right information but also so that you can share that information clearly and easily with people within and outside your organization. This is important for a wide range of different reasons.

In this article, we’ll look at why market research reports for product launches are so important and show you how to do it as effectively as possible.

Why market research reports are important

Conducting a detailed and relevant market research report before you launch your new product is a good idea for all kinds of reasons. Here are some of the main ones:

• Get buy-in from senior decision-makers . When launching any product, you’ll always want the full support of the top decision-makers at your organization. This can be a tricky thing to acquire, especially if your team is relatively unproven. A detailed and informative market research report can be the deciding factor in winning their support, convincing them that your product is well-placed to succeed, and making it much easier to achieve your goals.
• Learn more about your customers and target audience . One of the main reasons to conduct market research is to understand your prospective customers in more detail. The work you do to compile a report will give you a clear and detailed understanding of what your customers want, what they already like, where they conduct their own research, and much more. This will arm you with the insights and knowledge you need to launch your product confidently and successfully.

Discover ideas for new products and how to improve existing ones . When you research your target market, you’ll likely stumble upon inspiration for new products in addition to the one you’re planning to launch. The feedback you get from your research will also be laced with ideas for improving and tweaking existing products

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How to write a market research report effectively

In the rest of this guide, we’ll show you what you need to do to ensure your market research report is as detailed, relevant, and valuable as it possibly can be. Let’s start with the type of information you need to include.

What you need to include:

Buyer personas.

This is a crucial part of getting to know your customers and the different groups they fall into. You should start by researching your target market members as much as possible through a range of channels — interviews, social media research, email surveys, and more. Then, divide them into demographics and create a detailed persona to represent each one.

This is an incredibly valuable step because it allows you to break down your market and make broad predictions about each group’s preferences, pain points, habits, and desires. If done right, this helps you target your future marketing much more accurately and effectively.

Understand your competitors

Getting to know your competitors is a key element of market research. It allows you to understand what you will be up against when launching your product and what segments of your market might be easier or more difficult to sway from their loyalty to your competitors.

Your research report should contain detailed information about each of your competitors and what they offer. What do their products lack that yours can provide? Why do your customers go to them? How dominant are they in your market? What kind of loyalty do they command? What are some of the keys to their success? All this will help you understand what you’re up against and strengthen your chances of success.

Who did you talk to?

Much of your market research will involve talking to various people and groups of people in situations like focus groups, interviews, and surveys. It’s important to document this side of your research carefully and include it in your market research report. Be sure to break down the people you spoke to into demographics and be as specific as possible — try to align this with your buyer personas.

This will help you understand what different demographics want, identify any areas you may have missed, and see any opportunities for segmentation or expansion, as well as providing clear visibility into your research process and allowing you to justify your findings and decisions to other company members carefully.

Clearly show what will happen next — how will you use your findings? 

When you present your market research report to decision-makers in your organization, their primary concern will be what you want to do with it. Research is only valuable if it has a practical application, which should be a key element of your report.

It’s best to be specific — create plans and roadmaps for campaigns, build strategies, and include timelines and carefully researched cost estimates. If you can present a clear and viable plan for your product launch, it will be much easier to gain the support and buy-in of the higher-ups in your company. Be ready to defend and justify these plans.

Primary vs Secondary Market Research

There are two main types of research you’ll need to do when preparing your market research report: primary and secondary. Here is the difference:

• Primary research . This refers to the first-hand information you have gathered during your research — straight from the primary source. Examples include interviews with individuals, focus groups, surveys, and information from sales teams. It helps add a human touch to your research, incorporating real people’s distinct voices and opinions.
• Secondary research. This is data that your company didn’t personally collect but is available in the form of things like public records, trend reports, and market statistics. While it lacks the specific human element of primary research, it’s a great way to gain valuable overall insights about your target market without having to conduct huge research projects yourself.

Convincing company decision-makers with your market research report

One of the most essential functions of a market research report is to convince your company’s key stakeholders that you are prepared for a product launch and have everything in place to begin the process successfully.

When creating your report, you should always have this goal in mind. Here are some ways to do that:

• Always clearly tie your research for business outcomes. For every conclusion your report reaches, explain what this means for the business and what concrete actions you will take as a result.
• Use as many stats and as much hard data as possible. Clearly express this data in the form of graphs and other visual aids. Show where your data came from, how you collected it, and how your findings will impact your product launch.
• Consider using Porter’s 5 Forces Model . This business model is aimed at understanding and explaining the fundamental market forces at work in any given industry. It can be illuminating to tie your research into this model.

A well-researched and detailed market research report is an essential part of a successful product launch strategy. It allows you to clearly understand your market, formulate concrete plans and strategies, and gain the support of your organization’s decision-makers.

Without one, you’ll be plunged into the dark, facing the monumentally challenging task of launching a product without the support of extensive research and data. To find out more about how Kadence can help you prepare a market research report and launch your product with confidence, contact us .

Helping brands uncover valuable insights

We’ve been working with Kadence on a couple of strategic projects, which influenced our product roadmap roll-out within the region. Their work has been exceptional in providing me the insights that I need. Senior Marketing Executive Arla Foods

Kadence’s reports give us the insight, conclusion and recommended execution needed to give us a different perspective, which provided us with an opportunity to relook at our go to market strategy in a different direction which we are now reaping the benefits from. Sales & Marketing Bridgestone

Kadence helped us not only conduct a thorough and insightful piece of research, its interpretation of the data provided many useful and unexpected good-news stories that we were able to use in our communications and interactions with government bodies. General Manager PR -Internal Communications & Government Affairs Mitsubishi

Kadence team is more like a partner to us. We have run a number of projects together and … the pro-activeness, out of the box thinking and delivering in spite of tight deadlines are some of the key reasons we always reach out to them. Vital Strategies

Kadence were an excellent partner on this project; they took time to really understand our business challenges, and developed a research approach that would tackle the exam question from all directions.  The impact of the work is still being felt now, several years later. Customer Intelligence Director Wall Street Journal

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How to Write a Market Research Proposal

The market research proposal is an important first step in near all studies. First and foremost, a skeleton that details a study’s direction, goals, and focus, such proposals are typically the first point of reference for management. While the proposals make or break a project’s funding, there is one other strength no research team can ignore: direction.

Critical for any undertaking that involves research, direction helps with both the pragmatics and concepts of near all studies. Market research proposals are vital for outlining both. They also explain the potential returns or results a study can yield. Ideally, the proposal should convince outside readers while informing research and development teams.

Language is important for writing a proposal, as is organization. A lot of detail goes into the typical research proposal, and sometimes there is no clear place for essential odds and ends. Luckily, there is a general organization, or logic, that most research proposals adopt. This allows readers to quickly absorb details, jump to pertinent sections, and digest its conclusions.

While not mandatory, using these structures add a cohesion that makes reading these papers more convenient and cohesive. Length, detail, and overall complexity are all factors when considering how a research proposal should be organized. Similarly, weigh the study’s goals and potential returns. Not every proposal necessitates the same sections. In fact, simple studies can do without a lot of sections that more involved or longer studies require. That mentioned, never write off these critical five elements of your research proposal.

Overview, Definition, and Terms

Important for summing up the study’s incentives, intents, and overall feasibility, overviews prep readers for the project’s strengths. Like everything else in a proposal, clarity is also all-important. Definitions and terms are vital. Overviews are also excellent for showcasing market conditions, opportunity, goals, and overall impact to ROI. While very important, always make sure to focus on the client. Their edification should be at the forefront of any proposal writer’s mind.

Hypothesis and Goals

While referenced in the overview, extrapolation about a project’s actual agenda goes a long way. Near everyone reviewing a research proposal will search for a hypothesis. While fine to reference in the overview, an outright hypothesis will always predominate the research proposal and its direction. Be clear as possible!

The hypothesis itself, however, explains the goal’s prospective burdens, costs, and returns. Also explain how these different elements combine to form a whole level of different parts. Perhaps most intrinsic is the order of said goals, as well how they compliment each other.

Realizing goals requires exploring a range of target segments that can appreciate the product, content, or whatever else. Exploring these different targets includes any range of periphery methods, not to mention actual possibilities. What is vital, however, is a full explanation as to why the target is pertinent.

Methodology and Conditions

The logical extension, research proposals must detail methodology. Include practices and conditions, study types, analysis standards, and other crucial aspects. Make sure extrapolation focuses on the actual methodology, however. Pragmatic intricacies can be glossed over, but that really depends on the reader. Researchers will typically want to know about the whole process, while management typically focuses on efficacy and ROI.

Discuss.io can offer deliverables within 48 hours, the fastest in the industry. Establishing a clear timeline  is still critical though. Product and content dev teams typically need to keep informed. A common timeline really encourages such cohesion, not mention also keeps MR better aware as to the product or content’s direction. Along with setting a schedule, timelines also helps inform team members of their objectives and schedule. Such a cohesive view both informs researchers as reminds them of the importance of each task.

Source:  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode

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How to Create a Market Research Plan

Before starting a business, you want to fully research your idea. A market research plan will help you understand your competition, the marketplace and more.

Table of Contents

While having a great idea is an important part of establishing a business, you’ll only get so far without laying the proper groundwork. To help your business take off, not only do you need to size up the competition, but you also need to identify who will buy your product, how much it will cost, the best approach to selling it and how many people will demand it.

To get answers to these questions, you’ll need a market research plan, which you can create yourself or pay a specialist to create for you. Market research plans define an existing problem and/or outline an opportunity. From there, the marketing strategy is broken down task by task. Your plan should include objectives and the methods that you’ll use to achieve those objectives, along with a time frame for completing the work.

What should a market research plan include?

A market research plan should provide a thorough examination of how your product or service will fare in a defined area. It should include:

• An examination of the current marketplace and an analysis of the need for your product or service: To know where you fit in the market, it’s important to have a broad understanding of your industry — covering everything from its annual revenue to the industry standards to the total number of businesses operating within it. Start by gathering statistical data from sources like the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and BMI Research and consider the industry’s market size, potential customer base and how external factors such as laws, technology, world events and socioeconomic changes impact it.
• An assessment of the competition: By analyzing your competitors, you can discover strategies to fill market gaps. This involves identifying well-known competitors and noting trends they employ successfully, scrutinizing customer feedback about businesses in your sector, such as through online reviews, and understanding competitors’ product or service offerings. This knowledge can then guide the refinement of your own products or services to differentiate them from others in the market.
• Data about customers: Identify which segment of potential customers in your industry you can effectively target, considering their demographics — such as age, ethnicity, income and location and psychographics, including beliefs, values and lifestyle. Learn about the challenges your customers face in their daily lives and determine how the features and benefits of your offerings address their needs.
• The direction for your marketing in the upcoming year: Your plan should provide a clear roadmap for your marketing strategies for the next year, focusing on approaches to distinguish your brand from competitors. Develop marketing messages that resonate with and display empathy toward your target market and find ways to address customers’ needs and demonstrate value.
• Goals to be met: Outline goals your business would like to achieve and make these goals clear to all employees on your team. Create goals that are realistic and attainable while also making a meaningful impact on the business’s growth. Consider factors including your target number of products or services, the expected number of units to sell based on market size, target market behavior, pricing for each item and the cost of production and advertising.

How to create your market research plan

Doing business without having a marketing plan is like driving without directions. You may eventually reach your destination, but there will be many costly and time-consuming mistakes made along the way.

Many entrepreneurs mistakenly believe there is a big demand for their service or product but, in reality, there may not be, your prices may be too high or too low or you may be going into a business with so many restrictions that it’s almost impossible to be successful. A market research plan will help you uncover significant issues or roadblocks.

Step 1. Conduct a comprehensive situation analysis.

One of the first steps in constructing your marketing plan is to create a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis , which is used to identify your competition, to know how they operate and then to understand their strengths and weaknesses.

Step 2: Develop clear marketing objectives.

In this section, describe the desired outcome for your marketing plan with realistic and attainable objectives, the targets and a clear and concise time frame. The most common way to approach this is with marketing objectives, which may include the total number of customers and the retention rate, the average volume of purchases, total market share and the proportion of your potential market that makes purchases.

Step 3: Make a financial plan.

A financial plan is essentia l for creating a solid marketing plan. The financial plan answers a range of questions that are critical components of your business, such as how much you intend to sell, what will you charge, how much will it cost to deliver your services or produce your products, how much will it cost for your basic operating expenses and how much financing will you need to operate your business.

In your business plan, be sure to describe who you are, what your business will be about, your business goals and what your inspiration was to buy, begin or grow your business.

Step 4: Determine your target audience.

Once you know what makes you stand out from your competitors and how you’ll market yourself, you should decide who to target with all this information. That’s why your market research plan should delineate your target audience. What are their demographics and how will these qualities affect your plan? How do your company’s current products and services affect which consumers you can realistically make customers? Will that change in the future? All of these questions should be answered in your plan.

Step 5: List your research methods.

Rarely does one research avenue make for a comprehensive market research plan. Instead, your plan should indicate several methods that will be used to determine the market share you can realistically obtain. This way, you get as much information as possible from as many sources as possible. The result is a more robust path toward establishing the exact footprint you desire for your company.

Step 6: Establish a timeline.

With your plan in place, you’ll need to figure out how long your market research process will take. Project management charts are often helpful in this regard as they divide tasks and personnel over a timeframe that you have set. No matter which type of project management chart you use, try to build some flexibility into your timeframe. A two-week buffer toward the home stretch comes in handy when a process scheduled for one week takes two — that buffer will keep you on deadline.

Step 7: Acknowledge ethical concerns.

Market research always presents opportunities for ethical missteps. After all, you’ll need to obtain competitor information and sensitive financial data that may not always be readily available. Your market research plan should thus encourage your team to not take any dicey steps to obtain this information. It may be better to state, “we could not obtain this competitor information,” than to spy on the competitor or pressure their current employees for knowledge. Plus, there’s nothing wrong with simply feeling better about the final state of your plan and how you got it there.

Using a market research firm

If the thought of trying to create your own market research plan seems daunting or too time-consuming, there are plenty of other people willing to do the work for you.

Pros of using a market research firm

As an objective third party, businesses can benefit from a market research firm’s impartial perspective and guidance, helping to shape impactful brand strategies and marketing campaigns. These firms, which can help businesses with everything from their marketing campaigns to brand launches, deliver precise results, drawing on their expertise and experience to provide in-depth insights and solutions tailored specifically to your company’s needs. 

Even more, working with a market research firm can elevate a brand above the competition, as they provide credible and unique research that is highly valued by the media, enhancing brand credibility and potentially increasing website traffic, social media shares and online visibility.

Cons of using a market research firm

Although hiring a firm can provide businesses with tremendous results, certain downsides can lead a business toward the do-it-yourself route. Most notably, market research firms can be a costly expense that some businesses can’t afford. However, businesses that can allocate the funds will likely see a positive return on investment, as they are paying for the expertise and proficiency of seasoned professionals in the field.

Additionally, finding the right market research firm for your business’s needs can take some time — and even longer, ranging from weeks to months, for a market research firm to complete a plan. This lack of immediate results can be detrimental for businesses that don’t have the time to wait. 

Market research firms can charge into the thousands of dollars for a market research plan, but there are ways to get help more affordably, including:

• Outline your plans carefully and spell out objectives.
• Examine as many sources as possible.
• Before paying for any information, check with librarians, small business development centers or market research professors to see if they can help you access market research data for free.
• You may think you’ll need to spend a hefty sum to create a market research plan, but there are plenty of free and low-cost sources available, especially through university business schools that will guide you through the process.

Miranda Fraraccio contributed to this article. 

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Free Marketing Research Proposal Template

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Table of contents

What is a Marketing research proposal?

A marketing research proposal is a document designed to sell your services by showing potential clients the research that you will carry out for their project. Whether you’re a freelance marketing consultant or you have your own marketing agency, a market research proposal will cover what research needs to be done, how you’ll go about it, and why they should choose you for the project.

A proposal is typically one of the first points of contact that you have with an organization. Therefore, it’s a chance to make a strong first impression.

Note: Sign up now to get your free marketing research proposal template that will make yours stand out for all the right reasons.

What to include in the Marketing research proposal

A market research proposal will outline your market research plan and each critical step you need to take to perform the necessary research. It usually consists of three parts.

• Introduction: This includes project objectives and scope, target market, and methodology, including data collection methods.
• Discussion: This covers existing knowledge of the market, case studies or competitor analysis, a project timeline, proposed budget, deliverables, and ethical considerations. ‍
• Summary: This concludes what you expect to achieve from the market research, how it will support the initial objectives, and why your company is the best for the job.

Introduction

At the top of any market research proposal template should be the title of your document followed by who it has been written by and who it’s for. You can also include both company addresses here if you wish.

Proceed to outline the project description and the purpose of performing the market research. What are you trying to achieve? Why is this research needed? Who will be conducting it? What problem are you trying to solve for the client?

You should also include a methodology section in your introduction. The research methodology should dive into what primary and secondary research will be conducted, how data will be collected, and the expected outcomes. As a freelance researcher, you’ll already know this, but it’s worth covering what’s included in each to the client:

• Primary research is research that you carry out yourself in the form of two research methods: qualitative and quantitative research. Qualitative research relies on first-hand observation from things like interviews, questionnaires, and focus groups. Quantitative research, on the other hand, relies on the collection and analysis of data from an online survey and polls.
• Secondary research is research that has already been published and comes from secondary sources. This may include academic literature, print publications, and online studies.

It’s important to give an overview of your target audience in your methodology too.

For instance, if your client is trying to determine whether it’s a good time to launch a new product, your methodology in your market research proposal would explain how you plan to arrange a focus group with their target audience of females aged 16-24. Being present in the meeting, asking the right questions, and making notes to refer to later on would confirm whether the prospective product could be useful and — ultimately — successful.

The discussion section of your marketing research proposal is typically the meatiest. It’s where you should demonstrate what you already know about the industry and company, while getting into the finer details of the market research project.

• Existing Industry Knowledge: Prospective clients are likely going to want to hire someone who knows what they’re talking about. Right? Demonstrate that’s you by discussing the market and how it’s being affected in terms of the PEST analysis (politically, economically, socioculturally, and technologically). You can also cover case studies or a competitor analysis of companies that have already undertaken the same research and achieved similar goals.
• Timeline: For the research items that you listed in your methodology, include time frames of when each one will be conducted. You don’t have to be super precise here — it’s more about giving your client a realistic idea of the timings of key project milestones. However, exact details can be tweaked and laid out in a marketing research contract once your proposal and project quote has been approved.
• Proposed Budget: Any market research proposal template has to include a budgeting section. This is where you would break down how much you expect the research to cost, while offsetting it with how the client can make the most out of their investment. Just like with the timeline, the information doesn’t have to be exact at this stage. It’s more a rough estimate to ensure that the project expectations of both parties align.
• Deliverables: This section should answer any questions that a prospective client may have on the general organization of the project. In other words, it should tell them how you plan to present the research and its findings, whether it’s in the form of a one-off report, series of meetings, or collaborative Google Docs. You may choose to hand-deliver a printed copy of your findings or email through a PDF file. Either way, this section is a significant part of a market research proposal as the findings taken from the document need to be actionable by the marketing team.
• Ethical Considerations: This part of the market research proposal should outline any ethical issues that may arise throughout the course of your research, from conflicts of interest to concerns about supplier relationships. It should also cover how you plan to deal with participants, data gathering, and privacy issues before the project has even begun.

For example, you may write something like the following: “Each participant will be told that their input in this research is voluntary. They will be provided with a form to assure them that their data will remain confidential for the purposes of this research and won’t be used by third parties. They must sign this form in person or we can accept digital signatures to consent to these terms.”

The summary tends to be the shortest section of your market research proposal. It’s where you would refer back to the initial project objectives and conclude the desired outcomes from the market research.

It’s a good idea to end on a punchy note by describing why your potential client should become an actual client.

• What can your company offer to this project that no other company can?
• Why are you the perfect person or team to perform the research?
• What makes this proposal unique?

Don’t lose sight of the fact that you’re trying to convince somebody (or some people) of your value. You want them to take action after reading your proposal, which is why you should include a compelling Call-To-Action (CTA). Let them know what the next steps entail, and how to take them.

How to write a Marketing research proposal

The truth is, it’s difficult to draft a market research proposal without some key information from your prospective client.

To gather all of the details you need to create a winning marketing research proposal, follow the below steps.

Find out exactly what the client wants to achieve

During your initial email or phone discussion, ask your client what they want to get out of the research. Are they rebranding and want to redefine their target market? Or are they testing out a new product with a small group of people before unleashing it to the masses?

Either way, it’s useful to know their final goals so that you can start to make a plan on how to help them achieve them.

Discuss the finer details

Alongside your prospective client’s research objectives, you need to find out more details in terms of their:

• Target demographics
• Project deadline
• Project budget

You should also ask them if there’s any other key information that they would like you to include in the market research proposal. This will ensure that you have everything you need upfront without having to make extensive edits later on.

Figure out what sets you apart

Keep in mind that you haven’t been awarded the job yet. A work proposal is essentially a sales document — it almost serves as a resume before the client decides that you’re the ideal person to hire.

As such, do some company research to put you ahead of your competition. Is there a link you can make with the company based on your background and interests? Why should they care about you? What do you offer that no one else does?

Be sure to feature all of this information in your market researching proposal, and don’t be afraid of highlighting your strengths and wins.

Creating a Marketing research proposal is simple with Bonsai

There's plenty to think about when conducting marketing research, which is why you can make life a little simpler with Bonsai. Bonsai's all-in-one tool for small businesses, freelancers, and entrepreneurs streamlines administrative tasks and covers all bases when it comes to proposals, contracts, and invoices.

You can find a template specific to market research and edit it to meet your needs in minutes. Then all you have to do is send it off to your client, which you can do without even leaving the platform. Talk about a time- and energy-saver!

The marketing research proposal template is professional and refined in structure. This provides clarity to your potential client by laying out exactly what you can do for them within their timeline and budget.

Simply enter your information, sit back, and be prepared to wow your prospective client so much that they hire you on the spot.

Note : Sign up for free and get started!

Marketing research proposal FAQs

How long should a marketing research proposal be.

A market research proposal should be concise and fluff-free. It should cover all the obligatory information without dragging it out. After all, prospective clients are busy reviewing other proposals and working on further aspects of their business.

The perfect length is between 1-2 pages, but try to ensure that it’s no more than 3.

What should the tone and writing style of a marketing research proposal be?

Because your market research proposal is only a couple of pages long, the writing style should be clear and easy to read. The language should be simple, everyday, and familiar, using short sentences that get to the point and won’t clutter up the document.

The tone of your plan should be informative and position you as the expert to leave a positive, long-lasting impression on your prospective client.

What is the main purpose of marketing research?

Marketing research aims to investigate and assess how certain factors influence consumer behavior. This provides key insights that are relevant to decision making.

Marketing research can identify new business opportunities and avoid business failures. That said, above all, it can be used to inform a company’s marketing strategy to help them achieve their business goals.

How do you write a marketing research proposal?

What is market research and examples, what is research proposal template.

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Market Research Proposal

Proposal maker.

Setting the direction for any market research effort is an essential and critical step that you have to consider whenever you would like to look into the trends in the marketplace or assess the key factors that affect the purchasing decisions of your target audience. Before doing any program or activity related to the specified matter, you first have to know how to execute an effective proposal writing procedure.

Developing a comprehensive and detailed market research proposal can help you a lot in terms of organizing the market research processes that you would like to conduct as well as the resources that you will be needing.

• Google Docs

Size: A4, US

State the objectives, scope of work, research methodology, target market, and other such important information of your market research by downloading and using this above-shown research  proposal example  template. This ready-made template’s content can be edited and customized in various file formats such as MS Word, Pages, Gooogle Docs, and editable PDF. Hurry up and try it out now!

Market Research Proposal Example

Download and make use of this market research template so that you can conduct your market research effectively. Using this, you can conveniently outline the objectives and goals for your market research, thereby, saving you enough time to do other tasks related to the research. Edit and customize using  MS Word and Pages. You can also click on  multimedia project proposal examples .

Marketing Research Proposal Example

It is important to not let yourself get confused between a market research proposal and a marketing research proposal. The marketing research proposal deals with the presentation of potential promotional and advertising activities that can be implemented by a company to present and market its products, services, deals, and other offers while the marketing research proposal is focused on learning the market movement based on the market’s trends, activities, and size.

Proposal for Market Research Example

Size: 10 KB

If you want to create your market research proposal, one of the things that you can do to help you have an easier time when developing the document is to look into references like downloadable examples. Simply browse through the market research proposal examples in PDF that are available in this post so you can have an idea of how to properly create the best market research proposal for your business.

Free Market Research Proposal Example

Size: 340 KB

Importance of a Market Research Proposal

A market research proposal helps you properly think of the things that truly matter when it comes to the market research. With the help of this document, you can give priority to the factors and elements that can contribute to the advancement and growth of your business .

Using a market research proposal can also give you time to put together relevant and necessary processes that are most likely helpful in achieving not only the goals of your market research activities but the corporate goals of the business as well. Here are some of the reasons why you need to create and use a market research proposal:

1. A market research proposal is one of the most essential documents that are used by businesses to properly plan the entire process of their market research activities. It presents the outline of the market research’s goals and it also focuses on the action plans that can lead the business to the achievement of its objectives and vision.

2. A market research proposal can give an idea about the funding that is needed by the team to execute the activities for market research. Financial support from the organization is needed to be addressed to make sure that all plotted procedures will be implemented accordingly. You may also see business proposal examples .

Developing the market research proposal with the knowledge that funding will be given for its implementation can make the marketing team, as well as the other people involved in the activity, become more proactive and efficient as it is most likely that what they envisioned and planned will be realized.

3. A market research proposal, especially one that contains a marketing SWOT analysis and a market condition overview, can help you look into the external and internal factors that affect your business operations.

The knowledge about the nature of your business, the competition that you need to look out for, the threats and risks that you need to prepare for, the needs and demands of your audience, the movement and shifts in the marketplace, and the opportunities that you should grab can make you become more well-rounded and multifaceted when drafting the market research proposal that you would like to present. You may also check out project proposal examples .

4. A market research proposal can discuss the milestones that are expected to be achieved by the business with the help of market research strategies and general action plans . Hence, this document can persuade and convince its target audience that a proposed market research activity must be approved especially if expected results can excessively benefit the business or provide a solution to its current issues, problems, and concerns.

Sample Marketing Research Proposal Example

Size: 90 KB

Proposal for Marketing Research and Market Intelligence Example

Size: 607 KB

Market Research and Analysis Report for Proposal Referencing Example

Size: 152 KB

Market Research Proposal Content

Different market research proposals have different sections, clauses, or areas of discussion. The content of a market research proposal depends on the purpose of its usage, the scope of the activity, the expected returns of the business, the professional goals of the market research, and the relation of the document’s usage to the vision of the business.

Even if there are differences when it comes to the information that you can see in many market research proposals used in various industries, there are still common or usual information that is seen in any market research proposal. Some of the details that are essential to be included in a market research proposal are as follows:

1. Develop a hypothesis. This is very important as you need to present the potential impacts of the market research proposal when implemented. This can also help you identify the ways on how you can interlink or align all the elements that are essential for the successful execution of all the market research proposal’s areas. You may also see short proposal examples .

2. Present an overview of the market research activities that you would like the business to consider. You have to sum up the intent of the market research as well as the output that you expect from it. More so, you have to discuss the feasibility, attainability, and sustainability of your general plans . Being able to showcase these strengths can help your market research proposal become more appealing and relevant.

3. Just like when making a development project proposal , use a timeline that can give an idea of the entire duration of the market research proposal’s actual usage. You have to set time frames where specific deliverables should be seen or observed already. With this, you can ensure your target audience that the proposal is time-bound and realistic.

4. Especially if you will use technical terms, a proper definition of terms is highly suggested to be included in your market research proposal. This part of the document can make the general proposal more understandable for any reasonable person.

5. Know your targets so you can easily come up with the methodology that is relevant to your needs. All the practices and activities that you would like to immerse in should be thoroughly defined in the document so that the general analysis of the measures of your proposal can be objectively done.

6. Discuss the current market conditions in the marketplace where your business belongs. Aside from the trends that you need to consider, you also have to list down the opportunities that the business can take to help it achieve its goals and return of investments.

Marketing Information Management System Research Proposal Example

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Research Proposal Usable for Market Study Example

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Market Research and Developing a Marketing Plan Proposal Example

Market Research Conduct and Proposal Drafting Example

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Discussion Flow for a Simple Market Research Proposal

The format and discussion flow of the market research proposal can contribute to the document’s successes, or the lack thereof. This is the reason why you have to be careful with how you will present the market research proposal to your audience. You have to ensure that the document is visually pleasing and well-organized so that people will not have a hard time reviewing its content. You may also see  freelance proposal examples .

A basic discussion flow that you can use when presenting the details of your market research proposal are listed below:

• The title of your market research  proposal sample
• The date when the market research proposal has been made and the dates of its updates
• The name of the company who can benefit from the document
• The name of the person who prepared the proposal and the department or division where he or she is assigned at
• The executive summary of the market research proposal
• The objectives of the market research proposal
• The current condition of the business and the market as well as other important existing knowledge
• The expected output of the document’s usage, when approved
• The demographics targeted by the business with the help of the market research proposal
• The processes of data gathering, collection, assessment, and presentation
• The methodology that will be applied for the  research project plan intended for a particular market
• The dates and periods where particular tasks should already be done
• The budget proposed by the team or the individual who made the proposal
• Any ethical considerations that must be looked into before the implementation of the market research

Proposal to Conduct Consumer Experience of Care Surveys or Market Research

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Request for Proposal for Solicitation for Contract for Market Research Example

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Marketing Research Group Project Proposal Example

Marketing Research Firm Proposal Example

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Tips to Develop an Impressive Market Research Proposal

Aside from having an advertising and marketing business plan , you should also have a market research plan. It is not enough for you to rely on your knowledge about the things that you can control. You also have to think of the elements that are not within your hands like the trends in the marketplace and the reaction of your audience and competition with regards to these trends and/or any other market changes.

Listed below are a few of the tips that you can use if you want to develop an impressive market research proposal for your business:

1. Since a market research proposal is one of the first documents that you will be needing for your market research, you have to ensure that the content of the document is flexible enough to adapt to possible changes within the development of the market research planning and implementation phases. You have to ensure that there are windows where appropriate changes can be inserted as well as channels, mediums, or platforms where you can incorporate backup plans when necessary or called for.

2. Keep in mind that the language and tone that you will use when creating the content of the market research proposal must be highly considered.

You have to ensure that the document is formal, business-appropriate, and compelling. Aside from the fact that the market research proposal is expected to be complete with all the details about your proposed market research plan, it is also imperative for you to make sure that the document is understandable, well-defined, and clear. You may also see security proposal examples .

3. Know the basics of market research proposal organization. There are different kinds of structures that you can look into so that your market research proposal can look cohesive and well put together.

The structure of the document should depend on the length of your discussion, the details that you will incorporate in your market research undertakings, and the key factors that you need to give focus and highlight on when presenting the complexity of the market research. You may also like budget proposal examples .

It will rather be more efficient for you if you plan to use references like templates and examples while preparing your market research proposal.

Maximize the help that you can get from the downloadable examples in this post as well as the related discussion that we have presented. Always ensure that there is an organization in the procedures of market research proposal development so you can be well-guided in terms of getting the output that you would like to have for your market research undertaking.

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Market Research

9 Key stages in your marketing research process

You can conduct your own marketing research. Follow these steps, add your own flair, knowledge and creativity, and you’ll have bespoke research to be proud of.

Marketing research is the term used to cover the concept, development, placement and evolution of your product or service, its growing customer base and its branding – starting with brand awareness , and progressing to (everyone hopes) brand equity . Like any research, it needs a robust process to be credible and useful.

Marketing research uses four essential key factors known as the ‘marketing mix’ , or the Four Ps of Marketing :

• Product (goods or service)
• Price ( how much the customer pays )
• Place (where the product is marketed)
• Promotion (such as advertising and PR)

These four factors need to work in harmony for a product or service to be successful in its marketplace.

The marketing research process – an overview

A typical marketing research process is as follows:

• Identify an issue, discuss alternatives and set out research objectives
• Develop a research program
• Choose a sample
• Gather information
• Gather data
• Organize and analyze information and data
• Present findings
• Make research-based decisions
• Take action based on insights

Step 1: Defining the marketing research problem

Defining a problem is the first step in the research process. In many ways, research starts with a problem facing management. This problem needs to be understood, the cause diagnosed, and solutions developed.

However, most management problems are not always easy to research, so they must first be translated into research problems. Once you approach the problem from a research angle, you can find a solution. For example, “sales are not growing” is a management problem, but translated into a research problem, it becomes “ why are sales not growing?” We can look at the expectations and experiences of several groups : potential customers, first-time buyers, and repeat purchasers. We can question whether the lack of sales is due to:

• Poor expectations that lead to a general lack of desire to buy, or
• Poor performance experience and a lack of desire to repurchase.

This, then, is the difference between a management problem and a research problem. Solving management problems focuses on actions: Do we advertise more? Do we change our advertising message? Do we change an under-performing product configuration? And if so, how?

Defining research problems, on the other hand, focus on the whys and hows, providing the insights you need to solve your management problem.

Step 2: Developing a research program: method of inquiry

The scientific method is the standard for investigation. It provides an opportunity for you to use existing knowledge as a starting point, and proceed impartially.

The scientific method includes the following steps:

• Define a problem
• Develop a hypothesis
• Make predictions based on the hypothesis
• Devise a test of the hypothesis
• Conduct the test
• Analyze the results

This terminology is similar to the stages in the research process. However, there are subtle differences in the way the steps are performed:

• the scientific research method is objective and fact-based, using quantitative research and impartial analysis
• the marketing research process can be subjective, using opinion and qualitative research, as well as personal judgment as you collect and analyze data

Step 3: Developing a research program: research method

As well as selecting a method of inquiry (objective or subjective), you must select a research method . There are two primary methodologies that can be used to answer any research question:

• Experimental research : gives you the advantage of controlling extraneous variables and manipulating one or more variables that influence the process being implemented.
• Non-experimental research : allows observation but not intervention – all you do is observe and report on your findings.

Step 4: Developing a research program: research design

Research design is a plan or framework for conducting marketing research and collecting data. It is defined as the specific methods and procedures you use to get the information you need.

There are three core types of marketing research designs: exploratory, descriptive, and causal . A thorough marketing research process incorporates elements of all of them.

Exploratory marketing research

This is a starting point for research. It’s used to reveal facts and opinions about a particular topic, and gain insight into the main points of an issue. Exploratory research is too much of a blunt instrument to base conclusive business decisions on, but it gives the foundation for more targeted study. You can use secondary research materials such as trade publications, books, journals and magazines and primary research using qualitative metrics, that can include open text surveys, interviews and focus groups.

Descriptive marketing research

This helps define the business problem or issue so that companies can make decisions, take action and monitor progress. Descriptive research is naturally quantitative – it needs to be measured and analyzed statistically , using more targeted surveys and questionnaires. You can use it to capture demographic information , evaluate a product or service for market, and monitor a target audience’s opinion and behaviors. Insights from descriptive research can inform conclusions about the market landscape and the product’s place in it.

Causal marketing research

This is useful to explore the cause and effect relationship between two or more variables. Like descriptive research , it uses quantitative methods, but it doesn’t merely report findings; it uses experiments to predict and test theories about a product or market. For example, researchers may change product packaging design or material, and measure what happens to sales as a result.

Step 5: Choose your sample

Your marketing research project will rarely examine an entire population. It’s more practical to use a sample - a smaller but accurate representation of the greater population. To design your sample, you’ll need to answer these questions:

• Which base population is the sample to be selected from? Once you’ve established who your relevant population is (your research design process will have revealed this), you have a base for your sample. This will allow you to make inferences about a larger population.
• What is the method (process) for sample selection? There are two methods of selecting a sample from a population:

1. Probability sampling : This relies on a random sampling of everyone within the larger population.

2. Non-probability sampling : This is based in part on the investigator’s judgment, and often uses convenience samples, or by other sampling methods that do not rely on probability.

• What is your sample size? This important step involves cost and accuracy decisions. Larger samples generally reduce sampling error and increase accuracy, but also increase costs. Find out your perfect sample size with our calculator .

Step 6: Gather data

Your research design will develop as you select techniques to use. There are many channels for collecting data, and it’s helpful to differentiate it into O-data (Operational) and X-data (Experience):

• O-data is your business’s hard numbers like costs, accounting, and sales. It tells you what has happened, but not why.
• X-data gives you insights into the thoughts and emotions of the people involved: employees, customers, brand advocates.

When you combine O-data with X-data, you’ll be able to build a more complete picture about success and failure - you’ll know why. Maybe you’ve seen a drop in sales (O-data) for a particular product. Maybe customer service was lacking, the product was out of stock, or advertisements weren’t impactful or different enough: X-data will reveal the reason why those sales dropped. So, while differentiating these two data sets is important, when they are combined, and work with each other, the insights become powerful.

With mobile technology, it has become easier than ever to collect data. Survey research has come a long way since market researchers conducted face-to-face, postal, or telephone surveys. You can run research through:

• Social media ( polls and listening )

Another way to collect data is by observation. Observing a customer’s or company’s past or present behavior can predict future purchasing decisions. Data collection techniques for predicting past behavior can include market segmentation , customer journey mapping and brand tracking .

Regardless of how you collect data, the process introduces another essential element to your research project: the importance of clear and constant communication .

And of course, to analyze information from survey or observation techniques, you must record your results . Gone are the days of spreadsheets. Feedback from surveys and listening channels can automatically feed into AI-powered analytics engines and produce results, in real-time, on dashboards.

Step 7: Analysis and interpretation

The words ‘ statistical analysis methods ’ aren’t usually guaranteed to set a room alight with excitement, but when you understand what they can do, the problems they can solve and the insights they can uncover, they seem a whole lot more compelling.

Statistical tests and data processing tools can reveal:

• Whether data trends you see are meaningful or are just chance results
• Your results in the context of other information you have
• Whether one thing affecting your business is more significant than others
• What your next research area should be
• Insights that lead to meaningful changes

There are several types of statistical analysis tools used for surveys. You should make sure that the ones you choose:

• Work on any platform - mobile, desktop, tablet etc.
• Integrate with your existing systems
• Are easy to use with user-friendly interfaces, straightforward menus, and automated data analysis
• Incorporate statistical analysis so you don’t just process and present your data, but refine it, and generate insights and predictions.

Here are some of the most common tools:

• Benchmarking : a way of taking outside factors into account so that you can adjust the parameters of your research. It ‘levels the playing field’ – so that your data and results are more meaningful in context. And gives you a more precise understanding of what’s happening.
• Regression analysis : this is used for working out the relationship between two (or more) variables. It is useful for identifying the precise impact of a change in an independent variable.
• T-test is used for comparing two data groups which have different mean values. For example, do women and men have different mean heights?
• Analysis of variance (ANOVA) Similar to the T-test, ANOVA is a way of testing the differences between three or more independent groups to see if they’re statistically significant.
• Cluster analysis : This organizes items into groups, or clusters, based on how closely associated they are.
• Factor analysis: This is a way of condensing many variables into just a few, so that your research data is less unwieldy to work with.
• Conjoint analysis : this will help you understand and predict why people make the choices they do. It asks people to make trade-offs when making decisions, just as they do in the real world, then analyzes the results to give the most popular outcome.
• Crosstab analysis : this is a quantitative market research tool used to analyze ‘categorical data’ - variables that are different and mutually exclusive, such as: ‘men’ and ‘women’, or ‘under 30’ and ‘over 30’.
• Text analysis and sentiment analysis : Analyzing human language and emotions is a rapidly-developing form of data processing, assigning positive, negative or neutral sentiment to customer messages and feedback.

Stats IQ can perform the most complicated statistical tests at the touch of a button using our online survey software , or data from other sources. Learn more about Stats iQ now .

Step 8: The marketing research results

Your marketing research process culminates in the research results. These should provide all the information the stakeholders and decision-makers need to understand the project.

The results will include:

• all your information
• a description of your research process
• the results
• conclusions
• recommended courses of action

They should also be presented in a form, language and graphics that are easy to understand, with a balance between completeness and conciseness, neither leaving important information out or allowing it to get so technical that it overwhelms the readers.

Traditionally, you would prepare two written reports:

• a technical report , discussing the methods, underlying assumptions and the detailed findings of the research project
• a summary report , that summarizes the research process and presents the findings and conclusions simply.

There are now more engaging ways to present your findings than the traditional PowerPoint presentations, graphs, and face-to-face reports:

• Live, interactive dashboards for sharing the most important information, as well as tracking a project in real time.
• Results-reports visualizations – tables or graphs with data visuals on a shareable slide deck
• Online presentation technology, such as Prezi
• Visual storytelling with infographics
• A single-page executive summary with key insights
• A single-page stat sheet with the top-line stats

You can also make these results shareable so that decision-makers have all the information at their fingertips.

Step 9 Turn your insights into action

Insights are one thing, but they’re worth very little unless they inform immediate, positive action. Here are a few examples of how you can do this:

• Stop customers leaving – negative sentiment among VIP customers gets picked up; the customer service team contacts the customers, resolves their issues, and avoids churn .
• Act on important employee concerns – you can set certain topics, such as safety, or diversity and inclusion to trigger an automated notification or Slack message to HR. They can rapidly act to rectify the issue.
• Address product issues – maybe deliveries are late, maybe too many products are faulty. When product feedback gets picked up through Smart Conversations, messages can be triggered to the delivery or product teams to jump on the problems immediately.
• Improve your marketing effectiveness - Understand how your marketing is being received by potential customers, so you can find ways to better meet their needs
• Grow your brand - Understand exactly what consumers are looking for, so you can make sure that you’re meeting their expectations

Download now: 8 Innovations to Modernize Market Research

Scott Smith

Scott Smith, Ph.D. is a contributor to the Qualtrics blog.

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4+ SAMPLE Market Research Proposal in PDF

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Market Research Proposal For New Product Powerpoint Presentation Slides

Keeping track of new market trends is important in the business world. Marketers research to see what is the latest in the market and what customers desire for their product. Market research is generally done to fetch information about new products and later deliver the right quality product to potential customers. Design a winning proposal and land new clients by using our content ready Market Research Proposal For New Product PowerPoint Presentation Slides. With the aid of this market research proposal PPT layout, you can provide the detailed market insights that assist your clients in decision-making. Use the market research services proposal presentation template for the context and objectives of a new product. Take the assistance of this visually-appealing market research proposal PowerPoint theme to mention the timeline to complete the market research services that include the design phase, research phase, analysis phase, and project completion. Employ our creatively designed market research proposal PPT slide to explain the key fact of different methodologies such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, and customer feedback. Use this eye-catching market research services proposal PPT slide to highlight the deliverables that your company offers like PowerPoint on key findings, filled questionnaires of the respondents, and detailed written project reports with analysis and recommendations. With the help of our interactive market research product proposal PowerPoint presentation slide, you can showcase the project objectives, target market, scope of work, and other important information related to the market search methodology. Use high-quality icons, and graphics to make your proposal even more impactful. Take advantage of this creatively designed market research PowerPoint theme to mention the acknowledgement and recognition of the work you have received from the previous clients. Download our fully customizable research proposal presentation ppts layout to help your clients in improving their brand reputation.

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Market Research

Business planning, website development, product or service selection, marketing and promotion, is it a good idea to start an online business, can i start an online business with $100, what are different types of online marketing strategies, the bottom line.

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• How to Start a Business: A Comprehensive Guide and Essential Steps
• How to Do Market Research, Types, and Example
• Marketing Strategy: What It Is, How It Works, How To Create One
• Marketing in Business: Strategies and Types Explained
• What Is a Marketing Plan? Types and How to Write One
• Business Development: Definition, Strategies, Steps & Skills
• Business Plan: What It Is, What's Included, and How to Write One
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• Business Startup Costs: It’s in the Details
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If you want to get into the online business game, it’s a good time to start. The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped online consumer spending, including how people shop online and how they research products.

Today, 76% of Americans buy products online. Furthermore, roughly a third of people purchase items online weekly. From setting up an ecommerce business to offering web design services, there are countless avenues to explore as an entrepreneur.

Below, we’ll walk through each step to building an online business.

Key Takeaways

• When starting an online business, comprehensive market research is critical for identifying your target audience and learning how to resonate with your customers and understand their needs.
• Creating a business plan is an important step for outlining your business goals. It also includes your product description, target market, and financial projections, among other core components.
• Building your website involves setting up a domain name, finding a hosting company, and designing a strong website with consistent branding that allows your customers to navigate it intuitively.
• Choosing the right product or service to sell is essential. It’s important to think about how you’re addressing an unmet need.
• Several digital marketing strategies can be utilized, from content marketing to paid advertising, to help your business grow.

Successful online entrepreneurs study hard in order to have a thorough understanding of their market. This is important for knowing exactly how to reach your target market , because these are the people who will buy your products and drive your business growth.

At its core, market research is about understanding your customers’ needs, pain points, and solutions. It is designed to help your business better meet these needs.

Steps to Conduct Market Research

Market research involves understanding key aspects of your current and future customers. To get a clear sense of your target market, outline the characteristics of your audience—for example, age, location, gender, income, job title, and key pain points.

Once you have identified your target audience, conduct research on the following topics, which will tell you about how they make decisions and how you can better position your business:

• What are the challenges that your target market faces?
• Where do they research a given product or service?
• What are their views on pricing for this product or service?
• What factors influence their decision to make a purchase?
• Who are your competitors?

To put this market research into action, there are a number of different avenues you can take:

• Focus groups
• Competitive analysis
• Brand awareness research
• Market segmentation research

Consider the following questions that may be asked in an interview or focus group to learn more about your audience:

• “How do you search for that product?”
• “How useful was it?”
• “What words do you use when you search on Google?”

When you have completed your market research, identify what you have learned as well as your next steps based on these insights.

Creating a business plan is a key first step for all business owners . It is important for companies looking to secure funding resources. It also serves as a blueprint to summarize your key business objectives and goals.

To write a business plan , incorporate these eight main sections, which are often found in traditional templates:

• Executive summary : This is typically a one-page section that explains your objectives and includes your mission statement, core team, and why your company is positioned for success.
• Company description : This describes what you offer, your competitive advantages, and your business goals.
• Market analysis : This is where you explain your target market, market size, market trends, and competitive landscape.
• Organization and management : Explain who is working on your team and their professional background and experience.
• Service or product line : Describe the product or service you are offering, including any copyright or plans for patenting.
• Marketing and sales : Discuss your marketing and sales strategy. Discuss your pricing, key metrics, and sales plan.
• Funding request : If you are a company looking for funding, here is where you outline the capital you are requesting and where it will be allocated.
• Financial projections : Include projections for your company’s revenue and expenses. Consider including an income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement in this section.

A business plan is important because it helps clarify your action points, who you are, and what you offer, all in a coherent template.

Getting your business online is the next key step. In an ever-changing environment, it is important to know the tools, trends, and strategies for building a strong online presence to allow your business to grow.

Registering Your Domain

The first step is registering your name, or your website address. This can be in the form of your business name “.com.” To purchase your domain name, you can go to sites like GoDaddy or Namecheap . If you decide to build your website using WordPress, you will need to use a site such as these to host your website.

Web Hosting Companies

Alternatively, you can buy your domain name at a hosting company. These are companies like Shopify , Wix , or Amazon Web Services , that may also offer tools to build your website and release content on them. 

Website Design

A well-designed website is important for many reasons. Using a website builder, such as Mailchimp or Squarespace , can allow you to choose a theme, customize your pages, create relevant content, and set up a payment page.

Other key aspects of your website design include its functionality, simplicity, and ease of use. Allowing your potential customers to navigate the site intuitively will be key to their experience. Brand consistency—in your logo, colors, and typeface, for example—is also key to creating a unified brand.

Another essential part of website design is its mobile application. You’ll want to ensure that your website runs smoothly on mobile, that images load properly, that the text is legible, and that buttons are intuitive to click.

This step focuses on how to choose the right product or service to sell. At the heart of this choice is the goal of solving a customer’s problem. But there are a number of strategies you can use to identify your product idea.

For example, you might consider analyzing companies with high-profit margins, products that align with your passion, burgeoning trends, items trending on online marketplaces, and/or customer reviews.

With this in mind, analyze how this product will get to your customers. Additionally, you may consider products that are not available in stores in your local market but are offered in communities such as Europe or Japan, for example.

Marketing strategy and promotion is an essential driver of business growth. As the digital landscape evolves, it’s important to have an effective marketing plan that resonates with changing consumer preferences and needs.

Here are questions that companies can consider as they create their marketing strategy, navigating today’s environment:

• Impact, value, and growth : What are the goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) that will measure success for your business? How will you explain the value that the business provides to its customers and/or society? Create an “elevator speech”—a 30-second description of what you offer and why it’s special.
• Customer need and brand promise : How does the brand meet a customer’s need through its products and services?
• Customer experience : How will the business deliver the best experiences at each stage of the customer journey?
• Organizational model : How will the business operate to serve the customer with the most impact?

These will help you understand what types of strategies can have real impact.

Types of Marketing Strategies

Consider the following digital marketing strategies that can be used for your online business:

• Email marketing
• Social media marketing
• Paid advertising
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Content marketing
• Influencer marketing

Each of these presents a different way to reach your target audience, drive conversions, or build brand awareness, depending on your marketing goals.

You need to determine that for yourself. But before starting an online business, it’s important to assess the time, investment, and resources you’ll need to get it off the ground. While the barrier to entry can be quite low, it’s worth considering your goals and strategies for making it a reality.

However, compared with starting up a traditional brick-and-mortar business, the risks of launching an online business may be reduced due to lower upfront costs such as rent, staff, and materials, among others.

The short answer: yes. While it depends on the type of business you hope to pursue, there are many ways to set up an online business at very little cost. For example, you could offer your services doing freelance work, photography, bookkeeping, or personal training. The primary costs involved include setting up your business website, which can cost as little as $2 to $20 each year with companies such as GoDaddy.

There are a number of digital marketing strategies that online businesses can use, such as content marketing, email marketing, paid advertising, SEO, and influencer marketing. Each of these strategies can be useful, depending on your product and goals.

Starting an online business can be a powerful way to launch a new product or service while reaching a wider audience. With market research, a solid business plan, a strong website, and a digital marketing strategy, you can get started in growing your company effectively. As customers increasingly make decisions virtually, building an online business is vital to any business owner’s success.

Pew Research Center. “ For Shopping, Phones Are Common and Influencers Have Become a Factor—Especially for Young Adults .”

U.S. Small Business Administration. “ Market Research and Competitive Analysis .”

U.S. Small Business Administration. “ Write Your Business Plan .”

Ogilvy. “ Getting Future Ready with Marketing Transformation ,” Page 15.

GoDaddy. “ How Much Does a Domain Name Cost? Find Out! ”

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How generative AI could accelerate software product time to market

In today’s fast-paced and dynamic business landscape, software product managers (PMs) are crucial to product innovation and success, acting as the “mini CEOs” of products. In the quest to address customers’ needs, PMs are increasingly turning to generative AI (gen AI), with adoption of the technology growing exponentially in a matter of months. 1 See “ Unleashing developer productivity with generative AI ,” McKinsey, June 27, 2023.

Over the past two decades, several trends have shaped the evolution of the PM role into a mini CEO: the shift to cloud, the growing importance of data in decision making, an increased focus on customer-led design, and growing expectations for responsible stewardship regarding privacy, sustainability, and inclusion. Now, gen AI is expected to reshape the role of PMs in a much more substantive way. This technology has the potential to not only augment and expand PMs’ roles and responsibilities but also fundamentally rewire the product development life cycle (PDLC) to achieve better customer outcomes on a shorter timeline.

About the research

To understand the impact of generative AI (gen AI) on product management quality of output, experience, product time to market, and productivity, McKinsey recruited  40 product managers (PMs) with varying levels of product management experience from the United States, Canada, Europe, and Latin America to participate in a study. Data collected about each PM included years of experience working as a PM, familiarity with various technology stacks, adoption level of generative AI tools, and time typically spent on various tasks.

Before participating in the study, the PMs attended a brief training workshop to learn about the case context and familiarize themselves with the tools. Participants were then asked to play the PM role for a fictional company and to work individually through five activities at their own pace. The activities mirrored the real-life work of PMs across the three phases of the product development life cycle (PDLC)—discovery, viability, and build—and required the PMs to generate deliverables including a market research document, a press release with frequently asked questions, a product one-pager, a product requirements document, and a product backlog. Tasks were arranged in chronological order along the PDLC to emulate their real-life execution flow to the extent possible.

McKinsey divided participants into three groups and asked them to complete activities in the three stages of the PDLC using varying levels of access to gen AI tools. PMs either had access to task-specific gen AI tools (such as Copy.ai), ChatGPT only, or no gen AI tools. Each group rotated, and start and end times were recorded for all groups to measure the time spent on each task.

After the study, PMs were asked about their experiences performing the activities and how helpful they found gen AI tools to be for completing each one. McKinsey team members then reviewed deliverables to assess their quality (accuracy and completeness). Finally, a post-study survey gathered participants’ feedback on the overall experience and the likelihood that they will adopt the tools in the future.

Given the technology’s newness and rapid pace of evolution, many product leaders are unsure which tools to select, which use cases to start with, and how to help PMs make the most of gen AI opportunities while adapting ways of working. McKinsey recently conducted empirical research on PMs in Europe and the Americas to understand the potential impact of using gen AI–based tools in their roles (see sidebar, “About the research”). The results were promising. Gen AI accelerated product time to market by 5 percent, improved PM productivity by 40 percent, and even uplifted employee experience by 100 percent. This article details findings from the study to offer an early look at the quantifiable impact of gen AI on PM roles and offers insights on how product leaders can translate these findings into impact.

The impact of gen AI on product management tasks

About quantumblack, ai by mckinsey.

QuantumBlack, McKinsey’s AI arm, helps companies transform using the power of technology, technical expertise, and industry experts. With thousands of practitioners at QuantumBlack (data engineers, data scientists, product managers, designers, and software engineers) and McKinsey (industry and domain experts), we are working to solve the world’s most important AI challenges. QuantumBlack Labs is our center of technology development and client innovation, which has been driving cutting-edge advancements and developments in AI through locations across the globe.

Participants in the PM study were divided into three groups. Each group rotated through the three phases of the PDLC to individually complete the activities using varying levels of access to gen AI tools. The PMs’ experience and performance were then assessed, and several insights emerged.

Accelerated time to market

PMs who used gen AI tools—either generic tools such as ChatGPT or task-specific tools—took less time, on average, to complete activities than PMs who did not use them, resulting in an acceleration of time to market by about 5 percent across a six-month PDLC. The time savings were driven by the use of gen AI to synthesize user research and write press releases in the discovery phase; develop product one-pagers and write product requirement documents in the viability phase; and create product backlogs in the build phase. The acceleration in time to market assumes that current PDLC activities are completed more quickly and the roles and activities involved beyond PMs are rewired to support the acceleration. The adoption of gen AI tools may allow PMs to shift time and resources to more-strategic activities such as defining the product vision, creating a long-term road map, and conducting customer-facing activities.

Significant uplift in PM experience

Strikingly, 100 percent of the participants reported an improvement in their activity experience when using gen AI tools (Exhibit 1). All but one of the PMs reported the tools were helpful with the tasks and that they would be highly or somewhat likely to use these tools in their work after the study ended. And three out of four believed the quality of their deliverables was either largely improved or somewhat improved compared to what they achieved without them. PMs perceived the tools as automating their “high toil” tasks and enabling them to focus on what mattered.

Increased productivity

Gen AI tools had almost twice as much positive impact on content-heavy tasks—gathering and synthesizing information, creating and polishing content, and brainstorming—as on content-light tasks such as data gathering and visualization (Exhibit 2). In part, this is because content-heavy tasks have more potential for automation and because gen AI excels in extracting insights from unstructured data and outpacing human content generation. In other words, content-heavy tasks inherently possess greater opportunities to harness the full potential of gen AI.

General-purpose tools such as ChatGPT were more readily adopted by PMs than task-specific tools, and they resulted in about twice the productivity gains. This result is likely attributable to the fact that general tools are more familiar to PMs and thus easier to use than specialized tools. Furthermore, some specific gen AI tools are designed to address more tailored use cases and therefore require specific input and prompts that PMs are not accustomed to. In contrast, general-purpose tools allow PMs to iterate with flexibility and use the tools as partners in solving problems.

Improved quality of deliverables

Observation of the PMs and review of their deliverables suggest that on average, gen AI tools enabled them to iterate more rapidly and produce more accurate and complete output. However, the impact of gen AI generally varied based on the experience levels of the PMs using them. PMs with more years of experience maintained a high quality of output, whereas more junior PMs gained productivity but at the expense of quality.

Our hypothesis is that senior PMs, given their familiarity with the deliverables and their stronger product sense, can better review the gen AI tools’ output and ensure high accuracy and writing fluency. More junior PMs, conversely, are still learning how to produce high-quality deliverables and cannot yet effectively review gen AI outputs. Clearly, gen AI cannot replace the foundational skills needed to be a PM, but it can help PMs develop those skills.

An increase in the quality of deliverables has broader strategic implications. Better insights and synthesis of customer needs, potential impact, and solution overview can lead to a virtuous cycle of higher-quality products and better adoption. To meet these goals, some organizations are turning to gen AI tools to accelerate their journey toward product-led growth.

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Implications for product leaders.

Technology leaders can use these findings to translate higher productivity, improved experience, and quality improvements into greater customer and product impact. As with most fundamental shifts in operating model, adopting gen AI in product management requires a thoughtful, phased approach. Leaders can keep five steps in mind as they embark on this journey to minimize the risks of using gen AI in product management.

Develop a road map linked to customer outcomes

Creating a road map for gen AI adoption is essential to build momentum and conviction within the organization. Leaders can start by establishing goals for the adoption. For software engineers, the goal of adopting gen AI tools is typically to meet productivity goals. For PMs, however, goals should be linked to customer outcomes, such as better customer satisfaction scores driven by product quality.

Once leaders have established targets for customer outcomes, they should carefully assess and prioritize key use cases in the product development process based on holistic customer impact and the maturity of tools. One common pitfall is picking use cases ad hoc based on the most readily available tool, rather than strategically selecting use cases that align with the organization’s goals and have the potential to deliver the most significant customer impact.

Once use cases are identified, product leaders can take a phased approach to gen AI adoption, starting with simpler use cases, such as document writing and idea generation. Introducing use cases to a small group of PMs before rolling them out to everyone allows for easy testing and refinement of the approach, which is critical to understand where PMs need coaching or oversight to mitigate risks and ensure that quality does not decline. In parallel, product leaders can set a baseline for organization-wide PM capability as well as PDLC maturity. Our research shows that output quality is highly contingent on PM experience. Baselining helps leaders understand which PM skills may need augmentation as they begin planning to adopt at scale. To get the most out of this adoption, leaders will need to rewire the PDLC to be aligned with the maturity baseline and inform the pace and approach for rollout.

Integrate tooling into PM flow

Another foundational aspect of effective gen AI adoption is establishing the right AI tool stack for PMs—which can be challenging given how quickly the landscape is evolving. Each new tool brings a unique mix of strengths and capabilities, and leaders must consider how new tools integrate into existing PM workflows and their potential in distinct use cases as well as across categories. Taking these steps smooths the adoption process by minimizing switching between tools and enables structured and unstructured data (for example, product instrumentation data, latest details on product ideas or epics, customer feedback, and market trends) to flow seamlessly across the PM tool stack to ensure a single source of truth.

Provide PMs with gen AI coaching

As with much of the workforce, most PMs today will require a combination of upskilling and coaching to use the technology effectively to augment their daily work. Organizations should not expect people to adopt new tools organically and derive benefit from them. However, gen AI tools are only as effective as the PMs using them. Every PM has a distinct set of core skills, resulting in a wide variance in individuals’ effectiveness and outcomes when adopting gen AI tools. To ensure PMs can benefit from the use of these tools, organizations should invest in capability building to upskill PMs.

Provide risk controls

Although it may be tempting to implement gen AI tools quickly across the PDLC, measures to mitigate risks associated with ethics, privacy, intellectual property (IP), legal considerations, and interpretability 2 Gen AI tools are considered “interpretable” when PMs can readily discern how they arrived at the output they created. are crucial. PMs can be trained to identify potential gen AI–related risks (for example, privacy and IP infringement) and concrete actions they can take to mitigate them (for example, review guidelines or consult with the legal function).

As leaders update governance, they should consider three potential risks: first, data privacy is always a factor when tools can access confidential information. Proper training, strict access controls, and robust privacy safeguards are crucial. Second, companies must ensure their gen AI usage complies with all applicable (and, again, rapidly evolving) legal and regulatory changes, including changes to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). And third, organizations must set clear guidelines on the ethical use of AI for PMs, including respect for IP and proper attribution of generated ideas.

Reimagine the product development life cycle

While augmenting PM tasks provides some benefits, the ability to harness the power of gen AI in product development comes from reimagining and rewiring the PDLC. Some fundamental shifts in the PDLC could arise, including compression of the PDLC driven by gen AI–enabled PM and engineering execution; blurred boundaries between the discovery and viability phases as gen AI empowers PMs to rapidly prototype and test new customer-backed product ideas; and a shift in PMs’ responsibilities as they become more proficient in building marketing and sales collateral to accelerate commercial launch and adoption. Leaders should be aware of how the PDLC will change and prepare PMs to adapt accordingly.

In a rapidly changing business landscape, the transformative potential of gen AI for product management cannot be overstated. By embracing this cutting-edge technology, PMs can gain a decisive edge as they discover untapped opportunities and streamline product development processes. But research shows that simply adopting gen AI is not enough to realize the technology’s full potential. Product leaders should formulate a structured, phased approach anchored in priority customer outcomes to take advantage of the technology’s potential to deliver extraordinary benefits. In addition, they should consider adopting the gen AI functionality in tools they may already have. The pace of innovation in this domain is high, and delays in figuring out adoption approaches will have long-term consequences for talent and ways of working.

Chaitra Yarlagadda is a consultant in McKinsey’s Bay Area office, where Chandra Gnanasambandam is a senior partner, Martin Harrysson is a senior partner, and Rikki Singh is a partner.

The authors wish to thank Doria Du, Annie Fang, Dmitry Gafarov, Anuj Kohli, Matt Linderman, Ashay Makim, Alejo Navarro Goldaraz, Assata Quinichett, Dev Seth, Ryan Skinner, Andrey Suprun, Gustavo Torres da Silva, Lucy Xia, An Yan, and Camilla Zanon di Valgiurata for their contributions to this article.

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Technology’s generational moment with generative AI: A CIO and CTO guide

The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier

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How Marketers Can Adapt to LLM-Powered Search

• Stefano Puntoni,
• Mike Ensing,
• Jarvis Bowers

With the addition of AI-generated overviews, Google, Perplexity, OpenAI and other search engines are changing how consumers find information.

Large language models (LLMs) provide a search experience that’s dramatically different from the web-browser experience. The biggest difference is this: LLMs promise to answer queries not with links, as web browsers do, but with answers . Increasingly, using apps such as ChatGPT or Perplexity, or search portals such as Google’s Search Generative Experience (now AI Overviews) or Bing’s Copilot, customers will learn about products and brands through natural-language outputs. And that process, which will be highly consultative and conversational, will create a new information pipeline that marketers need to monitor to ensure their brands are presented for relevant prompts and described accurately. The authors present three ways for marketers to rise to this challenge.

For millions of consumers around the world, Google is the access point to the internet — and as a result, the company today enjoys a 91% market share in the $50 billion market for search ads. However, thanks to the advent of large language models (LLMs), a shakeup now seems possible for the first time in two decades.

• SP Stefano Puntoni is a professor of marketing at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and the co-author of  Decision-Driven Analytics: Leveraging Human Intelligence to Unlock the Power of Data (Wharton Press).  
• ME Mike Ensing is the CEO and co-founder of Revere. He is an entrepreneur, advisor, and tech-industry executive focused on generative AI and its applications for enterprises and brands and has held senior and advisory positions with leading companies such as RealNetworks, Microsoft, and McKinsey.
• JB Jarvis Bowers is the COO and co-founder of Revere, an emerging marketing-technology company focused on elevating brands with LLMs and generative AI. Jarvis is an experienced marketing leader focused on the use of consumer and creative insights, customer data, and emerging platforms to deliver unique brand experiences.

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