Marketing research is complex, and its content depends on the niche and purpose.
In business, it’s a set of data marketers collect about a company to determine what its customers want and how to give it to them.
In academia, it’s a considerable research paper aimed at being published in a scholarly journal. It communicates new findings or adds information to the existing ones to support the scientific community. College students also write them to share their progress with instructors.
More details needed?
This article reveals everything you need to know.
What Is Marketing Research?
Marketing research is a set of techniques or practices companies use to better understand their target market. They collect information about customers and their reactions to offered products and use that data later to improve their business.
A marketing research essay represents and describes all the collected data. As academic experts at customwritings.com explain, such essays also explore the psychology behind customer behavior for a business to know the market and understand their ways to improve.
Why Write Marketing Research Essays
- Know the market to understand what products or services are most in demand and profitable in your niche.
- Make calculated decisions about your business idea to minimize investment risks.
- See how competitive your chosen landscape is and who your main competitors are.
- Analyze your target audience to make more informed business decisions.
- Reveal your ideal customer’s characteristics — demographics, interests, pain points, motivations, objections, buying habits, etc. — to determine what value your product or service can bring them.
The data from a marketing research essay also allows you to see your business weaknesses (poor customer support, wrong marketing channels or strategy, bad UX, missed features in your product, you name it) and think of the ways for improvement.
Writing a Stellar Marketing Research Essay
And now, to practice:
Below are the seven steps to writing a professional marketing research essay.
Step 1: Conduct a research
First, decide on marketing research methods to collect the data for your essay.
The four primary methods are:
- Surveys (use questionnaires with close-ended or open-ended questions)
- Interviews (consider in-person and telephone talks with customers)
- Focus groups (involve several respondents in a discussion on your topic)
- Observation (organize customer observation sessions to see how they engage with your product/service)
You can also add secondary methods to your marketing research:
- Up-to-date books and articles on your topic
- The info from reputable research agencies’ websites (Forrester, Nielsen, Gartner, etc.)
- Your in-house data about market conditions or customer buying patterns
How to conduct a research:
Create a user persona (a character representing your customer): Who are they? What’s their goal, and what stops them from achieving it? Then, conduct observational research (remember to take notes) and personal interviews with customers.
Finally, analyze the information you’ve collected. (More on that below)
Step 2: Gather all the data
Address the following questions when analyzing the data you’ve gathered through your research:
- Is your product relevant to current market trends and consumer behavior?
- Do you consider competitors in your research? (Ensure to include the competitor analysis to get insights on how their offers can affect yours.)
- Does your product/service match your target customer’s preferences (value, price, visual appeal, etc.)?
Try different techniques to get patterns into customers’ preferences and buying behaviors. Ensure all your data is up-to-date and relevant to your market, target audience, and brand.
Step 3: Outline an essay
Now, organize all the information in a logical and coherent paper. Before writing, craft a detailed outline (a la table of contents) for your future essay. It will help you structure it and ensure you don’t miss critical information while writing.
Core elements to include in your marketing research essay:
- Introduction with a thesis statement
- Methodology
- Body paragraphs (their number may vary depending on the topic)
- Conclusion
Step 4: Write a draft
Start your marketing essay with an engaging introduction to get the audience interested in your research. State a strong thesis statement emphasizing the topic of your discussion: online reviews, customer choices, competitors’ analysis, etc.
When writing, please use clear and concise language. Avoid professional jargon that readers might misunderstand and over-sophisticated words hurting readability.
- Don’t use first-person narration; use a unique voice and simplicity instead.
Support your points with evidence (the data you’ve gathered). For readers to see you don’t share personal opinions but proven facts, write a paragraph specifying the methodology you used when researching. Where did you get the data? How did you analyze that information?
- Ensure smooth and logical transitions between paragraphs to maintain flow and promote readability and understanding.
Conclude with a summary of your points and provide ideas on the practical application of your shared information. Sum up your arguments, explain the value of your marketing research, and offer recommendations on how to solve the problem you discussed in the essay.
- Ensure you don’t introduce new ideas in the conclusion but recap the main arguments.
Step 5: Incorporate visual elements
Take a step further and make your marketing research essay stand out: Incorporate compelling yet relevant visual content into the text.
Consider charts, tables, and other graphics to support your analysis. (As we know from customwritings and other social media marketing accounts, users perceive images and other visual elements faster than text. It’s your chance to grab their interest and make it easier for them to understand the data in your research.)
Step 6: Revise
Once your marketing research essay is ready, revise and polish it to ensure it’s free from grammar, context, and factual mistakes.
Re-read the draft several times to eliminate errors: Check spelling, grammar, punctuation, and formatting. Refine all the sentences for clarity, check for consistency in style and citation, and ensure your essay flows logically.
Step 7: Credit your sources
Remember to appropriately credit all the references and citations you used in the research. For that, create a reference list at the end of your paper and address it when writing, using a specific citation style required by your instructor.
APA, MLA, Chicago — each style has guidelines on formatting citations in the reference list and in-text. Be consistent, and use the prescribed citation style throughout your essay.
Final Words
Marketing research is a must-have practice for any business willing to succeed in the niche and get loyalty and trust from their target customers. Writing an essay explaining the research allows you to see the pitfalls (if any) your company has and what it can do to overcome them for better marketing results.
James is the head of marketing at Tamoco
