B2B market research is defined as the systematic collecting, recording and analyzing of information in support of decision making in business-to-business (B2B) commerce. Almost all businesses conduct some type of market research, whether formal or informal, as input in support of making informed and sound business decisions. By far, the most common form of B2B research is focused on sizing markets, projecting market growth, competitive intelligence, and understanding market dynamics. This information is typically used in the company’s strategic planning process and is only conducted on an annual basis.

Driven by a dramatic increase in the global internet penetration, online surveys are becoming a popular method for collecting primary research. Delivering faster responses and higher response rates at substantially lower costs, online surveys streamline the methodology of collecting survey data versus traditional telephone and print surveys.

To deepen the understanding of a market, custom research employs extensive or targeted primary research to go beyond what can be uncovered through secondary research alone. In-depth interviews are the most versatile form of primary research and are appropriate when targeting detailed perceptions, opinions, and attitudes. In-depth interviews are particularly effective when the goal is to capture feedback that is sensitive. These interviews can be conducted in-person or over the telephone to gain deeper insight to specific objectives by probing for quality responses. This offers an advantage over self-completion methods, such as surveys, because the respondent is more likely to give their full attention and the interviewer can deduce the quality of each response.

The last discussion we featured on Custom Research covered the structure and timing aspects of a custom research project. This post looks more closely at the components of project structure, specifically research methodologies and techniques.

Any custom research project will have as the main deliverable the data analysis and recommendations based on the data acquired during the project. How that data is acquired (typically through a combination of secondary and primary research) is critical and very important in terms of project validity. Through the combined research approach, the project, most often, will be designed to acquire both qualitative and quantitative information.

Custom market research offers solutions tailored to individual business needs, so each customized market research project will be different. Structure and timing depends on a number of key elements, including complexity of project objectives, determined size of primary research components, difficulty in recruiting target participant segments, etc. Though a research company may have experience conducting research in a specific market, it is important to bear in mind that each project is tailored to a specific business need and is, therefore, unique in its scope and deliverables. The fluid process of custom allows for changes and “tweaks” to improve the output as information is collected.

At its core, insights uncovered by B2B market research provide companies the information necessary to make better informed strategic decisions. Most research projects have two dimensions to consider: type and scope. Defining the best type of market research project is most often driven by the need for a deeper understanding of either customers, competition, or a target market, while the scope is determined by the depth of the data needed to provide the insight for the strategic decision at hand.

The vast majority of companies competing in today’s global economy conduct some form of market research for the markets in which they currently participate or may potentially participate. Companies usually look to outside firms for their research and are faced with the choice of purchasing either syndicated or custom market research. Because the cost of performing the research is spread over multiple clients, syndicated research offers a cost-effective solution for firms seeking general market information. The goal of syndicated research is to appeal to a greater number of potential buyers, so it typically provides a macro-level overview of a market, basic market segmentation, and often a broad array of competitive profiles.On the other hand, custom market research is proprietary and “tailor made” to the client needs, delivering richer and deeper information in the areas deemed important. Although more expensive than syndicated, the collaborative nature of custom research can deliver excellent value for the following reasons.

The Business-to-Business (B2B) market is different in fundamental ways from the Business-to-Consumer (B2C) sector. Typically, B2C transactions occur through an intermediary, such as a retailer or agent, while B2B refers to transactions that take place between businesses and are generally upstream from consumer transactions. This blog post will discuss the eight key criteria that distinguish B2B markets with implications that directly affect market research.