How Custom Market Research Can Benefit Your Business

If you are in the market for market research, one of the first decisions you will need to make is whether your business intelligence needs will be met with a syndicated report or if you will need custom research.

Syndicated research reports generally cover subjects that are of interest to many companies and organizations, and often include general industry overviews. For example, a syndicated report might cover beverage packaging in North America, or all types of energy usage in the United States. Because these reports are likely to be purchased by multiple organizations, the cost to produce them is spread out, making them cost-effective for the individual purchaser. They are a tremendous value for companies that are seeking macro-level industry data and big-picture landscapes.

Custom research is specifically produced and funded by a single client, and the results are proprietary to that client. It is a collaborative effort between the customer and the market research firm to create a study, and resulting the report will address the customer’s specific questions.

If current published market research reports are not able to provide adequate insight to your customers, market and competitors, commissioning a custom market research study can offer immensely clearer insight.

Here is how custom market research can benefit your business:

1. Laser-Targeted Information – Do you need intelligence about a very specific market segment that is rolled up into a broader group in current published reports? How does your company stack up against a key competitor? How do you improve on your existing customer loyalty? Collaborating with a market research firm to design your research will allow you to get answers to individual questions you need answered, with a focus on your specific company, not just companies similar to you.
2. Deeper Insight – Custom research can delve deeper to answer your questions with more primary research, such as phone interviews with experts, suppliers and other players in the space. The quality of primary research incorporated into custom research can deliver an additional dimension of insight that is not typically found in syndicated research, which has to cover a broader spectrum of information.   
3. Budget Flexibility – Custom research is generally more expensive than syndicated reports. However, custom research is collaborative, so the market research firm you work with can take your budget into consideration and design a study that fits while still answering your critical questions. If your budget is less than ideal for the type and depth of research required, they’ll be able to make recommendations on how to achieve your data needs.

When your company is at a critical crossroads, you will need detailed information to create a successful roadmap. Both syndicated and custom research can offer a wide range of report options, but if the data you need isn’t covered in syndicated reports, or even if your targeted industry or market segment is covered but it doesn’t answer all of your strategic questions, it may be in your organization’s best interest to commission a custom research report.  Actionable insight is the goal, so if the information that your company needs to make critical business decisions is not already thoroughly covered in syndicated reports, reach out to a trusted market research firm to discuss your needs.