Good market research forms the basis of a strong direct marketing campaign, one that tailors sales messages to the needs of customers. As part of a series of articles on quantitative and qualitative research, David Cole, managing director of market research agency CCB.fast.MAP Ltd, shares his insights on getting the most out of quantitative research.
What is quantitative research?
Quantitative research is concerned with allocating numbers to ideas – it aims to provide accurate measurements of what people think. It is not concerned with the why – this is the role of qualitative research – but the ‘how many’ and ‘what’.
Where quantitative research can help
Sizing a market
How many people are likely to buy a new product idea?
Evaluating a reaction to a choice of marketing approaches
Which group of individuals will react best to which creative approach?
Incentive/proposition evaluation
Which incentive or proposition will appeal to which target market?
Defining segments
You know that segment x likes product y, but what additional insights can you gain in terms of demographics (age, income, gender) and behaviour (purchase habits, loyalty, price sensitivity)?
Tracking awareness
This involves placing a marker before a campaign is launched, then tracking the effect that campaign has on the brand. For example: What percentage of the population you’re measuring is aware of the campaign?
The role of the quantitative research consultant
A research consultant can provide objectivity and question the focus of the project. As well as distilling the research objectives into one PowerPoint slide, they will tell you about the commercial and research implications of various sample options. In the planning stage, your consultant will quality-check questions so that they don't lead the sample members.
Tip Don’t be intimidated by quantitative research and always work with a researcher who doesn’t blind you with industry terminology. Contact the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) for advice or the Market Research Society (MRS) for referrals.
Which quantitative research method?
There are four types of survey methods: face-to-face, postal surveys, telephone and online questionnaires.
Face-to-face interviews
Advantages
These one-to-one interviews usually take place in the street, a respondent’s home or workplace so you can elicit a response to physical material – a direct mail creative for example.
Disadvantages
These normally cost several thousand pounds as a fixed cost, while the cost per interview can range from £30 to £150 depending on the volume and profile of the sample. Hence it's the most expensive interview format – and because of the use of clustered sampling to keep the cost down, you’re less likely to get a good random sample.
Phone interviewing
Advantages
It’s a low-cost route that allows you to reach a larger number of people than face-to-face interviews, results can be collected very quickly especially if you use computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI).
Disadvantages
The growing number of telephone preference service (TPS) suppressions means there are fewer adults available via this medium. The interviewer may potentially lead the respondent, which will skew the results. It's also an interruptive medium which can have a negative affect on response and the brand.
Postal surveys and self-completion questionnaires
Advantages
You can send out large volumes for a relatively low cost, around £500, and include visual prompts such as a direct mail creative. Self-completion leads to more honest, open answers.
Disadvantages
Response rates are low, around 1% – 10%, and some groups, eg loyal customers, are more likely to complete questionnaires than others, which means the sample isn’t terribly representative of the whole population. It can also take a long time to receive and then collate the answers.
Online surveys
Advantages
They have the same benefits as postal surveys and some extra ones too. For example, intelligent routing means that people will only see certain questions based on their previous answers. It’s also the fastest method – electronic communications tend to be dealt with instantly meaning that the sample can be reached very quickly.
Disadvantages
Some clients are still uncomfortable about not physically meeting the respondents or talking to them.
Tip Get help from your researcher. Good research companies will help refine your questions.
Which campaign stage?
The cost of quantitative research has now dropped so much that it can be used at any stage of a campaign although predominantly it is used at the start of a campaign. A short quantitative study generally costs between £3,000 and £6,000 but can cost as little as £1,000, which has opened the door for this technique for smaller companies.
Use quantitative research at the pre-campaign stage for product development, to gauge brand awareness, or to test a proposition, creative, target market, pricing or channel. During and post-campaign the research is confined to assessing brand awareness and campaign awareness.
For example, a major genealogy website tracked the impact of magazines, press and TV campaign prior to launch. The survey was structured into three areas: unprompted awareness of the brand, prompted awareness using a list of brands and prompted awareness by showing the actual advertising with the questions of where it was seen. The project was successful because it included a pre-campaign survey when the client’s brand was almost unknown.
Tip The entry point for quantitative research is very low. Why not try out one question and get a feel for the process before undertaking a big project?
Choosing a sample
In quantitative research, the sample size is rarely below 100 and can run into thousands. When deciding how many people to recruit, your first consideration is the size of the entire population of interest in relation to the sample size. For example, if the population consists of a company’s entire customer database, the sample needs to be larger than a smaller, niche population of upmarket restaurateurs in a specific city.
Other factors to consider include how many subgroups within the main sample you want to analyse, how you are going to use the information, and this is where your quantitative research consultant can help. He or she will also ensure that the sample is representative of the population.
Tip Don’t be tempted to blow the budget when choosing a sample size. Remember, no research is perfect – no matter how large your sample is.
Top Tips
Have clear objectives
Research is a must-have and to get maximum value from it, make sure you know exactly what key decisions you are going to make on the basis of its findings.
Stay focused
Concentrate on the top two or three key objectives of the study. There is generally so much data from a quantitative study (eg 15 questions x 1,000 respondents plus 20/30 demographic variables) that you can run an almost limitless amount of analysis.
Beware of over zealous cost-cutting
The cost of quantitative research has dropped to such a degree that there is a tendency to buy on price and cut corners. The acid test should always be – are you prepared to make significant real-world decisions of the back of the research with significant budget implications?
Get the questionnaire right
If the script is badly written or unclear there will probably be a high drop-out level. Remember, you can choose different types of question too. These include drop down, multi-checkbox and open/free text.
Don’t lead the witness
There's a lot of skill turning questions into an objective survey. Unless you're an expert and have experience of quantitative research you should ensure that your research agency adapts the questions to make them objective.
Process matters
There are multiple stages in any research project, development of questions, script, test survey, live survey/fieldwork, analysis, presentation. It's important to have a clear schedule specified in advance of the project with clear lines of responsibility.
Listen to the experts
Don’t bully the research company! Some research companies when pressurised will go with what you want, because you are paying the bills, but you are run the risk of being left with research that doesn’t work, so you could lose out in the end!
Read about how to use qualitative marketing research in a direct marketing campaign.