7 Market Research Mistakes You Should Never Make

October 24, 2012 by Susan Gunelius
News and Insights

NEWS AND INSIGHTS UPDATE:

With so many free and affordable market research tools available to businesses today, it’s not surprising that companies aren’t getting the information they need (or they’re not interpreting it correctly).

Market researcher Annie Pettit shared six of the top market research mistakes that she sees on Business 2 Community:

  1. Not starting with a research objective.
  2. Using insufficient sample sizes.
  3. Being bound by statistical significance, or lack thereof.
  4. Generalizing beyond your sample.
  5. Creating something out of nothing.
  6. Focusing on entertaining, not educating.

These are important mistakes to avoid, and you can get all the details by following the link below to read Annie’s full article.

I’d also add one more market research mistake you should never make: massaging the numbers to fit an agenda. I’ve witnessed that mistake in action during my corporate marketing career frequently, and you, your company, or your client will suffer in the long-term if you make this error. You should stand by the data (if you’re confident it’s accurate) and adjust the goals and plan according to that data — not the other way around.

What do you think is the biggest market research mistake to avoid?

Get the details: The 6 Worst Market Research Mistakes via www.business2community.com

READ MORE NEWS AND INSIGHTS UPDATES FROM WOMEN ON BUSINESS

Susan Gunelius

Susan Gunelius is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women on Business. She is a 20-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored ten books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics.

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