The rapid development of information technology contributed to their penetration into all spheres of human activity. The work of marketing professionals was no exception. Today, there is a lot of market research survey software that helps marketers to gather and organize data.

Market Research Software Tools

Marketing is a technology that allows you to invest capital efficiently and ensure high competitiveness in the markets where the company operates. By itself, this wording makes certain demands on market research automation software. This has to be a complete technology for solving marketing problems, allowing to store and analyze huge information arrays, including not only internal management accounting data but also external data about customers, competitors, and macro environment.

The basic functions of market research software tools are to help make business decisions and put them into practice. Any research software is a software shell for working with information. It helps to accumulate useful qualitative and quantitative information and propose algorithms for marketing principles on its basis.

Experts believe that in the ideal case, marketing research software acts as a consultant in the field of quality decisions. In this case, autodesk field survey software should offer the user text-graphic blanks with decision options. Using the top market research software, an enterprise will be able to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses in advertising and marketing policies and receive a set of recommendations for promoting its position in the market.

How to Choose the Best Platform for Market Research

To choose the platform for market research, you need to first determine what kind of research you will be conducting and how often. Figure out what kind of data you actually need: graphic data, percentages in tables or superior cross-tabulation and filtering. This will help you choose the right kind of analysis software that you need. Also, remember that report data and visual data require different analyzing tools.

To find the market research platform that suits your needs best, you should remember these key points:

Make sure the platform provides recruiting with accurate screening and an interested audience that can answer deep questions.
Look for platforms with flexible iterations to dig deeper and discover new ideas.
Consider the platform and available services that facilitate data collection and analysis of results.
Experience technology flexibility for short-term and long-term commitments that can help you save a small budget.

The best market research software is a system that provides:

Consulting

This may include consulting services in the field of making quality decisions(offers text blanks with decision-making options) and consulting in the field of rules and principles of processing quantitative information from other accounting and financial software products (offers a textual description of the rules and principles of processing information for marketing purposes);

Automation

Processes quantitative information (offers working marketing mathematical models) and automates calculations, data sharing, and reporting

Project management

The best market research software help to build a clear workflow for researchers and act as project management and team communication tools.

The Relevance for Marketing

Modern methods of integrated analytics really allow accelerating business development and increasing the return on investment in marketing. An integrated approach to the analysis is a key condition for identifying market data and ensuring sales growth ahead of the market.

The development of big data processing tools provides opportunities for their active use in the market research process. Using analytical services like market analysis tools allows you to get significant and interesting results about competitors and consumers.

The market research software tools provide informational support for the following tasks of the marketing team:

Market segmentation: the formation of the territorial-sales structure of the company, with the establishment of communication between goods, consumers, distribution channels;
Assessment of product profitability and profitability of individual market segments;
The selection of optimal distribution channels and sales options;
Assessment of the competitiveness of the company (SWOT analysis);
Choosing a goal and developing the most effective strategy for achieving it — reducing costs, releasing new products, developing new markets;
Assessment of risks associated with the implementation of each of the strategies;
Develop a tactical marketing plan. Formation of an optimal portfolio of goods and events marketing-mix (Portfolio-analysis);
Calculation of the coefficient of elasticity of demand and forecast sales;
Formation of the marketing part of the business plan in accordance with international standards.

It is rare when a company can afford to allocate a budget for conducting complex market research to obtain statistically valid data. Fortunately, today there is market research software that offers a comprehensive plan for a market research project.

Originally published at: https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/how-to-choose-market-research-software-and-get-a-competitive-edge-in-marketing