Using Market Research to Maximize Your Advertising Investment - The MSR Group

An advertising campaign is an expensive investment for any company. Integrating market research into the process can help shape and clearly define concepts in the planning and development stage, minimizing risk and expanding potential for success. In addition, market research can be used to measure campaign results and ROI.  As a consistent tool, market research can help a company more accurately clarify its advertising and maximize its impact on an ongoing basis.

The overall aim of any advertising campaign is to define tactics and messages that will be the most effective in reaching current and target customers. Clearly understanding habits, preferences and profile of your target market shapes the creative process and concepts.

To measure potential for message effectiveness, interactive qualitative research helps gather insights about proposed advertisements which can further refine it.  For instance, focus group testing of proposed headlines and images with your key demographic gives you immediate feedback. Qualitative research can help to more clearly understand likely audience reaction and demonstrate level of success. Such input can be instrumental in shaping all forms of advertising – print, television, radio and digital.

Once ads are complete, media is purchased, and a campaign is ready to launch, research can track initial target audience awareness and perceptions. A pre-launch tracking survey is implemented prior to creative release to measure overall awareness of the brand, and attitudes about the product(s).

Gathering qualitative data on the front end sets a baseline of comparison for post-campaign measurement. Following the campaign, the same survey is implemented with identical methodology to measure change. Shifts in data allow the company to see if desired changes in awareness of the brand have been made.

Using various types of qualitative research with the advertising process can ultimately improve a company’s brand awareness and increase revenue. The investment in collecting qualitative data during and following a campaign should create better advertising that is more effective at reaching your target market.