Market research is an essential step in business development. It doesn’t matter if you’re starting a new business, launching a new product or service for an existing business, or evaluating a major pivot; market research is how you figure out whether your audience needs what you want to sell – and how much they’re willing to pay.
While market research may seem simple at face value, there’s much more to it than most B2B companies realize.
There’s a growing emphasis on data security and compliance within the market research field – and this shift is changing the way market research is done. So how can you determine when it’s best to use primary market research and when you should use secondary market research? Here’s what you need to know.
Primary market research is a type of research that involves going directly to the source. To conduct primary market research means to talk to your audience to gather information on their needs and wants. Instead of relying on already-existing research, your organization conducts its own studies involving its own client base. (Or, if you don’t have the time or resources to do the research yourself, you can hire an external company or consultant to conduct this research on your behalf.) The main trait that defines primary research is that it requires direct interaction with the target audience.
There are several different ways of conducting primary research; the best method for your organization will depend on your situation.
Primary market research enables companies to do targeted research that is relevant to the researcher’s business. Primary market research also tends to be more detailed than secondary market research, and it enables organizations to ensure all information gathered is up-to-date. Finally, primary market research ensures data ownership – meaning organizations can use the data they gather from primary market research in a variety of other ways.
Secondary market research involves analyzing research that other parties have already gathered. This could include:
There exists a wide array of organizations who conduct market research; leveraging one of their preexisting reports (like Wynter’s very own 2024 B2B SaaS Buyer Journey Report) would be a form of secondary market research.
Secondary market research is significant because it enables B2B organizations to inexpensively leverage preexisting data to quickly make informed decisions.
There are several important differences between primary and secondary market research, and each type of research has specific advantages and disadvantages.
While primary market research is research you conduct yourself on your ICP (or that you hire an outside company to conduct for you), secondary market research is research that others have already conducted.
Data security and privacy concerns are prompting B2B organizations to move toward primary market research. With secondary market research, you have little control over how vendors will use your data. If a bad actor were to gain access to your personal or company information, they may choose to sell it online to advertisers.
Secondary market research also isn’t private – it doesn’t belong to you. That means your competitors can get a hold of the exact same data you planned to use, which often defeats the purpose of conducting market research.
By conducting primary market research, you can have full confidence that your personal data is protected. Primary market research also protects the information you gather through your research process, keeping it away from competitors’ prying eyes.
Primary and secondary market research each have their own unique advantages and disadvantages, making each one ideal for certain use cases.
You’ll want to use secondary market research when things are still a bit fuzzy. If you’re still trying to determine the questions you want to answer, secondary market research can help you zero in on the issue at hand. Secondary market research can also help you to test your assumptions before you get too deep into your research process, which can save time and money on misguided questions.
In contrast, you’ll want to use primary market research when you’ve already done your secondary research and figured out which questions you want to ask. Or, if you’re working on something brand new – like a product the world has never seen before – starting with primary market research could be a good way to gain insights into your unique offering.
There are several different tools and resources that your company can use to conduct both primary and secondary market research.
Statista is a statistics and data portal that gives users access to data gathered from 2.5 million interviews. This secondary research resource has free and premium tiers, and even offers an AI-powered research assistant that can deliver responses in as little as 15 seconds.
Think with Google is a digital marketing research platform that comes complete with three unique digital tools to help you research your audience. With Insights Finder, you can explore audience interests and discover what your audience is searching for. Google Trends displays real-time search trends based on consumer behavior. Market Finder makes it easy to identify new potential markets for your product or service, enabling you to sell around the world.
Meltwater is a Norwegian market research company that was founded in 2001. Meltwater’s solutions use the power of artificial intelligence to collect and analyze data from traditional and social media, user-generated content, and business data sources. With Meltwater, you can access always-on market research that is never out of date.
And of course, here at Wynter, you can conduct primary market research using surveys, message testing, preference testing, and more. Wynter’s audience of 60,000+ vetted B2B professionals makes it easy to complete surveys in under 48 hours using a 100% self-serve platform. You can also use Wynter to do 1:1 interviews and on-demand sales demos, so you can test your ideas and sales pitch before going to market.
There are several great examples of both primary and secondary market research that can help guide your research efforts.
Here at Wynter, we helped Databook 10X their inbound leads through the power of primary market research.
Databook is a Sales Relationship Platform (SLR) that helps B2B sales teams develop data-informed strategies to manage their relationships with relevant buyers at scale. Databook leveraged Wynter to support a repositioning strategy; in the saturated sales intelligence market, Databook was struggling to position its product. The positioning challenge extended beyond messaging, and affected internal alignment – according to VP of Marketing Kassidy Bird, “You couldn’t ask two employees what the company did and receive the same answer.”
To solve these challenges, Databook underwent a two-phase repositioning strategy. Phase 1 involved establishing a baseline and improving messaging, while Phase 2 brought about a deeper transformation.
During Phase 1, Databook used Wynter to test audience messaging and determine which messages resonated the most. The results of these baseline tests confirmed Databook’s worst fears: Nobody understood what Databook offered.
Databook decided to dive deeper into qualitative research, surveying buyers through Wynter to better understand their pains and expectations. Those survey insights led to Databook doing a smaller repositioning into strategic enablement. The results of this first phase made a measurable difference in message clarity and retention during sales calls.
Unfortunately, these messaging improvements weren’t enough to move Databook forward. Internal discussions revealed the need to reassess the company’s vision and gain a clearer understanding of exactly what they aimed to disrupt within the marketplace.
Databook then leveraged Wynter to perform a series of preference tests and get stakeholder feedback on their options. Databook decided to reposition itself as the first platform for Strategic Relationship Management, which inspired a website revamp.
Within 2 weeks of the website relaunch, conversions increased by 67% and qualified leads increased by 10X. This case study demonstrates just how much primary market research can move the needle when it comes to message testing.
Another excellent example of primary research at work comes from the pharmaceuticals world. Life sciences analytics company Eversana conducted a primary research project for a client specializing in rare diseases. The aim of the project was to better identify and target the client’s rare disease therapy to payers, healthcare providers, and patients. The client aimed to better understand healthcare customers, including factors that influence payers’ decisions and the prescribing patterns of healthcare providers.
Eversana leveraged its healthcare expertise to collect data from a variety of sources, including electronic medical records, medical claims, formulary sources, and more.
Using this data, the client was able to address key business questions, visualize integrated data sources, and guide the market access strategy for the therapy in question.
Finally, one last case study demonstrates the power of combining primary and secondary research. Data analytics company Netscribes was approached by a leading pharmaceutical company dealing in generic medications for a wide array of clinical indications. The client wanted to gain a broader view of various therapeutic areas to facilitate market expansion, and needed an in-depth analysis of its market to better understand physician attitudes and acceptance levels of their products.
The client wanted to better understand how its messaging was affecting potential buyers. Netscribes conducted a market landscape analysis involving feedback from relevant stakeholders, a study of the regulatory and reimbursement environment, estimated initial and peak sales of new products, and a market and indication landscape study.
Netscribes conducted this study using a combination of primary and secondary research. To understand each region’s market and indication landscape, Netscribes used secondary research, leveraging information from sources like company websites, industry publications, clinical trial databases, and drug development databases, among others.
Next, Netscribes used Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) to conduct interviews with a group of physicians and patients. Netscribes conducted extensive desk research to develop the questionnaire, which used both quantitative and qualitative questions. Netscribes ultimately conducted 275 interviews with patients, doctors, pharmaceutical vendors, and regulatory officials.
At the end of the research project, Netscribes wrote a report that offered an in-depth view of the indication landscape, physician perceptions, patient insights, and market knowledge for each of the regions surveyed. As a result of this combination of primary and secondary research, the client was able to better understand the markets they were about to enter, and could better plan discussions with experts regarding increasing patient access to the therapy in question.
Primary and secondary market research both offer certain advantages to B2B founders and marketers. Secondary market research is less expensive and takes less time. However, it strips companies of control over the research process – and it can’t guarantee up-to-date results. On the other hand, primary market research provides for full control over one’s data – which also includes enhanced data security – and guarantees that the information gathered is as recent as possible. Primary market research also eliminates the risk of gathering irrelevant information, and it makes it possible to ask in-depth and niche questions that may not appear in secondary research.
Ultimately, while secondary market research is ideal for gathering generic background information on the subject at hand, primary market research is unparalleled in its ability to provide highly relevant answers to pressing questions.
