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6 min

Key methodologies of B2B research in 2023

Learn the key methods of B2B research in 2023

GrapeData
Mar 11, 2023
B2B market research

Introduction

B2B research methodologies are constantly changing as technology advances, which makes it difficult for marketers to keep up. But don't let that scare you! The key is to know what your options are and how they can help you discover what makes your audience tick. If you’re looking for a few ideas on where to start with B2B research, check out these key techniques:

What is B2B research?

Market research is a method of gathering information about the market that companies use to make decisions. B2B research is important for making sure that products, services, and marketing are in line with what the market wants. It's an essential part of any business and there are many different ways that you can do it:

  • Focus groups - These are small groups of people who are asked questions about their opinions on a product or service; they give feedback on whether they would buy it, how much they would pay for it, and so on. Researchers usually conduct them in person but sometimes over Skype or Facetime too.
  • Surveys - Companies send out questionnaires online or via post asking respondents questions on various topics. The most common method of gathering information from a large number of respondents, online surveys are also the most accessible and cost-effective. However, they can only be used when internet access is available to potential respondents. So, it is important to note that there may be limitations to the kinds of people you can reach with this method.

Focus groups in B2B research

Focus groups are a type of qualitative research that involves gathering information about the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviours of a group of people. They help you to understand what your customers think about your product or service.

You can also use focus groups in the development of new products or services. Focus groups allow you to gather data from a small number of people without needing to do expensive surveys or interviews with large numbers of respondents.

Focus groups are a form of qualitative research. Qualitative research is based on the idea that every person has their own unique perspective and experiences. It's an approach to data collection that allows you to explore this variability in order to understand people's attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours.

Quantitative research

Quantitative research is based on numbers and statistics, not opinions. It's often conducted by a third party and can be done online or offline. Quantitative research is typically more expensive than qualitative research because of its focus on hard data, but it's also more robust and reliable.

Qualitative research is based on words and interviews. It explores attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours to find out what's really going on in the minds of your customers. You can conduct qualitative research online or offline, but it's typically more expensive than quantitative research because of its focus on hard data

In-depth interviews

An interview is a conversation with a person or group of people. It's used to investigate opinions and attitudes, as well as other information that cannot be obtained in any other way.

In-depth interviews are one of the most popular methods of B2B research and there are many reasons why they have become so popular:

  • They're easy to do - no special equipment is required.
  • They provide great insight into your target audience - through asking open questions, you can uncover new insights into what motivates them and how they think about their role within the business ecosystem. 

Online focus groups and surveys in B2B research

Online focus groups are a great way to get feedback from many people at once. You can often use them with other research methods, such as surveys or interviews.

You can conduct online focus groups via webinars where participants are asked questions and given time to respond.

Online surveys are a great way to collect feedback from customers. The process is simple: you create your survey and send it to customers, who then complete the survey online.

There are many benefits of using online surveys in business-to-business (B2B) research, including:

  • Easy to use - anyone can create a basic survey using Google Forms. You don't need special technical skills or software!
  • Flexible - you can ask as many questions as you like within each survey, so you get exactly what you need from each customer without wasting their time on irrelevant questions or requests for more information than necessary (which could result in lower response rates).
  • Quick and easy to send - you can send out surveys via email or online using a link that respondents can click on when they're ready to take them. This means they don't have to be completed in one sitting, which is great for busy people!
  • Cheap - many survey tools are free or very low-cost.

B2B research methodologies are changing as technology advances, so it's important to stay on top of these changes

As technology advances, it's important to stay on top of these changes. The way we communicate, research, and conduct market research has changed.

Communication methods have become more efficient with the rise of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn which allow brands to connect with their audiences in real-time.

B2B research has also been affected by advancements in technology as researchers collect data through surveys that they conduct online rather than via telephone interviews. They also use predictive analytics software tools that help them identify patterns within customer data sets so they can make better decisions about how best to meet customer needs.

Types of B2B research

There are many different types of B2B research, and you can use each one to answer a specific question. Here are some examples:

- Primary Research: This type of research involves talking to people who are experts in the industry and can give you firsthand experience about how things work. You can often use it for exploratory research, where you're trying to figure out what people think about a new product or service.

- Secondary Research: This type of research involves looking at data that other people or organisations have already collected. For example, suppose you wanted to know how many people have bought a particular product in the last year. In that case, you might look at an existing survey that collected that information from previous buyers.

In the next section, let's look at other types of B2B research.

Customer experience research

Customer experience research is a form of market research. You can use it to understand customer needs, wants, and feelings about a product or service. This information can be used by marketers in many ways:

  • Develop products that meet those needs and wants
  • Create content that resonates with customers' emotions
  • Improve the customer experience through better training or support

Content strategy research

In the B2B world, content strategy is a set of practices for creating and managing content. It's an important part of B2B marketing, but you can also use it in sales and research as well. Content strategy is a set of best practices for managing the creation, curation, and distribution of content. It’s a way to define what kind of content you need to create, how it should be distributed, and how people will use it.

It is the process of understanding how your customers use the content. It's a key component of B2B research. This is because it helps you understand what content your customers are looking for and how they're using it.

Content strategy research can be performed in many different ways: surveys, interviews, focus groups, and more. The goal is to understand how people think about their information needs (both present and future), what type of information would be most useful for them now, and why this matters for your business goals.

This research helps you understand how content can best be used to meet people's needs and improve your business. It also gives you a better idea of what types of content are most effective at driving results, which will help you make decisions later on.

Competitive intelligence

Competitive intelligence is the process of gathering information on your competitors in order to gain an edge. It can be used to inform your marketing strategy by helping you understand their strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, it can also help uncover opportunities for improvement. For example, if one of your competitors has a large share of the market but low conversion rates, this might indicate that they're not targeting their audience correctly with their messaging or advertising channels.

This is also important when deciding whether or not it's worth developing new products based on customer demand.

Competitive benchmarking in B2B research

It involves comparing your performance with that of your competitors. This allows you to identify areas where you are outperforming or underperforming. This can help you pinpoint opportunities for improvement and make better-informed decisions about how to improve your business performance.

Surveys and questionnaires

These are one of the most popular methods of data collection. They're an easy way to gather information from a large number of people, whether you want to collect qualitative or quantitative data.

For example, let's say that you want to know how satisfied customers are with your product or service. You can send out a survey asking them questions about their experiences with it (qualitative). Or if you want objective measures of customer satisfaction levels on certain criteria such as ease of use or reliability, you could also use surveys. However, this time you can focus on specific questions related to those criteria.

Product testing

This is a way to understand how customers use a product, and what works and what doesn't. You can conduct testing at different stages of the product life cycle, such as when you're developing a new feature or redesigning an existing one.

You can also conduct testing on live products or prototypes. For example, you could test out whether users prefer certain colours over others before rolling out your new website design.

It is essentially a method of research that you can use to test a product or service. It's also known as A/B testing, and you can do it in a variety of ways, including online surveys, focus groups, and in-person interviews.

Product testing allows you to get feedback from customers about what they like and don't like about your product or service. This information will help you improve the quality of your offerings so that you align them better with customer needs. It can ultimately lead to increased sales for your business!

These are the key methodologies of B2B market research in 2023

Focus groups are an important part of the process of understanding your customer's needs, wants, and desires. They offer an opportunity for you to talk with your target audience about their experiences with products or services like yours. In a focus group setting, participants are given an incentive (usually cash) in exchange for their time. The benefit here is that it allows companies access to what people think about certain products or services even if those people aren't buying them yet!

Quantitative data is another way we can learn more about our target audience through surveys which collect numerical responses from consumers about their preferences towards certain products or services within specific industries.

In-depth interviews are another important part of the process, primarily because it allows us to get a behind-the-scenes look at how people feel about their experiences with certain products or services. You can conduct these types of interviews one-on-one or in small groups. Researchers who have experience with interviewing people from different backgrounds usually conduct them.

Conclusion

B2B research has changed over the years. In the past, companies focused on surveys and interviews. However, now there are more innovative methods available that can help you find out what your customers want. For example, artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly common in B2B research. This is because it allows you to gather data quickly and easily with minimal human intervention. Want to learn more? Check out: 6 steps on creating a successful B2B research survey.

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