Marketing research project managment

In marketing research the project management takes place in four steps, here is my take on those four steps. Note: This article is written in expository style of writing and not in a associated press (AP) narrative style.

Project initiation

A Research proposal is the first step of the project and often used as a sales pitch document. It is similar to a project charter, a document which outlines project objectives. In the proposal, each phase of research has deliverables and a proposed timeline. It also indicates the number of resources allocated to each phase. The complex client needs are dispensed into multiple objectives, and the purpose behind this is to make the process simpler and keep it aligned to core requirements. For example, a client may need to know about consumer perception on a credit card; this requirement can be broken down into objectives. Few examples would be rating features like APR, cash back, credit line, etc. This process helps the research team to keep their tasks aligned with the requirements and deliver tasks on time.

The research proposal also contains all the information regarding invoicing. Details regarding costs and expenses for each phase and total project costs are included in the proposal. The client receives the update on each phase by a particular deadline and also updates on the success of future tasks. Overall a report is compiled and submitted to the client at the end of the deadline.

Planning

Developing different stages of the research is an important aspect of planning. The most important part is to decide, how we can integrate all the phases and then, how to break them down into tasks for simplicity. Each phase has a certain number of resources allocated to them, which includes a number of associates, software tools, etc. In marketing research, there are seven phases research proposal, questionnaire development, survey programming, fielding, data management analysis and quality assurance, Topline design, and the final report. 

Each phase has an assigned deliverable, and the progress is monitored throughout the process. The main aim is to achieve the desired level of output in the given timeline. 

Monitoring & Controlling

Monitoring the progress in each phase and controlling the process is an important aspect of the research project.

Questionnaire development

This phase deals with developing the questionnaire for survey implementation. The initial draft is prepared and then presented in front of clients for approval. Multiple changes are made throughout the draft, till an approval is signed off by the client. Final draft with skip logic, grammatical corrections, and correct vocabulary is prepared and sent for survey programming. The desired deliverable for this step is the final draft. The duration of this phase is ten working days but can vary with client needs.

Survey programming

Survey programming is the next step, where programmers program survey for fielding. For quality assurance purposes the survey is tested by associates for multiple times. Updates are made as errors are corrected, and the final link is sent to the client. Once the client approves the survey, it is taken into the field. Most surveys are incentivized; details about the incentive are discussed in the proposal. The deliverable for this stage is the final link. The duration of this phase is twelve working days.

Fielding the survey

Fielding stage is where the respondents receive the survey. The internal database is used to set up a panel of respondents, who qualify specific requirements. Few vendors also outsource this function to a third party recruiter. The survey starts with a screener to terminate respondents who don’t comply with the entry conditions. A panel consists of multiple segments; each segment is sorted in the survey screener and follows a particular path of questions. 

Initially, the survey is soft launched for testing purpose. The soft launch targets fixed percent (around 20) of the panel members. The next step includes launching the survey in the field, which is called as the full launch.

Data management

Data management consists of two steps; step one is quality assurance, and step two is analysis. Initially, a thorough inspection of data is carried out to check for inconsistencies, which broadly include missing values, skewness, kurtosis, and outliers.

Closing

Closing consists of two steps, the initial step is to create the report template (ppt), and the next step is populating the report with numbers. The template is then proofed and customized multiple times as per client needs. For closing, the client receives the draft of the final report.

Financial Returns

In marketing research most of the client companies don’t discuss their strategies with their marketing research firm, terms like ROI, NPV, and LTV are not frequently used in the industry unless you are part of the client team. It is a practice in IT to have a discussion on these terms, but in marketing research, clients usually deal with multiple vendors and collect all the insights to make their strategy. Overall, for the vendor, the research ends with the report, but for an in-house market research team, there is post research evaluation. 

Prathamesh Muzumdar