The big idea: Good strategy starts with what real customers say and do, so find it, count it, and turn it into a clear “We found X, which means Y, so we will Z.”
In 60 seconds
- Research replaces “we think” with “we found,” and it starts with one clear question.
- Do secondary research first, then add primary research such as interviews, a short survey or your own listening search.
- Tag what you find by theme and sentiment, count it, and turn the top patterns into “We found X, which means Y, so we will Z.”
Do this: run real research for your Final Pitch and turn your top three patterns into insight lines on the Audience & Personas slide.
How market research and social listening work
How market research and social listening work
Replace “we think” with “we found.”
Research is how you replace “we think” with “we found.” You do not need a big budget. You need a clear question, two or three quick methods, and the discipline to count what you see.
The research sprint
Four steps from a question to a plan.
- 1AskWrite the question the research has to answer.Example: “Why do first-time customers not come back?”
- 2CollectCheck what already exists first, then go talk to and listen to real people.You get: reviews, posts, search terms, interview notes, survey answers.
- 3SortTag each piece by theme and sentiment, then count.You get: “price came up 11 times, mostly negative.”
- 4InsightSay what it means and what you will do about it.You get: “We found X, which means Y, so we will Z.”
Two ways to sort any research
Where it comes from. What it tells you.
Secondary research
Data someone else already collected: industry reports, the client’s reviews, competitor websites, Google Trends, census data.
Where it comes from. Fast and cheap, so do it first.
Primary research
Data you collect yourself for your question: interviews, surveys, observation, your own listening searches.
Where it comes from. Slower, but it answers exactly what you asked.
Qualitative
Words, stories and reasons. Interviews, open-ended comments, reviews.
What it tells you. It tells you why and how people feel.
Quantitative
Numbers you can count and compare. Survey scales, search trends, review ratings, mention counts.
What it tells you. It tells you how many and how much.
The strongest research uses both
Qualitative finds the pattern. Quantitative checks how big it is.
If five interviews mention parking and 40 of 120 reviews do too, you have a finding a client will believe.
Quick methods: talk to people
Ask about the last time they bought, not someday.
- Customer interviews. Five to eight 15-minute conversations with real or likely customers. Ask about the last time they bought, not what they might do someday. Watch out: friends tell you what you want to hear. Talk to people who fit the persona.
- Short surveys. Five to eight questions in a free form tool. Good for checking how common something from your interviews is. Watch out: a survey of your classmates describes your classmates, not the client’s market.
Run a customer interview
Interviews give you the why behind the numbers. Fifteen minutes each is enough. Keep going until you stop hearing new things.
- Recruit people who fit the persona. Recent customers, people who almost bought, or people who buy from a competitor.
- Tell them what it is for. “We are students building a marketing plan for a local business. There are no wrong answers.”
- Ask about past behavior. “Tell me about the last time you…” gets real stories. “Would you ever…” gets polite guesses.
- Ask open questions and follow up. “What made you pick that one?” “What almost stopped you?” “Where did you look first?”
- Do not pitch or lead. “Don’t you love our new menu?” only gets a yes.
- Write down their exact words. One person asks, one person takes notes. Quotes become your persona’s voice.
Starter script: “Tell me about the last time you [did the thing]. Where were you? What did you try first? What was frustrating? What made you choose where you went?”
Write a short survey that gives clean answers
- Know what decision it informs. If an answer would not change your plan, cut the question.
- One idea per question. “Is our shop fast and friendly?” is two questions.
- Use neutral wording. “How would you rate the price?” not “How much do you like our great prices?”
- Balance your scales. Give as many negative options as positive ones.
- Put one open question last. “What is the one thing you would change?” often gives your best quote.
Report who answered and how many. “38 responses, mostly UT students” is honest. “Customers prefer…” from 38 classmates is not.
Quick methods: read what is already out there
People are blunt online. Count before you claim.
Reviews mining
Read the client’s and competitors’ reviews on Google, Yelp, Amazon or the app stores. Tag each one by theme.
Watch out: the angriest and happiest people review most. The 3-star reviews are often the most useful.
Competitor audits
Compare two to four competitors side by side: offer, price, message, channels, posting rhythm, what their comments say.
Search data
Google Trends shows when and where interest rises. Autocomplete and “People also ask” show the exact words people type.
Reddit and comments
Search Reddit, TikTok, YouTube and Instagram comments for the category. People are blunt there and use their own words.
Watch out: one loud thread is a lead, not a trend. Count before you claim.
Two more watch-outs
- Competitor audits: list what customers say about them, not just what they post.
- Search data: Trends shows relative interest on a 0 to 100 scale, not the number of searches.
Mine reviews and comments: a simple tally sheet that turns reading into evidence
Pick a fixed set, such as the 50 most recent reviews per brand, so your counts are fair. Log each one in a sheet with these columns:
| Quote | Source and date | Brand | Theme | Sentiment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| “Great coffee but never a seat after 7.” | Google review, Sept. | Client | Seating | Mixed |
| “Only place near campus open till midnight.” | Reddit thread, Aug. | Competitor | Late hours | Positive |
Example rows are for a made-up campus coffee shop.
Sort by newest so you see the business as it is now. Read competitors’ reviews too: their complaints are your client’s openings.
Listening vs. monitoring
Reply to one post, or change the plan.
Social monitoring
Watching for mentions so you can respond: a complaint, a question, a tag. It is about single posts, right now. Think customer service.
Social listening
Reading across many posts to find patterns: what people want, fear, praise and compare. It is about themes over time. Think strategy.
The same search can do both. The difference is what you do with the results: reply to one post, or count the pattern and change the plan.
Build a listening query: operators, testing and where to run it
The operators. OR means any of these terms. AND means both must appear. NOT throws a post out. Quotes keep a phrase together. Parentheses group terms so the logic runs in the right order. Syntax varies by tool, so check its help page.
Test and refine. Run the query, read the first 50 results, and mark anything off-topic. Add the word that caused it to your exclusions. Repeat until most results are on topic.
Where to run it. If your client pays for a listening tool, use it. If not, run the parts in Google (with site:reddit.com for Reddit), in each platform’s own search, and in Google Alerts for new mentions.
Turn research into an insight
We found X, which means Y, so we will Z.
Say what it means and what you will do about it.
Try it: Listening Query Builder
Tool · MARK 465
Listening Query Builder
Fill in the parts and watch the search build itself. Then turn what you find into an insight sentence for your pitch.
- 1Build the query
- 2Run it
- 3Write the insight
Listen for
Format for
A finding is what you saw. An insight says why it matters and what you will do.
Where we found it Pick every source that showed it
It goes on this pitch slide
Put it to work: real research for your Final Pitch
Your Final Pitch is graded on this line: “Our audience and competitive analysis is built on real research, not assumptions.” The Audience & Personas section has to show what your client’s customers want, what they fear and what they search for. Research is how you prove it, and it also feeds the competitive landscape and audience synthesis in your Client Kickoff Brief.
Build it in five steps
Split the methods across the team so the whole sprint fits in about a week.
Write three research questions
One each for want, fear and search. Keep them about the customer, not the client.
Your deliverable: “What makes a first-timer pick a rental?” “What worries them?” “What do they type when they start looking?”
Start with secondary research
Read the client’s reviews, two to four competitors’ sites and reviews, and check Google Trends and autocomplete for the category.
Your deliverable: a source log with links and dates, plus a side-by-side competitor table.
Add two primary methods
Pick two: five or more customer interviews, a short survey, or your own listening search built with the Listening Query Builder.
Your deliverable: interview notes with exact quotes, survey results with the number of responses, or your saved query and results.
Code themes and sentiment
Tag everything with one theme and one sentiment, count, and pull the best quote per top theme. Do it for the client and for competitors.
Your deliverable: a theme table: theme, count, sentiment, best quote, source.
Write your insight sentences
Turn your top three patterns into “We found X, which means Y, so we will Z.” Each one should point to a section of the pitch.
Your slide: on Audience & Personas, the persona’s want, fear and top search terms, each backed by one insight line with its source in small print. Add one slide or table that compares the client to competitors on the themes customers care about.
Example: from reviews to a slideA made-up kayak rental, start to finish
For example, a team working with a small lake kayak rental:
- Question: what stops first-timers from booking?
- Secondary: read 25 of the client’s Google reviews and 25 for each of two competitors. Autocomplete shows “kayak rental for beginners” and “is kayaking hard.”
- Primary: six short interviews at the dock and a category search on Reddit.
- Themes: “nervous about tipping” appears in 9 client reviews and 4 of 6 interviews. Competitor reviews praise their quick safety talk.
- Insight: “We found 9 of 25 reviews and 4 of 6 interviewees worried about tipping over, which means first-timers fear looking foolish more than they crave adventure, so we will lead our ads with a calm-water beginner route and a 30-second how-to video.”
- Slide: persona fear: “I don’t want to fall in in front of my friends.” Search terms: “kayak rental for beginners,” “is kayaking hard.” Source line underneath.
Before you submitCheck your research before it goes in the deck
- [ ] We used at least one secondary and one primary method, and named them.
- [ ] Our persona’s wants, fears and search terms each trace back to a source.
- [ ] Every number on a slide shows its base (“11 of 40”).
- [ ] We compared the client with at least two competitors on themes customers care about.
- [ ] Each key finding is written as “We found X, which means Y, so we will Z.”
- [ ] Every insight points to a section of the pitch.
- [ ] Private people’s names and handles are removed from quotes.
- [ ] We can answer “How do you know?” for every claim, with evidence, not guesses.
Go deeper
Back to all Marketing 465 topics
In-class group activity · 28 min
Eavesdrop Sprint
A working listening query for your brand, a tagged and counted sample of 20 real customer reviews or comments, the top search terms, and two insight sentences ready for a pitch slide. Your instructor will give you the password in class.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between primary and secondary research?
Secondary research uses data someone else already collected, such as industry reports, the client's reviews, competitor websites, Google Trends and census data. Primary research is data you collect yourself for your question, through interviews, surveys, observation or your own listening searches. Secondary research is fast and cheap, so do it first. Primary research is slower but answers exactly what you asked.
What is the difference between social listening and social monitoring?
Social monitoring means watching for single mentions so you can respond right now, like a complaint, question or tag. It works like customer service. Social listening means reading across many posts to find patterns over time in what people want, fear, praise and compare. It informs strategy. The same search can do both. The difference is whether you reply to one post or count the pattern and change the plan.
How do you run a customer interview for market research?
Talk to five to eight people who fit the persona for about 15 minutes each, and ask about past behavior, not future guesses. "Tell me about the last time you…" gets real stories, while "Would you ever…" gets polite guesses. Ask open questions, follow up, never pitch or lead, and have one person take notes on exact words, which become your persona's voice.
What are common mistakes when writing a marketing survey?
Common survey mistakes include asking two things in one question, using leading wording and offering unbalanced scales. Keep one idea per question, use neutral words like "How would you rate the price?" and give as many negative options as positive ones. Also report who answered: "38 responses, mostly UT students" is honest, while claiming "customers prefer" from 38 classmates is not.
How do you turn research findings into a marketing insight?
Tag each review, post or interview note by theme and sentiment, count how often each theme appears, then state it as "We found X, which means Y, so we will Z." Counting turns reading into evidence, for example "price came up 11 times, mostly negative." Pair qualitative and quantitative evidence: if five interviews and 40 of 120 reviews mention parking, a client will believe it.