Without getting too bogged down in terminology, there are two broad categories of research, primary and secondary: The former is research that is conducted in-house, while secondary is gleaned from other sources, such as existing research papers.

Primary research will bring the biggest gains and insights, as it is focused on your business and customers. If you have the time and experience, you can do some of the basics, such as SWOT analysis and competitor analysis yourself. Alternatively, get in touch with us at Turquoise and we can talk you through some of the tools that our expert analysts use and work out which ones will deliver the biggest benefits to your business.

The above two steps will give you a better overall picture of the marketing environment. But to get real insights, you need to start talking to your customers and potential customers. Again, the online age makes this far easier than it used to be, both in terms of gathering and interpreting the data.

However, before you start diving into the world of social media surveys or online tools, remember the golden rule of garbage in, garbage out. In other words, you need to ensure you are asking the right questions.