Introduction

TMT market research is a complex and challenging process, with many pitfalls to avoid. Conducting TMT research can be especially difficult for those companies that are new to the field of market research or haven't done it in some time. Looking at the industry in general, Here are four challenges that companies face when conducting TMT market research:

1. Finding the right respondents for TMT market research

Broadly, market research can be divided into two areas: B2C and B2B market research. B2C respondents in the TMT industry could be end consumers such as smartphone users or even those who use the internet. On the other hand, B2B respondents are much harder to find for a TMT market research study. Essentially, B2B respondents are those customers who are involved in a buying decision for commercial reasons.

For instance, let's consider an IT officer who's responsible for selecting a project management software for their company. The IT manager is who we would call a B2B customer. For the purposes of a market research study, he would become a B2B respondent. The reason why B2B respondents are harder to find than B2C is that the buying journey looks a lot different in both cases. Additionally, there are certain considerations when thinking about B2B buyers that you wouldn't usually find in B2C. For instance, a recent study conducted by the American Marketing Association reports that B2B buyers are typically more socially conscious than their B2C counterparts. It also predicts that women will comprise the majority of B2B buyers ten years from now. 

Hence, finding the right respondents for your TMT market research is key. If you’re targeting a particular demographic, like millennials or Gen-Z,  it can be difficult to find them. You might need to use a recruitment agency or survey panel service to help you find respondents who fit your criteria. To know more about TMT b2b market research, check our post titled 'The basics of a TMT B2B survey' here.

2. Conducting a complex study

As the name suggests, conducting a complex TMT market research study is not always straightforward. The challenge is that these studies are hard to define in their entirety and can take on many different shapes depending on the organisation's needs.

For example, one company might require a survey about its customers' purchasing habits with another company might need an in-depth analysis of their employees' attitudes and behaviours over time. These two different types of research will have very different requirements around data collection methods, and sample sizes. Thus, making it difficult for researchers to prepare for both studies simultaneously. While having multiple projects running at once may seem like an ideal situation for some companies (and it can be), it can also cause problems if there isn't enough time or resources available to complete them all successfully.

3. Delivering high-quality insights in a short period of time

It can be challenging to deliver high-quality insights in a short period of time. However, there are some ways that you can do this:

• Understand the purpose of your research and know your audience. If you're conducting a survey, make sure it's clear what questions need to be answered by the participants. When designing surveys and questionnaires, think about how people will interpret them—are they easy to read? Do they ask leading questions? Is there enough space between text questions so that users aren't confused when answering questions?
• Embrace technology where possible. Automation tools like Google Forms provide an easy way for participants to answer pre-designed questions without having any knowledge of coding or web design skills. In this way, companies can build their own custom surveys from scratch with survey software. Alternatively, companies can partner with a data collection panel that will recruit participants from the TMT industry. This can save time in both collecting responses from respondents before turning those results into usable data insights.

4. Addressing fast-changing needs

The TMT market is rapidly changing, and you need to be able to change with it. Companies must respond quickly to new opportunities and challenges, so they need the ability to adapt their products and services at the drop of a hat. Forbes shares the top 10 tech trends that everyone must look out for in 2023. Some of these predictions include part of the metaverse becoming real, advances in blockchain technology, and AI augmenting job processes. Read more on the trends here.

Some product managers find that conducting market research becomes more difficult as they face an increasingly competitive landscape. The ability to act quickly can make all the difference between success or failure in a highly competitive industry like technology-enabled marketing or advertising (TEM).

If you don't have time for traditional market research methods like focus groups or surveys, consider using a survey research specialist who can help you with the process of gathering insights from verified survey respondents.  The specialist can take time off your hands by conducting the survey research from start to finish. This method can help you gather actionable data from research participants all over the world.

Possible solutions to address challenges in TMT market research

There are many challenges involved in conducting TMT market research, but there are solutions to those challenges. TMT market research is an important component of any organisation’s marketing strategy. Marketers need to understand the needs and wants of customers in order to provide them with products and services that will lead to repeat purchases, referrals, and even advocacy for your brand. Conducting TMT market research can be very rewarding. However, it also presents certain challenges for organisations looking to learn more about their customers:

• Time: Conducting TMT market research takes time and a lot of it. You have to find a way to balance between getting your questions answered while keeping costs low enough so they work within your budget constraints.
• Resources: When conducting any type of survey or study on the internet there are always costs associated with advertisements, questionnaires (pre populated via Google Forms), payment processors like PayPal or Stripe, etc.  Additionally, acquiring software licences also add to this cost. Thereafter, making sure all participants who complete surveys receive incentives that are priced appropriately also adds to it. One pro tip to reduce the cost associated with TMT market research is to use Mailchimp’s integration feature available through its API platform called Embed Code Builder. This feature works seamlessly to create email templates from scratch to send out survey links and reminders. Another tip is to use applications including WordPress, which is a platform used by most bloggers. Writing blogs about related topics including those concerned with TMT market research can help spread awareness about your research.

Conclusion

The TMT market is dynamic and fast-moving, so it’s important to keep up with the latest trends. The good news is that there are many solutions to these challenges. For example, if you want to conduct an online study, there are plenty of options available that make it easy for you to reach your target audience. And if you want more in-depth insights than just a general sense of how people feel about something? One option would be doing some form of qualitative research like focus groups or interviews which will give you more detail about attitudes toward certain topics. It will also provide an opportunity for deeper discussion with participants when discussing broad areas. For instance, conducting focus groups to determine purchase intent can be very helpful when developing new products or services within this industry. We hope this article has been useful if you were interested in TMT market research. For more information, drop us a line at sales@grape-data.com.