Introduction

Education market research can help you uncover insights that are otherwise hidden. A recent union survey in the UK found that the lowest-paid workers in education are dipping into their own pockets to help pupils. The research found that 98% of the respondents surveyed were worried that their salary wouldn't cover living costs, yet 35% said that they would help pay for food for students. Find the complete set of results of the survey here. Whether you’re an educator, business owner, or an institution, the results of your market research will determine the direction of your education program or product. Read on to find six tips on conducting education market research below:

1. Decide on your goals for education market research

Before you start any research, you need to know what you’re trying to achieve. Do not skip this step! There are two reasons why it's important to define your goals before doing any research:

1) it will help you stay on course

2) it will help determine if the data is relevant or not.

For example, let's say your goal is "I want more people in my facility." That seems like a pretty simple goal. However, the problem with setting a simple goal like this is that there could be many solutions for achieving that result. If you don't know what exactly “more people” looks like (i.e., how many more), then answering questions about how many more people would actually be required would be impossible without first knowing what your target number was supposed to be.

If your goal is “I want more people in my facility.” Then you can determine how many more people would be required to achieve that by doing some research. You might learn that you need an additional 50 people per day (on average) for the facility to reach its target number for the month.

2. Know your potential participants

Prior to conducting any type of market research, it's wise to have a clear understanding of your target audience. This will help you with everything from determining the size of the market to knowing which channels and types of research are most effective for them.

To begin, let’s look at some things that can help you get started:

• Know the size of your potential market. It’s important to know what kind of people will be interested in your product or service before designing a campaign targeting them. Your budget may also dictate how large or small this group should be. If you don’t have enough funds, then targeting everyone might not be feasible (unless they're willing to pay something).
• Find out who these potential customers are and where they hang out online and offline too! You need both an online presence (and offline if possible) since these two channels complement one another well. This is done by communicating with many audiences through different mediums at different times during their journey toward conversion.
• Know what channels are most popular among your target demographic because those channels tend to work best when reaching out directly through email newsletters or social media platforms such as Twitter & Instagram. Both platforms offer excellent opportunities for direct communication between brand ambassadors within communities. So keep this fact in mind when deciding how much time each person should spend per week interacting directly with prospective customers via social media sites. On Facebook, people tend to interact daily with friends. On the other hand, LinkedIn is focused more heavily on professional networking than personal friendships between users. However, both sites allow companies to access thriving communities to find market research participants.

Market research is about finding out what the community wants most and then providing it. This can be done through surveys, polls, or even informal conversations with members of the group. Once you have a solid understanding of what people want from your brand, you can start providing content that will help them achieve their goals.

3. Structure your questions to make it easy for respondents

The most important thing is to keep your questions short and simple. You should also be aware of the format of your survey. This means that you need to use a question format that respondents are familiar with, typically yes/no or multiple choice questions. However, at the same time, it's not necessary for you to stick with this type of question all the way through. You can mix it up from time to time if needed. The other thing is that you want to use clear language in order for people to understand what they're being asked about and how they're supposed to respond. Finally, make sure that each question only asks one thing at a time: don't give them too many options!

4. Know how to analyse the data you get back from education market research

It's important to know how to analyse the data you get back, as well as what tools can help you do it. There are many different ways of analysing market research, but one of the most common is through statistical analysis. Statistical analysis can be used to determine differences between groups and identify patterns in large datasets. It can also help answer questions such as:

• What are my customers' demographics?
• How frequently do they purchase from me?

These answers will help guide your business decisions going forward. If you’re looking for more information about education market research, check out our guide: 3 types of industry survey a company could run.

5. Use a data collection tool that is built for market research

When it comes to conducting market research, it is important that the tool you use is built for the purpose of market research. There are a number of features that make up a good market research tool and these include:

• It should be easy to use and have a good user interface
• It must be able to handle large volumes of data

If you are using an existing CRM or database system, such as Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics 365, then you will also require additional configuration time if you wish to use these systems for market research purposes. The market research tool should be able to handle large volumes of data. This is especially important if you are using it for competitive intelligence purposes, as well as for your own analysis and reporting. It will also need to allow you to store data securely and protect your intellectual property. Learn more about CRM software here.

6. Create an incentive for participation

Giving away a free product or service is a great way to reward people for taking your survey. For example, if you're selling educational services, offer an hour-long consultation with no charge and make it clear that this consultation is only available to those who fill out the survey. It's important to specify that they have access to this reward before you ask them what their budget is so they feel like they are getting something in return for their time and effort in answering all of your questions.

You can also use incentives for feedback on specific topics within your research. Offer an incentive for providing feedback on each question. This could be as simple as asking participants how much time they took getting through the survey (no one likes someone who takes too long) or if there were any questions that were confusing or unclear. This makes sure everyone feels valued because everyone has input into improving the next version of the survey instrument!

Conducting education market research can help uncover insights that are otherwise hidden

It can help you understand your customers and their needs, how they perceive your product or service and the market as a whole.

There are a number of ways to conduct market research. You can use surveys, interviews, focus groups, and more traditional marketing techniques like A/B testing. Before choosing which approach is best for your business we recommend going through the steps below:

Step 1: Identify your goals. Before you start any market research project, it’s important to identify your goals. What do you want to learn, and why? For example, if you want to understand how consumers feel about your product or service, then a survey might be best for you. If you need more detailed information about their preferences and behaviours, then interviews may work better.

Step 2: Develop your questions. Once you’ve identified your goals, it’s time to start writing questions. Make sure they are clear and concise. Don’t ask more than one question at a time, and avoid using jargon or industry-specific language.

Step 3: Decide which methodology is best for you. There are many different ways to collect market research data, including surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Each approach has its advantages and disadvantages so it’s important to choose the right one for your business.

Step 4: Recruit your sample. Once you’ve decided which method is best for your business, it’s time to start recruiting participants. You can do this in person or online using social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn.

Step 5: Collect your data. Once you’ve recruited the participants, it’s time to collect data. This can be done through surveys, interviews or focus groups.

Step 6: Analyse your data. Once you’ve collected all of your data, it’s time to start analysing it. Look for trends and patterns that might not be obvious at first glance.

Conclusion

We hope this post has given you some ideas for how to conduct education market research. With the right tools, it’s easy to get started with this type of project. And with a little time and effort, you could uncover some valuable insights that will help make your product or service better.