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A good market research brief helps agencies lead successful projects. Learn what to include and how to write a detailed brief with our template guide.

A market research brief is a client document outlining all the relevant information that a research agency needs to understand the client’s specific research needs to propose the most suitable course of action.

A clear, informed brief will ensure the market researcher can deliver the most effective research possible. It also streamlines the project by reducing the need for back and forth between your company and the researcher. A good brief will leave no confusion and provide a meaningful framework for you and the researcher, maximising the accuracy and reliability of insights collected.

Start your project faster with our market research brief template!

In this article, we’ve broken down the key components of a well-written brief, with examples. Using this template guide, you can confidently equip the researcher with the right information to deliver exemplary research for your next project.

Business Background/ Project Background

This section of the brief introduces your company to the market researcher, giving them a more informed overview of your brand, product/service, and target market. You should provide all available context to ensure you and the researcher are on the same page with the project.

Relevant information to add in this section includes: company details, company mission/vision, industry status and trends, market performance history, competitive context, any existing research.

Business Objectives/ Marketing Objectives

Your business objectives/marketing objectives should answer why you are being asked to conduct the research. The researcher should be able to grasp the existing problems/issues your company is looking to address in the research.

For example, this could involve sales, competition, customer satisfaction, or product innovation, to name a few.

Research Objectives

Research objectives address the specific questions you would like the research to cover, including what insights you wish to gain. This is where you should detail what actions your company is planning to take based on the research you are commissioning.

Your research objective is one of the most important elements of your brief, as it dictates how your study will be conducted and the quality of results.

Target Market

Who will this research focus on? This is where you should state respondents’ demographic and profiling information, along with any pre-existing segments you want to target. Be specific, but also be aware that the more restrictive the criteria are, the higher the sample cost will be. Extensive limitations are also realistically harder to meet.

For example:

• Market: Canada
• Sample size: 200 – 1000
• Demographics: Household income of $150k and above a year
• Markets: Malaysia (priority), Thailand, Singapore
• Sample size: N=200 (Product Variant Selector) + N=500 (Conjoint)
• Demographics: 16 – 50 years old
• National representation: Age, gender and location
• Target definition: Bought electronics online in the past 12 months
• Reads on: 16 – 30-year olds vs. 31 – 50-year olds
• Market: South America
• Sample size: 1800
• Target definition: Main and joint grocery buyers
• 5 target groups: Income, urban/rural, age, family status, shopping frequency (divide each into 3 subgroups, e.g. low, medium, high).

Action Standards/ Decision Rules

Action standards outline which criteria will determine the decisions you make following research. These should detail specific numerical scores and any company benchmarks which need to be met in your research results for decision-making to go ahead. Clear and detailed action standards will allow you to make decisions faster and more confidently following research.

Nestlé’s 60/40 action standard which prioritises preference and nutrition, by aiming “to make products that achieve at least 60% consumer taste preference with the added ‘plus’ of nutritional advantage”.

Pricing is seen as credible by at least 40% of the target market.

Product has at least 50% acceptance from the target market.

Methodology

You should only include methodology if you are certain of the approach you want to take. If you do not know which methodology you should use, leave this section blank for agency recommendations.

Monadic test : Monadic testing introduces survey respondents to individual concepts, products in isolation. It is usually used in studies where independent findings for each stimulus are required, unlike in comparison testing, where several stimuli are tested side-by-side. Each product/concept is displayed and evaluated separately, providing more accurate and meaningful results for specific items.

Discrete choice modelling : Sometimes referred to as choice-based conjoint, discrete choice is a more robust technique consistent with random utility theory and has been proven to simulate customers’ actual behaviour in the marketplace. The output on relative importance of attributes and value by level is aligned to the output from conjoint analysis (partworth analysis).

Qualitative research : Qualitative forms of research focus on non-numerical and unstructured data, such as participant observation, direct observation, unstructured interviews, and case studies.

Quantitative research : Numbers and measurable forms of data make up quantitative research, focusing on ‘how many’, ‘how often’, and ‘how much’, e.g. conjoint analysis , MaxDiff , Gabor-Granger , Van Westendorp .

Deliverables

Deliverables should clearly outline project expectations – both from your company and the agency. This should cover who is responsible for everything required to undertake research, including survey inputs and outputs, materials, reporting, reviewing, and any additional requirements.

• PowerPoint presentation
• Crosstabs of data
• Raw datasets
• Excel simulator
• Online dashboard
• “Typing tool” for future research

Timing and Cost

Timing covers the due dates for key milestones of your research project, most importantly, for your preliminary and final reports. Cost should include your project budget, along with any potential additional costs/constraints.

Contacts and Responsibilities

This section states all stakeholders involved in the project, their role and responsibilities, and their contact details. You should ensure that these are easy to locate on your brief, for quick reference by the agency and easier communication.

Ready-to-use market research brief template with examples

Start your research project faster and get better results. Using this template, you can confidently equip the researcher with the right information to deliver exemplary research for your next project.

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Market research templates: what they are and how to use them.

18 min read Interested in market research but need some templates to start with? In this guide, we unpack market research, survey planning best practice and share some of our best templates for brand, customer, product and employee research.

What is a market research template?

While you’re no doubt familiar with the concept of market research and how it can help you to reach your target audiences and improve your product or service , the real challenge is designing a market research plan that is conducive to excellent results.

All of this starts with the right market research template(s) to help you analyze specific target audiences, collect the right data and uncover insights that can drive actionable change.

In this article, we’re going to:

• talk about market research and its use cases,
• provide you with a standard template that allows you to plan your research,
• and share several other templates to help you with specific types of market research

You can also check out our free template library.

But first, let’s revisit market research.

What is market research?

Market research is the process of determining the viability of a new service or product through surveys and questionnaires with prospects and/or customers. It involves gathering information about market needs and prospect/customer preferences .

Through market research, you can discover and/or refine your target market, get opinions and feedback on what you provide to them and uncover further prospect/customer pain points and expectations of your service or product .

Market research can be conducted in-house, either by you and your research team, or through a third-party company that specializes in it (they will typically have their own research panels or be capable of creating a research panel to suit your requirements).

The four common types of market research

There are lots of different ways to conduct market research to collect customer data and feedback , test product concepts , and do brand research, but the four most common are:

The most commonly used form of market research, surveys are a form of qualitative research that asks respondents a series of open or closed-ended questions , delivered either as an on-screen questionnaire or email.

Surveys are incredibly popular because they’re cheap, easy to produce, and can capture data very quickly, leading to faster insights.

2) Focus groups

Why not bring together a carefully selected group of people in your target market using focus groups? Though more expensive and complex than surveys and interviews, focus groups can offer deeper insight into prospect and customer behavior – from how users experience your products and services to what marketing messages really resonate with them.

Of course, as a market research method that’s reliant on a moderator to steer conversation, it can be subject to bias (as different moderators might have preferred questions or be more forceful) and if you cut corners (not asking all the necessary questions or making assumptions based on responses), the data could get skewed.

3) Observation

As if you were a fly-on-the-wall, the observation market research method can be incredibly powerful. Rather than interviewing or surveying users, you simply take notes while someone from your target market/target audience engages with your product . How are they using it? What are they struggling with? Do they look as though they have concerns?

Observing your target audience/target market in this fashion is a great alternative to the other more traditional methods on this list. It’s less expensive and far more natural as it isn’t guided by a moderator or a predefined set of questions. The only issue is that you can’t get feedback directly from the mouth of the user, so it’s worth combining this type of research with interviews, surveys, and/or focus groups.

4) Interviews

Interviews allow for face-to-face discussions (both in-person and virtually), allowing for more natural conversations with participants.

For gleaning deeper insights (especially with non-verbal cues giving greater weight to opinions), there’s nothing better than face-to-face interviews. Any kind of interview will provide excellent information, helping you to better understand your prospects and target audience/target market.

Use cases for market research

When you want to understand your prospects and/or customers, but have no existing data to set a benchmark – or want to improve your products and services quickly – market research is often the go-to.

Market research (as mentioned above), helps you to discover how prospects and customers feel about your products and services, as well as what they would like to see .

But there are more use cases and benefits to market research than the above.

Reduce risk of product and business failure

With any new venture, there’s no guarantee that the new idea will be successful. As such, it’s up to you to establish the market’s appetite for your product or service. The easiest way to do this is through market research – you can understand the challenges prospects face and quickly identify where you can help. With the data from your market survey, you can then create a solution that addresses the needs and expectations of would-be customers.

Forecast future trends

Market research doesn’t just help you to understand the current market – it also helps you to forecast future needs. As you conduct your research and analyze the findings, you can identify trends – for example, how brands and businesses are adopting new technology to improve customer experiences or how sustainability is becoming a core focus for packaging. Whatever it is you’re looking to understand about the future of business in your market, comprehensive market research can help you to identify it.

Stay ahead of the competition

Understanding your market and what prospects and customers want from you will help to keep you ahead of the competition . The fact is that the top businesses frequently invest in market research to get an edge, and those that don’t tap into the insights of their audience are missing low-hanging fruit.

As well as helping you to stay in front, you can also use market research to identify gaps in the market, e.g. your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses . Just have participants answer questions about competitor products/services – or even use the products/services – and work out how you can refine your offerings to address these issues.

Plan more strategically

What’s the foundation of your business strategy? If it’s based on evidence, e.g. what people expect of your products and services, it’ll be much easier to deliver something that works. Rather than making assumptions about what you should do, market research gives you a clear, concrete understanding of what people want to see.

Check out our guide to market research for a more comprehensive breakdown.

How do you write a market research plan/template?

A market research plan is very similar to a brief in that it documents the most vital information and steps about your project. Consider it a blueprint that outlines your main objective (summary), key questions and outcomes, target audience and size, your timeline, budget, and other key variables.

Let’s talk about them in more detail.

Elements of a great market research plan

1) overview or summary.

Use the first section of your market research plan to outline the background to the problem that you are attempting to solve (this is usually your problem statement or problem question). Include background information on the study’s purpose and the business to provide context to those who would read the report, as well as the need for the research. Keep the overview simple and concise; focus on the most salient elements.

2) Objectives

What is it that you hope to achieve with this survey? Your objectives are the most important part of the survey. Make sure to list 3-5 of the decisions or initiatives that the research will influence.

For example:

Understand the most-used channels for customer engagement and purchasing to decide where to prioritize marketing and sales budget in Q1 2022. Determine what’s causing customer churn at the later stages of the buyer journey and implement a new retention and sales strategy to address it.

Your objectives should be smart, that is: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely.

3) Deliverables (or outcomes)

This section should focus on what you expect to have at the end of the project. How many responses are you looking for? How will the data be presented? Who will the data be shared with? (Stakeholders, executives) What are your next steps? Make sure you state how you will collect and analyze the data once it’s available.

Products such as Qualtrics CoreXM make this process fast and incredibly easy to do, drastically reducing the time to insights so you can make more meaningful changes, faster.

4) Target audience

Not to be confused with your market research sample, your target audience represents who you want to research. Of course, your sample may include ideal buyers from your target audience. Here you want to define the main variables or factors of your audience: demographic , age, location , product interaction, experience, and so on. It’s worth building out your buyer personas (if you haven’t already) and including a quick breakdown of them here.

5) Sample plan

How many participants do you want to research and what kind of groups do you want to reach? Depending on these two variables, you may have to use qualitative, quantitative , or multi-method approaches.

6) Research methods

What methods will you use in your market research project? The insights (and the granularity of those insights) will depend on the methods and tools you choose. For example, and as mentioned earlier, surveys are often the go-to for many organizations as they’re affordable and straightforward, but if you want to get more personal views from your respondents, one-to-one interviews might be more applicable. You might even want to take a hands-off approach and simply observe participants as they use your products, or try a combination of research methods. Make sure to outline what methods you will use as part of your research plan.

7) Timeline

How long will your research project run? It’s worth putting together a Gantt chart to highlight key milestones in the project, along with dependencies, and to break down tasks as much as possible. Schedule in contingency time in case some tasks or research runs over – or you need more responses.

Set a budget for the overall program and list it in your plan. Though this might be the most difficult aspect of any research plan, it helps you to be more strategic about tasks and hold people accountable at each stage of the process. If costs go over, that’s good to know for future market research. If costs are lower than anticipated, you then have the opportunity to do further research or prop up other areas of the study.

9) Ethical concerns or conflicts of interest

One of the most important parts of your market research plan, you should highlight any ethical concerns. To begin with, it’s your duty to state whether or not responses will be kept confidential and anonymous as part of the study. It’s also important to allow participants to remain anonymous and ensure you protect their privacy at all times.

Another issue to consider is stereotyping. Any analysis of real populations needs to make approximations and place individuals into groups, but if conducted irresponsibly, stereotyping can lead to undesirable results.

Lastly, conflicts of interest – it may be that researchers have interests in the outcome of the project that lead to a personal advantage that might compromise the integrity of your market research project. You should clearly state in your market research report that any potential conflicts of interest are highlighted and addressed before continuing.

But I want a faster solution!

Well, there’s a quicker and far easier way to do all of the above and get the data you need – just use a market research survey template. In our next section, we’re going to share a whole list of templates that you can use.

Free market research survey templates

No matter what kind of research you want to conduct, we have templates that will remove the complexity of the task and empower you to get more from your data. Below we’ve compiled a list of templates for four key experience areas: Brand , Customer , Employee , and Product .

All of our research templates are free. All you need to do is sign up for a free Qualtrics account to access them.

Brand experience market research templates:

• Logo testing : Collect feedback to help you evaluate and iterate on your logo designs and concepts
• Brand awareness : Track the level of brand awareness in your target market, including current and potential future customers
• Ad testing : Evaluate your consumers’ reaction to an advertisement so you know which campaigns to deploy before you invest
• A/B testing : Quickly and easily compare to versions or options in a study, whether it’s a design, headline, color palette or a mock-up of your latest ad campaign

Customer experience market research templates

• Student satisfaction : Gather feedback on how your institution is delivering on the student experience
• Net promoter score (NPS) : Measure customer loyalty and understand how they feel about your product or service using one of the world’s best-recognized metrics
• Customer satisfaction : Evaluate how satisfied your customers are with your company, including the products and services you provide, and how they are treated when they buy from you
• Customer service : Gain insights into the contact center experience, so you can achieve and maintain optimum levels of customer experience (CX) performance
• Event feedback : Measure the effectiveness of your events and how well they meet attendee expectations so that you can continuously improve your offering
• IT help desk : Understand how satisfied your employees and customers are with your IT help desk experience
• Website suggestion box : Collect visitor feedback on how your website can be improved
• Website satisfaction : Find out how satisfied visitors are with your website’s design, usability, and performance
• Store purchase feedback : Capture customer experience data at the point of purchase to help you improve the in-store experience
• Online purchase feedback : Find out how well your online shopping experience performs against customer needs and expectations

Employee experience market research templates

• Employee satisfaction : Get an overview of your current employee experience
• Manager feedback : Improve your skills as a leader with valuable feedback from your team
• Employee engagement : Find out how employees find the current experience at your workplace with this entry-level engagement survey
• Employee exit interview : Understand why your employees are leaving and how they’ll speak about your company once they’re gone with this survey template
• Employee onboarding : Improve your onboarding program by understanding what’s working and what’s not
• Team event planning : Collect inputs from employees to plan a team event that works for everyone
• Meeting feedback : Check-in with team members after a meeting to see how well your company is running and what improvements can be made
• Interview feedback : Improve your candidate experience by gathering actionable insights about the interview process
• Employee suggestion box : Gather anonymous data to help address concerns and improve the employee experience in your organization
• Candidate experience : Improve your candidate experience to increase brand perception, offer acceptance rates, and hiring process efficiency with this single-touchpoint survey template
• Employee suggestion action : Take employee feedback a step further by working with your staff to quantify solutions based on their experience data

Product experience market research templates

• Product research : Evaluate your consumers’ reaction to a new product or product feature across every stage of the product development journey
• Pricing : Understand how to set the exact price point for your product or service, according to your target consumers
• Feature prioritization : Compare and contrast product features using conjoint analysis to find the optimal mix for your customers
• Product package testing : Collect feedback on your product packaging to see how well it meets the needs and expectations of your customers

Armed with the right market research templates, getting the information you need across brand, product, customer and employee disciplines — as well as beyond — is significantly easier.

But if you want help putting together complex market research and scaling your in-house research team to get agile insights, check out our guide to building an agile research function.

Insights are more important than ever, especially during times of change, but building a great team takes a lot of time and money.

In our eBook, we’ll explain how you can:

• Scale your research team
• Build a smart partner strategy
• Ensure you have the right technology for market research and data analysis

Tackle your market research with our agile market research eBook

Related resources

Market intelligence 10 min read, marketing insights 11 min read, ethnographic research 11 min read, qualitative vs quantitative research 13 min read, qualitative research questions 11 min read, qualitative research design 12 min read, primary vs secondary research 14 min read, request demo.

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Market Research Brief | Guide + Template

• Customize this template to fit your requirements
• Share it with your team & clients with one click
• Easily collect their feedback and information
• Impress everyone with professional looking briefs
• Download your document as PDF

This document is essential to ensuring there is clear communication between everyone working on the project, helping you develop a strong and productive working relationship. How do you write one, though? We thought we would explore the process further before giving you our top five tips for writing a market research brief.

What is a market research briefing document?

Before we start taking a look at the benefits and how to write a market research brief, we thought we would first explore what one actually is. This comprehensive document is designed to help you inform your market researcher exactly what you are looking to find out.

This should be seen as a dialogue between the two of you, allowing you to provide them with all of the information that they need in order to achieve your goals. The more thorough that you are in your details, the smoother the project will be and the less back and forth you will need to have with your researcher.

Having a detailed market research brief will also minimize the risk of miscommunication that could result in wrong data or expensive repeats. When creating a brief, there are several things that you will need to outline:

• What your objective is
• Contextual information on why you want to achieve this
• Detailed information on your product or services
• The research methods you want to cover
• The timescale and budget you have
• The target market and sample size you want

These points should be covered no matter the size of the project you are looking to complete. It is always important to remember that the more thorough you are in this planning stage, the better the results you will achieve and the greater the information you will have available to work with.

What are the hidden benefits of implementing one?

Implementing a thorough market research brief might seem like a time-consuming process, but it should be essential before any project. A comprehensive document can provide you with a huge array of benefits that will significantly benefit you in the future.

Alongside helping to guarantee that you are able to get the most insightful data possible, it also ensures the project will be able to go as smoothly as possible. It will ensure that you, the researcher, and anyone else working on the project understands exactly what is expected and by when. This helps to give you complete peace of mind that you will receive the results you want while also minimizing the stress and worry of having to continuously communicate every little detail with them.

Of course, a market research brief is not just for the researcher. The process of creating one is also a great chance for you to think critically about what it is that you want to achieve and clearly detail your objectives.

How do you write a market research brief? A tested outline:

There can be no denying the many benefits that come from creating a clear market research brief. However, if you have never produced one before, it can be very daunting to know where to begin when it comes to putting pen to paper.

We know how tough it can be to create a comprehensive market research brief. That is why we have taken a closer look at the five key areas that you should focus on when creating yours:

1) Project description

The first thing that you will want to complete is your project description. This is effectively a comprehensive summary of what the project is, what your goals and objectives are, and what the required roles are.

When creating the project description, you should also make sure that you are introducing your brand and the services or products you are working with. This will help to provide the relevant context to the researchers, allowing them to establish why you are conducting the study and what you want to achieve.

During this summary, you can also outline any previous campaigns that you have conducted or rival studies that you would like to replicate.

2) Objectives

When you have been able to create that summary, the next step of your market research brief is to outline your objectives. This section should clearly detail what you want to achieve from the study, helping to provide the researcher with more context on why you are completing it and allowing them to understand exactly what the finished results should look like.

When creating the objectives, you should also outline what you are hoping to do with the data at the end. By informing the researcher of what you will be doing with the information, they will be able to ensure that it is delivered in the most effective format possible.

3) Target audience

With the objectives clear, you can then move on to detailing your target audience. This section of your market research brief will describe the profiling information and demographics that your researcher should focus on.

Alongside things such as desired age, gender, occupation, location, and income, you should also state anyone who you do not want to include. When creating your target audience, make sure you are also outlining your preferred sample size.

Use our Customer Persona builder inside HolaBrief for free !

4) Technical requirements

The technical requirements section of your market research brief should cover everything from how you want the study undertaken to how you want the results provided. For example, do you want individuals surveyed face-to-face or anonymously through their computer?

You should also detail whether you want the results in a pure, unsorted form or whether they should be collated into graphs.

5) Milestones and deliverables

Finally, you should clearly detail any milestones and deliverables that you expect throughout the project. Having incremental milestones will ensure that the project remains on track and that one small mistake will not result in all of your data being incorrect.

Build and download your market research brief samples

Are you looking to create your own market research brief? These steps can help to give you an idea of what you need to include in yours. However, here at Hola Brief, we wanted to go one step further and make the process even easier for you by providing you with a clear template to follow.

Using our unique and proven software, we have created a comprehensive market research brief template that will carefully guide you through the process step by step. Our mission is to ensure you have the knowledge and tools required to create the ultimate brief for your researcher.

Want to find out more? Check it out today!

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Market Research: A How-To Guide and Template

Discover the different types of market research, how to conduct your own market research, and use a free template to help you along the way.

MARKET RESEARCH KIT

5 Research and Planning Templates + a Free Guide on How to Use Them in Your Market Research

Updated: 02/21/24

Published: 02/21/24

Today's consumers have a lot of power. As a business, you must have a deep understanding of who your buyers are and what influences their purchase decisions.

Enter: Market Research.

Whether you're new to market research or not, I created this guide to help you conduct a thorough study of your market, target audience, competition, and more. Let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

What is market research?

Primary vs. secondary research, types of market research, how to do market research, market research report template, market research examples.

Market research is the process of gathering information about your target market and customers to verify the success of a new product, help your team iterate on an existing product, or understand brand perception to ensure your team is effectively communicating your company's value effectively.

Market research can answer various questions about the state of an industry. But if you ask me, it's hardly a crystal ball that marketers can rely on for insights on their customers.

Market researchers investigate several areas of the market, and it can take weeks or even months to paint an accurate picture of the business landscape.

However, researching just one of those areas can make you more intuitive to who your buyers are and how to deliver value that no other business is offering them right now.

How? Consider these two things:

• Your competitors also have experienced individuals in the industry and a customer base. It‘s very possible that your immediate resources are, in many ways, equal to those of your competition’s immediate resources. Seeking a larger sample size for answers can provide a better edge.
• Your customers don't represent the attitudes of an entire market. They represent the attitudes of the part of the market that is already drawn to your brand.

The market research services market is growing rapidly, which signifies a strong interest in market research as we enter 2024. The market is expected to grow from roughly $75 billion in 2021 to $90.79 billion in 2025 .

Free Market Research Kit

• SWOT Analysis Template
• Survey Template
• Focus Group Template

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

Why do market research?

Market research allows you to meet your buyer where they are.

As our world becomes louder and demands more of our attention, this proves invaluable.

By understanding your buyer's problems, pain points, and desired solutions, you can aptly craft your product or service to naturally appeal to them.

Market research also provides insight into the following:

• Where your target audience and current customers conduct their product or service research
• Which of your competitors your target audience looks to for information, options, or purchases
• What's trending in your industry and in the eyes of your buyer
• Who makes up your market and what their challenges are
• What influences purchases and conversions among your target audience
• Consumer attitudes about a particular topic, pain, product, or brand
• Whether there‘s demand for the business initiatives you’re investing in
• Unaddressed or underserved customer needs that can be flipped into selling opportunity
• Attitudes about pricing for a particular product or service

Ultimately, market research allows you to get information from a larger sample size of your target audience, eliminating bias and assumptions so that you can get to the heart of consumer attitudes.

As a result, you can make better business decisions.

To give you an idea of how extensive market research can get , consider that it can either be qualitative or quantitative in nature — depending on the studies you conduct and what you're trying to learn about your industry.

Qualitative research is concerned with public opinion, and explores how the market feels about the products currently available in that market.

Quantitative research is concerned with data, and looks for relevant trends in the information that's gathered from public records.

That said, there are two main types of market research that your business can conduct to collect actionable information on your products: primary research and secondary research.

Primary Research

Primary research is the pursuit of first-hand information about your market and the customers within your market.

It's useful when segmenting your market and establishing your buyer personas.

Primary market research tends to fall into one of two buckets:

• Exploratory Primary Research: This kind of primary market research normally takes place as a first step — before any specific research has been performed — and may involve open-ended interviews or surveys with small numbers of people.
• Specific Primary Research: This type of research often follows exploratory research. In specific research, you take a smaller or more precise segment of your audience and ask questions aimed at solving a suspected problem.

Secondary Research

Secondary research is all the data and public records you have at your disposal to draw conclusions from (e.g. trend reports, market statistics, industry content, and sales data you already have on your business).

Secondary research is particularly useful for analyzing your competitors . The main buckets your secondary market research will fall into include:

• Public Sources: These sources are your first and most-accessible layer of material when conducting secondary market research. They're often free to find and review — like government statistics (e.g., from the U.S. Census Bureau ).
• Commercial Sources: These sources often come in the form of pay-to-access market reports, consisting of industry insight compiled by a research agency like Pew , Gartner , or Forrester .
• Internal Sources: This is the market data your organization already has like average revenue per sale, customer retention rates, and other historical data that can help you draw conclusions on buyer needs.
• Focus Groups
• Product/ Service Use Research
• Observation-Based Research
• Buyer Persona Research
• Market Segmentation Research
• Pricing Research
• Competitive Analysis Research
• Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Research
• Brand Awareness Research
• Campaign Research

1. Interviews

Interviews allow for face-to-face discussions so you can allow for a natural flow of conversation. Your interviewees can answer questions about themselves to help you design your buyer personas and shape your entire marketing strategy.

2. Focus Groups

Focus groups provide you with a handful of carefully-selected people that can test out your product and provide feedback. This type of market research can give you ideas for product differentiation.

3. Product/Service Use Research

Product or service use research offers insight into how and why your audience uses your product or service. This type of market research also gives you an idea of the product or service's usability for your target audience.

4. Observation-Based Research

Observation-based research allows you to sit back and watch the ways in which your target audience members go about using your product or service, what works well in terms of UX , and which aspects of it could be improved.

5. Buyer Persona Research

Buyer persona research gives you a realistic look at who makes up your target audience, what their challenges are, why they want your product or service, and what they need from your business or brand.

6. Market Segmentation Research

Market segmentation research allows you to categorize your target audience into different groups (or segments) based on specific and defining characteristics. This way, you can determine effective ways to meet their needs.

7. Pricing Research

Pricing research helps you define your pricing strategy . It gives you an idea of what similar products or services in your market sell for and what your target audience is willing to pay.

8. Competitive Analysis

Competitive analyses give you a deep understanding of the competition in your market and industry. You can learn about what's doing well in your industry and how you can separate yourself from the competition .

9. Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Research

Customer satisfaction and loyalty research gives you a look into how you can get current customers to return for more business and what will motivate them to do so (e.g., loyalty programs , rewards, remarkable customer service).

10. Brand Awareness Research

Brand awareness research tells you what your target audience knows about and recognizes from your brand. It tells you about the associations people make when they think about your business.

11. Campaign Research

Campaign research entails looking into your past campaigns and analyzing their success among your target audience and current customers. The goal is to use these learnings to inform future campaigns.

• Define your buyer persona.
• Identify a persona group to engage.
• Prepare research questions for your market research participants.
• List your primary competitors.
• Summarize your findings.

1. Define your buyer persona.

You have to understand who your customers are and how customers in your industry make buying decisions.

This is where your buyer personas come in handy. Buyer personas — sometimes referred to as marketing personas — are fictional, generalized representations of your ideal customers.

Use a free tool to create a buyer persona that your entire company can use to market, sell, and serve better.

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Free Guide & Templates to Help Your Market Research

Marketing software that helps you drive revenue, save time and resources, and measure and optimize your investments — all on one easy-to-use platform

Free Marketing Brief Templates

By Joe Weller | October 24, 2022

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We've compiled a variety of marketing brief templates in multiple formats so you can organize and document marketing campaigns in detail.

Included on this page, you’ll find a marketing brief template , a marketing client brief template , a digital marketing campaign brief template , and a marketing project brief template .

Marketing Brief Template

Download a Sample Marketing Brief Template for Microsoft Word | Google Docs

Download a Blank Marketing Brief Template for Microsoft Word | Google Docs

Use this marketing brief template to summarize your project, identify its purpose, and define essential objectives. Identify the target audience and detail the marketing strategy with this easy-to-use template. The template features space to include timeline projections, deadlines, and marketing campaign deliverables.

Outline your project’s purpose, objectives, timeline, and more with these free project brief templates .

Marketing Client Brief Template

Download a Marketing Client Brief Template for  Microsoft Word | Excel | Google Docs

This marketing brief template includes space to provide a client and project overview, as well as a projected timeline with deadlines. Enter primary and secondary demographic information for your target audience. Use this template to enter significant competitor research findings in order to help drive a successful marketing campaign.

Strategize implementation and track performance with this collection of free marketing project plan templates .

Digital Marketing Campaign Brief Template

Download a Digital Marketing Campaign Brief Template for  Microsoft Word | Google Docs

Use this digital marketing campaign brief template to drive brand awareness and sales. This template describes campaign resources, as well as lists the goals and timelines for social media, email, and other digital marketing channels. Marketing teams can use the template to identify campaign goals and opportunities, as well as list essential elements to achieve key objectives.

Check out this collection of free brand brief templates to better structure brand creation or rebranding efforts. 

Learn more about writing design briefs with these design brief examples and free templates .

Marketing Project Brief Template

Download a Marketing Project Brief Template for  Microsoft Word | Google Docs

This marketing project brief template helps teams identify a marketing project's purpose, opportunities, elements, and objectives. Use this template to specify your target audience and fine-tune marketing strategies and messaging. The template provides space for team members and stakeholders to contribute thoughts and ideas before approval. 

Enter background information, list objectives, define your target audience, and more with one of these free creative brief templates .

How Do You Write a Marketing Brief?

Stakeholders rely on marketing briefs to communicate the objectives and strategies of marketing their campaigns. A marketing brief is a blueprint for the structure of a campaign. Download a marketing brief template to help ensure that you include necessary components. 

Consider the following tasks when writing a marketing brief:

• Discuss and define the marketing campaign purpose.
• Collaborate with marketing team members and other stakeholders.
• List the marketing campaign objectives.
• Identify the target audience.
• Document the campaign strategy in detail.

What Should You Ask in a Marketing Brief?

A successful marketing campaign relies on asking the right questions in your marketing brief. Questions that clarify who is the client, as well as what is the budget and the central message, will help guide you toward success. 

Consider asking the following questions in your marketing brief:

• What is the purpose of this marketing campaign?
• Who is our client?
• What is our budget?
• What is our campaign timeline?
• Who is our target audience?
• What is our marketing strategy?
• What is our message?
• What are our campaign deliverables?

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Market Research Brief Template

Market research plays a crucial role in the success of any business. By providing valuable insights into customers, competitors, and market trends, it helps companies make informed decisions and develop effective strategies. A well-designed market research brief is the foundation of any successful research project. It helps define the objectives, scope, and methodologies of the research, ensuring that the right information is collected and analyzed to meet the organization's needs.

1. Introduction to Market Research Briefs

Before delving into the details of market research briefs, let's first understand what they are and why they are important.

What is a market research brief?

A market research brief is a document that outlines the objectives, scope, methodologies, and timelines for a research project. It acts as a roadmap for the research team, guiding them through the process of data collection, analysis, and reporting.

Importance of market research briefs

Market research briefs are essential for several reasons. Firstly, they help clarify the purpose of the research and ensure that it aligns with the organization's goals. By clearly defining the research objectives, they provide a clear direction for the research team, ensuring that everyone is on the same page.

Secondly, market research briefs help identify the target audience and market segment. Understanding who the research is meant to serve allows the team to design appropriate data collection methods and analyze the results in a way that is relevant and meaningful to the intended audience.

Lastly, market research briefs help allocate resources and budget effectively. By clearly identifying the research goals and methodologies upfront, organizations can allocate the necessary resources, whether it be time, money, or personnel, to execute the research in the most efficient and cost-effective manner.

Objective and purpose of the research

The first step in creating a market research brief is to clearly articulate the research objective and purpose. This section should outline what the organization hopes to achieve through the research, whether it be gaining insights into customer preferences, understanding market trends, or assessing the viability of a new product or service.

By defining the objective and purpose, the research team can focus their efforts on collecting the right information and analyzing it in a way that addresses the organization's needs.

Target audience and market segment

Identifying the target audience is a critical step in market research. This section of the brief should provide a detailed description of the target audience and the specific market segment the research aims to study.

Understanding the target audience allows the research team to tailor their data collection methods and analysis techniques to gather meaningful insights. It helps ensure that the research findings are relevant and applicable to the intended audience.

Research methodology and approach

Choosing the right research methodology and approach is essential in obtaining accurate and reliable results. This section of the market research brief should outline the proposed research methods, whether it be quantitative, qualitative, or a combination of both.

Additionally, it should discuss the data collection techniques, such as surveys, interviews, observations, or focus groups, that will be used to gather information from the target audience. The brief should also mention any specific tools or software that will be utilized to assist in data collection and analysis.

Identifying the research goals

In this section, the market research brief should outline specific research goals that align with the research objectives. These goals should be measurable and clearly defined, allowing the research team to track progress and evaluate the success of the research project.

For example, if the research objective is to understand customer preferences, a research goal could be to identify the key factors that drive purchasing decisions. By setting clear research goals, the team can focus their efforts on collecting the necessary data and analyzing it in a way that addresses these goals.

Formulating specific research questions

Formulating specific research questions helps guide the data collection process and provides a framework for analyzing the findings. This section of the market research brief should outline the specific research questions that the research team aims to answer.

Research questions should be clear, concise, and directly related to the research objectives. They should focus on gathering information that will help the organization make informed decisions or develop effective strategies.

Conducting demographic analysis

Demographic analysis involves studying the characteristics of a population, such as age, gender, income, and education level. This section of the market research brief should outline how demographic analysis will be conducted and why it is important.

By analyzing demographic data, organizations can gain insights into their target audience's preferences, behaviors, and needs. This information can then be used to tailor marketing strategies, product development, and customer experiences to better meet the needs of the target market.

Identifying customer preferences and needs

Understanding customer preferences and needs is crucial for any business. This section of the market research brief should outline the methods that will be used to identify and analyze customer preferences and needs, such as surveys, interviews, or focus groups.

By gathering this information, organizations can determine what their customers value most and what factors influence their purchasing decisions. This knowledge can then be used to develop products and services that meet customer needs and preferences, ultimately leading to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Quantitative research methods

Quantitative research involves gathering numerical data and analyzing it statistically. This section of the market research brief should outline the quantitative research methods that will be used, such as surveys or experiments, and explain why they are appropriate for the research objectives.

Quantitative research provides valuable insights into market trends, customer behaviors, and the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. By collecting and analyzing numerical data, organizations can make data-driven decisions that have a higher chance of success.

Qualitative research methods

Qualitative research involves gathering non-numerical data, such as opinions, perceptions, and experiences, and analyzing it in a subjective manner. This section of the market research brief should outline the qualitative research methods that will be used, such as interviews or focus groups, and explain why they are appropriate for the research objectives.

Qualitative research provides a deeper understanding of customer motivations, attitudes, and perceptions. It allows organizations to uncover valuable insights that may not be captured by quantitative data alone and provides a more holistic view of the target market.

Creating a timeline and milestones

A well-defined timeline is essential for managing the research project effectively. This section of the market research brief should outline the key milestones and deadlines for each phase of the research project.

By creating a timeline, the research team can ensure that the project stays on track and that all activities are completed within the specified timeframes. It also allows stakeholders to monitor progress and make adjustments as necessary.

Allocating resources and budget

Allocating resources and budget is a crucial aspect of any research project. This section of the market research brief should outline the resources, whether it be personnel, equipment, or software, that will be needed to execute the research project successfully.

Additionally, it should include a budget breakdown that outlines the estimated costs for each phase of the research project. By allocating resources and budget effectively, organizations can ensure that the research project can be executed without any unnecessary delays or constraints.

Data collection techniques

This section of the market research brief should outline the specific data collection techniques that will be used, such as surveys, interviews, or observation. It should also discuss the rationale behind selecting these techniques and explain how they will help gather the necessary information.

Choosing the right data collection techniques is crucial for obtaining accurate and reliable data. Each technique has its strengths and limitations, and understanding these factors will help ensure that the research findings are robust and meaningful.

Data analysis methods

Data analysis is a critical step in converting raw data into actionable insights. This section of the market research brief should outline the specific data analysis methods that will be used, such as statistical analysis, content analysis, or thematic coding.

The chosen data analysis methods should align with the research objectives and the type of data collected. They should provide a structured approach to analyzing and interpreting the data, allowing the research team to draw meaningful conclusions.

Drawing conclusions from the data

In this section of the market research brief, the research team should outline how they will draw conclusions from the data collected. This may involve identifying patterns, trends, or correlations in the data and using them to make informed judgments or decisions.

Conclusions should be based on evidence and supported by the data collected during the research project. By drawing sound conclusions, organizations can make informed decisions that have a higher likelihood of success.

Presenting research findings effectively

Presenting research findings effectively is essential to ensure that the insights gained from the research are understood and utilized by the intended audience. This section of the market research brief should outline how the research findings will be presented, whether it be through written reports, presentations, or visual representations.

The chosen presentation format should be clear, concise, and visually appealing, facilitating easy comprehension and interpretation of the research findings. It should highlight the key insights and their implications for the organization.

Translating research insights into actionable strategies

The ultimate goal of market research is to translate the insights gained from the research into actionable strategies. This section of the market research brief should outline how the research insights will be used to inform decision-making and strategy development.

By connecting the research findings to specific actions and strategies, organizations can leverage the insights gained to improve their products, services, marketing initiatives, and overall business performance.

Monitoring and evaluating the outcomes

Monitoring and evaluating the outcomes of the research is essential to assess the effectiveness of the research project and identify areas of improvement. This section of the market research brief should outline how the outcomes will be monitored and evaluated.

By tracking the outcomes and evaluating the impact of the research, organizations can continuously improve their research practices and ensure that future research projects are even more effective.

Recap of the market research brief template

To recap, a market research brief is a comprehensive document that outlines the objectives, scope, methodologies, and timelines for a research project. It acts as a roadmap for the research team, guiding them through the process of data collection, analysis, and reporting.

By following the structure outlined in this market research brief template, organizations can ensure that their research projects are well-planned, executed effectively, and provide valuable insights that drive informed decision-making.

Final thoughts on the importance of market research briefs

Market research briefs play a crucial role in ensuring the success of market research projects. They provide a clear roadmap for the research team, guiding them through the process of data collection, analysis, and reporting. By defining the research objectives, scope, and methodologies upfront, market research briefs help ensure that the right information is collected and analyzed to meet the organization's needs.

Additionally, market research briefs help allocate resources and budget effectively, identify the target audience and market segment, and translate research insights into actionable strategies. They lay the foundation for evidence-based decision-making and foster a deeper understanding of customers, competitors, and market trends.

In conclusion, market research briefs are an essential tool for organizations seeking to gain a competitive edge in today's fast-paced business environment. By investing time and effort into creating well-designed market research briefs, organizations can unlock valuable insights that inform their strategies and drive their success.

How to write a market research brief?

At the STR Tourism and Consumer Insights department, we are frequently asked for quotes and proposals from companies that require market research services. In most cases, however, we need to clarify a few specifics before we can outline an approach and costs.

In this blog, we’re giving some guidance on how to write a market research brief so you are able to provide the information every market research company will be looking for before providing a quote.

1. Write a few sentences about yourself

It is always useful to know the sector and industry you work in as well as the client-base or stakeholders you serve. It would also be useful to know the department you work in (e.g. marketing, sales, product development, etc.).

2. Identify what you want to achieve from the market research?

The ideal brief clarifies what exactly you require market research services for. For example, the research objective could be to evaluate  customer satisfaction  with a product; or you may want to evaluate the success of a marketing campaign.

Every market research company is keen to understand the main research objective as well as additional objectives that may cluster around your main question.

If you struggle to identify your research question(s) it may help to think of the statements and claims you would like to make as a result of the study. For example, you may want to be able to say things like: “Our market research has found that 90% are satisfied with X”. Or: “Our market research has found that the preferred strap-line is…”

3. Provide information of your target audience

Your target audience could simply be a nationally representative sample of the British population. But depending on your research objectives and your customer base, your target audience may also be quite difficult to reach. For example, in 2015 we were commissioned to evaluate the success of a veterinary service’s marketing campaign run in Bournemouth. As a result, the target audience were pet owners in the area.

At STR, we frequently work with destination marketing bureaus, hotels and other tourism and travel related businesses. If your target audience were frequent travellers, you could tap into  our panel  comprised of thousands of international travellers.

Bear in mind that market research services can be provided more cost-effectively if you hold contact details (e.g. email addresses or telephone numbers) of those you seek feedback from.

In summary, for a market research company to provide a quote, your brief should clearly identify the target audience that you seek feedback from and please do specify if you hold a database of your target audience.

4. Clarify your preferred methodology

You should approach a full-service market research company for a quote to make sure you get a balanced recommendation. But regardless of that recommendation you may have your own ideas about the best research approach and you should share your view with the market research company you contact.

Most commonly market research services follow either  qualitative  – e.g. focus groups, depth-interviews – or  quantitative  approaches – e.g. online surveys, telephone interviews, face-to-face surveys.

5. Share your timescales

The ideal market research brief identifies the project milestones and time references from agency appointment, set-up meeting to delivery of final report or debrief (if required).

6. Establish the deliverables

Do you want the study’s findings to be presented in a raw data format such as excel or a discursive written report? Do you also require the market research company to provide a face-to-face debrief? A good brief summarises how you expect the findings from market research services to be presented and delivered.

7. Your budget for the market research services you require

Every market research company is keen to know the budget you are working with. This is not a simple-minded evaluation of “what’s in it for me”, but rather a case of tailoring the services to your specifications. An indication of budgets informs all aspects of the market research – from sampling, methodology to deliverable.

As a potential client, try to remain realistic: If your audience is hard to reach, the preferred methodology is labour-intense, the reporting requirements exhaustive but your budget is tight, be prepared for a market research company to make recommendations on what else is possible within that budget.

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Discover, Analyze, Succeed: 10 Best Market Research Templates

Praburam Srinivasan

Growth Marketing Manager

February 13, 2024

When promoting your products or launching new ones, it’s essential to understand the market, size up your competition, and have a crystal-clear picture of what your customers want. Once you’ve got that insight, you’re ready to set the stage with a marketing plan .

Market research might sound intimidating, considering the laborious process of collecting and analyzing data. But don’t fret—market research templates swoop in to save the day. They provide a structured roadmap that covers all the vital market research steps, from pinpointing your objectives to gathering and interpreting the data. 🗺️

Come along as we delve into the top 10 free market research templates . We’ll walk you through their unique features, making it a breeze to pick the perfect template that suits your needs.

What Is a Market Research Template? 

What are the key components of a market research template, 1. clickup market research template, 2. clickup market analysis template, 3. clickup business plan template, 4. clickup business development plan template, 5. clickup new product development template, 6. clickup product positioning template, 7. clickup competitive analysis template, 8. clickup customer journey map template, 9. word market research plan template by flexmr, 10. word general market survey template by businessinabox.

Market research is a vast, often time-consuming process that involves gathering essential information about a target market through surveys, interviews, and focus groups. It’s crucial for anticipating trends and maintaining a competitive edge over your rivals. 

A market research template is a pre-designed framework to bring structure to your research processes. It comes with questions and fields for collecting data relevant to specific markets or objectives.

It simplifies the whole exercise by providing a standard format that you can customize to align with your research goals.

Market research templates help you:

• Save time designing and planning your research project
• Save money by removing the need for external research firms
• Ensure consistency in data collection, analysis, and reporting

A market research template is like a recipe for conducting research. It tells you what you need and how to use it. Here are the key components you can find in this template:

• Research objectives : Clearly defined goals of the research project
• Data collection methods : Specific methods and tools for gathering information, such as surveys, interviews, or observations
• Research questions : A set of well-crafted questions to address the research objectives
• Sample selection : Guidelines for choosing the right target audience or sample group
• Data analysis : Instructions on how the gathered data will be analyzed and interpreted
• Reporting : A format for summarizing and presenting the research findings 
• Timeline : A schedule that outlines when you will conduct each research activity
• Budget : Estimated costs associated with the research project
• Contact information : Details of the individuals or teams responsible for the research

10 Best Market Research Templates

We’ve handpicked the most innovative market research templates from Word and ClickUp to help you discover, gather, and analyze data effortlessly. Now, let’s see what makes them stand out! 💖

Market research is your first ally when you want to enhance your brand management and gain insights into your competitors’ strategies. With the ClickUp Market Research Template , you get a user-friendly tool that simplifies the task of gathering and presenting crucial information about your target audience, the state of your product or service, and the broader industry landscape. 🌄

This Task template takes you through the ins and outs of research, covering your approach, data collection techniques, and the valuable insights you’ve gathered from your current or potential customers through Custom Fields.

Adapt the fields to document any information you see fit—add data links and attachments, or choose a research stage like Design , Preparation , and Execution .

Each task comes with a to-do subtask list to keep a record of research steps, like defining a research scope and setting up a research team. The assignees can use it to monitor each subtask’s progress through Custom Statuses like Open, Under Review, or Closed. 

If you’re curious about where your product stands among its competitors, look no further than the ClickUp Market Analysis Template . This tool assists you in identifying and assessing key market trends, gaining insights into customer needs, and examining competitor strategies and performances. ♟️

This extensive market research template sorts competitors into five main types: direct , indirect , potential , future , and replacement (for competitors offering a substitute product).

Use the Growth Share Whiteboard view to evaluate competitor products and decide where to invest your resources. Simply pick the competitor type from the legend, create a sticky note of the corresponding color, and place it on the desired spot. Use the horizontal Quality axis to measure the competitor’s Relative Market Share and the Y-axis to measure their Growth Rate.

The Price vs. Quality Whiteboard view functions similarly, but this time, you’re using a matrix to measure the relation between product quality and price. It gives you a visual grasp of your competitors’ pricing strategy, helping you tactically position your product in the market.

The Competitors List view is your central hub for competitor information, neatly categorized by analysis status like Direct , Indirect , or Potential . Additionally, leverage the Advertisements Board view to see your competitors’ promotional strategies.

Replace traditional, lengthy business plan documents with the ClickUp Business Plan Template and speed up the process. It’s a comprehensive toolkit for documenting every aspect of your business plan and streamlining the drafting process to ensure it’s polished on time. ⏰

This one-page Doc template is neatly divided into several key sections:

• Company description : Provides a company overview, your mission, and vision
• Market analysis : Explains the problem you’re solving, its solution, and the target market
• Sales and marketing strategy : Outlines products and marketing plans
• Operational plan : Covers aspects like your location, equipment, and financial forecasts
• Milestones and metrics : Displays targets and KPIs

Customize the template with your brand logo and contact information. Each section comes with helpful prompts suggesting how to present your data—through bullet lists, pictures, charts, or tables.

Open the Topics List view to see all the sections and subsections included in the comprehensive market research Doc, allowing you to assign them to team members, set due dates, and attach relevant documents.

To track task statuses, switch to the Status Board view and categorize them as To Do, In Progress, Needs Revision, or Complete. Open the Timeline view to monitor potential plan deviations.

Expanding or starting a business is like embarking on an adventure of challenges and surprises. However, a carefully laid-out plan can make this journey much more manageable.

No need to start from scratch, though! Introducing the ClickUp Business Development Plan Template —your business roadmap, equipped with pre-designed sections that will lead you through the entire process, making your path to success smoother. 🛤️

Whether you’re a startup or a growing business, this template offers handy Doc pages to help you document the following:

• Executive summary : For providing an overview of the business you’re growing, outlining the issues you’re addressing, and suggesting solutions
• Key people : For explaining who’s on the executive team and what each person does
• Operations : Lists your business locations and employee count. You can outline the cost of equipment and facilities and map out manufacturing processes on a Whiteboard
• Marketing : Enables sharing the market’s history and growth to foresee potential opportunities, decide on the target audience, and analyze the competitor’s strengths and weaknesses
• Financial plan : Gives an estimate of your cash flow and balance sheet, identifying the revenue point where you break even

Of the market research templates in this list, the one comes with ready-made tables and sheets with guidelines on how to fill them in. Feel free to customize any template section to match your business requirements.

Or you can include images to illustrate your plan, add or remove rows, choose your preferred color pallet, and rename the pages to make them your own—all within the target market research template.

Unlocking the path to a successful product launch boils down to one word: preparation. And guess what? The ClickUp New Product Development Template has got your back! 🙌

This comprehensive market research template streamlines the product development process , ensures alignment between your team and milestones, and keeps all tasks organized for seamless collaboration. All this is possible through Custom Fields, allowing you to explore your project from various viewpoints.

The Project Summary List view neatly organizes your tasks by their project phase , from Idea Generation to Product Launch , making it a breeze to track your progress. The list also clearly displays details like Task Complexity and Impact Level through Custom Fields that you can tailor to your needs.

To observe your tasks like a hawk, open the Process Kanban Board view , which turns tasks into cards and groups them by their phases. It’s your go-to spot to quickly identify which tasks are in the pipeline from conceptualization to launch. 

Use the Timeline view for a linear display of your tasks, grouped by the teams working on them and color-coded by phase. This view allows you to efficiently monitor your task schedules and durations by giving you control over your workflow!

You can drag a task to reschedule or tweak its duration by dragging its edges.

Your product’s value directly reflects what your customers think, right? That’s why it’s crucial to figure out where your product slots into the marketplace and how you want your customers to perceive it.

Discover the perfect shortcut to those answers—the ClickUp Product Positioning Template —to implement into your business strategy. This tool helps you better understand your product and find that ideal niche in your target market.

Start by evaluating the product you want to launch in the Product Positioning Assessment view , with pre-made fields like: 

• Product name and description
• Market segment
• Target launch date
• Unique selling points
• Pain points 

Customize the form by renaming the available fields or adding custom ones.

Distribute the form to your team members, and once completed, all the valuable information automatically appears in the Product List view . This view is where you can review the details covered in the form, assign tasks to team members, set priorities , and group tasks by status.

This template also offers a Product Positioning Map Whiteboard view . It features a graph as a visual aid for showcasing how your upcoming product stacks up in terms of value for money compared to the competition. 

Competitive analysis isn’t just a fancy term—it’s your secret weapon if you’re gearing up to introduce a fresh product or service. The ClickUp Competitive Analysis Template is your trusty sidekick for this mission. It assists in revealing competitor strengths and weaknesses, providing a comprehensive industry overview , and cooking up strategies to outshine the competition and nail down your target audience. 🌟

To start your competitive analysis , brainstorm a list of potential competitors. Think about where your customers might go if they didn’t choose your company. Keep it realistic—aim for a list of up to 10 names, leaving time for thorough market research.

After you’ve completed the research, use the provided Matrix to place the competitor’s product concerning the Market Presence and Satisfaction axes. Use the Legend to help you understand the product type , including:

• High market presence and high satisfaction
• High market presence and low satisfaction
• High satisfaction and low market presence
• Low satisfaction and low market presence

Duplicate a color-coded sticky note that matches your product type and drag it over to the quadrant where it fits the best. The Matrix is split into four sections to help you decide whether a product is a Contender , a Leader , a Niche , or a High Performer.

This business strategy template gives you the ultimate freedom to play around with its elements. Add, tweak, and place them wherever you like in the interactive Whiteboard view. 

Have you ever found yourself scratching your head, wondering what your customers want? The ClickUp Customer Journey Map Template is a handy tool that can help you out! 🛠️

Think of it as a guide to better understanding your ideal customer’s user persona . By mapping their journey, you can uncover their needs and expectations and come up with sensible strategies to improve your products and services for your target audience.

This Whiteboard template brims with handy question prompts about customer actions, experiences, touchpoints, and solutions. The template leads you through three key stages:

• Awareness : You introduce customers to your business and what it offers
• Consideration : They start considering your business as a solution to their needs, leading them to research your products or services and compare them to other options 
• Conversion : They go from pondering to action and become paying customers

Each of these stages comes with pre-made sticky notes to get you started, but you’ve got the creative license to add more. Give the Whiteboard a personal touch with freehand drawing, create shapes, insert images, use connectors, and add text from focus groups, customer research, or any market research examples you own. 

If you’re looking for a structured framework to streamline market research, the Word Market Research Plan Template by FlexMR is a handy solution. It’s divided into well-structured sections for every step and features tips and instructions on how to use them.

This Word template is fully customizable, allowing you to modify colors, change font and letter size, add rows and columns to pre-made tables or include graphs and charts. ✍🏻

Use its first section to provide a brief business background. Then, define the project’s scope and specify what you expect to achieve at the project’s conclusion, including target response numbers, data presentation guidelines, and the influence of data on future decision-making .

Additional details the template covers are:

• Target Audience : Describe the customers you aim to research, considering age, demographics, and interactions with the company or product
• Sample Plan : Detail the number of participants you intend to research
• Research Methods : Include qualitative and quantitative methods
• Timeline : Present a project timeline, breaking down tasks and accounting for variations in response rates
• Budget : Outline the budget, providing a cost breakdown and highlighting areas requiring investment
• Ethical Considerations : Address ethical and other considerations that may arise during the project, like conflict of interest with suppliers

To finish up, add Further Considerations to include anything the previous sections don’t cover.

One way to conduct effective market research is through a survey. If you’re unsure about the questions to include for optimal results or need a structured framework to streamline the process, try the Word General Market Survey Template by BusinessInABox. 

This two-page Word document contains open-ended and multiple-choice questions for an effective customer case study . They provide all the essential information to understand the market you’re involved in or planning to enter.

The questions in the template cover customer information like:

• Age and gender
• Education level
• Marital status
• Total annual income 

As this is a Word template, customize it however you like ! Add or tweak questions to dig into the specifics you’re curious about, and make the survey longer or shorter. Feeling fancy? Give it a personal touch by using a different font or changing the background color!

Crack the Code to Market Domination with These Essential Market Research Templates

Market research can be a wild ride, but these top-notch market research templates make it smooth sailing. From gaming insights into customer preferences to uncovering your competitor’s strategies, they provide a structured solution for every research step.

If you’re hungry for more research assets, dive into the ClickUp template library , where you’ll find over 1,000 user-friendly templates waiting to guide you on areas like mapping out customer journeys , performing competitor analysis , and nailing down product positioning with minimal effort. ✌

Questions? Comments? Visit our Help Center for support.

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How to brief a market research agency – plus free briefing template

• By Jeremy Braune
• February 12, 2021

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1. Introduction

When it comes to briefing a market research agency , the quality of the information you provide is crucial. Quite simply, the better the information, the better the proposal – and the quicker you will receive it.

This article has been compiled for anyone who is unsure what information is required in order to obtain a great market research proposal.

In it we outline the sections of the ‘ideal’ market research brief, as well as explaining within each section what information is most helpful – and why.

And don’t worry if you can’t provide all the information suggested. Whatever you can provide will act as a starting point for a conversation during which the agency.

At the end of this article we’ve also providing a link to a downloadable and editable market research agency briefing form that has been designed to collect the information outlined in this article.

2. Requirement overview

Here you should just lay out in a sentence what the research will be about and where it needs to take place. For example;

• Qualitative research to explore a new push chair concept with UK mums
• Survey of SME purchase decision-makers regarding IT support contracts in USA, UK, Germany and France

3.     Your company and its offer

Next, provide your agency with some useful detail about your company. For example; whether you are a B2C or B2B organisation, your location (especially if outside UK), your products or services, channels to market, customer base and key competitors .

In fact, anything that provides context that will help the agency understand you and your research needs better.

A link to your website will also be helpful.

4.     The business requirement

Before explaining your specific market research needs, it is very helpful for the research agency to understand the wider business context of the research; e.g. the business circumstances that have led to the need for this research and how the research findings will be used.

This information helps the research agency to ensure that the research approach and deliverables it recommends will not only meet your research needs, but will also be suitable more broadly.

5.     The market research objectives

This is probably the most important part of the research brief so it’s worth taking time over!

It’s where you provide a list of the project objectives and / or the questions that you need the research to answer.  Bullet points are fine and the more detail here the better!

The research agency will use the objectives you provide to identify the best research approach and develop the individual questions that it will ask in the research.

The agency will also use your stated objectives to identify if/ where it thinks there are gaps in the insights you are seeking, or whether it can usefully suggest additional objectives that could provide added value for no additional cost.

6.      Preferred approach

If you have any thoughts or expectations regarding the research methodology (e.g. quantitative / online survey or combined), its always good to include these.

It’s helpful for the research agency to understand your methodological expectations or preferences at this point, because there is often more than one way to approach a project.

And if the research agency doesn’t agree with your preferred approach, it will (tactfully!) explain why.

7.     Research recruitment profile

In this section you should provide details of the individuals who will be recruited to take part in the research.

Don’t worry if you don’t have much detail, or if you aren’t sure. Its important context for the research agency and they will build on it with you later, if required.

If its for a B2C project you can provide details of the relevant consumer segment(s); their demographics, defining attitudes, preferences, behaviours etc.  

And if its for a B2B market research project , then you can include details about the target customer segment(s); their industry sector(s), company size, locations, job titles etc.  

Respondent recruitment and incentivisation accounts for a significant portion of the overall project cost and, as a rule of thumb, the more criteria that are included in the final recruitment specification, the more expensive this element of the project will be.

As a result, its worth separating those recruitment criteria that are must – haves and those which are just nice-to-have s.

If you have an idea of the numbers you would like the research agency to recruit, add that here too.  And if you don’t, don’t worry! The agency will help you to identify the right number for your project.

8.     Timing

If you need the project to either start of finish by a certain date then let the agency know at the outset.

If the timing is tight, for example, it could affect the methodology that is selected or the extent of the research exercise that can be undertaken.

Your agency will also need to confirm that it has the necessary resource to kick-off your project at short notice.

9.     Reporting

When it comes to reporting the research findings, different formats and levels of detail will have different price tags, so it’s worth specifying what you need.

For example, if the project is quantitative, you may wish to receive data only, so that you can save on cost by doing the analysis yourselves. Otherwise, you may want full analysis and reporting.

And if the project is qualitative, the research agency will typically cost for the provision of a detailed report which includes illustrative quotes from the participants. You may also wish to have edited video footage of the research to bring to life key elements of the debrief.

On the other hand, you may prefer a shorter, more cost-effective, top line report that excludes verbatim. Its a good option if your are just interested in the headlines, or if you are under time constraints

10.     Budget

This is always a tricky one! An agency will always understand if a client prefers not to give an indication of budget.

However, it can be really helpful, because it means that you receive a proposal tailored to your budget from the outset, rather than something that is either too expensive, or too modest in scope.

11.  Any other information

Here you can add any other information you think may be important.

For example;

• Are there any other agencies involved in the project that the researchers will need to be aware of?
• Will you or your agencies wish to view the research live?
• Will the research agency need access to your client database for recruitment purposes and do you know if you have the necessary Data Privacy permissions to contact them

To download an editable briefing template in Word, please use this LINK

Otherwise, you can contact Brandspeak directly on +44 0203 858 0052 or at [email protected]

Testimonials

• I have worked with Brandspeak for some time now as a supplier, writing content such as blogs and articles. You can tell a lot about a company by how it treats suppliers - especially freelancers. Jeremy is unfailingly thoughtful and responsive, gives detailed, clear and easy to follow briefs, always gives feedback and - the holy grail for freelancers - pays super fast. Overall, a pleasure to work for.
• Judith Staig

• Brandspeak are a highly professional research agency. As a supplier they are welcoming, easy to work with and always appreciative of the services I supply. I look forward to continuing our enjoyable, working relationship in the future.
• Sarah Taylor
• Brandspeak is an absolute pleasure to work with! I’ve collaborated with them on a few projects for online research for their clients. The experience they bring to each and every project is very thorough, and their survey design work is very well put together. Looking forward to many more projects with the folks at Brandspeak!
• Ann Spelman
• Professional & friendly with a great team to support your research needs!
• Lauren Williams
• We worked with Brandspeak on a brand awareness project and we were extremely pleased the quality of service and the process. They understood the complexity of the briefs and ask plenty of questions to make sure they fully understand the objectives. They interacted with all levels of people in our business and understood the differences within the market and suggested ways to tie the research together so it was still comparable. The results were delivered with easy to digest summaries that could be used across the business. We would highly recommend using them
• Steven Hughes
• Regatta Ltd
• Brandspeak are fantastic to work with. They listened to our brief carefully, understood exactly what was required, then got cracking. They delivered exactly what we were after, presenting to us often complex data in an easy-to-understand fashion, enabling us to take the work forward and really make use out of it. Mark in particular was amazing to work alongside, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend both him and Brandspeak in the future. Thank you!
• Extracover Limited
• Brandspeak were very helpful through this project. With regular check ins with the team to finesse the brief, through to consistent communication during the research and results delivered promptly, I can't fault the team. The results have been helpful in shaping the future of our brand strategy
• Brandspeak are fantastic to work with. They listened to our brief carefully, understood exactly what was required, then got cracking. They delivered exactly what we were after, presenting to us often complex data in an easy-to-understand fashion, enabling us to take the work forward and really make use out of it. Mark in particular was amazing to work alongside, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend both him and Brandspeak in the future
• Regatta Outdoors
• We've used Brandspeak for a number of projects over the years and have always found them a great font of knowledge and a great team to work with on consumer insights and data. Their work has been incredibly valuable to us and we'd have no hesitation working with them again in the future
• Brandspeak are a fantastic market research partner. They tackle briefs head on and ask plenty of questions to make sure they fully understand the objectives, as well as challenge anything that could impact the quality of the research. They're good storytellers and presenters so it's very easy to understand their findings and share further with stakeholders. Would highly recommend.
• Samantha Neville
• Communications & Engagement Manager | NHS
• We asked support for the Campaign Evaluation Research of our TVCM campaign. They organized and prepared everything on time, and we could get the necessary information as requested. Thanks to them, we could learn a lot of things and could improve our future marketing strategies. We are looking forward to working with them again!
• Tomoki Kawai
• Marketing Manger | Kikkoman
• Brandspeak were a pleasure to work with. They're extremely helpful and professional and truly experts in everything they do. They were able to help us and provide valuable knowledge throughout the entire process, from helping curate survey questions, carrying out the research and feeding back the results in a clear and proficient way, all with exceptional communication. Thank you Mark Bagnall and the Brandspeak team. Would recommend and definitely use again.
• Grace Hughes
• Working with Jeremy from Brandspeak has opened my eyes to how powerful good quality quantitative data can be to inform and drive better business decisions.
• Adrian Chatterton
• UK Product Manager, Spine & Orthobiologics, Stryker
• We worked with Brandspeak on some qualitative research for a significant redesign of our products and our brandmark. Their approach was extremely professional, they took the time to clearly understand the brief and overall were very informed in the world of research. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them or use them again in the future.
• Victoria Leigh-Pearson
• Director, Group Sales & Marketing, John Ross Jr (Aberdeen) Ltd/Coln Valley Smokery Ltd/PR Foods
• It is always a pleasure – and a relief! – to work with researchers who get the whole thing – effortlessly… a heartfelt thanks.
• From their initial proposal they displayed an understanding of financial services and a clarity of thinking that made them stand out. Since then they have consistently delivered to demanding timescales. But what really sets them apart are their actionable and business focused recommendations which give them the credibility to influence senior internal stakeholders. I have really enjoyed working with them and look forward to doing so again.
• Leading life and pensions provider
• From the moment I contacted Brandspeak I can't thank Jeremy and his team enough. Offering a professional approach they took the time and effort to make the whole process easy and effortless. I highly recommend Brandspeak and look forward to working with them again in the future.
• Verity Kimber
• EU Transition Manager, SHOTT Beverages
• Brandspeak helped us with getting invaluable market insights! They showed great flexibility and professionalism throughout the entire process and provided us exactly with the results we needed. I would recommend working with Brandspeak to anyone and anytime.
• IT Project Manager at J.H. Tönnjes E.A.S.T. GmbH & Co. KG

You will be in good Company

Brandspeak is a leading research consultancy formed in 2004 by a group of colleagues with a shared desire to deliver game-changing research and strategic thinking.

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How to Write a Market Research Plan (+ Free Template)

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Design is something we all use, whether consciously or unconsciously in the insights industry. Desig...

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A market research plan, similar to a brief, is a vital document that details important information about your market research project. Though it is often an overlooked step of the market research process , an effective plan is often a critical factor in determining whether or not your market research efforts are successful.

Why? Because a well-thought through plan, more so than objectives alone, can be a vital instrument in focusing your investment. It ensures you know, ahead of the commencement date, the timeline, budget and desired outcomes from the project. It can even be used as a tool for receiving quicker sign-off from management when embarking on a new venture.

But it’s also important to remember that the research plan is not just for your team. To make full use of this document, it should be written in a way that can be distributed to agency partners as well – ensuring that your insight team and specialist partners are all working towards the same goal.

Tips for Crafting a Successful Plan

The first rule of writing a successful market research plan is to keep it short. The perfect length is between 1-2 pages, but as an absolute maximum try to ensure that it never exceeds 3. This will give you enough space to explain the background, scope and practicalities of the project while ensuring it is concise enough to be read in full. Throughout these few short pages, the tone of your plan should be informative. Remember that you are outlining information that you already know.

Write in a way that holistically encompasses all aspects of the project. Throughout the duration of your scripting, data collection, analysis and reporting stages of your project you should always be referring back to this document in order to remain focused. As any researcher knows, one of the biggest challenges in any research project is staying true to your original objectives.

With both exploratory and confirmatory research alike, new information is likely to arise which may spark other ideas or bring light to previously unknown issues. Remember these, but set them aside for further investigation at a later date. Travelling too far down the rabbit hole is the quickest way to overspend and under deliver on your original goal.

The 10 Elements of the Best Research Plans

First, let me preface this with a reminder: every project is different. A long term co-creation community will have different needs and requirements to a customer feedback survey or ad testing project. However, despite this – it is important to give equal consideration to all projects, and plan each with the same high degree of meticulous care. With this in mind, these are the 10 key aspects we recommend that all research plans should include:

1. Overview

Use this first section to outline the background to the problem that you are attempting to solve. Include background information on the business to provide context, as well as the circumstances that have led to the need for research. Overviews should be limited to 200 words at most, with most of the word count dedicated to the business circumstances & challenges surrounding the research.

2. Objectives

Arguably the most important aspect of the entire document, objectives should be in bullet point format. List 3-5 of the decisions or initiatives that the research will inform – this will become the remit of the project. Below are a few examples of both well and poorly written objectives:

Well written research objectives:

• Understand the channels in which our customers are most comfortable shopping, in order to decide which should be prioritised in the 2017 Q1 budget
• Develop an active co-creation community that contributes 2 user-generated product improvements for testing to the R & D team per month
• Learn what is leading to an increase in customer churn so that a new retention strategy can be put in place within 12 weeks

Poorly written research objectives:

• Survey 1,000 potential customers to find out how our products can be improved
• Develop a panel of employees that are able to provide answers to research questions on an ad-hoc basis
• Learn how our company is perceived in comparison to competitors and how we can stand out in the marketplace

3. Deliverable outcomes

This section acts as a list what you expect to be produced at the end of the project. This can include, but is not limited to: a target number of responses you expect to receive, descriptions of how the data should be presented and the extent to which the data will be used to inform future decisions. In long term projects such as panels or communities, this may include a target for the amount of decisions that research is expected to inform and/or a pipeline for new ideas in exploratory studies.

4. Target audience

Different to sample, your target audience describes the population that you wish to research. This can be defined by a number of factors depending on the nature of your project. Some of the most common include: demographics, psychographics, life stages and company/ product interaction.

5. Sample plan

The sample plan should be used to indicate the amount of participants you wish to research, as well as a breakdown of each group. This will be affected by the choice to use qualitative, quantitative or multi-method approaches, as well as the estimated size of the target population.

6. Research Methods

List the different research methods that you plan to use in your project. This will be used by your team and agency partners to ensure that the insight you need comes from the most appropriate tools. Be sure to include any non-traditional methods you plan to use as well – it’s important that your team are aware of how data will be captured, even if it is being gathered by an experimental technique.

7. Timeline

These usually take the form of a Gantt chart, but can vary depending on the scope and length of your project. Try to break down tasks as much as possible but be wary of dependencies within your chart. Be sure to schedule enough time in case some research tasks over-run or response rates are lower than expected.

Perhaps the most dreaded aspect of any research plan, budgeting is never easy. But by providing a breakdown of costs and outlining which elements of the project require most investment, a well-planned budget can be a benefit rather than a hurdle.

9 & 10. Ethical and Further considerations

Finally, you should outline any ethical/ other considerations or issues that may arise throughout the course of your project. Whether these are as simple as a conflict of interest or a concern about supplier relationships – this is your chance to address any problems that may arise before they do.

Free Market Research Plan Template

Use this link to download our   free market research plan template . The template comes complete with each of the sections outlined above, with instructions on usage and tips on how to make the most out of it. Currently available in .docx format, please email   [email protected]  if you have any problems with the download.

What do you believe should be included in a successful market research plan? Share your advice with us in the comments below and join the conversation.

About FlexMR

We are The Insights Empowerment Company. We help research, product and marketing teams drive informed decisions with efficient, scalable & impactful insight.

About Chris Martin

Chris is an experienced executive and marketing strategist in the insight and technology sectors. He also hosts our MRX Lab podcast.

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Market Research Template

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The market research template is the perfect way build a complete picture of your industry and audience. Use it to collect insights about the competitors, customer research, trends and more in one place.

In Milanote, your market research can be much more than a static document. You can add text, images, video, sketches and more to bring your work to life. When you're done, share it with your team and client to collaborate or get feedback.

• Add notes, images, video & more

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Milanote's flexible drag and drop interface lets you arrange things in whatever way makes sense to you. Break out of linear documents and see your research, ideas and plans side-by-side.

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Research brief: Meaning, Components, Importance & Ways to Prepare

June 12, 2023 | By Hitesh Bhasin | Filed Under: Marketing

Have you ever faced a situation where a researcher has not exactly given the results that you require? Have you ever discussed research as what you want precisely and been disappointed to find that there is a disparity in your expectation and the outcomes? This is because of a failure in communication , that is particular an insufficient brief.

This is where we exactly wish to discuss research brief.

A research brief is a statement that comes from the sponsor, who sets the objectives and background. This is to enable the researcher to plan the research and conduct an appropriate study on it. Research Brief can be as good as a market research study and is very important to a researcher.

It provides good insight and influences on the choice of methodology to be adopted in the research. It also provides an objective to which the project links itself.

It is a short and non-technical summary of a discussion paper that is purely intended for decision-makers with a concentration on the paper’s policy-relevant findings.

Table of Contents

Components of a Research Brief

Some sponsors deliver the brief orally by developing many detail points at the time of initial discussion with the researcher. On the other hand, the brief can also be completely thought through and committed to a paper.

This is very important when many research agencies need to submit proposals. Whether the research brief is oral or written, it should pay attention to the following points:

• Problem Background – This is a short record of the events which has actually led to the study. This provides an insight into the researcher a better viewpoint and understanding of the objective of the project.
• Problem Description – The researcher requires details in depth to perform the research. When the scope of the research is described properly, the research process gets easier. It becomes helpful for the sponsor to monitor the progress of the research.
• Market Analysis – The researcher needs to know the geographical areas of the research. Hence this should be part of the research brief.
• Objective Statement – The object of the researcher should be put statement. The researcher should gather the details from the sponsor and then provide a view of what has to be achieved.
• Time and Budget – The research brief should mention the time and budget constraints of the research.

Importance of Research Brief

Now, why is research brief important? It is like the way you set a foundation for a building; research brief provides a strong foundation for the research process.

Writing a research brief is important to the success of any market research project. However, it can be difficult to craft the perfect brief that meets the necessity of both the client and the researcher but eventually leads to the desired outcomes.

It helps a researcher to identify a problem to be researched, the exact background of the problem, the required details to address the problem, time and budget constraints within which the research is supposed to be designed.

Example of Research Brief

Keeping the above points in mind, let us take a small example of the way to write a market research brief.

To write a market research brief, it clarifies the research requirement and also makes sure that the ideas are well articulated. It helps to write a better research proposal , conduct user research, and achieve the desired outcome.

Background:

Describe the problem that is required to solve. Include applicable background and the challenge during the research.

Business and Project Objectives:

Explain the business objectives. For example: to increase sales /profit. Try to be specific as you can.

Also, describe the purpose of research and the expected outcomes. What is the decision that you require to make?

Market Objectives:

Market research objective typically follows from the above two objectives. Hence you will need to summarise the aim and information of the research. This will help to mention the questions required for answering.

Stakeholders:

Here, you will need to consider the participant who will sign-off and act on the research outcomes listed.

Research Methods, scope, sample, and guidelines:

Here, you will explain what is required. This will help you to focus on what is important and also have a piece of knowledge of the research investment. Here, more focus is given on the scope of the work and type of research . The inputs and the sample are also analyzed.

Research outcomes:

Here, you will require to define the delivery part of the research.

Ways to prepare Research Brief

Having discussed the basic of research brief, the following points will give you a brief idea of the ways to prepare yourself to write an effective research brief.

• Start with a summary of the current situation. Also, define in clear words as what you are already aware of. It would be more useful if you could include more details on your thought about the responsibility for the project on you and the research agency.
• After a summary, set up the business and research objectives . For business objectives, you need to mention the overall strategy and what is the importance of the current research. For research objectives, list the issues and topics that are likely to discover. List the problems to solve. Based on the research agency design, define clearly the business and research objectives. Having a clear objective will help you to assess the quality and also focus on the research agency’s report.
• Next, you may suggest about the ways about data collection . You can decide on a suitable research methodology that you think will be best fit the project.
• List what the outcomes of the project and the deliverables are. Like for example, you might just want to advise on survey design . For this, statistically robust data would be ideal. Or sometimes, you might write a full report with data, interpretation, recommendations, etc. Whatever it is, be clear as what is required. Suggest a timetable and mention the deadline to receive proposals and other deliverables.

Research Brief Template

Given below the template for research brief:

Research Brief: Project Name

#1 background.

In this area, give the background of the research brief.

#2 Business objectives

In this area, define the business objectives. Ideally, for a better understanding and readability, it would be good if the points are bulleted.

#3 Marketing objectives

In this area, type your marketing objectives. In case you have any other kind of objectives apart from marketing, you could change the section title.

In this area, define the research target here. Here, name all the target groups that will be a part of the research and the reason for it. Capture any other applicable details of the target group .

In this area, mention the Budget information. Mentioning a range of budget is fine. Also, indicate an upper limit in case you have any.

In this area, mention the timeline of the research. The approximate time as when this work would be over. Also, when can you provide the final analysis?

#6 Deliverables

In this area, mention the report requirements. For example, whether a detail report is required or just a presentation.

#7 Contact information

In this area, mention the contact information for questions or clarification. It could be Client company name or Individual name, title, e-mail id, phone number, and mailing address.

Liked this post? Check out the complete series on Market research

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• What is Brand Brief? Components of Brand Brief and Examples
• Causal Research – Meaning, Explanation, Examples, Components
• What is a Design Brief and How to Write it in 9 Easy Steps?
• Qualitative Research: Meaning, and Features of Qualitative Research
• Advertising Message – Definition, Meaning, Importance and Components
• Research Ethics – Importance and Principles of Ethics in Research
• Market Space – Definition, Meaning, Characteristics, Components
• Sales Agreement – Meaning, Components and Samples
• How to Write Research Proposal? Research Proposal Format
• 7 Key Differences between Research Method and Research Methodology

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Hitesh Bhasin is the CEO of Marketing91 and has over a decade of experience in the marketing field. He is an accomplished author of thousands of insightful articles, including in-depth analyses of brands and companies. Holding an MBA in Marketing, Hitesh manages several offline ventures, where he applies all the concepts of Marketing that he writes about.

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Market Research Brief

Comprehensive market research brief.

Prepared by: [YOUR NAME]

Executive Summary:

The market research conducted on the cosmetics industry reveals a growing trend toward natural and organic products among consumers. Recommendations include expanding the product line to include more organic options and enhancing marketing efforts to target environmentally conscious consumers.

Introduction:

The purpose of this market research is to analyze the current trends and dynamics within the fast-food industry in urban areas. By examining consumer preferences and competitor strategies, we aim to identify opportunities for growth and innovation.

Market Overview:

The urban fast-food market is estimated to be worth $100 billion globally, with a projected annual growth rate of 5%. Major players include McDonald's, Burger King, and KFC, but smaller chains and independent restaurants also compete for market share.

Consumer Insights:

Millennials and Gen Z consumers show a preference for healthier fast-food options, including plant-based alternatives and customizable menus. Convenience and affordability remain key factors influencing purchase decisions.

Product/Service Analysis:

Our analysis indicates that our current menu lacks diversity and does not cater sufficiently to health-conscious consumers. Customer feedback suggests a desire for more vegetarian and vegan options as well as smaller portion sizes.

Competitive Analysis:

Competitors such as Subway and Chipotle have successfully capitalized on the demand for customizable, healthier food options. Their emphasis on fresh ingredients and transparent sourcing has resonated with consumers and posed a threat to traditional fast-food chains.

SWOT Analysis:

This SWOT analysis table provides a structured assessment of the company's internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats. It helps identify strategic areas for improvement and growth in the fast-food industry.

Recommendations:

Expand the menu to include more vegetarian and vegan options. Launch a marketing campaign highlighting the freshness and quality of ingredients. Partner with food delivery platforms to reach a wider audience.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the market research highlights the need for our fast-food chain to adapt to changing consumer preferences and market trends. By implementing the recommended strategies, we can position ourselves for continued growth and success in the competitive urban market.

Appendices:

Survey results detailing consumer preferences.

Data tables showing the market share of key competitors.

Additional analysis of emerging trends in the fast-food industry.

Brief Templates @ Template.net

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Influencer Brief Template: How to Write a Brief + Our Influencer Platform’s FREE Template

By Alexandra Kazakova 13 min READ | Apr 9 2024

An influencer brief is key to a successful campaign.

Once you have found the right influencer, it can be tempting to rush and launch the campaign after discussing just a few basic guidelines.

But don’t expect the influencer to know what you want magically.

Many of our clients have expected creators to produce perfect user-generated content without any indication and failed.

The solution is to have a solid creative brief.

A brief helps creators and influencers understand how your brand aligns with their audience and how to develop engaging brand stories.

For your brand, a well-written brief will confirm that you have chosen the right influencer for the marketing campaign.

You’re on the right page.

We’ll share our platform’s free in-house brief template and analyze all the factors to include in it.

As such, you can personalize our template for your marketing goals.

• Importance of Influencer Brief: An effective influencer brief is crucial for a successful influencer marketing campaign.
• Purpose of an Influencer Brief: It outlines campaign goals, deliverables, and legal terms, setting clear expectations.
• Authenticity Matters: A clear brief promotes authenticity and transparency, aligning influencers with your brand vision.
• Balancing Control and Creativity: It allows for creative freedom while ensuring alignment with brand expectations.
• Time and Energy Saver: Saves time and streamlines the marketing process by creating a standard approach.
• Building Long-Term Relationships: Clear guidelines and expectations foster trust and long-term influencer relationships.

Key Brief Components:

• Brand Overview: Describe your brand's values and unique selling points.
• Campaign Goals: State campaign objectives clearly.
• Creative Format: Specify the type and number of influencer content creatives.
• Details Matter: Include hashtags, approval process, and tagging instructions.
• Mood Board: Use images to convey brand aesthetics.
• Legal Guidelines: Mention privacy policy and legal considerations.

Common Mistakes to Avoid: Keep the brief concise, avoid excessive talking points, and allow creative freedom.

Conclusion: Preparation and planning are crucial in influencer marketing, setting the stage for a successful collaboration.

A reputable micro-influencer marketing agency can help you with all the required steps.

What Is an Influencer Brief?

An influencer brief summarizes the campaign goals and outlines the details of the deliverables and legal terms.

This standard document sets expectations for the influencer and explains what you want to achieve from this collaboration.

Think of it as an instruction manual for the project or a set of project documentation to follow.

Why Is an Influencer Brief Important For an Influencer Marketing Campaign?

Imagine your marketing campaign has started.

The influencer submits the content and you find it far from what you wanted.

You are furious and want to request a reshoot.

From the influencer’s perspective, they spent a lot of time working on your campaign, and you are now unfairly requesting a redo.

That’s why an effective influencer brief is vital for your marketing campaigns:

• It realigns your influencer marketing goals and KPIs with your influencer marketing team and management while you prepare the brief. That's because you can reevaluate your influencer marketing strategy, target audience and expected deliverables, ensuring you're on the same page.
• It helps you save time and energy. As a result, you can streamline your marketing efforts by creating a standard process for all your creator campaigns.
• It fosters long-term relationships with your influencer partners. When you set straightforward guidelines and manage expectations, you eliminate misunderstandings from the creative process. Both you and the influencer will have peace of mind that the content will be relevant to your brand vision.
• It allows content creators to stay genuine. Consumers value authenticity, transparency, and honesty. So, a straightforward influencer marketing brief is a cornerstone of campaign success. By understanding your brand’s essential requirements, influencers can create content that feels authentic to their style.
• You can pitch new potential influencers when you scale your campaign. You can use a shortened version of the brief when pitching influencers. That way, they will immediately understand what your brand aims to achieve from the influencer marketing campaign.

Pro tip: A brief with explicit guidelines on privacy policy and legal terms will help you and the influencer avoid Molly-Mae Hague’s situation.

She broke ASA guidelines on Instagram marketing. As a result, the negative press damaged her reputation and the brand’s.

Creative Brief Influencer Template

[Campaign Name] Brief

[Your Company Name]

Company Background

• Company bio
• Core values
• Links to website, social media accounts, etc.

Campaign Summary

• The product that the campaign is for
• Type of campaign: one-time-only/ recurring
• Campaign goals
• Campaign objectives
• Brief overview

Campaign Details

Deliverables

• How many posts are needed during that campaign
• The social channels/websites where those posts should appear
• The precise dates and times for each post
• Brand social handles to ensure that the influencers tag the official brand instead of a fake account

Content Requirements

• Type of content: posts/Instagram stories/ YouTube videos
• Content description: personal experience/unboxing/etc.
• Key messages you want to include

Visual Guidelines

• The portfolio/Pinterest board with suggestions and references
• Specific requirements:
• Time of day
• Other objects except for your product and how they should be arranged

Text Guidelines

• Brand handle

Other Information

• Giveaway rules
• Dress codes

Dos and Don’ts

• Include the campaign messages in the post captions
• Make timely submissions
• Position the logo design correctly
• Include #ad #sponsored
• Use profanities
• Reference alcohol, drugs, or violence
• Criticize our brand
• Compare our brand to the competitors
• Include other sponsored products

What Should You Include in an Influencer Marketing Brief?

When writing an influencer brief, keep it short.

Ideally, it should fit on one page. Influencers skim marketing briefs that are too long and may miss out on important information.

Here’s an example from one of inBeat Agency’s clients:

Now, let’s review the most important elements you too can include.

1. Campaign Overview

The campaign overview includes what your brand stands for, your value proposition, and your unique selling points.

Describing your brand values is one of the essential parts of the influencer marketing brief.

This information will help the influencer understand how your brand message aligns with their target audience.

Here is a company overview example from an influencer brief we wrote for one of our clients - Pethappy:

“Our brand helps dogs with arthritis jump, run, and love life again. Our product is made in the USA with all-natural and organic certified ingredients. You can check out some reviews of pet owners talking about our product here: [link to any reviews you have].”

2. Campaign Goals

List the specific objectives of the campaign.

These can vary widely depending on your brand's needs and campaign type:

• Brand awareness: Increasing visibility and recognition of your brand, product features, or a product launch. Specify if the goal is to reach new audiences or re-engage existing ones.
• Engagement: Boosting interaction with the brand's content, including likes, comments, shares, and saves. Highlight the importance of authentic engagement that reflects genuine interest and conversation.
• Lead generation: Collecting information from potential customers, such as email addresses or sign-ups, for future marketing efforts. Emphasize the value of quality leads over sheer quantity.
• Sales conversion: Driving direct sales or specific actions, such as using a promo code, visiting a landing page, or making a purchase. Clarify how sales will be tracked and attributed to the influencer's efforts.
• Content creation: Generating high-quality content that the brand can repurpose across its marketing channels. Define the types and themes of content that align with the brand's image and campaign goals.
• Brand positioning: Shaping the perception of the brand in the minds of consumers. This could involve associating the brand with certain values, lifestyles, or quality standards.

Pro tip: For each goal, you can include measurable objectives using specific metrics, such as:

• Increase in social media followers or website traffic by a certain percentage
• Specific engagement rates or numbers of interactions
• Number of leads generated or conversion rate improvements

If needed, you can also outline the timeframe for achieving these goals.

Specify any campaign KPIs, milestones, or checkpoints where progress will be reviewed.

Insider tip: We generally prefer not to include these details in the creative brief but rather in the influencer agreement.

Here’s how this section looks for one of our clients, the ad blocker app Brave – notice that influencers can infer the campaign’s goal from its value proposition:

We prefer this strategy because we want to keep things as simple as possible for our content creators.

3. Campaign Deliverables

Deliverables are the things that your influencers should get you based on that deep understanding of your company and your current goals.

Make sure your creative brief template features:

• The platforms/websites where those posts should appear
• Brand social handles to ensure the influencers tag the official brand instead of a fake account

You should also be very clear on the type of influencer creatives you need.

For example, you may want Instagram Reels with unboxing videos, blog posts, or other types of content.

Include all the key details in these creative guidelines to streamline your influencer collaborations.

Here’s an example from one of our clients:

Notice that we’re very explicit in terms of numbers to streamline the influencer marketing process.

4. Content Guidelines/ Creative Storyboard

When writing an influencer brief, give as many key creative requirements as possible to explain how you want the creator to deliver the content pieces.

You may also want to include wardrobe, makeup, and scenery directions.

Describe specific ways how the influencer should shoot your product according to your key objectives.

Here’s an example from the Vietnamese hot sauce brand Chin-Su:

Notice that we’re very specific about the opener, subject, and CTA.

However, we give our influencers a lot of creative freedom between these lines.

Pro tip: We always advise our clients to find a balance between control and creativity in their influencer partnerships. Give the influencers the freedom to have genuine conversations with their audience while remaining in line with the brand’s expectations.

If needed, you can include some talking points like we did in the Aura creative brief:

5. Visual Guidelines/ Mood Board

Most social media is highly visual, so you will need to consider your customers’ aesthetic experience.

As the saying goes, an image is worth a thousand words; make sure your influencers understand what sort of pictures/videos they should post.

Pro tip: While specifics are reasonable, try not to limit your influencers’ creative freedom too much. Include only those visual requests directly related to your campaign’s strategy.

Here’s how you can be precise without being too limiting:

• Consider any special requests.
• Be very specific about the details that matter most to you.

For example, if you want to showcase your brand at sunset and only at dusk, ensure your influencers understand why that specific time of day is essential.

Otherwise, reshooting the photos or videos will take more time and money than expected.

Include a clear:

Pro tip: Make a portfolio or a Pinterest board with suggestions and references so that your influencers understand the style you’re looking for.

You can also create a mood board for your influencer marketing brief.

To do that:

• Use images from your previous influencer campaigns
• Pinterest features imagery of virtually everything. You can even include a Pinterest board in your influencer marketing brief.
• Search for the imagery of competitors and their influencer marketing campaigns. Get inspiration to illustrate your ideas.
• Use the Facebook Ads Library to see the ads of your competitors. Successful ads are those that have been running for over 3 months:

Insider tip: Follow social media channels of parallel industries, sign up for their promotional newsletters. You will discover content ideas and unconventional ideas if you step out of your industry’s best practices.

Alternatively, inBeat Agency includes video ad examples that our content creators can draw inspiration from:

6. Captions (Optional)

Your visuals should have suitable captions, so the catch is providing precise requirements without messing with your influencers’ muses.

Remember that you don’t want your influencers’ messages to sound too template-y.

Instead, aim for captivating and authentic content.

You can use an AI caption generator to create engaging captions on the go.

• Brand hashtags: This part is important because you want people to identify your campaign quickly and engage with it seamlessly.
• Important keywords: These are keywords that connect your brand with specific concepts according to the research you’re basing your campaign on.
• Call to action: Ensure the CTA fits your campaign goals. Here are some call-to-action examples :

Insider tip: When setting these outlines, consider what part of the marketing funnel you want to address.

• Top of the funnel: Focus on keywords that stimulate visibility.
• Middle of the funnel: Use keywords that encourage engagement.
• Bottom of the funnel: Leverage keywords that concentrate on purchase.

Insider tip: We typically create a separate section for the captions, links, and hashtags, but we include the CTA in the “creative storyboard” section. You may prefer to include them in the same section to ensure your influencers include these terms word-for-word.

7. Privacy Policy and Legal Guidelines

For US-based businesses, you can include FTC guidelines as a reminder.

For companies in Canada, refer to Influencer Marketing Disclosure Guidelines.

You can also use a privacy policy generator to help if needed.

Again, we prefer to include most of this in the influencer contract.

However, you can include these details in the brief to ensure compliance in very delicate matters.

8. Dos and Don’ts

Remember that social media platforms must clearly label all ads and sponsored content.

If your influencers don’t do that, you can face many problems.

Don’t hesitate to remind them of the rules on different platforms like:

• Instagram: Use #ad or the Branded Content tool
• Snapchat: Add a disclosure before the post

Other restrictions can include:

• A tone of voice that you don’t want the influencers to use
• Specific images and words you don’t want your brand associated with
• Everything that contradicts your corporate values

Here is what we asked our Brave app influencers to respect:

What to Avoid When Creating an Influencer Marketing Brief?

Writing an influencer brief isn’t always easy.

Most of our clients have made the common mistakes below.

• An influencer marketing brief that is over two pages is too long. Be straightforward and concise. Don’t bore the influencer with too many unnecessary details and long paragraphs of text. Use images and bullet points to make the brief easy to read.
• You included too many talking points that the influencer has to use. Content with several messaging points has less impact and feels forced or inorganic.
• You placed rigorous restrictions on influencer’s creative freedom. Outline campaign goals and essential talking points. But give the influencer freedom to decide how to connect to their audiences.

Beyond the Influencer Brief Template: How to Get the Best Creative Assets

As you can see, the briefing process helps you streamline your influencer partnerships and builds a stronger internal team.

This document also helps you get better creative content and have a blueprint for your future campaigns.

So, use the key elements in this brief above and avoid the common pitfalls we discussed.

Here’s the problem.

Even the best influencer template cannot streamline the creation process if you choose the wrong influencers.

So, make sure your content creators fit your brand values and campaign goals before kickstarting your social media campaign.

Alternatively, if you need to streamline your influencer discovery, try inBeat now – it's free, fast, and flexible.

inBeat, for free

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