Online Surveys = Best Way to Start Market Research

   Online surveys are easy to make, distribute, and collect data from. On top of all that they are the cheapest form of market research. I believe using online surveys is the best way to start off a research project because you can ask a wide variety of questions. In this exploratory phase they can identify points of interest and focus the rest of their research on those points. So, instead of focusing on economic factors in decision making, they focus in on a social influencer on decision making (ie friends, parents, celebrities influencing a purchase decision). It can also cut down on the amount of research done. It might just take an online survey to determine why everyone has stopped going to a specific store. If everyone said the same thing, then there is no reason to go any further into research than the survey. Which saves money for the company! 

   Greg Timpany of Cvent Survey agrees that online surveys has allowed even the smallest of companies to jump into market research, because it is easy to use and inexpensive. Cvent Survey is a great place to learn about online marketing and how to do it properly (through their blog) as well as they offer a service to companies to do their web surveys for them. Great thing to check out if you are a beginner surveyor!