Market research survey templates

Before, during, and after your product or service launch, market research is invaluable to get the insights you need to create and improve what you offer. Whether you’re hoping to measure brand awareness, test a product/concept, or understand your target market better, we have a variety of market research survey templates you can customize to your industry. Whatever your occupation, send out a market research survey and you’ll be on your way to developing a business that attracts and satisfies your target market. 

But first: what is market research and why is it important? Market research describes the bundle of research activities that you’ll use to understand the market you’re operating in, such as who your customers are, what motivates them, their purchasing and consumption habits, and their actions. 

No business will thrive without conducting some kind of market research. It’s a crucial activity that informs your overall business strategy as well as substrategies, such as for your marketing campaigns and operational decisions. Investing the time, money and effort into developing these core aspects of your business without a sound understanding of the market could result in a significant waste of resources. 

We’ve prepared a comprehensive guide to market research, but in the meantime, let’s take a look at some of the benefits of market research.

Related reading: Why are surveys important in research?

If you want to keep your business moving, it's absolutely critical to regularly perform market research.

One of the major advantages of market research is that it helps you to identify new marketplace opportunities. For example, by surveying restaurant customers in a particular area, you might find that their need for good, affordable Italian food isn’t currently being met. Or, if you already run an Italian restaurant, you might identify areas for expansion by finding out that customers are looking for an Italian deli that stocks products they can take to prepare Italian food at home. It's by regularly gathering data from customers, competitors, and others that businesses find new opportunities to exploit, which supports business growth and success. 

Another benefit of market research is that it helps you to minimize the risk associated with certain business decisions. For example, imagine you’re planning to launch a new product or service to your existing market. Without market research, you will have little idea about the optimal price, the best distribution plan, how the product will be received, or even whether the product will actually sell. With market research, you might find that the marketplace is saturated with similar products, or that there is limited demand for an offering like yours. While the process of market research can sometimes be quite involved, investing the time and effort means that you can minimize the risks—and thus any waste of cost or other resources—associated with rolling out new products and other costly activities. 

Related reading: Types of survey research methods

Market research provides you with the foundation for understanding your industry, market, consumers, and competitors. Accordingly, the goals that you can achieve through market research are numerous. For example, you can use market research to:

Understanding your target market is fundamental to achieving these business goals. A comprehensive target market analysis can help you identify your ideal customers, understand their needs, and align your products or services accordingly. Learn more about how to conduct an effective target market analysis to ensure your business decisions are backed by solid market insights.

Most of the goals of market research can be accomplished through the use of market research surveys. These are specially tailored surveys, administered to a target audience—typically existing or prospective customers—that aim to learn more about their preferences, needs, habits, opinions, attitudes, and more. Other methods of market research are available—focus groups, for instance, help you to delve deeper into what customers think—but surveys are the best way to gather a large amount of data in a standardized format to yield actionable insights. So what exactly should you ask in your survey? Read on for a comprehensive guide, and templates tailored for your specific needs.

If you’re getting ready to do some market research, you might feel overwhelmed about putting together a survey. The quality of the data you glean from market research depends on the quality of the questions you ask your audience, so survey design is crucial. No need to worry; we’re here to help. In the next few sections, we’ll introduce you to a range of different market research templates, and we’ll discuss how each can be used to achieve certain goals and gather specific information.

You have a great idea for a product or service, but is the world ready for it? Before you start doodling concept sketches on napkins, conduct a marketing research survey to discover the designs and features your audience will love. Already launched? Use research questionnaires to get ready for version 2.0. Ask your participants questions such as, “If you are not likely to use our new product, why not?” or, “What would make you more likely to use our new service?” Our product testing survey template can help you get started.

The age, gender, and income of your audience are all characteristics that contribute to the successful development and marketing of your product or service. When you understand your target market, you’re in a great position to better understand their needs, and you’ll be able to make better business decisions. There are a variety of different demographic questions you can ask. To help you brainstorm, check out the questions from our U.S. demographics survey template.

Your brand is constantly evolving. Find out how consumers perceive it over time to identify what influences it. You can also measure your brand against competitors to see where you stand in the market. We’ve got several survey templates you can use, including ones on brand loyalty and brand awareness.

Keeping your pulse on your target market helps you understand and prioritize your organization’s needs. Are attitudes shifting? Do behaviors seem to be changing? By finding the answer to these questions and taking action, you’ll be in a position to better attract and retain consumers over time.

Get detailed information about your target market’s industry and business with one of our marketing survey templates. Get answers to questions like, “When choosing skin care products, which of the following factors matter to you?” or, “Are you a first-time home buyer, or have you purchased a home before?” and you’ll have data you can put to work immediately to fine-tune your service and product offerings.

Getting feedback from your current customers is valuable. But to identify new opportunities that ultimately grow your business, you’ll want to collect opinions from your entire target market.

Start with a demographic survey of your customers. You may be aiming for a particular audience, but find out you have a feature or product line that appeals to a different audience. Once you get to know your audience, you’ll know how to market (and how not to market) to them.

Get consumer feedback on your particular line of work, products, and services. Ask about competing products, alternate services, or specific ways you can improve.

You don’t have to spend loads of money to get answers. You just need to take advantage of the smart, cost-effective tools. Not sure how to reach the right people? SurveyMonkey Audience gives you access to millions of respondents ready to provide the answers you need to make critical decisions. At SurveyMonkey we’re always working to improve our technology to help you make your best decisions. By sending a survey to reach out to your target market, you can make sure your efforts are as effective as possible.

Below is a list of our expert-certified survey templates broken down by 3 of our top use cases: concept testing, brand research, and customer profiling. Keep in mind that you can always customize the questions to better fit your needs.

Is your product ready to go live? Before you make it available to the public, see how your target market feels about it with this 10-question survey. The feedback will help you identify the right improvements to make on-time.
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Take the guesswork out of your advertising efforts. This 8-question survey will help you understand how your target audience perceives your ad before you take it public.
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Landing on the right name for your company or product can prove challenging. Hear what consumers have to say as you consider different options.
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Before you take a logo to market, you’ll want to see how it resonates with your target audience. Use this template for testing any and every option.
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Know how consumers will react to your messaging in advance These questions can help you evaluate and verify your claims’ value propositions.
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Finding the right packaging for your products is more complicated than you might think. You’ll want to consider its visual appeal, uniqueness, and quality. Use this template to evaluate your products’ packaging.
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Find out if consumers in your target market are price sensitive with this 6-question survey. You’ll also learn whether or not they’re satisfied with the value of products in your category.
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Find out about your brand’s level of awareness with this 10-question survey. You’ll learn how people discover your brand as well as perceive it.
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See how consumers evaluate your brand compared to others in your market. Our template will also help you learn what drives people toward a particular brand.
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How does your brand make people feel? And how do people distinguish your brand from competitors? Get some answers using this template.
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Design, quality, and price are key purchasing drivers for consumers. Find out which of these factors are more important for your target market.
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Use this quick, 5-question survey to learn more about your customers; including the types of consumers they target, the competitive nature of their market, and their level of repeat business.
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Understanding who your customers are requires a holistic approach. You’ll need to consider their age, gender, level of education among other things. This 10-question survey will help you learn more about your customers.
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Are your respondents employed? And if they are, what’s their current occupation? Use this survey template to answer both of these questions.
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Get to know the types of companies your respondents work at as well as their specific roles in them using this 10-question survey.
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Get to know your client’s target market using this 10-question survey. It includes questions about the types of customers they’re after, the level of market competitiveness, and the possibility of repeat business.
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Pinpoint the characteristics of your target market using this survey. You’ll find out about their age, gender, where they live, among other things.
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Learn how consumers find out about a business in your category and go about making a purchasing decision with this 9-question survey.
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Learn about consumers’ awareness, consideration, and purchasing stages with this comprehensive 17-question survey template.
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Find out your target market’s awareness of different brands, which they prefer, and what ultimately influences their purchasing decisions.
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So, choose one of our ready-made market research templates, or customize one of your own. It’s easy to do; you’ll be hitting the “send” button within minutes. Or, if you have more specific needs, let us help. We have a range of solutions—like this product concept analysis solution and our global respondent panel to help you survey your target market—that can get you started on your market research journey in a flash.