19 best market research software tools for 2024

Of all the data your business or organization collects and analyzes, your market research metrics are some of the most important. Six out of ten marketers currently use consumer research to aid in growth and decision-making. To tap into all the available insights in your market, you're going to need a reliable and effective market research software solution.

Whether you're marginally satisfied with your current market research software or are venturing out to find your first software option, keep reading. In this article, we'll share some of the best market research tools available for 2023. Based on user reviews, affordability, and efficiency, these are the top considerations your company should look into for market research software.

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Since there are several types of market research, there are different types of market research software solutions. Before you begin your hunt for the best-fit software, recognize what type of market research you do most.

Determine which metrics are the most valuable to your company. Work out if this key data is best gathered via a consumer survey, questionnaire, interview, or checklist form. From there, you can begin to look for various market research software options offering features and calculations that make the most sense for your needs.

Decide which types of market research matter to you, each requiring its own tools and methods:

• Primary market research

• Secondary market research

• Quantitative research

• Qualitative research

• Branding research

• Competitor research

• Customer or client research

• Product research

As you evaluate your market research software options, start by reviewing each tool's strengths and core uses. Then, look at each through the lens of these four steps, checking how well they perform at each stage. This will also form your process when it comes to using them.

1. Identify the target audience

Know your target audience first. This might be a data pool of prospects based on your buyer personas. But it might also be an unknown segment of people if you’re conducting market research on a new region or for a new offering.

The ideal market research software will provide insights to help you identify your target audience in any scenario.

2. Create a research questionnaire

Market research software should have the capability of creating research questionnaires. These surveys are instrumental in learning more about a particular audience segment, region, or market dynamic.

3. Share your research questionnaire

Creating your market surveys and research-related questionnaires is one thing. You'll also need to share those questionnaires with participants. A great market research software tool will have additional layers of features to help you send and receive surveys.

4. Collect data and create information

A great market research software tool will also help you collect data and create usable insights from those metrics. You'll need a seamless way to gather market information and disseminate it throughout your organization in an actionable, effective way.

When you harness the right market research software, prepare for some significant advantages. Automation alone makes data analytics faster. But your datasets will also be more accurate when you use software to collect and share insights.

As an added benefit for companies, researchers, and organizations, using market research software means easier report generation and the ability to spot trends and patterns in your collected data.

The bottom line: market research software tools will help you keep up with consumer behavior trends and market fluctuations, allowing you to capitalize on emerging shifts and changes.

Based on industry reviews, effectiveness, and available features, these market research platforms and tools deserve a look. When accurate data and analysis matter, these are the solutions to have in your toolbox.

Take advantage of free trial periods and start evaluating your research tool and dashboard options.

Keep these top software solutions on your roster of must-try tools, and you'll be able to keep up with whatever's happening in your market.

Dovetail

One of the best market research platforms for 2024 is Dovetail. You can analyze any customer data, from product feedback to customer survey responses. You can also lose the cumbersome spreadsheets since all your insights and files are neatly organized in a digital hub that serves as a single source of truth for your organization.

Software strengths:

• Precision accuracy in transcription with an advanced speech engine

• Custom fields for structured data

• Importable datasets

• Sentiment analysis

• Project templates

• Access control and unlimited viewership capabilities

• Flexible and customizable editing

Qualtrics

Another market research tool worth exploring is Qualtrics. This software solution can help you draft surveys, analyze captured data, and run statistical testing.

Qualtrics also provides a representative sample of recipients if you don't already have an audience segmented.

In addition, the platform includes training on demand if your teams need help navigating it.

Software strengths:

• Easy to create and facilitate survey processes

• Top-notch dataset reporting

• Ability to boost your survey audience

QuestionPro

If you want survey customization and ultimate flexibility, QuestionPro is a great market research tool. It uses survey logic tech to seamlessly adjust the survey in real time based on participant responses.

Choose from a variety of software plans, most of which are ideal for creating, sharing, and analyzing collected metrics.

There's also 24/7 live chat for ongoing support.

Software strengths:

• Easy to navigate and customize

• The free plan is fairly robust

• Analysis can be exported or carried out in the app

Statista

If you prefer visual data, such as graphs showing statistics and market research-related reports, you'll like Statista.

Statista continuously uploads data, so you can check back on the same charts and see real-time shifts in trends. It's a good resource for consumer behavior insights and covers a broad range of market topics.

Software strengths:

• Considered one of the best statistics resources

• Easy to use and navigate

• Hundreds of reports and dashboards available

Qualaroo

If your organization needs a more advanced customer survey tool and market research solution, Qualaroo is a great option.

The main difference between Qualaroo and other market research tools is that its surveys can be directly embedded into your website or landing page. You can catch and attract participants in real time, which makes their survey responses more valuable.

There are AI analytics tools built in, too, with plenty of features for customizing your questionnaires.

Software strengths:

• Easy to create, embed, and send surveys

• Super-fast reporting turnaround capabilities

• Auto language translation

Typeform

Another piece of market research software worth considering is Typeform. Explore pre-made templates in an entirely user-friendly platform. Typeform makes creating and customizing forms and surveys a breeze, especially with all the available templates.

Unlike other survey tools, Typeform only sends one question at a time, making it a participant-friendly format.

Explore Typeform as a research software tool for qualitative and quantitative data.

Software strengths:

• Brilliant visualization of your data

• Mobile-optimized

• Compatible with hundreds of other apps

SurveyMonkey

Nearly anyone in research or business has heard of SurveyMonkey. It's another market research solution worth looking into, especially if you need access to 200+ survey templates for inspiration.

This platform is a breeze to navigate, much like Typeform. SurveyMonkey is more of an enterprise-grade dashboard, however, simplifying the process of creating, sending, and analyzing for all your metrics.

Software strengths:

• Easy for anyone to use

• Custom reports available

• Robust free plan

BuzzSumo

If you're looking for a social media marketing research tool with content marketing research features, check out BuzzSumo. Its software will scrub and analyze billions of articles and trillions of social media engagements, assembling metrics about relevant topics, influencer targeting, and popular trends.

These types of metrics are helpful in any marketing endeavors and content creation. They’re also key in understanding the driving factors of your target consumers.

Software strengths:

• Accuracy with social sharing metrics

• Ideal for competitive research

• Ability to monitor mentions

Google Trends

One of the most popular market research tools, firstly because it's Google and secondly because it's free, is Google Trends. It's not as comprehensive as some of the other tools, but it can be helpful in your research objectives.

Find topics that are popular online or review line graphs that rank widely used terms and keywords. This tool is less about conducting surveys and more about carrying out your own online research and active listening.

Software strengths:

• Discovering keywords, including long-tail keywords

• Find hot-topic conversations to inspire your marketing

• Visually appealing and easy to use

Bonus list of market research software tools

While the above market research tools tend to land at the top of the favorites list, there are other solutions worth considering. These are all great tools and platforms to dive into.

Evaluate the features and choose those that align best with the data you're trying to collect and analyze.

• Tableau: Business intelligence suite for connecting virtually any data source

• Paperform: Free-text interface and customizable surveys for all your personas

• Claritas MyBestSegment: Great for digging into demographics and lifestyle habits

• Upwave Instant Insights: Distributes surveys to real people, not including paid participants

• Userlytics: Test prototypes, mobile apps, or website user experience and opinions

• NielsenIQ: Great for evaluating product launch-related market research and data

• Loop11: Test website usability and user experience metrics with your participants

• Ubersuggest: Keyword and content research tool, great for competitive advantage insights

• BrandMentions: Social media monitoring software and platform

• Pew Research Center: Gather data regarding social media usage, political sentiments, and economic conditions

The market research software tools listed in this article are just the tip of the iceberg. You'll find all kinds of innovative tools with shiny new capabilities worth exploring.

What may be more helpful is a short to-do list outlining how to go about choosing the right research market platform for your project or company. Keep these objectives in mind as you decide to adopt or upgrade your software solutions.

• Know your market research objectives

• Be mindful of your budget

• Evaluate the ease of use for you and your teams

• Look for robust data collection features

• Look for analytics capabilities

• Choose those that integrate with other apps and software

When evaluating the best tools, create and reference your objectives, so you know you'll make the best-fit decision.

Some of the most common market research tools used today include surveys, interviews, checklists, and questionnaires. While the methods have been around for decades, the software used to facilitate and manage these strategies has improved using technology, algorithms, and automation.

When you hear about the four Ps of market research, researchers typically mean the four categories worth researching in a particular market: price, place, product, and promotion.

Because the consumer market, or your target audience, is constantly changing how it makes decisions, interacts with brands, buys products or services, and makes recommendations to others, market research is your first line of defense in keeping up with those changes. Finding the right market research software tool will determine how effectively you collect, share, and act on those emerging shifts in consumer behavior.

The only way to stay ahead in today's consumer product and service landscape is with superior intel. And the best way to learn the very latest about industry shifts, changes in customer behavior, and user preferences is with market research. Today's market research software tools make it easy and efficient to collect all kinds of metrics and apply those insights to effect organizational or core-offering changes.