7 market research tools you should start using today

The world of market research is full of variety — some companies want to know about people’s eating habits while others want insight on how to get ahead of the competition. Whatever your goal, below are seven market research tools you can use to help you reach it.

1. Jotform

Jotform is an online form builder that helps users collect important information for a wide variety of situations. Through its survey capabilities, you can get customer feedback on everything from a new product idea to a recent service experience. 

Christopher of Premium Waters, Inc. says the tool is full of valuable features. “The ability to sign up for free and begin immediately creating forms that work within minutes is unmatched. I am impressed by the extensive amount of widgets that can be utilized for custom data entry, from QR code scanners to file uploaders to widgets that can perform custom calculations.”

2. Moz

Janice Wald of Mostly Blogging recommends Moz for SEO purposes, such as finding keyword search volume and keyword difficulty, the domain authority rankings of competitor websites, and the meta descriptions of competing blogs. 

“I can see my competitors’ meta descriptions, and — especially if they rank higher than me in search results — I can use their keywords to improve my own meta descriptions. Also, a tip: You get free unlimited queries when you download the MozBar for Chrome,” Wald said.

3. Ubersuggest

Speaking of keywords, Ubersuggest is another tool in the SEO space that Wald suggests. Recommended by well-known marketer Neil Patel (who acquired the tool in 2017), Ubersuggest tells you which keywords are driving traffic to your site, gives you ideas for new keywords, and analyzes your traffic and backlinks. 

“If you put in a competitor’s URL, the tool will give you the same type of information, making it a gold mine of knowledge for informing your own SEO efforts,” explains Wald.

4. PickFu

PickFu offers a way to get unbiased feedback from your desired audience on any type of project. For example, you can get opinions about your website, feedback on your app’s user interface, or validation of your business idea or new packaging from only those respondents who match the demographic info you select. 

“The demographic selection is useful because for a business to expand, it needs to be well received by potential customers. PickFu is ideal for things such as marketing slogans or naming new products,” explains Morgan Taylor of LetMeBank.

5. Google Alerts

Google Alerts emails users when it finds new results about topics that match their preset preferences. These results include web pages, blogs, and/or scientific research. While Google Alerts is more of a reactive market research tool, users like Maksym Babych of SpdLoad find it quite useful. 

“It’s great for monitoring mentions of our business or our competitors on the internet,” Babych says. “This helps us manage our reputation — taking advantage of positive feedback and addressing negative feedback appropriately.”

6. Hotjar

Andrei Vasilescu of DontPayFull recommends Hotjar as a useful analysis and feedback tool. He says it primarily helps you improve your business website’s overall performance. You can use Hotjar to monitor how website visitors navigate through your site and learn their behavior. 

“In addition, you get a clear idea about the pages or areas of your website where viewers spend most of their time, which can help you determine how to improve the design and make it easier for potential customers to purchase or inquire about your products or services,” Vasilescu explains.

7. BizStats

BizStats is an online tool that provides small businesses statistics based on financial data from the IRS. It selects raw data to develop value-added calculations and publishes the results in an easily accessible format for business owners, valuation professionals, accountants, consultants, and other interested parties. Jesse Harrison of HopeTree Legal Funding recommends this tool because of its wealth of data and wide applicability: “BizStats provides financial data across virtually every industry. As a statistician, I use this tool to gather data relating to our market, then use other data points to draw conclusions regarding the current state and potential future of my business.”

Looking for more help in your market research journey? Check out our lengthy guide on performing market research.