What’s the optimal rhythm for doing market research?

Is there such a thing as a perfect research cadence, somewhere between "so often" we're drowning and "so rare" that data is stale?

That question is tricky because "research" can – and should – mean a lot of things.

“Research” (collecting data and information to inform decisions, strategies, and bets) is always on.

But that bigger, always-on “Research” motion is powered by smaller, NOT always-on “research” efforts providing different types of information, at different levels of precision and fidelity, tapping different sources. 

Think of it this way:

❓Should you always act on an idea or suggestion in a team meeting? 
No, but you shouldn't NEVER act on them for fear of the “death by Google tabs” that will ensue either.

❓Should you crank out massive brand, category, competitor, or customer research efforts every week?
No, but you CAN fill in the gaps between those efforts with ad hoc explorations or always-on refreshes that surface new developments.

❓Should you be doing a daily scan of everything your customers, competitors, or other category influencers are doing?
 Definitely not, but you SHOULD figure out the cadence at which these things tend to change (weekly? yearly?) to refresh your information AND get notified when something big does happen.

You get the point.

Wonder recently unpacked best practices here (38 min listen), but here’s the summary (click to download):

The only wrong cadence?

Not asking the questions you should be in the first place. 

So many of us do that because it's too hard, too much extra work, too messy a topic to unpack... the excuses are endless. 

Or we settle for a meh solution that gets us NOT fully there.

I went off on this recently 🫣 because we continue to see this separate mediocre from world-class research orgs.

Just like a strong house isn't built from JUST the bricks or JUST the mortar, strong research engines need the pillar projects AND the in-between inquiries.

Protect this house!
Victoria

PS. Fortune 500, FAANG, and MBB companies turn to Wonder to empower their teams and talent with more agile insights across all of these types and timelines. 

We tap proprietary AI agents and our network of expert research analysts to help you quickly vet, consistently monitor, or fully landscape your category, competitors, key audiences, and more.

Answers in hours >>> fumbling for quarters.

Chat with our research experts to discuss a project or see our platform in action.