Market Research Blueprint

Step-by-step process:

1. Define purpose + outcomes

Before jumping into the campaign, define the purpose of the market research + and the expected outcome(s) of the campaign. Ask the stakeholders these questions:

• What is the main purpose of market research? (For example, are you looking to create awareness about a PoV/educate the audience/change the mindset/help explain complicated processes in detail, etc? 
• What is the expected outcome of the campaign? (Do you want higher reach, do you want MQLs, brand awareness). Ultimately, the goal is higher revenue, but it is important to know how you want to get there (by getting new leads, engaging frozen accounts/lost deals/upselling)

2. Define ICP 

Most campaigns start with determining who the campaign is for. 

• Who do you want to attract?
• Who is the target audience?
• Who benefits from this information/knowledge?
• Who can you sell to?

To do this, first, you:

Apply firmographic criteria like industry, company size, location, revenue, etc. The criteria do not have to be too rigid (unless mentioned otherwise), so a margin of 5% when it comes to numbers is acceptable, especially if the industry is niche.

Then,  

You apply other qualification criteria. For example, for a software development agency, it could be the fact that a prospect does not have a specialized team in-house, has received funding in the last 12-24 months, is hiring for SDE roles, etc. 

Next, you apply disqualification criteria. For the same example above, it can be factors like lack of funding, budget below $x, has an in-house specialized team, uses low-code/no-code app builders, has already signed a deal or is in the process of signing a deal with a competitor etc. 

To recap, here is what the ICP finalization process looks like:

1. Apply firmographic criteria
2. Apply other qualification criteria 
3. Apply disqualification criteria 

And that’s how you define ICP.

3. Prepare a prospect list

After you’ve determined the ICP, the next step is to research and finalize accounts that fit the ICP. Here’s how you do that:

First, you list about 35-40 companies that fit your ICP. You will call them ‘accounts’. You can do this through sales navigator or any other scraping tool. You can also head over to your socials and check if anyone in your connections fits the ICP. Even better if they have engaged with you. 

You can also do this manually by looking up companies through simple desk research and matching them against your determined ICP with criteria like size, revenue, location, etc. Remember to match them against your disqualifying criteria too.

For each ‘account’, you need to find 3-4 people, i.e ‘contacts’ that are part of the buying committee. You can do this through LinkedIn. For each company, you note down the company name, company website, contact name, contact LinkedIn profile, etc.

For each contact, search for traces of information online and add them in the relevant columns. You’re looking for any and all information that can help us either serve them better, know them better, or customize the offer/offering better. 

You can find this relevant information through:

• articles, blogs on publishing platforms (LinkedIn, Medium, Reddit etc.) 
• case studies on target companies from competitors’ sites.
• podcasts – for interviews with target contacts
• all social media channels (especially LinkedIn)

Then, you create the following columns next to these account names:

• Engaged (liked/commented/no interaction)
• Connection request sent (yes/no)
• Connection request accepted (yes/no)
• Message 1 sent (yes/no)
• Date of message sent
• Follow up sent (yes/no)
• Interested? (registered/not registered)

The resultant spreadsheet should look like this:

In case you have access to an existing prospect list, you need to narrow it down to fit the campaign’s ICP and goals and follow the same process as above.

Lastly, get approval from all stakeholders and upper management and finalize the list.

4. Outreach

You’ve sharpened your saw, now it’s time to strike. Here’s how you do it:

1. The first step is to engage with them through LinkedIn/ preferred choice of channel. Warm them up by liking their posts, commenting with insights, etc.

2. Reach out to individuals in the account list to ask them if they would be interested to hop on a call for an industry report. 

LinkedIn new connection request script:

Hi, we’re doing a report on the state of *topic* in *industry* and would like to feature your company, perhaps quote you. Would you be up for an interview? This conversation would take about 14-16 minutes of your time. We’ll share the results with you once the report is published. Open to talk?

Email follow-up script if there is no answer in 3 days:

Subject of email: *Their company name* featured in new research on *niche/topic*

Hello FIRST NAME, 

A few days ago, I sent you a message on Linkedin regarding research we’re doing in the [*geographical location (like continent)* + *industry*] sector. The message probably got lost (the Linkedin inbox is a mess!), so I’m following up here. 

As *niche* specialists, we’d like to understand the situation in the market: what’s working for companies, what are the current best practices, and how they’re tackling challenges. 

We would like to feature your company in this research and perhaps quote you. 

Would you be available for an interview? These short conversations usually take about 14-16 minutes of your time. We’re also sharing the detailed findings of the research with those who took part. 

Are you open to talk? It’s not a survey, but a conversation where your experience and expertise is needed.

If you’d like to be a part of this research, please select a convenient time in my calendar to talk or let me know when you’d be available. 

Looking forward to talking!

Regards, 

YOUR NAME

Phone followup if no answer in 3 days (optional if you have phone number available):

Hello FIRSTNAME, 

This is YOUR NAME from Trustdock – is now a bad time to talk for 30 seconds?

I sent you an email a few days ago about a *topic* research article where we may want to feature COMPANY… but the email probably got lost. 

We’re featuring several *industry* companies from *geographical location (like continent)* in a roundup on the state of *topic* and I was wondering whether it would make sense to include your company in this research. It would take about 14-16 minutes of your time. Are you interested? 

Great!

So, would you be open to a short conversation on the state of *topic* at COMPANY? We’d like to understand the situation in the market: what’s working for you, what are the current best practices, and how you’re tackling challenges. It’s not a questionnaire, but a conversation. 

…and set up a time…

5. Prepare a questionnaire

After reaching out to them over LinkedIn, email, and the phone, it is now time to set up a questionnaire. 

There are two parts to the questionnaire:

1. Value-add questions: These are questions that you need to ask the prospects in order to publish a fair, well-researched report on the topic finalized. 
2. Qualifying questions: These are questions you ask the prospect to qualify them. These are 5-7 questions that lead through a discovery process about how the prospect is currently dealing with the challenge you help solve. 

The ultimate goal of this interview should be to gather enough insights to write and publish a valuable industry report and to get a good idea whether/how to go on with a sales play. So, you must understand the prospect’s business and challenges.

For an eKYC company operating in Asia, a questionnaire can look like this:

• How do you currently handle EKYC? -» What’s going on in terms of handling / How are you guys handling / Can you say a few words about customer onboarding? 

1. 1. 1. What is the size of your in-house KYC team? 
      2. How long does it take to onboard a customer on average?

• What is your current Cost Per Acquisition? / What has the tendency been of your CPA since you’ve started KYC? /// Do you have an idea of how your CPA has been changing since you’ve implemented KYC? 

• How do you measure the accuracy of your current KYC solution? //KPIs?

1. 1. 1. Could you improve your revenue by being more accurate?

• What is the tendency of the churn rate in your onboarding process?

• What departments are involved in operations that regard customer onboarding?

• Do you consider onboarding as a technical question or as a key component of your growth?

1. 1. 1. Is onboarding a UX issue? Or just a compliance issue? 
      2. Do you see onboarding/compliance as a necessary evil or a growth opportunity? 

• What are your plans for next year with regards to onboarding? For example:

1. 1. 1. Team growth
      2. Tech investment
      3. Both
         Why?  

• What’s your biggest challenge in KYC/onboarding?

1. 1. Eg: Local regulations, Technical challenges, management/organizational issues?

After creating a questionnaire, use this questionnaire to create a google form where you can record all the answers from the interviews in a concise manner. Alternatively, you can also use spreadsheets, but the former is a better option (Why? Explained below)

Note: There is a possibility that a prospect refuses to get on a call or does not respond to your requests to get on a call. In this case, make the ask smaller and ask them to fill out a survey form instead. The survey form is only a backup of the original plan since it is easier to build a relationship with the prospect and ask them qualifying questions on a call than it is through a form. This is where you will send them the Google Form (it can also be any other survey platform) previously created. 

6. Hold interviews

The interviews need to be conducted by someone who is involved with Sales. Alternatively, it can be done by the CEO/marketer with the salesperson sitting in on the interview. This is to avoid as much friction as possible further down the process when Sales eventually reaches out to the prospect to make a sale.

Remember these pointers before you hit record:

• Ask for permission to record
• Let them know the recording will only be used internally so that you don’t have to take notes and can pay full attention. The recording will be deleted after assessment.
• Make sure you ask about their current “tooth-ache”, the biggest challenge at the end.
• If you think you can help, offer a short call with an expert on any challenges that they have mentioned. Let them know it’s not a sales call, it’s with an expert. 
• Ask for permission to quote prospect by name/company in the report after having aligned on the exact wording.

7. Assess findings and create report 

Consolidate the learnings and derive findings from the data. Create a report based on the findings. 

8. Distribute the report

You can either choose to publish the report on your own website or you can reach out to external publications to do that for you. You can contact leading publications in your industry before embarking on the project and ask them if they’d be willing to publish your article. You can also guest post on other similar, non-competitor websites.

Send the published report to everyone involved in the interviews and surveys and let them know that it is advised to distribute the report on their own channels too. Post about it on LinkedIn and any other channels you are active on. Post snippets and key findings through videos, carousels, etc. You can also use paid media and newsletters to distribute this report.

9. Activation

Follow up with any contacts who indicated a need for help (expert call) immediately after the interview.

For “good fit” interviewees, you can

• Ask for follow-up interview for an article or podcast interview (add them to a different play)
• Invite them to host a discussion at a meetup/webinar in the future
• Transition into a sales conversation, but the goal of this campaign is not to immediately sell but instead build a relationship

10. Launch webinar play

After the report is published, you can organize a webinar to discuss the findings of the research and deep-dive into the topic by allowing participants to ask questions and interact with you. Invite interviewees too. Link to webinar blueprint: