Market research jobs range from entry-level phone surveys to high-level data collection and analysis. Research companies and organizations hire market researchers to support business and marketing plans, grant requests, and investor proposals. Qualifications vary, with entry-level jobs not requiring a marketing background and freelance consultants often requiring a master’s degree.
Market research jobs range from entry-level positions that involve conducting phone surveys to positions that require a high level of intensive data collection and analysis. Market research jobs can be found at research companies that collect data from a wide range of industries for resale, as well as companies that hire individual market researchers to help develop their organization’s marketing plan. Smaller organizations are more likely to hire the latter as freelancers when they are going through a transition period, such as expanding into other markets.
Organizations often require statistics and market overviews to support their business plans, marketing plans, grant requests and investor proposals. Research companies that collect and sell this data to organizations need market researchers to extract the data and then aggregate it in a way that meets the customer’s needs. For example, a marketing research company might receive a request from a client to create a comparative analysis of its competitors. In this case, a market researcher employed by the company may be tasked with providing data such as pricing, market share, and competitor affiliations. Once the researcher has compiled the data into a graph or other easy-to-understand format, the client is in the best position to make important decisions, such as acquiring the competition.
If an organization requires a high volume of market information, it may have market research jobs available from its marketing department. Since most small or start-up organizations cannot afford to keep a full-time market researcher on staff, they may add market research to the job responsibilities of another position, such as marketing coordinator or marketing manager. Another solution might be to hire a market researcher as a freelancer for a very specific role. For example, an organization might subcontract an international market researcher to conduct a feasibility study on the organization’s potential to expand into international markets. A company may also hire a marketing researcher to collect and aggregate data that will specifically help build strategic partnerships, support funding proposals, or determine target consumer demographics and buying patterns.
The qualifications needed for market research jobs often vary, depending on the organization and the type of market research required. Entry-level market research jobs, such as conducting surveys, generally do not require an academic or professional background in marketing. Market researchers who offer consulting services in a freelance capacity often require a high level of academic experience, such as a master’s degree in business administration, commerce, or library and information science.
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