Intellicast Episode 37: Adam Joins The SampleCon Board
December 10, 2018A Review Of Market Research In 2018
December 17, 2018Recent data from the Texas Workforce Commission indicated strong job demand for positions in the market research industry. They estimate that the number of marketing research analysts and specialists is expected to increase by more than 32%, and survey researchers more than 21%.
When you take workforce data into account with some of the recent news from the market research industry, like Qualtrics being acquired by SAP, SurveyMonkey furthering their integration with SalesForce, and new innovations in machine learning, automation and big data, it indicates that the industry is going to be growing as more integration of data suggests a need for more insights and more analysts.
While acquisitions typically mean that there is consolidation, with the Qualtrics / SAP acquisition, that is not the case. It is probably the first in many moves where large firms that manage data for other business areas look to expand their offering into a more fully-integrated, end-to-end full-service offering. If this is the case, you can expect more organizations look to leverage market research and start to merge those finding with data from their internal systems for a more complete picture.
Along these similar lines is the further integration of systems. While I mentioned SurveyMonkey and SalesForce earlier, that is just one example. We are seeing different platforms being integrated, either as a way to better automate specific processes or to be able to combine data easier from a myriad of sources. We see this with APIs to panel companies to access respondents quicker, to linking questionnaire platforms with email marketing platforms for smooth invite and data collection.
Going even deeper how companies are taking these integrations to the next level by taking their connected system and employing advanced techniques, like machine learning and automation, to pull out more profound insights, quicker. With those insights, companies are being able to better decisions. They are also looking to put extra resources in the insights area, so they can increase the results they are achieving.
When you take all of these factors into account, it is no wonder that the market research industry is going to grow for the foreseeable future.