As discussed yesterday, primary market research is conducted by researchers who interact with test subjects on a first hand basis.  Secondary research can be an efficient way for companies to glean a basic idea of where their business stands within the market without shelling out tons of money upfront to engage in potentially very costly primary research endeavors.

Secondary research is cheap and efficient because it involves collecting data that has already been funded, gathered, and processed by other organizations.  Typically this data is available at little or no cost to third-party consumers.  It can be used to get a general idea of where their product stands in relation to the market, and whether they would like to invest future time in developing more concrete evidence by conducting primary research studies.

Primary research is typically conducted with a very specific problem or objective in mind.  Because the objective is so clearly defined, researchers can tailor their questionnaires to procure the precise information they seek.  Secondary research is much less targeted than primary research, and thus it can be harder to make comparisons between the data and the information businesses are attempting to gather.

Sources where companies can gather secondary research include trade associations, government websites, trade directories, census data, public records, and even previously gathered marketing research.  Companies can utilize this research to formulate general ideas about trends and tendencies of consumers in order to formulate very general marketing strategies.

This process can be more streamlined and efficient with the integration of an interactive voice response system into the process.  Instead of having to do tedious internet or library searches, users can simply call in, request the information they are seeking from their desired institution, and have the facts either sent over or read to them over the phone.

Research can be a huge time suck, especially when viewers are perusing content that is irrelevant and unimportant.  Researchers can have the applicable content they are seeking almost immediately at their finger tip via a simple outbound phone call