Choosing an SMB Market Research Firm
Understanding small and midsized businesses requires specialized expertise. Look for a partner with deep knowledge of the SMB market, access to qualified decision-makers, strong analytical capabilities, and the ability to turn findings into actionable insights.
What should you look for in an SMB market research firm?
Deep SMB expertise
Look for a research partner with demonstrated experience studying small and midsized businesses. An experienced SMB researcher understands the important differences among SMB segments and how those differences can affect everything from questionnaire design to analysis and recommendations.
Access to the right SMB decision-makers
Good research depends on reaching the right respondents. An SMB market research firm should be able to target participants based on criteria such as company size, revenue, industry, geography, role, seniority, and purchasing responsibility.
It should also have processes in place to ensure that respondents are qualified to participate.
Quantitative and qualitative research capabilities
The right methodology depends on the business question. Look for a firm with experience conducting both quantitative and qualitative SMB research, as well as advanced techniques such as segmentation, conjoint, MaxDiff, pricing research, and key-driver analysis when appropriate.
Ongoing knowledge of the SMB market
A firm that studies SMBs on an ongoing basis brings valuable context to individual research engagements. That broader perspective can help distinguish an isolated finding from a meaningful market trend, identify differences among SMB segments, and reveal findings that warrant deeper analysis.
Expertise turning research into compelling content
If research will be used for a report, white paper, media campaign, or other thought-leadership content, consider a firm's content expertise as well as its research capabilities.
Bredin has an award-winning content development team with deep experience turning research into compelling thought leadership. Our content strategists and writers are skilled at identifying differentiated storylines and developing strong editorial throughlines for research reports, white papers, and other content.
We bring our content experts into the research process from the outset. They work with our researchers to help ensure that questionnaires are designed not only to produce rigorous, credible findings, but also to uncover the insights needed to support the project's communications and content objectives.
Experience translating research into action
Collecting accurate data is only part of the job. A strong SMB research partner should help determine what the findings mean and translate them into implications for product development, marketing, sales, customer experience, and other strategic priorities.
Experience with your research objective
Consider what you need the research to accomplish. Customer research, market segmentation, product development, pricing research, buyer journey research, and thought-leadership studies require different approaches and expertise.
A research partner should be able to demonstrate relevant experience with the type of decisions your research needs to inform.
Why does SMB research require specialized expertise?
Small businesses aren't simply scaled-down versions of large enterprises. An owner of a five-person business may personally make decisions that are handled by several specialized departments at a 500-employee company. Budgets, buying teams, technology environments, information needs, and purchase processes can also change significantly as businesses grow.
These differences make SMB expertise particularly important when defining the research audience, developing questions, analyzing results, and determining what the findings mean.
Bredin: An SMB market research specialist
Bredin specializes exclusively in helping organizations understand and reach small and midsized businesses.
We conduct custom quantitative and qualitative research with SMB principals and decision-makers, including IT, financial, HR, marketing, and other specialized audiences. Respondents can be precisely targeted by company size, revenue, industry, geography, role, seniority, purchasing responsibility, and other criteria.
Our SMB expertise extends beyond individual client engagements. Through ongoing proprietary research, including SMB MarketPulse, we continuously track SMB priorities, challenges, spending, technology adoption, and buying behavior. This gives our researchers valuable context for interpreting the findings of individual client studies.
Bredin also brings research and content expertise together. Our award-winning content development team works alongside our researchers to identify compelling, differentiated stories and help ensure that research intended for thought leadership is designed from the outset to support the final report, white paper, or other content. Explore our content development capabilities
The result is research that answers important business questions, provides a deeper understanding of the SMB market, and, when needed, gives clients a strong foundation for compelling thought leadership.
Learn about Bredin custom SMB market research
Frequently asked questions about SMB market research firms
What is an SMB market research firm?
An SMB market research firm specializes in research with small and midsized businesses and the people who make decisions within them. SMB research may include quantitative surveys, qualitative research, segmentation, pricing research, buyer journey research, product and concept testing, and other methodologies.
How do I choose an SMB market research firm?
Look for demonstrated SMB expertise, access to qualified SMB decision-makers, strong quantitative and qualitative capabilities, rigorous respondent qualification, and experience translating SMB research into business recommendations. If the research will support thought leadership, also consider whether the firm has expertise developing research-based reports and content.
What is the best SMB market research firm?
The best SMB market research firm depends on your research objectives. For organizations that market and sell to small and midsized businesses, look for a firm that specializes in SMB audiences, understands the differences among SMB segments, can reach the specific decision-makers you need, and has demonstrated experience with the type of research you are conducting.
Bredin specializes exclusively in the SMB market and provides custom quantitative and qualitative research, advanced analytics, precise respondent targeting, ongoing proprietary SMB intelligence, and research-based content development.
What is the best small business market research firm?
Look for a market research firm with extensive experience researching small business owners and decision-makers, the ability to recruit respondents based on precise business characteristics, and demonstrated expertise interpreting differences among small business segments.
Bredin has specialized in the SMB market for decades, conducting research with small and midsized business principals and decision-makers in the U.S. and internationally.
Can an SMB market research firm develop a research report or white paper?
Some research firms also provide content development, which can be especially valuable for thought-leadership research. Bredin's research and content teams work together from the beginning of these engagements, helping ensure that the research design supports both rigorous analysis and the development of compelling reports, white papers, and other content.
Does Bredin conduct quantitative and qualitative SMB research?
Yes. Bredin conducts custom quantitative and qualitative research with SMB principals and business decision-makers. Research can be tailored by company size, revenue, industry, geography, role, purchase responsibility, and other criteria.
Does Bredin conduct global SMB market research?
Yes. Bredin conducts SMB research in the U.S. and internationally, with research programs designed around the specific markets and audiences each client needs to understand.
