Every market researcher’s biggest nightmare is for a client to say, “this doesn’t address our business issues.”  

However, this type of issue is prevalent; even if we pretend it doesn’t occur. Most reports don’t reach the expectations of clients – this is due to the wrong writing techniques being used.  

Rather than a focus on clear information and direct storytelling, market researchers will focus on methodology or analytics.  

The main issue lies with the fact that market researches only consider the direct research client. They fail to realize that this research will later be presented to stakeholders or senior management.  

What is a market research report? 

It’s essential to understand what precisely a market research report is. The definition seems to get confused sometimes.  

Your market research report should include all market data, that’s relevant to your client. This could be trends, consumer behavior, and competitive analysis.  

The report should be presented in a way that allows businesses to identify their opportunities – giving them a clear idea of the real world, and how they can be improving.  

These reports are written every single day in the marketing industry, and so making sure yours stands out and is genuinely useful is crucial.  

Market reports have multiple benefits. These include validating internal research and gather industry information quickly.  

When writing a research report for your clients, you should keep the following things in mind.  

1. Always research  

It’s called a “research” report after all. However, so many marketers fail to do exceptional research.  

Before you can even begin writing your report, you need to know as much as you possibly can. It’s not something that you should research and write as you go along.  

Make sure you look into the market that you’re analyzing and find out specific information. This will make your report valuable and exciting.  

This is also the step that you calculate the cost of performing the research, yourself. The research can be compiled from tools, platforms or internal data.  

2. Understand the objectives  

Has your client given you a specific reason/objective for the research report?  If they have, every single aspect of your report should point towards reaching those objectives.  

Once you’re aware of your objectives, researching and writing the report will become much clearer.  

If you don’t aim towards reaching objectives, the report could be completely useless.  

3. Create an outline  

Once you’ve researched and understood the objectives, you can start to prepare our report. Many people make the mistake of diving right into writing, which isn’t the best way.  

You should create an outline – so that you can make your way through seamlessly. This helps to eliminate the chance of you repeating yourself, or missing important parts out.  

Once you have the outline, just fill it in. It’s the best way to begin writing your outline and is a common writing technique for journalists and authors.  

Here’s an example of an outline that you can use: 

  • Title  
  • Table of Contents 
  • Introduction  
  • Methodology and background  
  • Executive summary  
  • Conclusion  
  • Appendix  

Obviously, add other sections in wherever necessary. This outline should guide you through your entire market report. Every single section is unique to your report.  

4. Speak their language  

We’re not specifically talking about their original language – although that’s also a big must. We’re talking about marketer’s language. Give them the information that they really want to hear. Otherwise, they won’t find the report beneficial.  

Things like pricing, best prospects, and valuable customers all sparks interest in marketers.  

“You should find the perfect balance between valuable research and marketing language. This will ensure that your report is useful to all those reading it.” — Diana Adjadj, Copywriter at Trust My Paper. 

5. Perfect your storytelling skill 

Storytelling is crucial when it comes to a market report. A good report also tells a good story.  

Every single page in your report should contribute to some form of a story. If it doesn’t add to it, cut it out, or place it in the Appendix.  

If you don’t find your storytelling skills, you will just be left with a report that has no structure and little excitement.  

Storytelling is something that many marketers are leading into. In fact, 92% of consumers want brands to make ads that feel like a story. In the same way, you should create a report that works in the same way. Create a linear and expressive narrative.  

6. Split it up  

Your report will probably contain extensive research. When you try to present this all in one, it can be difficult to follow.  

Use headlines and bullet points to make everything a little easier to digest. As a researcher, it’s your job to pick out the deeper insights from obvious data – presenting this simply is key.  

7. Inject in creativity  

Your report won’t read well if you’re not creative with it. Writing it is only one aspect of market research reports – making it fun and interesting is the final hurdle.  

Read over your report, evaluate if you’ve creatively presented your findings.  

8. Use charts and graphs  

Charts and graphs add credibility to your report. They are absolutely essential to every report.  

Not only do they present valuable data clearly and concisely, but they also make the report much easier to understand.  

You could also consider using images if they are relevant. A picture speaks a thousand words, after all.  

9. Get to the point  

Probably your hardest task – getting straight to the point of your report. What does all the data that you’ve compiled together really mean?  

“Ultimately, you want to show the marketers and executives what they can do with your data, how they can invest, and how to maximize their sales.” — Melanie Sovann, Sales Copywriter at Studicus.com. 

If you do your report well, you’ll get only positive replies at the end. They will be able to use it effectively and make the most out of all your hard work.  

So, look into all aspects of your report. The implications, conclusions, and recommendations should all lead to one point. Obviously, this is also linked to the objective, too.  

10. Don’t forget to include an Appendix  

Every report needs an appendix. However, this should also be used as a way to include any information, that didn’t add enough to the story.  

For instance, if you have a point that isn’t directly related to an objective, but can provide extra information, place it in the Appendix.  

“Including an appendix is a great way to keep your main text streamlined and concise, without missing out any information that may be needed.” — Estelle Leotard, Technical Writer at Grab My Essay.

Conclusion

Once you’ve finished your report, ask somebody else to read it. From here, see if you’ve missed anything out, you’ve made any mistakes, or if it’s easy to follow.  

You can edit your report as many times as you want – your first draft will, more than likely, not be your final product. Just keep going, and keep finding ways to make it more concise and clear – if you need to take out points and add them to the Appendix, don’t be afraid to do so.  

You can also use various tools and platforms to help you write your market report, Google Analytic reports help with marketing immensely.  

For personalized Market Research guidance, request a Fuel Cycle demo today.

Marie Fincher is a content writer with a background in marketing, technology, and business intelligence. She frequently writes about Data Science, BI, new marketing trends and branding strategies. Marie gradually changed her focus from working in marketing to writing about it. She is currently a full-time writer at Best Essay.Education and an editor at WoWGrade.net.