Article - How to Write a Research Brief

Your brief should be kept short and should focus on the information that the researcher or research company are going to need.  A clear brief at the outset can avoid disagreements and confusion later on which will cause mistakes.

The essential facts surrounding the background of your business should be set out in the brief, things you should include are:
 

	Information about your organisation or business.
	Which product or service is the research is to be focused upon.
	Details of where you sit within the overall market.
	The nature and number of customers.
	Any relevant information about your competitors.
	The nature of your competitive environment.
	Business trends.

You will need to explain your business and research objectives. Why does your company need market research and what is the objective of the research?  This is an important point.  For example, you will need a very different approach depending upon whether the research is intended to help you develop the product or to interest a venture capitalist.

You may have a further key research objectives such as further information about respondents e.g. the name of the decision maker, the size of the business etc. To avoid the researcher spending time on sectors which have no relevance you need to make sure there is a clear understanding on what the main focus of the research is.  The researcher will also need to know exactly how many respondents you require to be interviewed.

You might want to state which products or categories should or should not be incorporated into the research defining clearly who your research is targeting.

Your brief will help decide which type of research is best. Quantitative analysis is concerned with measuring the quantity of something e.g. 95% of people thought X.  Qualitative research is more concerned with areas where insight is required and the researcher will take a more discussion based approach to the interview.

To avoid issues later on before starting the project make the researcher understand what you require at the end of the exercise.  For example, do you want a presentation or a report? Or both?  Most importantly, what is the deadline for the delivery of the research results?

Knowing what info you need and making your objectives clear is crucial in market research.

See an Example Research Analysis Report