Most people ask if market research tools are worth investing money in. Some may even think that it’s a waste of money. But as what I said earlier, market research equip marketers better in terms of making decisions and coming up with effective strategies.

Interesting Read : 11 Most Frequently Asked Web scraping questions by market researchers Answered

Specifically, here are some of the major benefits of market research tools:

1. Minimize risks from investments: Investments naturally come with risks, but using a market research tool to assess all aspects of the project will help minimize the risks.
2. Discover opportunities and threats: You may have a totally different purpose in doing market research at first, but upon seeing the results, you are able to discover some opportunities for your brand. This goes the same for threats: Market research tools enable you to see emerging threats since they can do large-scale market research.
3. Identify your strengths and weaknesses: Market research also enable you to see which areas you need to improve on and which areas you need to maintain.
4. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors: Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors is equally important as recognizing your own strengths and weaknesses. With this knowledge, you’ll be able to get ahead in your industry.
5. Learn what customers need and want: Perhaps the most important benefit of using a tool when doing market research is it enables you to gain a deep understanding of what your customers need and want. This way, you’ll be able to formulate products, services, and strategies that will capture the attention of your target market.

Before you go ahead and select a market research tool, you need to ask some questions and consider a number of factors. Not all market research tools are created the same, so you have to choose wisely.

1 . How much is your budget?

2. What features do you need?
3. What are your goals?
4. Is reporting and visualization important for you?

Interesting Read : Ad fraud detection: A guide for marketers

Consider these factors before settling on a market research tool. For instance, if your goal is to build an online presence on social media, then go for tools that focus on social sharing. Take into consideration your company’s budget too. How much are you willing to spend for a market research tool?

Now that you know what to consider in selecting a market research tool, let me present to you some choices.

1 . BING ADS INTELLIGENCE - GET BETTER REACH WITH THIS POWERFUL KEYWORD RESEARCH TOOL.

Microsoft Advertising Intelligence is a keyword planning tool that enables marketers to create a list of keywords using the Microsoft Excel interface. You will be able to see how relevant keywords are performing on the whole Yahoo Bing Network. 

To give you a glimpse of the powerful features of this tool, here are its key features:

1. Large-scale: You can create a list of up to 200,000 keywords.
2. Integrated search: You can perform integrated search on keyword and bid estimates.
3. Adherence with Microsoft Advertising policies: This ensures that you can filter out adult brands and terms from your keywords.
4. Bulk sheet creation and integration: You can create bulk sheets that includes the generated keywords, bids, match types for campaigns and ad groups. All these data can easily be imported into your Microsoft Advertising account.
5. Keyword campaign optimization: With Microsoft Ads Intelligence, you can optimize your campaigns based on the actual behaviors and actions of customers.
6. Pre Existing keyword research templates: You don’t need to go through the hassle of creating a report from scratch since there are several templates to choose from. 

PRICING

Microsoft Advertising Intelligence is free to download and use via the Microsoft Office Excel interface.

RATINGS

G2 Crowd Capterra Trustradius

Rating 3.5 out of 5 No rating 7.7 out of 10

Number of respondents 300 None 89

2. GOOGLE ADWORDS KEYWORD PLANNER - GROW YOUR BUSINESS WITH GOOGLE ADS

With Google Ads, you start by selecting your goal. What do you want people to do when they see your ads? Call your business, visit your store, or take an action on your website? You can then decide whether to advertise globally or locally. 

PRICING

Google has not disclosed their pricing, but you can set a monthly budget for your campaign. You can also adjust the budget anytime. 

RATINGS

G2 Crowd Capterra Trustradius

Rating 4.2 out of 5 None 8.4 out of 10

Number of respondents 1540 None 63

3. GOOGLE TRENDS - EXPLORE WHAT THE WORLD IS SEARCHING

Google Trends is a website that allows marketers to analyze how popular search queries are in a certain region. You can also compare the search volumes between different keywords, so you can choose which one to include on your keywords list.

PRICING

Google Trends is a free service by Google.

RATINGS

G2 Crowd Capterra Trustradius

Rating 4.1 out of 5 None 8.7 out of 10

Number of respondents 4 None 66

4. KEYWORD DISCOVERY - DISCOVER KEYWORDS THAT MATTER

Keyword Discovery gives marketers access to the largest keyword database that is connected to all search engines. With this site, you will gain insight on what people are searching for and which keywords generate the highest amount of traffic.

Among the features of Keyword Discovery are:

• Ability to identify popular search terms
• Keyword spelling mistakes
• KEI Analysis
• Seasonal trends
• Domain research tool
• Industry keywords
• Keyword density tool
• Related keywords

PRICING

The Standard subscription for Keyword Discovery is free of charge, while the monthly fee for other pricing plans are:

• Professional subscription for one month - $49.95 
• Professional subscription for 12 months - $499.95
• Enterprise subscription with API for one month - $495.00
• Enterprise subscription with API (12 months) - $4,752.00

RATINGS

G2 Crowd Capterra Trustradius

Rating None None None

Number of respondents None None None

5. KEYWORD EYE - DISCOVER WHAT YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE SEARCHING FOR

Keyword Eye is a platform for analyzing data from different programs including SEMRush, Grepwords and the autocomplete functionality of Google, Amazon, and YouTube. Keyword Eye promises marketers that they will be able to appear on the first page of Google, get more subscribers on YouTube, and show products on top of the search results on Amazon.

PRICING

Keyword Eye has three plans as detailed below:

• Basic: This plan is for free, and you’ll enjoy unlimited searches of Google, Amazon, and YouTube keywords. You can also export these data to Excel.
• Agency Monthly: At $17 a month, you’ll also get unlimited searches and enjoy additional features including keyword competitiveness calculation, access to trending content, find competitor’s keywords and access their link profiles.
• Agency Annual: Paying for the whole year can save you 20%  and you’ll enjoy the same features as the Agency Monthly plan.

RATINGS

G2 Crowd Capterra Trustradius

Rating 4.5 out 5 None None

Number of respondents 1 None None

6. KEYWORD.IO - GET HUNDREDS OF KEYWORD SUGGESTIONS FOR FREE

Keyword.io is a free SEO tools that allows marketers to pool keywords from multiple sources: Google, YouTube, Amazon, Bing, Yandex, Wikipedia, Ebay, and a lot more. Among its features are:

• Thousands of keywords per seed
• Unlimited access to online tool
• Ability to download the keywords
• Ability to copy keywords to clipboard
• API Access

PRICING

Keyword.io is free to use, but they are also offering two paid plans:

• Starter: This plan costs $29 per month and with it you can have up to 20,000 keywords per seed and use the related keyword tool.
• Pro: The pro plan costs $49 per month and aside from the features included in the basic and starter plans, you will also enjoy additional features such as monthly searches, monthly search volume, and competition CPC.

RATINGS

G2 Crowd Capterra Trustradius

Rating None None None

Number of respondents None None None

7. MOZ ANALYTIC KEYWORD EXPLORER- THE ONE KEYWORD RESEARCH TOOL TO RULE THEM ALL.

Moz Analytics is one of the SEO tools offered by Moz, along with rank tracking, site crawl, on-page optimization, and link research. 

With the Keyword Explorer tool, marketers can plan their content ahead of time. You can compare keywords and phrases and see which ones are performing better. Moz will also present thousands of suggestions based on your query.

PRICING

If you create an account, you’ll be able to send 10 queries per month for free. However, you can get any of the Moz Pro paid plans detailed below:

• Standard: At $99 per month, you will get 150 keyword queries per month along with the whole Moz Pro SEO suite. 
• Medium: With the Medium plan, you can send 5,000 keyword queries a month and all other tools for $179 per month.
• Large: Designed for agencies, this plan includes 15,000 keyword queries. 
• Premium: This plan allows you to send 30,000 keyword queries per month.

Aside from the Keyword Explorer tool, the Moz Pro plans come with their Track and Crawl, Research, and Report features.

RATINGS

G2 Crowd Capterra Trustradius

Rating 4.4 out of 5 4.5 out of 5 8.3 out of 10

Number of respondents 275 238 261

8. ÜBERSUGGEST - WANT MORE TRAFFIC? UBERSUGGEST SHOWS YOU HOW TO WIN THE GAME OF SEO.

Ubersuggest is a keyword research tool developed by famous digital marketer and entrepreneur Neil Patel. The tools gives you a glimpse of the search term’s search volume, SEO difficulty, paid difficulty, and cost per click. 

The tool also gives several keyword ideas, in the form of related keywords, questions, prepositions, and comparisons. 

The best thing Ubersuggest does is that it also presents content ideas, allowing you to form an effective content strategy. 

PRICING

Ubersuggest is a free tool.

RATINGS

G2 Crowd Capterra Trustradius

Rating None None None

Number of respondents None None None

9. WORDSTREAM - ONLINE ADVERTISING MADE EASY

WordStream is a software designed to help small and medium enterprises in their online advertising efforts. Their keyword tool helps you discover new keywords and analyze the performance of these keywords. You can export the search results too. 

You can select the country to focus on, but not all countries are on the dropdown menu.

PRICING

WordStream’s keyword tool is free to use, although your view is limited only to the Google search volume of the related keywords, unless you sign up with WordStream Advisor which is their main product.

WordStream Advisor costs $299 per month for their three-month plan, $264 per month for their yearly plan, and $2,928 per year if you pay in advance for the whole year.

RATINGS

G2 Crowd Capterra Trustradius

Rating 4.5 out of 5 None 8.1 out of 10

Number of respondents 862 None 41

10. WORDTRACKER - FIND NEW KEYWORDS FOR YOUR MARKET

Wordtracker allows marketers to see the search volume, level of competition, and IAAT (In Anchor and Title) of the keywords. You can save and export the search results. Keyword suggestions are also presented in the left pane.

PRICING

You can search up to 12 keywords for free, but you can query hundreds and get thousands of searches if you sign up with any of their paid plans detailed below:

• Bronze: For $27 per month, you get 1,000 keyword results and query in seven territories.
• Silver: Under this plan, you can get 5,000 keyword results in 14 territories for $69 per month. 
• Gold: At $99 per month, you can get 10,000 keyword results from more than 200 territories. 

RATINGS

G2 Crowd Capterra Trustradius

Rating 3 out of 5 None 6.2 out of 10

Number of respondents 1 None 13

THE BEST MARKET RESEARCH TOOLS FOR SOCIAL SHARING

1 . BUZZ SUMO - FIND THE CONTENT THAT PERFORMS BEST

Buzz Sumo is one of the most popular tools that marketers use to search for content that are gaining traction on social media. You get to see the number of engagement certain topics get on different social networking sites, so you are able to ride on the popularity of the topics. 

When you search for “financial advisor” for instance, Buzz Sumo will return several contents along with the engagement statistics of the content on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Reddit. The tool also shows the number of links on each content, as well as its evergreen score.

PRICING

You can use Buzz Sumo for free but the number of searches and insights will be limited. When you sign up for their paid plans, however, you will be able to search for an unlimited amount of keywords and view additional insights that will help shape your strategy.

Below are Buzz Sumo’s pricing plans:

• Pro Plan at $99 per month: You can easily monitor your brand as Buzz Sumo gives you five alerts and 5,000 mentions under the Pro Plan. You will also have access to trending feeds, content analysis reports, and domain reports, as well as do 50 exports.
• Plus Plan at $179 per month: Aside from the features included in the Pro plan, your social listening increases to 10 alerts and 10,000 mentions per month while export capability increases to 150. You will also have access to the top author search report. 
• Large Plan at $299 per month: Designed for medium to large businesses, this plan gives you 30 alerts and 20,000 mentions per month, and the ability to filter trending results so you can identify stories that are about to go viral. 
• Enterprise Plan at $499+ per month: You will have access to all reports under this plan, and you can customize the number of users, exports, projects, and trending feeds, according to your business needs.

RATINGS

G2 Crowd Capterra Trustradius

Rating 4.5 out of 5 None 8.4 out of 10

Number of respondents 68 None 43

2. FOLLOWERWONK - FIND, ANALYZE, AND OPTIMIZE FOR SOCIAL GROWTH

Followerwonk is a tool specifically designed for Twitter that helps you search profiles and bios, compare different users, analyze users, and track and sort the followers of Twitter accounts. Features of the tool include:

• View social authority rankings
• See followers and their locations
• Compare follows and followers
• View follower losses and gains
• Know when followers are active
• See engagement of tweets
• Follow and unfollow within the Followerwonk app

PRICING

All of the features listed above are free for one profile only. If you want to track up to three profiles, you’ll need to pay $29 per month under the Target plan. If you want to track up to 20 Twitter profiles, you need to sign up for their Multitask plan which is priced $79 per month.

RATINGS

G2 Crowd Capterra Trustradius

Rating 4.3 out of 5 4.5 out of 5 8.1 out of 10

Number of respondents 29 2 20

3. MENTION - REAL-TIME MEDIA MONITORING

Mention allows brands to get live updates about their own brand and the whole industry not only from social media but also around the web. Its features include the following:

• Real-time monitoring
• Competitive analysis
• Social media publishing
• Custom insights
• Automated reports

PRICING

Mention offers four different price plans, detailed below:

• Free plan: You will get one basic alert, 250 mentions on one social media account. Only one user is allowed.
• Solo plan: You will get two basic alerts and 3,000 mentions. You can monitor two social media accounts and only one user is allowed at $25 per month.
• Starter plan: At $83 per month, you can track your brand and some competitors with this plan since you are allowed to monitor five social media accounts. You will get five basic alerts and 5,000 mentions, and three users can use the tool.
• Enterprise plan: Designed for larger companies, the price for the Enterprise plan is on a quote basis. You will get boolean alerts and custom mentions, monitor more than 10 accounts, and allow an unlimited number of users to manage the tool.

RATINGS

G2 Crowd Capterra Trustradius

Rating 4.4 out of 5 4.8 out of 5 9.0 out of 10

Number of respondents 406 183 27

4. SHAREMETRIC - SOCIAL, LINK, AND KEYWORD DATA FOR YOUR CURRENT BROWSER URL

ShareMetric is a Google Chrome extension that is able to load social media share counts, organic search visibility, and link metrics. The tool tracks the following:

• LinkedIn shares
• Reddit votes
• StumbleUpon stumbles
• Pinterest shares
• Moz Open Site Explorer link metrics
• Ahrefs link metics
• SEMRush organic search visibility

The tool is unable to get the share count from Facebook and Twitter as these two social media giants had turned off external access to their metrics.

PRICING

ShareMetric is free to use and add as a Chrome extension.

RATINGS

G2 Crowd Capterra Trustradius

Rating None None None

Number of respondents None None None

5. SHARE THIS - GROW YOUR AUDIENCE. KEEP THEM ENGAGED. DO IT FOR FREE.

ShareThis provides share buttons that help website owners increase engagement. The tool is being used by more than three million website publishers all over the world. You can choose to display either the inline share buttons or the sticky share buttons. 

Aside from share buttons, ShareThis also offers different publisher tools such as:

• Image share buttons
• Follow buttons
• Reaction buttons
• GDPR Compliance tool
• Social A/B testing
• Email list builder
• ShareThis also have WordPress plugins for these tools.

PRICING

ShareThis is a free tool.

RATINGS

G2 Crowd Capterra Trustradius

Rating 4.1 out of 5 None None

Number of respondents 18 None None

6. SOCIAL ANALYTICS - GET YOUR SOCIAL STATS

Social Analytics is a Chrome Extension that shows social data based on the URL. The extension currently has over 1,000 users. 

PRICING

This is a free Chrome extension.

RATINGS

G2 Crowd Capterra Trustradius

Rating None None None

Number of respondents None None None

THE BEST MARKET RESEARCH TOOLS FOR WEB TRAFFIC

1. ADOBE ANALYTICS - DATA CAN COME FROM ANYWHERE. INSIGHTS COME FROM ADOBE.

Adobe Analytics focuses on delivering insights from different data. It helps combine all data from different departments or sources into one so businesses have a general and clear picture of the company and its customers. Among its features are:

• Multiple data collection
• Custom variables
• Unique processing rules
• Offline data integration
• Tag management
• Data warehouse and data feeds
• Ad hoc analysis
• Flow analysis
• Advanced segmentation
• Anomaly detection
• Real-time data

The tool has a lot more features that ultimately help make it one of the bet tool to gain insights and in-depth analytics report on your company and website’s performance.

PRICING

Adobe Analytics has different pricing plans, but the cost per plan is not disclosed. You need to get in touch with the company in order to get a quote or schedule a demo.

RATINGS

G2 Crowd Capterra Trustradius

Rating 4 out of 5 4.5 out of 5 7.7 out of 10

Number of respondents 657 119 465

2. ALEXA - GET BETTER MARKETING RESULTS

Alexa offers a wide range of marketing tools, and rightly so since it is one of the most commonly used AI search tools today. Basic features of the marketing tool are:

• Organic keyword research
• Paid keyword research
• Competitor keyword matrix
• Competitor backlink checker
• Keyword difficulty tool
• Audience analysis
• Competitive analysis

PRICING

Alexa has two pricing plans:

• Advanced: For $149 a month, you are allowed to optimize one site and allow one user to manage it. You will get to enjoy all the basic tools of Alexa’s marketing stack.
• Agency: This plan is designed for agencies or organizations that manage a large number of websites. At $299 a month, 20 users, 35 sites, and 35 projects are allowed. 

RATINGS

G2 Crowd Capterra Trustradius

Rating 4.2 out of 5 None 8.1 out of 10

Number of respondents 29 None 27