Market research is essential for businesses looking to understand consumer behavior, test new products, and optimize marketing strategies. But to deeply understand what consumers today think and feel, you need to use the best market research platforms that address both your research and business needs.
Of course, there are a lot of insight platforms today—so choosing the right one can be challenging. The key is choosing a robust market research solution that also prioritizes the participant experience. And, as you’ll learn in this article, AI capabilities and an amazing customer success team are critical as well.
Here’s an overview of the capabilities you need from a top market research platform.
A market research platform is a tool that helps businesses gather, analyze, and understand customer opinions, attitudes and behaviors. Whether it’s through conversational surveys or online focus groups or even in-depth, one-on-one interviews, these technologies let you reach the right people, ask them questions, and make sense of the data. The ultimate goal is to understand your audience—whether they’re shoppers, fans, readers, etc.—so you can make better business decisions.
Today, the best market research technology players offer AI tools that make the process even faster.
If you’re talking to top market research technology companies, here are some features and capabilities to look out for:
Sound research starts with smart recruitment. After all, if you’re not talking to the right people, how can you make sure you’re getting the right insights?
A strong market research platform should offer multiple recruitment methods, allowing you to go beyond professional survey takers and connect with diverse and relevant participants. We recommend a multi-channel approach to recruitment as it allows you to tap into the pros and cons of different channels.
Features to look for include:
Social sampling through platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and Reddit
CRM integrations to access existing customer databases and automate recruitment
Automated participant selection based on profile attributes and past engagement
Surveys that feel impersonal or boring can have a huge impact on your response rates and completion rates—and ultimately on research costs as well as data quality.
Questionnaire design, of course, plays a key role in delivering the best participant experience. But it shouldn’t stop there.
The best market research platforms allow you to create surveys that feel more natural and engaging for the respondents. They make it easy to create chat-like, conversational surveys that mimic how people today talk to their own friends and family.
The platform’s participant-facing UI makes a huge difference here. Most people today—especially Gen Zs and Millennials—are less likely to take your survey via email. But they'll likely be open to getting an invite via SMS and answering on their phone. So having a mobile-first UI is critical, as a survey that was made for the desktop may look clunky on the phone.
Also, look out for the right AI tools that can help improve both the survey-authoring experience and the participant experience. For example, AI Tone Refinement from the Rival platform uses the power of AI to help match the tone and voice of your conversational surveys with your brand’s.
That said, don’t compromise on sophistication. The right market research software should have all the question types you need (single choice, multi-choice, gallery, grid, etc.) as well as logic and masking. Being able to get quant, qual and video feedback in one go is also a huge advantage, as it makes it easier for you to triangulate your data and get to insights faster.
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Effective storytelling is key to capturing the attention of your stakeholders and activating insights. The right insights platform can help deliver both speed and efficiency in reporting.
Key AI-driven capabilities to consider:
AI-powered summarization of qualitative responses
Real-time sentiment analysis for better understanding of consumer emotions
Robust reporting features that make it easy to create charts, do significance testing, create crosstabs, export to PowerPoint, etc.
Market research should not operate in isolation. The best platforms integrate with CRM systems, marketing automation tools, and analytics software to ensure streamlined workflows and better data utilization.
Consider platforms that offer:
API and webhook integrations for data synchronization
Zapier connectivity to automate survey responses and insights
Single Sign-On (SSO) and user provisioning for enhanced security and team collaboration
Seamless data integration allows businesses to centralize insights and optimize research operations.
When evaluating platforms, businesses should prioritize solutions that offer:
User-Friendly Experience – Look for platforms with intuitive dashboards, customizable survey-building tools, and automated workflows.
AI-Driven Analytics – Ensure the platform offers AI-powered sentiment analysis, probing tools, and response optimization.
Scalability and Cost Efficiency – Opt for solutions that allow flexible participant recruitment and data collection without excessive costs.
Comprehensive Reporting – Choose platforms with advanced data visualization, exportable insights, and real-time analysis.
Engagement-Boosting Features – Platforms with gamification elements, interactive surveys, and dynamic question flows drive higher response rates and better-quality data.
Flexible Service Model – Some teams are good to go DIY. Some (like most Rival Technologies customers) prefer some support from customer success. Others prefer to work with a full-service market research firm like Reach3 Insights. Look for a research partner that can adjust to your needs.
If you are looking to use a market research platform, directories like Greenbook, Insight Platforms, and PAIR (short for Professional Analytics & Insights Resource, formerly called Blue Book) can be a great resource. Check out the websites of different platforms, and ask for a demo.
Once you have a shortlist of top market research platforms, you may want to:
Check out customer stories
Check out reviews of the platform on G2
Ask for customer references
Rival Technologies is known today as one of the best market research platforms. A trailblazer in conversational insights, Rival provides a robust and sophisticated suite of tools to capture high-quality quant, qual and video feedback.
One of the ways Rival is a great alternative to traditional research platforms like Qualtrics is the way we’ve integrated AI tools to our tech—making sure that your skills as a researcher are enhanced rather than trying to remove humans in the process. And above all else, we have an amazing customer success team who can help you get the most out of our platform and ensure the success of your team.
Because of the power of the Rival platform, enterprise and mid-market companies use it to build insight communities, conduct ongoing customer research, engage the larger market, and do agile research. And Rival is not just for consumer research—many companies in tech, foodservice, agriculture, and other industries use Rival as well for B2B market research.
Choosing a market research platform is about more than just collecting data—it’s about leveraging technology to gather deeper insights, streamline research operations, and enhance engagement.
Platforms with AI-powered automation, conversational research tools, and seamless integrations will provide the most value, ensuring you can act quickly and confidently on customer feedback.
Hopefully by outlining key capabilities here, you can make informed decisions about which market research platform best aligns with their needs. Investing in the right research technology will ultimately drive more accurate insights, stronger customer relationships, and greater business success.
Curious why Rival is one of the best market research platforms today? Request a demo today to see what the buzz is all about!
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