What is Syndicated Research?

When a company starts any market research project, there is a range of options at its disposal. Syndicated research is readily available, which often makes it a tempting choice. However, it’s not always the most viable option.

From primary to secondary research, or quantitative to qualitative methods; the key to success often depends on choosing the right type of research.

Read on to see what syndicated research is used for, its benefits, and examples.

What is syndicated market research?

Syndicated research is a type of secondary market research that delivers broad insights covering a specific market. It’s carried out by a third-party organization, and data is delivered in the form of a report, raw data, or presentation.

This type of market research is typically conducted by a market research firm. They sell the syndicated research to multiple parties, and it’s predominantly used to help an organization understand and analyze a market.

There are many reasons why people favor using a syndicated service. Perhaps the most compelling of all is the low cost, but also that it’s readily available to anyone who might need it. The major downside is that the data is available to anyone who wishes to pay for it. So there’s no exclusivity, and little competitive advantage to be gained.

Syndicated Research vs. Custom Research

A syndicated service delivers non-exclusive data that’s available to anyone, anytime. It’s general in nature and offers a static market perspective. On the other hand, custom research is tailored. It can take many forms, but costs more as a result.

The benefits of syndicated market research (pros and cons)

As with everything in life, the choices we make are often guided by the desired outcome, or the resources available at the time. For some, it’s more about balancing resources – with cost and time dictating whether syndicated research is right, or not.

We’ve broken down the pros and cons of using a syndicated service for market research.

Pros of syndicated research

• Costs less than hiring a market research company.
• Data is readily available.
• Helps a company identify market-specific trends.
• Larger sample size than custom research.
• Useful for a research thesis, business plan, or investment pitch deck.

Cons of syndicated research

• Research company dictates the project methodology, questions, and topics.
• Information in a syndicated report is freely available to anyone who buys it.
• Data is broad-market data, offering few granular insights of value.
• It cannot be used to identify moving changes or trends in a market.
• Data is not dynamic – information quickly becomes outdated.

Syndicated research examples

Syndicated reports are perhaps the most common example of syndicated services. There are many well-known providers of these reports, including names like Neilsen, Gartner, Kantar, and IPSOS. Syndicated industry reports and syndicated surveys are two examples of syndicated research in action.

A few syndicated research examples include:

• Simmons National Consumer Survey
• MRI Simmons National Study
• US Digital Advertising market report 2022

Similarweb as an alternative to syndicated research

Time and cost are two of the leading reasons why syndicated market research is so widely used. The data is ready and waiting, and with most of the heavy lifting already done – it gives companies the ability to do a market analysis quickly. As we all know, convenience is king.

However, some of the negative aspects of using syndicated services, such as a lack of customization, reliability of data, and the fact information is quickly outdated make it a quick fix that often doesn’t provide the granularity of insights organizations need to do any ongoing analysis or gain a competitive advantage in a market.

Enter, Similarweb. A digital research intelligence solution that offers similar benefits, in terms of timings and readiness of data – and solves almost every negative element in a single swoop.

• Would you like to be able to tailor your research to any market, period, company, or product?
• Do you need to get the data fast?
• Is having trustworthy data from reliable sources important?

With Similarweb, you get all this, and a lot more. As an added benefit, the data is dynamic. It moves with the times, and updates daily to show you current market and competitive data. 

Market research tools like Similarweb provide solutions that cover any industry, and almost any research goal. As we said at the beginning of this post, achieving success in market research comes down to starting with the right research methods – equally as important, is choosing the right tools to work with.

Here are two key use cases for Similarweb Digital Research Intelligence as an alternative to syndicated market reports.

Industry analysis

By using the market analysis element of Similarweb, I can see the market size, distribution, top players, rising stars, and hone in on the different marketing channels. I can also view top countries, a market quadrant analysis, and traffic and engagement stats to uncover relevant insights.

To go even further, I can then use the audience analysis feature to uncover specific intel about a target audience.

Audience analysis

Here, I can view key demographics for a target audience within an industry, or in this case, on a company level. It shows me things like the age, gender, and geography of an audience. It can also uncover search interests, browsing behaviors, and audience overlap with other competitors. Insights are up to date and reveal timely trends that syndicated research reports don’t have the capacity to uncover.

Wrapping up….

Syndicated market research serves a basic purpose. It gives you a point-in-time analysis of a specific market. However, this data won’t continue to give you insights as the market changes, and it cannot show you things like changing trends, conditions, or competitive research data that can give you a real edge in your market.

So, if you’re going to invest in any form of market research for your business, it’s vital to take this into consideration – and look at the best alternatives to syndicated research.

FAQs

What is an example of syndicated market research?

Most types of syndicated data are delivered in the form of an industry report, presentation, or raw data. Examples include syndicated surveys and syndicated industry reports.

What is syndicated data in marketing research?

Syndicated data is research that is sold to multiple companies for a set price. It looks at a whole industry and provides an overview of that industry for a specific period.

Is syndicated research primary data?

If you purchase syndicated research from a company, then it’s classified as secondary market research. However, if you are the research company conducting the research to inform the syndicated report, then it’s primary market research.