Conduct secondary market research to gather publicly available information that was collected by a third party. Some of this data is free, and some is available for a price. The goal is to compile information that meets your specific decision-making needs. Such decisions may be tied to any aspect of your marketing strategy and your overall marketing process. You can conduct secondary market research on the Web, by reading magazines, by speaking with industry experts, or by buying syndicated research. The challenge you face as a marketing professional isn't finding enough data — it's finding the most relevant data from the vast quantities that are available.

Plan your research project carefully to avoid spending time and resources gathering irrelevant information. To make sure your project stays on track, create a secondary market research schedule.

Secondary market research sources exist in many locations. You can access many free and subscription research services without leaving most Microsoft Office 2003 programs. You can readily find business, legal, news, medical, and public record information, as well as in-depth profiles of public and private companies. These research services can be a cost-effective way to get the information you need. After you locate the desired data, use a secondary market research gathering template to gather and compile the information.

The following links take you to the tools and information you need to conduct a successful secondary market research project.

Plan your research project

• Secondary market research: Getting the most for the least (Article)
  Learn how to avoid spending more than you need to on market research and how to avoid spending time and money in the wrong places.
• About the Secondary Market Research Schedule template for Project Professional (Article)
  Learn how to use the Secondary Market Research Schedule template for Project.
• Secondary market research schedule (Template)
  Use this template to create a research schedule to keep track of milestones and project tasks.

Conduct secondary market research

• Use the Research task pane in secondary market research (Article)
  Learn how to use the Research task pane in Microsoft Office.
• Using OneNote for Web research (Article)
  See how you can use OneNote to gather and organize information from the Web.
• Secondary market research survey (Template)
  Use this template to collect and compile data for secondary market research.