30 Actionable Market Research Prompts You Can Actually Use

Act as a market research strategist.

Help me clearly define the market for:

BUSINESS: [BUSINESS]

PRODUCT/SERVICE: [PRODUCT/SERVICE]

CURRENT CUSTOMER: [CUSTOMER]

GEOGRAPHY: [LOCATION]

INDUSTRY: [INDUSTRY]

Create a market definition covering:

- Core market
- Adjacent markets
- Customer segments
- Product/service categories
- Major use cases
- Relevant alternatives
- Geographic boundaries
- B2B/B2C distinction where relevant

Then identify:

What should be included

What should be excluded

Which assumptions need validation

Do not make the market artificially broad just to make the opportunity appear larger.

Segment the market for:

PRODUCT/SERVICE: [PRODUCT]

MARKET: [MARKET]

GEOGRAPHY: [GEOGRAPHY]

Identify meaningful customer segments based on factors such as:

- Problem
- Use case
- Buying behavior
- Budget
- Company size
- Experience level
- Industry
- Urgency
- Current solution
- Decision-making process
- Desired outcome

For each segment provide:

Segment → Need → Problem → Current alternative → Buying trigger → Objection → Potential value → Marketing approach

Do not create segments based purely on demographics unless those demographics materially affect the buying decision.

Rank the segments by potential attractiveness.

Evaluate these market segments:

[SEGMENTS]

Score each based on:

- Problem severity
- Market need
- Ability to pay
- Accessibility
- Competition
- Growth potential
- Product fit
- Customer acquisition difficulty
- Retention potential
- Strategic fit

Use a 1–5 scoring system.

For every score explain the reasoning and identify whether it is:

Evidence-based

or

An assumption requiring validation

Then recommend:

Primary segment

Secondary segment

Segment to avoid for now

Do not assume the largest segment is automatically the best segment.

Map the ecosystem surrounding:

MARKET: [MARKET]

PRODUCT/SERVICE: [PRODUCT]

Identify:

- Customers
- Suppliers
- Competitors
- Distributors
- Platforms
- Partners
- Agencies/service providers
- Complementary products
- Substitutes
- Influencers/thought leaders
- Industry organizations
- Communities
- Relevant technologies

Then explain how these groups interact.

Identify:

Where value is created

Where value is captured

Where customers experience friction

Where opportunities may exist

Clearly distinguish known information from assumptions.

I need to research this market:

MARKET: [MARKET]

BUSINESS DECISION: [DECISION]

CURRENT UNCERTAINTIES: [UNCERTAINTIES]

Create a focused market research plan.

Identify:

1. What I need to learn
2. Why it matters
3. Research questions
4. Best research method
5. Best data source
6. Who/what should be researched
7. Expected evidence
8. Potential limitations
9. How the finding could influence the decision

Separate:

Must know

Useful to know

Nice to know

Do not recommend research that has no connection to an actual business decision.

Analyze this target customer:

CUSTOMER: [CUSTOMER]

PRODUCT/SERVICE: [PRODUCT]

Identify their problems across:

- Immediate problems
- Recurring problems
- Expensive problems
- Time-consuming problems
- Emotional frustrations
- Business consequences
- Problems caused by existing solutions
- Problems they may not recognize yet

For each problem provide:

Problem → Cause → Current solution → Limitation → Consequence → Desired outcome → Research evidence needed

Rank the problems by likely importance.

Do not invent customer problems and present them as facts.

Analyze why customers might choose:

PRODUCT/SERVICE: [PRODUCT]

Instead of simply describing the product, identify the jobs customers are trying to accomplish.

Separate:

Functional jobs

Emotional jobs

Social jobs

For each job provide:

Job → Situation → Current solution → Desired progress → Frustration → Decision criteria → Product opportunity

Then identify the three most important jobs.

Do not confuse product features with customer jobs.

Analyze these customer interviews, reviews, sales conversations and survey responses:

[MATERIAL]

Identify recurring events or situations that cause customers to start looking for a solution.

Look for:

- Problems getting worse
- Costs increasing
- Business growth
- New responsibilities
- Deadlines
- Existing solution failures
- Regulatory changes
- New opportunities
- Competitive pressure
- Personal frustration
- Changes in priorities

For each trigger provide:

Trigger → Situation → Problem → Desired outcome → Buying motivation → Potential marketing implication

Rank the strongest triggers based on evidence.

For this purchase:

PRODUCT/SERVICE: [PRODUCT]

CUSTOMER: [CUSTOMER]

Identify the factors customers are likely to evaluate before making a decision.

Consider:

- Price
- Quality
- Speed
- Convenience
- Features
- Results
- Trust
- Reputation
- Support
- Compatibility
- Expertise
- Risk
- Switching costs
- Integration
- Reviews
- Guarantees
- Ease of implementation

Then rank the criteria by likely importance.

For each criterion explain:

Why it matters → Evidence needed → How customers may evaluate it → How we could differentiate

Clearly distinguish assumptions from evidence.

Analyze these customer interviews, reviews, sales calls, surveys or support conversations:

[MATERIAL]

Extract recurring language around:

- Problems
- Desired outcomes
- Frustrations
- Objections
- Buying reasons
- Alternatives
- Expectations
- Questions
- Emotional concerns

Group the language into themes.

Then identify:

Exact recurring customer phrases

Common concepts

Marketing language worth testing

Company language customers don't naturally use

Do not fabricate quotes.

Clearly distinguish direct customer language from AI-generated interpretations.

Create a competitor research framework for:

OUR BUSINESS: [BUSINESS]

PRODUCT/SERVICE: [PRODUCT]

MARKET: [MARKET]

COMPETITORS: [COMPETITORS]

For each competitor investigate:

- Target audience
- Positioning
- Main promise
- Product/service offering
- Pricing
- Business model
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
- Marketing channels
- Content strategy
- Customer proof
- Reviews
- Customer complaints
- Differentiators
- Potential vulnerabilities

Separate:

Observed facts

Reasonable inferences

Unknowns requiring research

Analyze the positioning of these competitors:

[COMPETITORS]

For each identify:

Target audience

Problem emphasized

Primary promise

Category

Differentiation

Proof

Tone

Pricing/value positioning

Then identify:

- Common positioning themes
- Overcrowded claims
- Underused messages
- Potential positioning gaps
- Areas where competitors appear similar

Finally answer:

What meaningful positioning territory appears under-served?

Do not recommend differentiation that our product cannot credibly support.

Analyze these competitor reviews:

[REVIEWS]

Identify recurring:

Positive themes

Negative themes

Customer frustrations

Reasons customers chose the competitor

Reasons customers regret choosing them

Missing features

Service problems

Expectation gaps

Unmet needs

Then create:

Opportunity → Evidence from reviews → Potential product/marketing response

Separate frequent patterns from isolated comments.

Do not treat a single review as representative of the entire customer base.

Compare my business with these competitors:

OUR BUSINESS: [BUSINESS]

COMPETITORS: [COMPETITORS]

Look for gaps across:

- Customer segments
- Use cases
- Product capabilities
- Service
- Pricing/value
- Support
- Education
- Distribution
- Partnerships
- Customer experience
- Positioning
- Proof

For every potential gap provide:

Gap → Evidence → Customer importance → Competitive difficulty → Our ability to address it

Rank the opportunities.

Do not call something a "gap" simply because a competitor doesn't offer it. The gap must matter to customers.

Create a competitor comparison matrix for:

OUR PRODUCT: [PRODUCT]

COMPETITORS: [COMPETITORS]

Compare based on factors that actually matter to the target customer:

- Product fit
- Key use cases
- Features
- Pricing/value
- Ease of use
- Support
- Trust
- Proof
- Integration
- Implementation
- Differentiation

For each category explain:

Why the factor matters

Avoid creating categories simply because they make our product look better.

Then identify:

Where we are stronger

Where competitors are stronger

Where the market is roughly equal

Where we need improvement

Analyze this customer research:

[MATERIAL]

Identify needs that appear to be:

- Unmet
- Poorly served
- Expensive to solve
- Time-consuming to solve
- Solved through workarounds
- Solved using multiple products
- Frequently complained about
- Emerging

For each need provide:

Need → Evidence → Current workaround → Customer cost → Potential opportunity → What needs validation

Rank the opportunities by customer importance and business potential.

Do not assume every complaint represents a viable market opportunity.

Analyze these customer frustrations:

[DATA]

Group them into themes.

For each theme identify:

- Frequency
- Severity
- Current alternatives
- Why current alternatives fail
- Customers affected
- Potential solution
- Evidence strength

Then identify the five most promising market-gap hypotheses.

For each hypothesis provide:

Hypothesis → Evidence → Why it could matter → What would prove/disprove it

Analyze these sources:

[SOURCES]

Identify trends affecting:

MARKET: [MARKET]

Group them into:

- Customer behavior
- Technology
- Pricing
- Distribution
- Regulation
- Competition
- Consumer expectations
- Business models
- Content/media behavior

For each trend provide:

Trend → Evidence → Likely impact → Time horizon → Who benefits → Who may lose → What we should monitor

Separate:

Established trend

Emerging signal

Speculation

Do not present predictions as facts.

Our current business is:

BUSINESS: [BUSINESS]

PRODUCT: [PRODUCT]

CUSTOMER: [CUSTOMER]

Identify adjacent markets we could potentially enter.

Evaluate:

- Customer overlap
- Problem overlap
- Product capability overlap
- Distribution overlap
- Competition
- Market attractiveness
- Required investment
- Strategic fit
- Potential risks

For each opportunity provide:

Adjacent market → Why it fits → What would need to change → Evidence required → Risk

Rank the opportunities.

Analyze this product:

PRODUCT: [PRODUCT]

CURRENT CUSTOMERS: [CUSTOMERS]

CURRENT USE CASES: [USE CASES]

Identify potential additional use cases based on:

- Existing capabilities
- Customer problems
- Adjacent workflows
- Different customer segments
- Different stages of the customer journey
- Unusual ways customers already use the product

For each use case provide:

Use case → Customer → Problem → Product capability → Expected value → Evidence needed

Separate:

Existing evidence

from

Potential hypothesis

Evaluate this product idea:

IDEA: [IDEA]

TARGET CUSTOMER: [CUSTOMER]

PROBLEM: [PROBLEM]

PROPOSED SOLUTION: [SOLUTION]

Assess:

- Problem severity
- Frequency
- Existing alternatives
- Willingness to pay
- Urgency
- Number of affected customers
- Competitive intensity
- Differentiation potential
- Implementation difficulty
- Major assumptions

Then create:

What we know

What we assume

What we need to validate

Biggest risks

Fastest validation experiments

Do not tell me the idea is "great" without evidence.

I want to research:

QUESTION: [RESEARCH QUESTION]

TARGET CUSTOMER: [CUSTOMER]

Design a customer interview study.

Provide:

- Research objective
- Ideal participants
- Screening criteria
- Interview structure
- Questions
- Follow-up questions
- Questions to avoid
- What evidence to look for
- How to analyze responses
- Potential biases

Questions should focus on actual past behavior and experiences rather than asking people to predict hypothetical future behavior whenever possible.

Do not lead respondents toward the answer I want.

Create a market research survey for:

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: [OBJECTIVE]

TARGET RESPONDENTS: [AUDIENCE]

The survey should help answer:

[QUESTIONS]

Create a concise survey containing:

- Screening questions
- Behavioral questions
- Problem questions
- Current-solution questions
- Decision criteria
- Satisfaction
- Unmet needs
- Optional demographic/context questions

For each question explain:

What decision this question helps inform

Avoid:

- Leading questions
- Double-barreled questions
- Loaded wording
- Unnecessary demographic questions
- Questions that don't influence a decision

Keep the survey as short as possible while still answering the research objective.

Evaluate the evidence we have for demand for:

PRODUCT/SERVICE: [PRODUCT]

Available evidence:

[DATA]

Assess evidence across:

- Search demand
- Existing purchases
- Customer inquiries
- Competitor activity
- Customer complaints
- Reviews
- Social discussions
- Community discussions
- Sales conversations
- Pre-orders
- Trials
- Waitlists
- Existing alternatives

For each signal provide:

Signal → Evidence strength → What it tells us → What it does not tell us

Then classify overall demand as:

Strong evidence

Promising but incomplete

Weak evidence

Insufficient evidence

Explain exactly what additional evidence would increase confidence.

Do not treat search volume, social engagement or competitor presence as proof of willingness to pay.

For this business idea:

IDEA: [IDEA]

TARGET CUSTOMER: [CUSTOMER]

BUSINESS MODEL: [MODEL]

List the assumptions that must be true for this idea to succeed.

Group them into:

- Customer assumptions
- Problem assumptions
- Demand assumptions
- Pricing assumptions
- Product assumptions
- Distribution assumptions
- Competitive assumptions
- Operational assumptions

For each assumption score:

Importance

Uncertainty

Cost of being wrong

Then identify the top five assumptions to validate first.

For each provide the fastest realistic validation method.

Analyze these market research findings:

[RESEARCH]

Identify opportunities across:

- New customers
- New products
- New services
- New positioning
- New use cases
- Pricing
- Distribution
- Partnerships
- Content
- Customer experience
- Product improvements

For each opportunity provide:

Finding → Opportunity → Why it matters → Evidence → Potential upside → Risk → Next validation step

Rank the opportunities based on evidence, potential impact and feasibility.

Do not generate opportunities simply to create a long list.

Review this market research:

[RESEARCH]

Identify important unanswered questions.

Group them into:

- Customer
- Market
- Competition
- Demand
- Pricing
- Product
- Distribution
- Positioning
- Risk

For each question provide:

Question → Why it matters → Current evidence → Confidence level → Best way to answer it

Then identify:

The five unknowns most likely to change our decision.

Audit this market research:

[RESEARCH]

Classify every major conclusion into:

Verified fact

Strong inference

Weak inference

Assumption

Opinion

For each conclusion explain what evidence supports it.

Then identify which assumptions are dangerous to leave unvalidated.

Do not upgrade an assumption into a fact simply because it sounds plausible.

I need to make this decision:

DECISION: [DECISION]

Here are my research findings:

[RESEARCH]

Create a decision matrix evaluating the available options.

For each option assess:

- Customer demand
- Market attractiveness
- Competitive intensity
- Product fit
- Revenue potential
- Cost
- Risk
- Evidence strength
- Strategic fit
- Time to execution

Score each from 1–5 and explain every score.

Then provide:

Recommended option

Why

What could change the recommendation

What I should validate before committing

Do not make the recommendation simply because one option has the highest numerical score.

Act as my market research strategist.

Here is my current situation:

BUSINESS: [BUSINESS]

MARKET: [MARKET]

PRODUCT/SERVICE: [PRODUCT]

TARGET CUSTOMER: [CUSTOMER]

COMPETITORS: [COMPETITORS]

RESEARCH COMPLETED: [RESEARCH]

CURRENT UNCERTAINTIES: [UNCERTAINTIES]

BUSINESS DECISION: [DECISION]

I have limited time and don't want a giant list of research tasks.

Identify the 5 research actions with the highest expected decision value.

Evaluate each based on:

- Importance of the question
- Current uncertainty
- Potential impact on the decision
- Evidence quality
- Research effort
- Speed
- Cost of being wrong

For each action provide:

1. What I should research
2. Why it matters
3. What we currently know
4. What we don't know
5. Best research method
6. Expected evidence
7. How the finding could change the decision
8. First concrete step

Then answer:

If I can conduct only ONE piece of market research this week, what should it be?

Give me one answer and defend it.

Do not recommend research simply because it would be "interesting."