The market research industry generates over $100 billion annually, and there’s no sign of stopping. Companies realize the importance of getting to know their target market and heavily invest in research, with an estimated 80% of firms dedicating resources, time, and manpower to the goal. Data analysis agencies and market research transcription companies help create value by boosting brand recognition, loyalty, and sales throughout the process.
However, despite all the available solutions, businesses often find themselves still stuck in the age-old dilemma of not fully utilizing their market-related video or audio recordings.
In this article, you’ll learn how:
- Market research transcription captures what people say and how they say it, which gives researchers more explicit information for better analysis.
- Utilizing market research transcription saves time and helps companies meet legal requirements.
- Human transcriptionists offer higher accuracy (99%+) than AI solutions (~62%). They’re a better option for high-stakes market research projects.
What Exactly Is Market Research Transcription?
Market research transcription converts business-related discussions or interviews into written text. The primary purpose of market research transcription – and also what makes it unique – is to record relevant information that researchers need for analysis or case studies.
It often contains thorough feedback, like how a consumer described a product in his own words – to give researchers a picture of consumer behavior towards a particular brand.
Applications of Transcription in Market Research
Market research transcription can be utilized in several ways. Some of the most common applications are listed below.
| Application | Description |
| Sentiment Analysis | Transcripts help researchers study how people feel about products. |
| Content Development | Marketing teams use customer words from transcripts to create messages that connect better with their audience. |
| Competitive Intelligence | Transcripts from focus groups that evaluate competitor products show what makes them special. |
| Product Development | User feedback shows what features people want and what problems need fixing. |
| Ad Testing | Audiences’ reactions to ads show which messages and images they like best. |
| Demographic Insights | Different groups respond differently to products, and researchers can compare these differences. |
| Decision-Making Data | Company leaders use research to make better decisions about new products and markets. |
Benefits of Transcription in Market Research
Here are the most relevant benefits of market research transcription:
Accuracy in Data Analysis
With verbatim transcription, you get the exact words people say. It’s valuable if you aim to gather accurate data for analysis, including market-related details.
For example – when you’re doing research, isn’t it essential to know when someone says “I MIGHT buy this if…” instead of “I WOULD buy this”?
On the other hand, if you rely on someone’s fragmented memory or scribbled notes, you’ll miss some parts of the statement, which could affect the overall analysis.
Also, market research transcription eliminates the only-hear-what-you-want-to-hear scenarios, which are utterly useless for data analysis. Everyone on the team can look at the transcript and come to their own conclusions. No more “that’s not what the customer meant!” exchanges, which also means –
Research Teams Can Collaborate Better
Unfortunately, some organizations have piles of market-related recordings just sitting and doing nothing. Once they finally get corrupted (as most files do after a long period), no one can salvage all the valuable data stored in those recordings.
Transcribing those recordings, however, lets the team or the entire organization benefit from them – the marketing professionals, product specialists, or even the decision-makers can simply get the necessary information without spending much time playing the recordings. Everyone can be on the same page since they’re provided with accurate and uniform data.
Research directors can also get details from different transcripts when putting together presentations for the C-suite. And since everyone’s looking at the same transcript, you’ll be less likely to experience these “but I thought they said…” issues.
Legal Compliance Documentation
You might not have experienced it yet, but when regulators start looking at your market research, you’ll want all the detailed documentation to keep you and your organization on the good side of the law.
If the FDA comes knocking because your pharma company pushed patients to say positive things about your new wonder drug, you can use those transcripts to prove you played by the rules.
Also, should you get audited, and you most likely will at some point, having time-stamped transcripts as evidence that you didn’t mess up the procedures will be a lifesaver for everyone involved in the research. You’ll never know when those consumer protection regulators will aggressively check your marketing claims.
Time Efficiency for Researchers
Listening to recordings over and over will only waste TONS of time for researchers, which is one of the reasons why market research transcription is essential for research institutions. They won’t need to endlessly replay the audio like a madman whenever they need to extract details.
With transcripts, researchers can find data faster with text search features available in most word processing programs. Also, the researchers can simply copy-paste quotes right into reports instead of typing everything out manually like we’re still in the 1970s.
Also, I think the most time-efficient advantage is that analysts can feed volumes of transcripts into a sentiment analysis tool to indentify notable patterns, such as reoccurring statements of consumer disappointment or satisfaction. You can do this with audio or videos, though it’ll take ten times the time and storage space.
In some cases, stakeholders won’t need to sit through presentations anymore since they can simply read the key findings themselves, which saves everyone time!
Preservation of Contextual Details
As discussed earlier, the typical market research transcription involves writing down all the words. However, that’s not all; if requested, transcribers will also note when someone’s voice gets high-pitched or they pause forever before answering a simple question, and that’s where contextual details come into play.
Thanks to our experience transcribing market research-related discussions, we immediately notice when a participant hesitates (which probably means they’re lying) or gets super emotional about a product. Fortunately, our specialized transcriptionists are excellent at spotting these bits that need to be written down for researchers or analysts to decipher.
You can also see when the whole group (if it’s a focus group session) talks over each other. Believe me, this is the cue that the conversation will hit something critical. And the way discussions change from beginning to end tells you which ideas have actual staying power compared to the ones people just get momentarily excited about.
The bottom line is, if you record and transcribe those conversations, you’d get to preserve their very context, which is critical for analysis.
Accessibility for International Teams
One of the things I’ve learned in the transcription business is that global market research falls apart without accurate transcription, particularly when team members struggle with linguistic nuances.
For example, German product specialists would scratch their heads trying to figure out what Aussie customers say in an interview – with all their slang and rapid-fire speech. Transcribing those interviews will instantly solve this problem.
Translation is another whole thing. It’s much more effective to convert languages – with translation software or a human translator – if transcripts of the recordings are provided. Don’t believe me? Try converting straight from audio, and you’ll get garbage.
The bonus is that when everyone works from the same documents instead of making their own summaries based on what they think they heard from the audio, research consistency skyrockets.
Ways to Get Market Research Transcription
Companies who want to use transcription for market research projects and materials can do so in three distinct ways.
In-house Transcription
In-house transcription involves hiring professionals to transcribe your one-on-one interviews and focus group recordings. This might be the first option that pops into your mind when you want to have some audio transcription work done. However, finding and hiring talent also means more expenses.
To drive the point home, talent acquisition, salaries and benefits, equipment, and office space expenses can cost as much as $100,000 per year per transcriptionist – and they’re time-consuming. That’s time and money better spent elsewhere, like developing more effective marketing strategies to grow your business.
Overall, in-house transcription is inflexible or will require significant resources.
AI Transcription
Artificial intelligence is arguably one of the most popular words today. So, it’s no surprise that companies use AI tools to transcribe video and audio content. Some transcription providers state that their AI transcription software is the industry’s fastest, most accurate piece of programming, bolstered by the implementation of ChatGPT, Gemini, or others.
These companies offer ridiculously fast turnaround times, sometimes even instantaneous. They also offer exceedingly lower prices than your usual transcription rates.
So, why do manual transcription services still exist if AI can streamline transcription?
It’s because AI transcription is both cheap and inaccurate. While I don’t debate the raw cost, even with the best audio quality and the most favorable circumstances, AI transcription can only reach 61.92% accuracy. Unfortunately, market research transcription requires a non-negotiable 99% or higher accuracy rate.
Human-Powered, Outsourced Professional Market Research Transcription Services
So, what’s the preferred transcription method for marketing efforts?
Out of all the ways transcription can be done, manual or human-powered transcription offers the best option for market research purposes. Manual transcription solutions that support marketing firms provide the highest accuracy rates, fast turnaround times, affordable pricing, and high-quality audio and video transcription results.
A good transcriptionist with the requisite experience and a solid working process can reach up to 99% accuracy. Coincidentally, this is our accuracy guarantee for all transcription projects.
Why Choose Ditto For Your Market Transcription Needs?
Converting audio or videos related to market research is difficult for companies relying on automatic transcriptions due to accuracy demands, but we’ve got you covered.
Accuracy
We guarantee 99% accuracy in every transcription project. All you have to do is focus on creating valuable recordings, and we’ll transcribe them flawlessly – the first time.
Human Expertise
Our team isn’t filled with robots, though they’ve become pretty good at cleaning our floors, and Baxter loves it! But that doesn’t help you. We have professional transcriptionists who can decipher multiple speakers and the technical jargon they speak. They’ll create transcripts that will reflect the natural flow of your conversation.
Turnaround Time
We understand time is money, so we ensure to deliver your transcripts within the agreed-upon timeframe. You can also choose the turnaround time. You can opt for a rush project or a standard one.
Security
Audio or video recordings aren’t created equal; we understand that some may contain sensitive information. For that reason, Ditto Transcripts is HIPAA, CJIS, and FINRA compliant. You can sleep well at night, knowing that your content is secured with us.
Affordability
We acknowledge that official audio recordings can be highly valuable for organizations, and transcribing them can cost a small fortune. So, we offer high-quality transcription services that won’t break the bank. We have options to fit any budget without sacrificing a single bit of quality.
24/7 Customer Service
Humans run our customer service process—not chatbots. We take the time to understand your requirements and will gladly assist you with technicalities or answer any questions.
Customizability
Our transcription services aren’t only about accuracy and meeting the client’s requirements. Do you need a verbatim transcript that captures every “um” and “uh”? Or do you need a polished version for a blog post? We can modify the transcript to satisfy your needs and ensure you get exactly what you need to reach your goals.
Not convinced? Contact us today for a free trial.
Ditto Transcripts is a Denver, Colorado-based transcription company that provides fast, accurate, and affordable transcription services for businesses of all sizes. Call (720) 287-3710 today for a free quote, and ask about our free five-day trial.