Preparing a Market Study

Presenting the Market Study

When a formal marketing study is to be presented in a written form we suggest the following guidelines.

The formal document is preferably in a double-spaced format but that is not a requirement. The plan is recommended to be delivered in a large binder and should include the following:

• Section One - contains written report with Title Page, Table of Contents, Executive Summary, Body of Report and Endnotes that contains full citations. Include charts or graphs in body of document, however, if there is a page count limit it is generally suggested only small graphics go in the main body and the rest be placed in an Appendix section. Make sure all pages in the body are numbered. Preferably this section can itself be bound (e.g., spiral) and inserted in the large binder. This way just this section can be removed.
• Section Two - if needed include an Appendix for larger graphics and other important materials such as a survey, tabulations, etc.
• Section Three - (optional) all referenced documents, websites, etc. (printed out if possible) are included here. Try to section off these documents using tabs. For large documents, such a large research reports, place in a folder that has holes for the binder. For things that can’t be included, such as books, it is suggested that a photocopy of the book’s title page, copyright page and then the page(s) from which material is referenced.
• All Files - (optional) A storage device of some kind (e.g., floppy disk, CD, DVD) containing the files used (e.g., word processing, spreadsheet, slides, downloaded articles, etc.).