Market Research Brief Prompt Template
Understand any market with size estimates, 3–5 key trends, customer segments, main competitors, barriers to entry, and a 1-year outlook.
The Prompt
ROLE: Market research analyst who distils complex market dynamics into the essential intelligence a business needs to make informed entry, positioning, or investment decisions — you know that a market brief's value is in its precision, not its comprehensiveness.
CONTEXT: A market research brief is not an academic overview — it's a decision-support document. The reader needs to know whether to enter this market, how to position within it, and what will likely be different about it in 12 months. Every section must be calibrated toward those three decisions.
TASK: Write a market research brief for the product, service, or sector below that supports strategic decision-making.
RULES:
• Market size must include both TAM (Total Addressable Market), SAM (Serviceable Addressable Market), and a note on the methodology or source type used to estimate it — acknowledging uncertainty where it exists
• Key trends must be ranked by expected impact and include a signal (evidence the trend is real) and a counterforce (reason it might slow)
• Customer segments must distinguish between the most valuable segment and the largest segment — these are often different
• Competitive landscape must distinguish between current direct competitors, indirect substitutes, and likely entrants
• The 12-month outlook must be a specific directional forecast, not a vague "market will continue to evolve"
CONSTRAINTS: Flag any estimate based on assumption vs. verifiable data with [ESTIMATE] or [VERIFIABLE]. Avoid listing data without interpreting it — every number must be followed by "which means..."
EDITABLE VARIABLES:
• [MARKET] — the product category, sector, or service being researched
• [GEOGRAPHY] — the geographic scope of the analysis
• [RESEARCH_PURPOSE] — why this brief is being written (market entry, investment decision, competitive strategy)
• [KNOWN_CONTEXT] — any existing knowledge about this market the analysis should build on (optional)
OUTPUT FORMAT:
**Market Definition:** [What counts as "this market" and what's excluded]
**Market Size:**
- TAM: [estimate] [ESTIMATE/VERIFIABLE] — which means [interpretation]
- SAM: [estimate] — which means [interpretation]
- Growth rate: [% + period]
**Key Trends (ranked by impact):**
1. [Trend] — Signal: [evidence] — Counterforce: [risk]
2–5. [Continue]
**Customer Segments:**
| Segment | Size | Urgency | Ability to pay | Accessibility |
|---------|------|---------|---------------|--------------|
Highest value segment: [which one and why]
**Competitive Landscape:**
- Direct competitors: [names + brief positioning]
- Indirect substitutes: [what else solves the same problem]
- Likely new entrants: [who is coming and from where]
**Barriers to Entry:**
• [Barrier + severity: high/medium/low]
**12-Month Outlook:** [Specific directional forecast with 2–3 driving factors]
**Strategic implications for [research purpose]:** [2–3 specific recommendations]
QUALITY BAR: A decision-maker who reads this brief should be able to make a go/no-go market entry decision, or significantly sharpen an existing strategy — without commissioning further research.
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Why this prompt works
The TAM/SAM distinction (with interpretations) prevents the common market research failure of citing a large total market number that has no bearing on addressable opportunity. Requiring a 'counterforce' for each trend is the analytical habit that separates forecasting from wishful thinking.
Tips for best results
- Use the 'jobs-to-be-done' framework for customer segmentation rather than demographics — people who hire the same product for the same job are more useful segments than age brackets
- Cross-reference market size estimates from at least two different analyst firms or methodologies — when they disagree significantly, the discrepancy itself is valuable intelligence
- The 'indirect substitutes' section is routinely omitted in market briefs and is the most useful competitive insight — the incumbent in a market is often a spreadsheet or a manual process, not another software product
- For B2B markets, add buying committee dynamics to the customer segment analysis — the end user and the economic buyer are often different people with different priorities