Trade Assumption for Evidence. Understand Your Position. Then Strengthen It.
SMG's custom market research solutions are built for life science and analytical instrumentation leaders selling into a market that's watching every dollar and scrutinizing every vendor more closely.
120+
Annual Custom Market Research Studies Completed
3
Custom Research Solutions
30+
Years of Industry Intelligence
55,000+
Vetted Advisory Panel Experts
Most companies assume they know where they stand.
Few can prove it.
Budgets are tighter than they were even two years ago, and buyers are scrutinizing every vendor more closely before they spend. Having clear evidence of where you stand and strengthening your position isn't optional anymore. It's what gets you chosen.
SMG's custom research is built to close that gap giving you the evidence to prove your position, strengthen it, and defend it.
That evidence comes from SMG's Science Advisory Panel and more than 30 years of human-led interpretation, turning research into clear, actionable decisions your team can use and defend.
Delivered through SMG's Life Science brands, BioInformatics and SDi, backed by SMG's Science Advisory Panel.
Three Research Solutions Built for a Position You Can Prove
Perception
Benchmark How the Market Sees You
See how your customers and target buyers perceive you against specific competitors. A benchmarking study shows you exactly where the gap is, what's driving it, and what "good" looks like in your category.
Gets you: defensible positioning decisions.
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Loyalty & Switching
Know What Moves a Customer to You
Customers don't leave or stay for the reasons companies typically assume. This solution uncovers what would actually make a buyer choose you over a specific competitor.
Gets you: a clear switching and retention strategy.
Messaging Reach
Confirm You're Reaching the Right Buyers
Even strong positioning fails if it's not showing up where decision-makers actually look for information. This solution audits which channels reach your buyers, and where they're already getting information about you and your competitors.
Gets you: confidence your message and channel mix actually reach your buyer.
How an SMG Research Solution Comes Together
Run one solution or all three: every SMG research engagement follows the same six-step process, from defining the question through to a defensible, presentable answer.
- Define the question you actually need answered.
- Design the research approach around your market.
- Reach the right respondents through SMG's Science Advisory Panel, 55,000+ vetted experts across academic, pharma, clinical, and applied sectors.
- Analyze the data into a clear, evidence-based read.
- Interpret the findings with human-led insight.
- Present an answer you can act on and defend.
The Difference Between a Fast Answer and a Defensible One
A first answer is easy to get. The one that holds up when your leadership team asks hard questions takes more: access to the right respondents, and the human-led interpretation that turns their answers into a decision you can defend. That's what SMG's Science Advisory Panel is built for, especially in complex or regulated markets.
One of the World's Most Vetted Scientific Advisory Panels
SMG's Science Advisory Panel is a vetted, opt-in community of 55,000+ scientific experts spanning academic, pharma, clinical, and applied research, built over more than two decades, not assembled overnight. Every member holds an in-depth profile (market segment, industry, geography, products used) so every solution reaches the people who actually influence your customers' decisions.
Delivered through SMG's life science brands, BioInformatics and SDi, backed by the reach and depth of SMG's Advisory Panel
Backed by SMG's Life Science brands
BIOINFORMATICS, an SMG BRAND
BioInformatics: Life Science's Trusted Research and Advisory Partner Since 1994
BioInformatics has been the leading research and advisory partner to the life science and diagnostics industries since 1994, giving this panel direct access to a proprietary network of scientific experts and more than three decades of tracking researcher loyalty, switching behavior, and purchasing decisions.
IBO, an SMG BRAND
IBO: One of SMG's Specialized Research Brands
IBO (Instrument Business Outlook) delivers a twice-monthly newsletter of curated industry news and trends across the life science and analytical instrument markets, the same discipline of reaching decision-makers efficiently that SMG's Messaging Reach solution measures for your brand.
SDi, an SMG BRAND
SDi: Backing This Panel's Reach and Depth
SDi is one of the SMG brands this panel draws on directly, contributing to its reach and depth of evidence-based insight for the Life Science audience.
Download: The Guide to Strengthening Your Market Position
A short guide to SMG's three research solutions (perception, loyalty and switching, and messaging reach) and how Life Science and analytical instrumentation leaders use them to prove and strengthen their position in a tighter market.
Custom Market Research Case Study: Brand Audit Tracker
See how SMG helped a global life sciences organization trade assumption for evidence. Through a custom quantitative survey of 360 model organism researchers across North America, SMG measured brand awareness, quantified the "stickiness factors" driving loyalty, and benchmarked the company against key competitors, delivering a full brand health report and trend analysis against prior research waves. Download the case study to see the full approach and outcomes.
Common Questions About SMG's Research Solutions
➡️What are SMG's three custom market research solutions?
SMG offers three custom market research solutions. Perception benchmarks how the market sees you against specific competitors. Loyalty & Switching uncovers what would actually make a buyer choose you over a competitor. Messaging Reach confirms your message and channel mix are reaching the right buyers.
➡️Do I have to run all three solutions together, or can I choose just one?
You can run one solution or all three. Every SMG research engagement follows the same six-step process, from defining the question through to a defensible, presentable answer.
➡️What is SMG's Science Advisory Panel?
SMG's Science Advisory Panel is a vetted, opt-in community of 55,000+ scientific experts spanning academic, pharma, clinical, and applied research, built over more than two decades. Every member holds an in-depth profile, so every solution reaches the people who actually influence your customers' decisions.
➡️Which SMG brands deliver this research for the Life Science audience?
This research is delivered through SMG's life science brands, BioInformatics and SDi, backed by the reach and depth of SMG's Science Advisory Panel.
➡️How is the Perception solution different from Loyalty & Switching?
Perception benchmarks how customers and target buyers see you against specific competitors, showing where the gap is and what "good" looks like in your category. Loyalty & Switching instead uncovers what would actually make a buyer choose you over a competitor, since customers don't leave or stay for the reasons companies typically assume.
Also working in Diagnostics?
SMG runs the same three research solutions for Diagnostics teams, backed by IMV and Kalorama.
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