Would it be more efficient to outsource research tasks in your business?

Research is key in business.  Whether it is to understand trends in your market, assessing your competitors or developing a new product or service, research is key to being able to make sound decisions for your business.
 
By its nature, research can be time-consuming, draining and lead you down rabbit holes.
 
If you can be very clear on the purpose and scope of the research task this is something that can be easily outsourced.  In fact, as well as being more efficient to outsource research, it can also be more objective as the researcher won’t have the same bias that you may have.
 
As a Virtual Assistant research tasks are one of the services that I offer.
 
I am currently working on a research task for a client.  My client wants to promote their business and finds that Facebook is a platform that works well for them.  They have been given a list of over 200 Facebook groups that may be suitable to promote their business in.  Whilst this is a great opportunity it would be incredibly time-consuming to build relationships in over 200 groups.  My task is to research the groups in more detail and rank them, so the client can prioritise which groups to focus on.  I have a very clear understanding of the client's business and their ideal client which means that I can assess whether the groups are right for them.  In addition to this, I am researching the rules in each group so the client can follow and respect them, as well as analysing the activity and size of the group.
 
The outcome of my work will be that my client has a list of places to promote their service that is ordered so they can focus on the most relevant and suitable first.  They know where to focus their effort without being overwhelmed with where to start.  They also haven’t been distracted by something in a group that took them off on a tangent or pulled their focus away from the outcome of the task.
 
Do you have research tasks in your business that it would be more efficient to outsource?  Have you been putting off developing something within your business because you don’t have the time to do the research?  How much easier would it be to have the results of research presented to you in a clear and easy to understand way?

If you would like to discuss any research projects you may have, please contact me.