Performing market research can be costly and time consuming if you're a small-to-midsize business. Getting the right data at the right time, then converting it into a digestible format can feel like a job of its own, and many marketing professionals struggle to stay on top of the constant flow of news and info in their industry spaces.

Here's a list of five great tools that will help you learn about your current and potential customers, all without spending a dime:

Statista: Statista is an online portal for statistics and market research information, said to contain over 1,000,000 statistics covering over 80,000 areas. It draws on data from research institutions, government organizations, nonprofits, and other independent sources, providing users with a wide variety of in-depth info, much of it free of charge using the Statista basic plan.

Pew Research Center: The Pew Research center is a non-profit, nonpartisan think tank founded in 1990 that gathers and houses information about public opinion, demographic variations, and social issues, collected via polling, media analysis, and population-based research.

Consumer Barometer: Consumer Barometer by Google helps you dig into consumer web browsing habits from across the globe. It’s a two-part tool, useful for both finding data and crafting it into easily accessible graphics and reports.

Trendwatching: Trendwatch offers free, independently researched reports on trends from around the world, with a focus on consumer insights. With a huge range of topics spanning many industries, it houses a wealth of valuable information about various markets. It’s a great starting point for marketing teams looking to stay ahead of curve.

Statcounter Global Stats: StatCounter is a web analytics service that tracks just under 1% of all current websites and uses that data to derive insights about the browser, operating system, and hardware preferences of the sites’ users. It also looks at referral links and social media posts to create a broad picture of how various consumer groups are interacting with the internet, and by extension, your marketing content.