If we answer most of our key business questions through paid custom surveys or focus groups, we may soon lose the ear of senior management. Why? The c-suite continues to be under tremendous pressure to take action quickly while keeping a tight grip on the bottom line. And with internal functions like CRM and Web management having instant-access to more and more consumer information at virtually no cost, traditional research time lines and budget may seem more like a luxury than a necessity.
How do we transform our market research processes to get useful consumer information faster and cheaper? I’m just starting on this journey, but here are a few ideas as thought starters…
1. PREDICT THE FUTURE: Tap into social media statistics to help define key opportunities for your organization. Don’t wait for them to ask you about a trend, tell them what’s hot, using tools like Google Trends, BlogPulse, Tweet Grid, or Quantcast.
2. STAY CLOSE TO THE CUSTOMER: Utilize your connections in Facebook, Twitter, and Linked-In for early product definition or feedback on marketing ideas. Tap into everyday conversations using a tool like Tweet Deck.
3. CATER TO YOUR CORE: Build a conversation with your brand fans through survey tools on social media sites. Your website subscribers or Facebook fans may not represent all consumers, but they often reflect your core buyer.
4. CO-CREATE NEW PRODUCTS: Consider building a secret Facebook page to dive deep into your customer’s lives. Smaller private groups give you the ability to confidentially learn about consumers and gain reactions to new ideas.
5. MANAGE YOUR BUDGET ROI: Say no to lower-risk tactical research, and focus your spending on high ROI projects. Strategic initiatives such consumer segmentation may become even more important as you seek to dissect and interpret a wide variety of social media content.
What are your ideas for evolving your market research for greater speed and efficiency?
Tags: co-create new products, consumer insights, core user research, market research budgets, market research speed, new product development, social media market research
Monika Wingate is the owner of Fountainhead Brand Consulting and V.P. of Membership for the Wisconsin Product Development and Manufacturing Association (PDMA). She has helped a variety of companies develop new products and growth strategies including CUNA Mutual, Hormel Foods, U.S. Bank, and Kohler.
The question we ask clients is, “Do you want it fast, cheap, or good?”
But everything I see read here is about speed and efficiency; in other words, fast and cheap. What happened to good?
Reliable research involves hard work. Using a carefully selected sample and screening to ensure that respondents are truly qualified take time and cost money. But these are the price of good.
Quick and dirty research, like schemes to get-rich-quick and lose-pounds-fast, sounds appealing on the surface. But would you really make important business decisions based on the high-tech version of words scrawled on a bathroom wall?
Coco,
I think you are right that good research is critical. But is good a day late good? And why do we think social media is bad? I think it is important all of us look in the mirror each day and ask how we can do a better job getting Sr. Mgmt the answers they need. I love ethnography. But what if I could get the same or better data through an online conversation and postings of pics and videos through a secret facebook page (netnography). And what if that approach takes half the budget and time? My thinking is, if we don’t address media changes in research, it will be addressed by the social media team. And maybe the “marketing research dept” becomes less relevant, not because its not needed, but because we weren’t willing to innovate our own processes to meet market needs. –Monika