The Critical Importance Of Having A Customised Panelist Website

Engagement on the internet is challenging, with all of the various opportunities and stimuli competing for our attention.  A wide variety of techniques and tools are being used, and those who build and maintain custom panels/research communities should take note and also apply these best practices as much as possible.

Whilst it is unrealistic (and in most cases undesirable) to think or expect that a custom panel/research community is going to be a daily priority for its members, it is important that members can recall, and are reminded that they are a part of this research community and most important that they respond to the various survey and qualitative research invites as these are received.  This means that their impressions of this membership experience should be positive, professional and in general engaging enough to maintain their interest and make them feel valued as members.

With the main communication device  for panel owners being the panelist website where members are reminded of this relationship and can obtain information and interact with its content, having a customised panelist website tailored to the particular brand or category of interest is critical.

Some of the elements that should be included in a customised panelist website are:

• Custom Look & Feel - where the logo, style, colours and branding are consistent with the brand or category of interest
• Clear Call To Action – whether it is to join the panel or to login to update one’s profile information or check on incentives earned for their participation
• Quick Poll - where a member can provide an answer to a closed end question and immediately see how this answer compares with the answers of other members who have completed it
• News - members are interested in reading news items that are relevant to the brand or category and expect this information to be easily accessible within this environment
• Results - for both BtoB and BtoC panels, the sharing of results in order to demonstrate what insights are gained by their participation should be both interesting and rewarding to its members
• FAQs - these should be specific to the types of queries likely to occur across a host of different aspects of the relationship including who owns the panel, who operates the panel, how incentives are earned and redeemed, etc.
• Contact Us - often times, members will not want to take the time to review the FAQs or these will not have specifically addressed a question or concern they might have and will then want to use this information to get a response quickly and effectively
• Custom Pages & Elements - each panel and its website are different, depending on the audience plus the type of research that will be conducted with them, so there should be custom pages and elements specific to these needs.  For example, we recently built a chef’s panel for Premier Foods and the panelist website contains a “Chef’s Kitchen” page comprised of tips and advice from a professional chef, and a “Recipes” page containing a large and searchable database of recipes that could be downloaded and utilised by members.

Maintaining a high level of interest and engagement begins with having a well thought out customised  panelist website.  There are also other best practices worth mentioning related to the length of surveys, the way in which these questions are asked (i.e., interactivity) and the like but I will save this for another blog post.

Collect Emails, Everything Else Will Follow

I have a friend who spoke with me this past weekend about a plumbing business he has just started, the starting point being a list he purchased from the owner of a previous plumbing business in the area.  After hearing about the business and the near term efforts to build a customer base, it made me think about a few relatively easy things that my friend could do to help build a successful business long term.  So, I thought I would share with everyone what I sent to my friend in a follow-up email …

Collecting email addresses is key, this should occur both when calls are made to the large prospect/customer list you purchased as well as each and every time you serve a customer.  If it is not collected by phone when the appointment is made, be sure to have your service technician ask for it.  These email addresses can be used for marketing purposes, be sure that there is an opt-out option that is clearly stated whenever you do an email marketing blast.

From a market research perspective which is my core area of expertise, you will then be able to:

– run a customer sat survey following up after each job is completed, thereby enabling you to address any issues or concerns raised promptly and to track results over time

– run surveys whenever desired to understand why you have not heard from some customers after a certain period of time has passed (lapsed customers) asking questions such as which competitors they are using and why, and what might it take to win them back

– run surveys to evaluate new product or service concepts, this can include altogether new services you might want to consider offering at some point and/or promotional offers or pricing changes you might be considering to grow your business further.  It can also include testing different ad copy.

EasyInsites can of course help you with developing and running these types of customer and product research when the time comes.  Beyond using your customer email database for research, EasyInsites can also access other consumers in the area for research purposes to help you understand the broader market opportunity.

Hope this brief outline is helpful to you, and good luck with launching the new business!

Charles Pearson 2011 Prediction – as originally published in Research Business Reports, December 2011 Issue

End clients in much greater numbers will realize the benefits of having their own online panels and communities.  There will be a clearer recognition that having a continuous dialogue with their customers (and potential customers) has greater value than the occasional ad-hoc survey.  In some cases, end clients are literally sitting on databases containing their customers’ email addresses and doing nothing with them.  Large companies will start to see the opportunity to engage their employees on key brand and business issues.  All employees do not work on the same brands or even the same categories, so they are not much different from the average consumer.  In many ways, they are even more interested and engaged in the research process; they know the value of research and are interested in helping it succeed because it ultimately benefits them.  End clients will continue to procure from full service MR agencies, but will become more experienced with the process and the cost elements from participating in more DIY activities and interacting with smaller agencies.  Technology will put more DIY tools at their disposal, but cause end clients to expect their agencies to provide even greater transparency and value.

To gain access to the entire set of 2011 predictions (16 pages covering the opinions of close to 100 leading market researchers across the world), contact the publisher Bob Lederer at www.rflonline.com

Why Are We Trying To Create New Communities For Market Research Purposes?

I presented a paper earlier this week at the ESOMAR Online Conference in Berlin.  Below is a brief extract from it.   For more information and to purchase a copy of the complete paper, please contact ESOMAR.

There is currently considerable discussion and debate at market research conferences and online on market research forums, blogs, Twitter and the like regarding custom panels and communities.  Several themes and strongly held opinions emerge when examining this dialogue, including:

• Market researchers should be taking the lead in creating online communities to help brands get closer to their consumers and gain insights to better manage and grow these brands. The loudest voice here argues that market researchers are best suited to take the initiative because of their experience with insights and awareness of how best to listen to and interpret what consumers are saying, as well noting these communities touch all parts of the business so someone in the organisation needs to take the lead so why not the market research department. A minority voice argues that market researchers are not necessarily best positioned for this and that the appropriate place out of which the initiative should be driven is the Marketing Department.
• Online communities which are designed for market research only should be created to enable the opportunity to view and interpret the uninterrupted voice and exchange of ideas amongst consumers. The argument here is that these communities need to be constructed by the company in order for these dialogues to occur and be heard. The counter argument points to the vast array of online communities that already exist across various social media platforms such as Facebook, MySpace, and many others and asks why the company would need to construct (and fund) another community when there are already so many in existence from which to listen and learn.
• There are major differences between an online community and an online custom panel. Some argue that online custom panels are commonplace and something of the past, and do not enable theopportunity for uninterrupted conversations between and amongst consumers. This perspective suggests that online custom panels are somehow less useful than an online community. Another perspective is that online custom panels are not yet widely adopted and do not naturally occur and that these panels deliver substantial and clearly identifiable benefits to the companies who have them. Still others argue that both have their place, and they serve different purposes.

This paper seeks to explore these varying points of view and to shed light on the topic both through a detailed assessment of the research that has been published to date as well as a detailed examination of one company’s experience.

Top 10 Reasons To Consider Using EasyVideo For Your Next Qualitative Research Project

(Sourced from a Top 10 list published by our partner QualVu)

Why EasyVideo?

EasyVideo connects our clients with their truth through an innovative video-based platform that enables our clients to connect with their customers, gather rich insights, and make better business decisions.  EasyVideo (powered by a proprietary platform from our partner QualVu) uses a streamlined proprietary process that delivers qualitative intelligence faster and more cost effectively, while driving new levels of insight from consumers globally at home, work, or on the go.

1.    Connecting Clients With Their Truth
By truth we mean to understand your customers completely and have their honest input about your company, products, ideas or brands. EasyVideo will completely change how you get close to your customer to really know them – not just to collect data, but to improve how you do business.

2.    Streamlined & Global

Because of our asynchronous methodology, we have a national or global reach instantly. We can connect with hard-to-reach segments in the business, medical, and scientific communities who are hard to get into a live focus group since they are so busy.

3.    Respondents Speak for Themselves
It’s not just accurate, it’s their personal truth. It’s their voice, their environment, their sights and sounds. The richness of this webcam feedback stems from the fact that the participants are truly on their own turf when they respond.

4.    Convenience and Comfort Level
Respondents can be in their home, in their favorite chair, even wearing pajamas if they want, and can respond to the research questions at a time that is convenient for them.
The ability to do this creates for them the ultimate comfort zone and it gives you a chance to witness their reality, to truly understand your customer. We utilize web cams and can also equip them with a mobile flip cam to take on shop-alongs, into the kitchen, bathroom, backseat and other “real world” locations.

5.    Insightful

The typical focus group response can vary from a few sentences to a monolog that dominates the conversation. EasyVideo respondents are not influenced or distracted by “alpha–dogs”. The average video response on an EasyVideo project can be between four to seven minutes. Because the respondent is in a familiar and low pressure environment, they are often willing to share more intimate and insightful information.

6.    Better Information Creates Better Business Decisions
EasyVideo is much more than a focus group, a triad, or IDI.  EasyVideo gives you a new weapon in delivering substantive insights to your brand team, to set your brand apart. True engagement with customer helps you better leverage the value of qualitative insights in your journey to get to your brand’s truth.

7.    A Unique and Flexible Approach
Our iterative approach to research is to move in distinct phases, based on the needs of each individual client.  We can be a full-service, turnkey operation, if you so choose. From start to finish, we can do the recruit, data collection, organization, and final reporting and analysis.

8.    Build a Panel for Longer Term Relationships and Insight
Our online framework allows us, and you, to maintain people for continuous access over time. So you can build on the insight you gained from them in the first place.

9.    Economical
Never before has innovation combined with optimal cost-efficiency been more important to today’s researcher. EasyVideo can deliver significant savings on costs and time vs. traditional methods of research.

10.    Proven Track Record
Many of the world’s leading brands use EasyVideo to outflank their competitors by gaining on-demand access to their target consumers. Users of this platform source from numerous Fortune 100 companies, including those in the food and beverage, packaged goods, telecommunications, financial services, travel, health care/pharmaceutical and technology industries.


EasyInsites Turns 1!

EasyInsites is 1 year old today.  We have had a tremendous year winning over a dozen new clients located in the UK, US and Switzerland and working across many different sectors.   For most of our clients, we build and maintain their EasyPanels (online custom panels) as well as run their online research utilising these panels.  With many of these custom panels, our clients have chosen to open them on our Exchange (powered by Cint) where we offer them the opportunity to generate revenue as their panels are utilised by other researchers.  The research we conduct for these clients is both quant and qual in most cases, and our clients are also using our EasyVideo product to capture video of their consumers and customers via webcam for added insight as well as our EasyMobile product for quick and convenient polls as well as to recruit to their EasyPanel in desired locations and situations where consumers have their mobile phones in hand (while watching a television program, while shopping in a particular store, etc.).   For some clients who do not yet have their own custom panel, we provide ad-hoc research in which we offer our clients more cost effective, flexible and innovative solutions.  In our first year, EasyInsites was recognised in several award programs including being selected as a Smarta 100 Winner.   The Smarta 100 comprises the 100 most exciting, promising, and disruptive new businesses across the UK and were selected by a panel of highly regarded entrepreneurs including Deborah Meaden who stars on the judging panel of Dragon’s Den.  EasyInsites was also selected as a Finalist in the “Young Business of the Year” award category in the Toast of Surrey Business Awards where there were just 3 finalists selected out of 60 applicants.  EasyInsites also landed in the top 10 of the Start-Up award category in the LinkedIn European Business Awards.  We are now heading into our 2nd year of operation where we expect to become larger and more profitable, as well we expect to expand our client base into additional sectors and locations across the world.  We also anticipate introducing new products which will further enhance and differentiate our offering.  One thing that will remain unchanged is our core focus and reason for being, that is to provide clients with the opportunity to have their own panel so that they can have a more continuous, insightful and cost effective dialogue with their customers, consumers, subscribers, viewers, or employees.

What do you think about the new Review Centre consumer panel?

Here is where you can read about it: http://www.research-live.com/news/easyinsites-to-set-up-review-centre-panel/4001252.article

 

Online Focus Groups and Bulletin Boards Can Be So Easy

Below are links to our EasyQual products including EasyBulletinBoard and EasyFocusGroup.  More and more qualitative researchers should be considering their use, as these provide faster, more representative and more convenient ways to collect qualitative feedback.

Play.itracks.com/media/FlashDemos/EasyInsites/BBFG/controller.html

Play.itracks.com/media/FlashDemos/EasyInsites/OLFG/controller.html