As a business owner, you have to adapt quickly and stay ahead of the curve to thrive and grow. One of the ways to help you achieve this is by conducting ultra-effective market research. There are many ways that you can do this. One-on-one interviews are considered the most effective, but that isn’t always possible. So, is there a way you can market research without having these face-to-face conversations?
Yes. There are four ways you can conduct ultra-effective market research: self-service feedback kiosks, online surveys, focus groups, and online communities.
Self-Service Feedback Kiosks
Self-service feedback kiosks provide you with the data that you need to know how customers are feeling about your business and what they want more of, without them having to wait for someone to ask them their opinion. Feedback kiosks are ideal for customer retention programs because you can set them up where they typically visit. You can use them in various places such as airports, malls, retail stores, and even on public transportation.
Usually, these kiosks are placed in high traffic areas with the intent to gather high-quality data regarding customer satisfaction levels and what they would like improved upon. The quickness and convenience that comes with these types of feedback devices make them ideal for most businesses. With the right offline survey software, you’ll be able to capture and analyze that data quickly, easily, and at a low cost. Feedback kiosks also provide a great way to gain new leads and promote your brand.
Online Market Research Surveys
Many companies use online surveys to understand what their customers think about various aspects of their products and services and about competitors’ offerings. These surveys are an excellent way to understand current market research trends in the industry. They can help you identify what issues your customers care about, which features they value most, and how satisfied or dissatisfied they are with their existing products.
You can also use surveys to gain insight into potential new product offerings that might be of interest to consumers. The convenience of online surveys makes them compelling, but their effectiveness depends on the specific market research questions you are trying to address. For example:
- It would be helpful for a company that is planning an expansion into new markets to understand what products customers in those geographies might want.
- However, if your primary goal is to determine which features should be added or removed from your existing products, a survey will not be as helpful. Instead, you might need to conduct in-person or phone interviews with current customers and potential new consumers of the product to get that information.
Online surveys can give you an idea about what is important to your market, but they don’t provide all the answers. To make the best out of these surveys, you need to ask the right questions and analyze the results meaningfully.
Online Focus Groups
Online focus groups or live chat focus groups are great for obtaining feedback on a new or existing product without having to do any of the work. These online focus groups allow you to ask your target market questions and get unbiased answers back in real-time. Live chat focus group software allows you to host an unlimited number of surveys at once, with multiple moderators available if needed. Since they are hosted online, you can have customers from around the world take part in your focus groups when it is convenient for them.
Here are some best practices for online focus groups:
- Don’t ask too many questions – ask only the most important
- Get specific in how you ask questions – use “would you” and “how often would you”
- Ask open-ended questions – don’t give them yes or no answers
- Give participants incentives to participate – gift cards, money, etc. are good motivators
- Have multiple moderators available in case one of the moderators drops off
- Try testing a new product with a live chat focus group
4. Online Communities
Our last option is to utilize online communities. Utilize these groups for market research because you have the opportunity to see what people are saying in real-time, and their feedback can be very helpful when trying to figure out if a product or service will work best for your target audience. The closeness of online communities allows for natural conversations between participants in online spaces like forums and blogs to be analyzed, resulting in accurate and useful insights.
Combine Different Market Research Methods
Each of these methods can be used as a stand-alone strategy or in conjunction with other scheduled market research activities to increase the value of the findings by triangulating data from different sources. With these insights, you can conduct ultra-effective market research with minimal effort and time investment. Make use of all the data collected to help you make smart business decisions.