Online Focus Group
7 Pitfalls That Can Destroy Your Market Research
Market Research is universally considered to be important, but many companies make common mistakes throughout the research process. These can be costly and misleading.
Here are the seven pitfalls to avoid:
1] No Purpose: Avoid asking "stock" questions. Instead, clearly articulate your Guiding Research Questions and only ask questions that give you answers you can use.
2] Not Doing Good Secondary Research: Do a thorough search of existing research before designing your own plan.
3] Wrong sample: Asking the right questions of the wrong respondents will yield irrelevant results. The right questions to the right people will yield usable and valuable information.
4] Wrong research tool: Many companies start the research process by saying;I want to do a survey's, or I want to do a focus group. Sometimes a combination of methods works best.
5] Insufficient Sample Size: Be careful about drawing inappropriate conclusions from research. Qualitative research is not good for extrapolating to large populations.Quantitative research must be based on a random sample that is large enough extrapolation.
6] Overspending: Consider your objectives, your time frame and your budget. By weighing all three, you can arrive at an optimal budget.
7] Improper Analysis: It's easy to look at the results of market research through biased eyes. Choose the right analytical tools and look for statistically significant findings from quantitative research and common key insights from qualitative.
iResearch has been a pioneer in online marketing research methodologies since 1998. While we remain methodology-neutral (believing that objectives, timeframe, and your needs should determine the correct methodology), we have used online techniques to help many clients achieve their goals quickly, affordably, and successfully. Contact us today to find out how you can use our years of experience in implementing online and traditional research methods to your advantage.
Online focus groups are quickly gaining in popularity due to their ability to glean customers thoughts quickly and inexpensively. Many marketers have not considered all of the possible uses for online focus groups. This article looks at one that applies to most marketing situationshow to determine and assess your customers buying decision process.
Knowing how your customers make their purchasing decisions can make a difference in your marketing strategy. The first step is to learn what makes your customers think about your product and brand. Online focus group are ideal for getting consumers to think about these trigger factors. By asking participants to tell you how and when they first thought about your product and brand, youll learn their stories about what they were doing, who influenced them, and where they were when they first realized a need or want.
Next, online focus groups allow you to probe about how consumers seek out additional information about your product and brand. Do they carry enough information with them to decide to buy, or do they talk to others, look at advertising, read articles, search the Internet, and/or visit the store? By knowing about their information search, you can reach your customers with the right message, in the right place and at the right time.
Many marketers think that surveys are the way to determine what attributes consumers consider when making a purchase decision. Yet, when they design the surveys, they are not fully aware of what attributes to include. Many copy from other surveys or include attributes they, themselves, would consider. Online focus groups done prior to designing a survey provide invaluable input on what attributes are important to your customers. Youll gather in-depth information about them that will help you to design an optimal survey.
In todays economy, many consumers never make it to the purchasing stage.
You can read more about Marketing Research Consultant, online focus groups and online surveys at: http://iresearch.com/blog