Marketing Research
Options for Gathering Marketing Intelligence
What We Will Cover
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What is Marketing Research?
Why is it Important?
Marketing Research Methodologies
Marketing Research 2.0
Research Resources
Caveats and Conclusions
Next Steps
Closing Thoughts
What is it?
• “Research is formalized curiosity, its poking and
prying with a purpose.”
— Zora Neal Hurston, writer
Marketing Research
Helps to inform you about…
• Internal Factors
– Customers
– What is working/what's
not
– Marketplace
– Unique selling proposition
• External Factors
– Competitors
– Industry
Opportunities/Challenges
– Environmental Factors
The Importance of Research
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Provides competitive
intelligence
Informs marketing effectiveness
Determines target market
Can be the difference between
failing or succeeding in business
Affects the bottom line
Identifies opportunities
Minimizes risk
Creates benchmarks and helps
to measure progress
Product and service innovation
• How would you rate your current research
efforts on a scale of 1 to 7, with “1” being not
very good and “7” being excellent (ex: we collect and
use research on an on-gong basis)
• What would help you to improve that rating?
Qualitative Research
• Qualitative - Seeks to understand the
“Why?”
• Used to gain insight into people's
attitudes, behaviors, value systems,
concerns, motivations, aspirations,
culture or lifestyles.
• Inform business decisions, policy
formation and communication.
• Format: Open-ended questions
gathered by focus group and in
person/telephone or virtual interviews
Quantitative Research
• Quantitative – Measures “how”
many people feel, think or act in
a particular way”.
• larger sample size, over 50.
• The most common are onstreet, telephone interviews and
online
• Format: Structured
questionnaires used
incorporating mainly closed
questions - questions with set
responses.
• What business question do you have that
requires more information (data) to resolve?
Changing Marketing Environment
• People now have the ability to connect with one
another over distances like never before.
• Customers are now stakeholders.
• Organizations need to engage and prove, rather
than convince and sell.
• Thinking needs to shift from top-down to
bottom-up.
Embracing…. the new!
• Learn new approaches to research provides a
richer arsenal by which one can problem solve.
• Provides approaches that range in cost.
• Provides some do-it-yourself options.
It’s a new day……Implications!
• Traditional research is being supplemented with
newer forms of gathering data.
• There is a new opportunity to gather information
instantly.
• The industry is accepting more technology driven
methods.
RESEARCH 2.0
Marketing Research
Using Technology to Leverage Research
Online Qualitative Research
• Replace in-person qualitative research with
research conducted over the internet.
• Uses webcam technology and streaming video to
provide real time “face-to-face” research.
• Conducted with assistance from third party or
with conferencing service/webcam.
• Ideas for using online research: ENDLESS
exploratory, evaluate concepts, communication
testing, programming offerings, membership
evaluations.
Online Quantitative Research
• Increase in popularity due to lower cost (vs.
focus groups), no travel, convenient, cash for
opinions (heavily marketed)
• Collect and disseminate measurement data
online
• Questions are constructed and participants can
answer online
Online Quantitative Research: (Cont’d)
• Do-it-yourself (DIY) options suitable for small studies
(limited questions and scope - FREE) as well as more
complex features
• All the sources below offer such services:
– Surveymonkey.com
– Constantcontact.com
– Zoomerang.com
• Ideas for using online research: employee surveys,
performance assessment, process improvement
feedback, pricing research, service quality
measurement, market data-size and share etc.
Articles and Blogs
• Write, Write, Write
• Be interesting—write about trends, your ideas, the
industry, provide feedback on others’ ideas, provide
case studies, tips.
• Show yourself as the expert.
• Sites such as wordpress.com, blogger.com and
typepad.com
• Ideas for using articles/blogs:
– Capture demographic information by setting up sign-up
forms or newsletter forms.
– Ask questions of your audience
– Test ideas on your audience and gain feedback
Mobile Research
• More and more content is
being accessed and viewed on
mobile phones.
• Provides a way to collect realtime data.
• Participants are engaged over
a period of time (days or
weeks) using predetermined
questions. (3rd party software
often necessary
• Ideas for using mobile
research: Studies on habits,
activities or behavior,
consumer preferences.
Online Communities
• One of the newest methods used to capture today’s
social interactions.
• Made up of customer groups or target consumers,
interact similar to other social media sites.
• The discussions are purposed around gaining insights and
addressing research objectives.
• Members can be profiled and invited to participate in
private, more controlled (research-driven) discussions.
• Ideas for using online communities: product/program
development, observation of member’s interaction,
go/no go decisions, gathering information, showing
creative stimulus material.
The Mini Insider …Online Community
• 75% of Mini owners in
the USA are members
of the community.
• Improves brand and
increases chances that
another Mini will be
bought.
• About 50% of all sales
leads are actually
generated by the site.
Social Media
• You must first be social
• Become a part of the
discussion and then
integrate marketing
research efforts
• Implement tactics
along with other
marketing strategies.
(Not a stand alone
effort)
• Many options—See
where your customers
socialize
Social Media: Facebook
• Facebook has many rich
options for insights.
• Options Include:
– Developing a page for
your organization
– Participating in the
dialog
– Creating a page for
questions
– Joining a group – some
require a “request to
join”
Social Media: Facebook (Cont’d)
– Setting up a page for reviews
– Creating a poll—also link poll in an email
– Creating unique and specific page, relevant for your
organization, program or offerings
– Creating a newsletter—collect demographic
information (email address, age, city and state, and
one pertinent fact)
Example: Nike’s Facebook
Example: Tesco Supermarket
• New feature: Questions
• There is an option to pay
for Facebook advertising
for your Questions (via
the URL), providing
targeted response for
market research efforts.
• Share questions with
friends, potential clients,
existing customers.
• Find people with similar
mindsets.
Social Media: YouTube
• A source for sharing and
viewing video
communication.
• Amateur, advertisers,
media producers and
media giants provide
content.
• Post video content or
learn from videos
posted.
Social Media: YouTube
Search Content
Poster of Content
• Sort By
• YouTube “Suggest”
feature (key terms)
• Use Insight and Analytics
tool (free)
– Relevancy to query
– View Count
– Ratings
– Find out who is watching,
when, where they are
located, impact of
promotion or news, viewer
ship and more
Social Media: Twitter
• Twitter is loaded with
market intelligence
for its users.
• Users who are talking
about what makes
them happy and what
makes them angry –
products, brands and
market insights are all
being discussed.
Social Media: Twitter
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Start conversations with users (participate and dialogue).
Ask questions that may be answered quickly.
Direct users to surveys or websites as a way to engage.
Follow those that share your audience, or are tweeting
about topics of interest to you or your clients.
• Become interesting to others by providing tweets that
show you as the expert.
• Use hashtags (#) when tweeting to be searchable.
(example ISOM #market #research tips).
Twitter-based Resources
Search.twitter.com
Find mentions of product, company or topics.
Search followers, those following, client,
audiences of interest, competitors
Twitterlocal.net
Allows for micro-research, search tweets within
a specific geographical area. Monitor events,
political issues, news.
Backtweets.com
Search twitter for links posted on twitter.
Backtype.com
Allows you to see conversations by tweeters that
appear on blogs, site forums and other social
networks
Twitter-based Resources (Cont’d)
Twellow.com
A business directory, that allows you to find
Twitter users in your business by geographic
area.
Twitter Lists
Build a list that can be tracked daily of key
opinion leaders in your industry, competitors,
brand advocates and naysayers.
Example: Twitter
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With Twitter you can potentially
reach anyone in the world with
a single 140 character tweet.
Tweet messages can be broad or
focused on a small select
audience.
Virgin America used Promoted
Tweets toward their in-flight WiFi customers.
On launch, they put out three
distinct tweets then promoted
with carefully crafted keywords.
Two of the tweets were meant
to engage just their passengers
at 35,000 feet.
Social Media: LinkedIn
• The most professional site of those spoken about
today, where professionals share and seek
information.
• Good source of information on industry,
companies, and individuals
• Ways to use for research:
– Join groups to be a part of conversations or start
conversations
– Ask questions and seek answers
Social Media: LinkedIn (Cont.)
– Follow discussions
– Use “Companies” tab—statistics on specific company
and employees
– Use “News” tab to view trends, stories and topics in
several industries (mktg, internet, IT, PR etc.)
– Utilize group membership to network and learn about
topics, services or needs.
– Employee recruitment
Social Media: LinkedIn
• Use “Polls” found under the more tab to canvas those
topics you would like to know more about
– Example: Do you think a persons culture can add to their
desirability when applying for a job?
James Linton • 1 vote • 12 days left
Yes
No
Potentially
N/A
Vote or View Results
An integrated example
• Tropicana rolled out
repackaging using
findings from their social
media tactics.
• http://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=6wCG3Zjkw
TY
More…
Additional Resources
Social Media Monitoring
• There are several search engines that comb the
internet, including blogs, tweets and Facebook, for
topics that may be of interest to you or your
stakeholders.
• Here are some sources:
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BoardRreader.com
Google.com/alerts
Socialmention.com
Icerocket.com
Radian 6
Trackur
Social Media Monitoring
(Cont’d)
• NutshellMail will send an email to your inbox
with all your company’s social media activity.
• Google Alerts allows you to sign up with an email
address and receive emails based on chosen key
terms.
• Google Trends – reflects the keywords that are
being searched on a daily basis by city or part of
world.
• Make a list of key terms that you would like to
set up searches for? (Ex: can include your company/agency,
industry, issues, topics, people or competitors)
Recruiting Research Participants
• Use social network to find people
of interest for more formal
discussions. These people can be
seen as potential:
– Opinion leaders
– Industry experts
– Audience capturers (have a
following you want to talk to)
– Early Adopters
– Influencers
Personal Websites
• Use personal website to collect and report findings.
– Post blogs, articles, and white papers, and ask for
comments.
– Require readers to answer pre-determined questions
before providing access to content.
– Add a polling feature to your website that allows you to
ask visitors questions.
– Information from the blogs and/or polling feature can be
used in a newsletter and for content on the site—you end
up being a sponsor of your own research findings.
Check List
Research Type
Best for
Quantitative – online or in person
Large sample sizes; Specific closed questions
Answers: How Many?
Qualitative – online or in person
Small sample size; Open ended questions
Answers: Why?
Mobile
Interaction with audience to determine habits,
patterns and attitudes in real time
Social Media Platforms
Continuous engagement, test preliminary
ideas, gather information for further testing
Market Research Online Communities
Understanding complex problems, issues or
behaviors over a period of time; identifying
needs and new ideas.
Online blogs and written articles are good habits to cultivate for on-going interaction
and engagement with targeted audience.
• Who or what are you trying to find out more
about? (Ex: customers, potential clients, products, services,
competitors)
• What research method do you believe would
best inform you about them? Why? (Ex: the online
forums such as online qualitative because my product is in the early stage of
development and I need exploratory information)
Caveat and Conclusions…
Putting It All in Context
Caveats and Conclusions
• Do-it-yourself (DIY) surveys can compromise
objectivity of questioning and impartial
interpretation.
• The internet is a limited medium from which to
draw a truly representative sample.
• There is still limited guidance governing the
practice of internet research.
Caveats and Conclusions (Cont’d)
• Social media content does not always authentically
reflect the views of the people who posted it.
• Hidden intent or misdirected intent can lead to
misleading content.
• Social media is not representative, only directional.
• Social media is best used early
• What strategy will you implement to initiate
research goals? (Ex: I will form a team to canvas Facebook and start
by listening to conversations about computer frustrations)
• What will you do with the information once you
find it? (Ex: create a brochure, create a campaign, develop a product)
Next steps…….
• Identify next steps to include the following:
– Determine if you can do it yourself, or if you need the
help of a marketing research professional and/or
technological assistance?
– Determine how often you will engage in research and
plan efforts into yearly plans and budgets.
– Understand how social media, blogs/articles and
other research designs will be integrated with existing
efforts to reach marketing objectives.
– Be clear about what you will do with the information
learned.
Next steps…….
– Determine if your findings need further validation and
or further refinement by conducting more research
using other forms of research.
Closing Thoughts
• Research is a process
• Migrate research and insight activities from
being episodic to continuous
• View new research options/methods as part of a
larger, customer-centric process
• Call us if you need us!!
Audrey Burke
Research: Design, Strategy and Implementation
(202) 248-5043
Audrey@isomglobal.com