Three Things You Should Know about Online Research Communities
2013-09-04
1. Combining Research Capabilities is the Future
I believe the real growth area for research will be combining online communities with other research capabilities; for retailers, this might include things such as shop-a-longs, virtual store environments, and mobile trigger surveys that capture opinions and info while members are out shopping.
2. Long-term and Heavily Participant-led
Online communities by definition are more durative and participant-led than other online qualitative research tactics. While many of our clients are looking at less-expensive, shorter term communities (the long term model can be expensive) the community is still a more ongoing process than a two or three day bulletin board. We look for the participants to form a relationship as that is the difference between a bulletin board and a community- the social aspect is important. As people become more familiar with each other, they speak more freely and participate at a deeper level.
3. A Big Opportunity for Marketers
It is critically important that marketers should all be leveraging social media behavior for research insights, especially among the younger generation. They’re all about telling you what they think, so giving them an outlet for constructive feedback is key….writes Al Urbanski: “Twenty-first century consumers are bubbling over with input, and an online community is an ideal vehicle to catch that input and run with it.”
Just one quick note. The article mentioned that Lightspeed Research is a Chicago-based company. While I live in Chicago suburb and am a huge White Sox, Bears, and Blackhawks fan, Lightspeed Research’s global headquarters are actually in Warren, New Jersey, with EMEA headquarters in London and APAC headquarters in Sydney.
