Is the Future of Market Research Online?
Alert! Article Extended: Is the Future of Market Research Online?
Sites Where You Can Build Your Community Online
For Pebbles Hannya—aka Mary Ellen Gordon, PhD, President of Market Truths Limited www.markettruths.com -online venues like Second Life’s virtual world are going to have a “huge impact” on market researchers and market research. Guided by Dr. Gordon’s deft hand and deep knowledge of Second Life, Pebbles—Dr. Gordon’s avatar—spends an average of 20 hours a week in the virtual world.
“When it comes to conducting effective social marketing campaigns, the key thing is to be authentic,” says Dr. Gordon. “Successful companies don’t just put out what they’ve got; they invite consumers to help shape their offerings. Successful companies engage directly with consumers and make it easy for consumers to give feedback. The engagement has to be honest.”
Honesty and authenticity are vital to establishing credibility and getting useful, reliable data. In virtual worlds like Second Life, the citizenry can smell chicanery from miles away. According to Dr. Gordon, “Because people are highly attuned to the language you use, it’s vital to understand the local culture and language in virtual worlds like Second Life.”
Colleen Moore-Mezler, PRC, President of Moore Research Services, Inc. uses information she gleans on Second Life to complement other research her firm does for clients:
“Second Life is appropriate for some clients but not for others. What’s great about it is that you are able to access a diverse population included in your research—a worldwide audience. It’s particularly effective for finding certain populations—especially men ages 25-35—but somewhat more challenging to get a good cross-section.”
She continues, “Clients are utilizing it more and more but with a little bit of reservation. It’s definitely the wave of the future and I believe people will be looking to expand their participation in these types of venues.”
For all market researchers considering conducting research online, the stakes are high, cautions Dr. Gordon. “To conduct effective market research in virtual worlds you need to know the culture and language. If you don’t, at best you’ll fail; at worst you’ll give legitimate market researchers a bad name. The same is true, in fact, across all social media. My biggest fear is people poisoning the well.”
Both experts interviewed for this article say the best approach is a slow one. So dip your toes in the vast social marketing sea by checking out a few of the sites below (listed in order of “intensity”):
• Twitter: A service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay “hyper connected” by exchanging quick, frequent answers to the burning question: What are you doing? www.twitter.com
• Facebook: At least one of your co-workers has a Facebook account. Ask them to establish a group for your company and then seed the group with useful information. To spur communication with you, encourage people to use the discussion tool. www.facebook.com
• Ning: “Social networking lite,” Ning is a quick and easy to establish social networking platform that gives registered users plenty of customization options. www.ning.com
• Blogs: Visit Web sites like www.blogger.com and www.blogspot.com to set up your very own blog… and then join the millions of voices in the “blogosphere.” Who knows, maybe your blog will catch fire like Jessica Cutler’s The the Washingtonienne!
• Flickr: On the web, compelling visual images are worth their weight in gold. Photo posting sites like www.flickr.com give you a venue to tell your brand’s or your company’s story—and let Flick users or bloggers to use those images in their posts.
• Podcasts: Go beyond blogging and get your voice heard by podcasting. Leave audio comments on podcasts talking about your company or just start your own podcast. Check out www.podcast.com or www.podcast.net
• Virtual Worlds: These computer-based simulated environments let users live and interact via avatars, 24-7-365. Venues like Linden Labs’ Second Life www.secondlife.com and www.habbo.com are fertile grounds for harvesting market research data.
But before you leap into social network marketing, consider a recent (non scientific) poll conducted in March by iMedia Connection. One-third of US marketers and agencies surveyed said that they planned to spend $300,000 or less this year on social network marketing. The poll was conducted among attendees at the recent iMedia Breakthrough Summit.
“At those amounts, social network spending may still be categorized as experimental for many marketers,” said Debra Aho Williamson, senior analyst at eMarketer. “As in many other developing advertising markets, much of the spending on social networks is driven by leading-edge marketers who are willing to take risks,” Ms. Williamson added.
Source: Bruce Mendelsohn, MRA Director of Communications, Contact via Email"