Hugh Carling
Co-founder of Liveminds. I love to bring like-minded people together. Whether that's growing businesses, running online communities, staging events or captaining my village cricket team, nothing makes me happier than seeing people with a shared passion, coming together and making the most of it.
A quarter of our time online is spent chatting, learning, and playing on social networks. The modern consumer is now as comfortable online, and often more so, as they are in face-to-face encounters. With this in mind it is hard not to get excited by the value that online research brings to the industry. A methodology that once seemed a bit alien is now recognised as a natural way of capturing consumer insight.
The shift in time spent online, coupled with advances in web technology means that the value of online research is growing by the day.
If you are still considering whether its time to get your agency online, or are trying to persuade your boss that the time has come, here are some of the key benefits of online research. These apply equally whether you use it as a standalone methodology or as a compliment to traditional market research.
Online removes the social dynamics that can colour responses – It can be less intimidating than a F2F environment, making participants more comfortable and therefore more open, honest and creative throughout the project.
Mix & match different methodologies – Online platforms are flexible and allow for a mix of methodologies to be used during a project. A researcher can decide question by question whether to use a ‘private’, ‘group’, or ‘open’ question. Or indeed whether they want to have a blog, diary or group discussion.
Online Qual can be cheaper – Online platforms are typically cheaper than viewing facilities and eliminating travel costs means online tends to work out cheaper than offline research. This is particularly true of international research projects.
‘Real time feedback’ – 24/7 access allows researchers and clients to moderate/observe the project as it unfolds in ‘real time’.
Geographical reach – Online breaks down geographical barriers, allowing researchers to easily talk to consumers in hard to reach places. This gives you a genuine cross spectrum of opinion whether this be in the UK or around the world
Brightens up the project debrief – Mobile phones and digital cameras have made it so easy for us to take and share media that online research tends to be very media rich. This fantastic insight can be extracted and used in a creative fashion to bring to life your project debrief, making it more engaging for your clients and helping them get decisions made as a result.
Time to consider – The ongoing nature of online research means that participants can reflect on the conversations they are having and keep adding further insight.
Longitudinal – Online research programmes can easily be extended if necessary to fit with the researcher/client needs.
If you would like to experience the benefits that online can bring to your research then please do get in touch. We would be more than happy to set you up with a two week free trail on Liveminds, as they say, seeing is believing!
