This past weekend I finally got around to watching the first few episodes of "Mad Men" at the suggestion of friends.  I nearly shed a tear when a scene in the first or second episode involved the company's market researcher presenting their findings to Don Draper (the leading man and ad executive), who then promptly discarded the report into the trash.  It left me with the sinking feeling that this has probably happened at some point over the course of my career (although likely not nearly as dramatic :-)  It also made me think of the state of research now, and how we can make ourselves more visible and strategically relevant to organizations.  

Fast forward to this morning, when I caught a recent article from Adweek on how "Clients Could Make Better Use of Research." The article points to a recent BCG study suggesting that most companies are approaching their market research from a largely tactical perspective, while missing the strategic insights that are possible through research.  I've seen this play out in market research online communities (MROCs), where the initial objectives are very much on a strategic level, but slowly start to move toward quick hit tactical activities once internal clients realize that the community is an excellent resource for these types of insights.  It can be difficult to keep the focus on the strategic once this start to happen, although it can definitely be done.  Here are a few suggestions for how:

1. Set aside a set of activities each week for "big picture" objectives - A big advantage of MROCs is the ability to get tactical insights quickly and cost effectively, and this benefit shouldn't be ignored...  However, it's important to set aside time for "big picture" objectives each week.  Consider ways of carving out time in the facilitation plan to address these objectives weekly, and standing your ground when tactical activities start to encroach on these strategic exercises.  
2. Review the objectives whenever possible - Use weekly community meetings or weekly/monthly webinars as an opportunity to review the objectives.  While internal clients might get sick of hearing the same message over and over, they'll eventually get the point that there are strategic objectives in play and the time must be spent to uncover these types of insights. 
3. Clearly tie findings with strategic objectives - Whenever possible, try to tie back specific summaries and insights to the initial objectives, rather than just reporting on them as standalone summaries.  For example, in a recent community we made a separate section of the report that was dedicated to one specific strategic objective, and were sure to include this in each monthly report.  This helps communicate how these objectives are being addressed, and stresses the importance of them as well.  

MROCs represent a new opportunity for market researchers to gain visibility across our client's organizations.  However, it requires that we all take a leap of faith and change the way we uncover findings, deliver them and ultimately rally internal stakeholders around research findings.  This is something that we're working actively on here at PluggedIN...  Be on the lookout for a new product we're launching in January that will help companies move from Stage 1 of BCG's scale (the tactical research organization) to Stage 4 (strategic).  In the meantime, I hope these suggestions help!

--Matt

I've blogged a bit before about the importance of the participant experience in online communities, but what about the client experience?  A great post over at the Yellow Submarine blog on "The use of pictures in qualitative research" got me thinking again about how important the experience of the client is in qualitative research (or really any type of research).  After all, what use is research unless it causes people to think or act in some meaningful way as a result, and a great way to get them to do that is to put the data in the most compelling/accessible format possible. 

The question, of course, is how exactly do you go about making that experience compelling?  How do you engage your direct clients (and their stakeholders) around your research?  Here are a few ideas (among many) to consider:

• "Bite Size" Findings - Most people just don't have the time to read through exhaustive research reports.  They need the here and now, as quickly as possible.  With the popularity of Twitter, why not think about the "140 character insight."  Challenge yourself to distill the finding or recommendation into 140 characters or less... 
• Reconsider the Delivery Mechanism - Speaking of Twitter, why not consider ways to continually deliver these insights through a "Twitter-like" mechanism.  We use a really useful application called "Co-op" here at PluggedIN to stay connected with each other.  Why not try something like that for findings?  
• Building Community Around Community - OK, so I'll admit that most people are already too busy to participate in a separate community, but to what extent can you get them to engage around the community by using many of the same strategies used to build a vibrant customer community?  Why not try games, friendly competitive activities, sweepstakes, awards, individual recognition, etc... to engage stakeholders and encourage them to interact with research findings in a meaningful way?

These are just a few strategies, but there are obviously many more...  Feel free to share any ways that have worked for you in the comments to this post.

-- Matt 

At some point during a pitch there is always the inevitable question - how much does it cost?  When designing an approach to a market research online community (MROC), a few key variables play the greatest role in deciding the ultimate price of the initiative, including:

• Community Size - As you can imagine, the more members in your community, the higher the price, as the costs for incentives, recruiting and overall community management scale with the number of members.  Building smaller research communities can help keep your costs down, while offering a number of advantages over larger communities.
  
• Length of Time - Running a MROC over many months (or years) is going to be more expensive, although the average monthly cost tends to decrease over time due to certain economies that result as the community progresses.
• Activity Level - Some research communities are highly active (e.g., daily research-related activities), while others tend to be moderately active (e.g., weekly or bi-weekly research activities).  As you can imagine, the costs for incentives, community management, moderation and reporting will scale accordingly.
• Sample Source - Recruiting from client-provided sample will result in significant savings over purchased sample, as will using an online recruiting method over phone-based recruiting. 
  
• Frequency and Type of Reporting - Last, but definitely not least, are the reporting requirements for a MROC.  Weekly memo community reports can be less expensive than a comprehensive summary report, although they may lack some detail. 
  

As you can imagine, the actual amounts for each of these categories will vary by the vendor, objectives of the community, etc...  However, I hope this provides you with a starting point for the variables to consider when outlining a MROC approach for your organization.

--Matt

Let's imagine you've decided that a Market Research Online Community (MROC) is a good fit for your organization...  You've read all about the benefits of a MROC, developed your objectives and metrics for success, selected a MROC vendor and are ready to get started.  What's next? 

Most companies can (fairly) easily digest the findings from a set of focus groups...  However, MROCs are a bit different, as they present a steady stream of customer insights that may have far reaching implications for your company.  The issue then becomes:

• How do you explain this new research resource to your internal stakeholders?  
• How do you level set expectations for appropriate content/topics to explore in your MROC?
• How do you effectively distribute the findings across your organization?

How do you explain this new research resource to your internal stakeholders?

To borrow a bit from Chip and Dan Heath (authors of Made to Stick), it helps to put your MROC in light of an existing "schema."  For example, you may want to talk about how a MROC is like an ongoing focus group with a larger sample size than normal.  We touched on this before in our post on "A Focus Group on Steroids."  That will help set the expectation early on that a MROC is primarily a qualitative tool. 

Also consider showing them a sample deliverable from a community, to help stakeholders understand exactly what they can expect from the output.  Finally, a mock-up and guided tour of the pre-launch site (with a bit of "seed" content for reference) will help sets the stage for what is to come.  Most (or all) of this can be accomplished in a single afternoon meeting...

How do you level set expectations for appropriate content/topics to explore in your MROC?

You'll want to quickly outline what is appropriate and not appropriate to explore in a MROC.  Typically, MROCs are qualitative in nature, meaning anything that you would normally cover through a survey should probably be left to a survey.  That's not to say that surveys cannot (or should not) be run in a MROC; rather, it is important to caveat the output to ensure decisions are made with the appropriate data.

In general, a simple document explaining how to use the community with some specific examples of "ideal" community questions will help set expectations properly early on.  We like to seed the facilitation plan with examples of relevant activities to help get people thinking about how to use their MROC.  Again, this is something that can be accomplished over the course of a kickoff meeting.

How do you effectively distribute the findings across your organization?

Last, but definitely not least, is how you plan to distribute findings.  Unlike focus groups and other "point in time" qualitative research methods, the findings from a MROC are continuous.  Left unattended, they can accumulate into very large reports that get lost on a company's intranet.  The key is to deliver findings in "bite size" pieces in the form which your stakeholders are most likely to pay attention. 

For example, if your company's culture is driven by email communication (as most are) then you have a variety of options at your disposal.  These options might be in the form of a monthly email announcing the report (and providing a link to download directly from the email), weekly emails with topline findings and highlights of activities to come or even "twitter-like" bursts of insights throughout the week/month to keep people intrigued by what is happening in the community. 

If your company is a bit more "hip" to technology and social media, then you could experiment with various means of distributing findings via those channels (more on that in future blog posts...).

The takeaway...

You'll have to do a bit of prep work to get your company ready for a MROC, but it will be well worth it in the form of happy stakeholders who are more knowledgeable about your target audience than ever before...  

- Matt 

If you followed our blog from last week, you know that we think key developments and trends in qualitative research will heavily involve the reporting end of our business. As I was preparing this blog, I realized that in an ironic twist, a more interactive version of this blog was necessary. So fittingly we have prepared an "old school" and a "new school" version of this post:

Trends in qualitative reporting (New school)

Trends in qualitative reporting (Old school)

Understanding Lifestyle

Clients will always want a fairly detailed summary of findings from the topics we cover, but there is an opportunity to give them much more. Many clients want to know more about the backstory. They want to know details about an individual's lifestyle and how they think about the world around them. Being able to present this to clients as part of our solution will be key.

Speed

With continuous qualitative methods comes the need for more ongoing reporting mechanisms. Here at PluggedIN we talk a lot about how the ongoing nature of MROCs helps clients stay in touch. The scary truth of this is that our own reporting needs to be delivered with a speed and efficiency that allows clients to capitalize on this access.  Clients cannot wait "2 weeks after field" for a report to inform their decisions. They need insights quicker. Thinks days instead of weeks.

Get to the Point!

Gone are the days of a 100 page "slide-ument." Even if you impress your clients with the speed with which you can prepare this report, people do not have time nor attention span to sift through an insanely comprehensive report. As researchers, we need to be more simple and concise in our language. We also need to find ways to make details easier to decipher. Things like Top 10 lists, colors/icons to note key content, and other techniques will be appreciated.

Creative Delivery

We live in a multimedia world and to help clients pay more attention to what we are saying, we need to be more creative about the forms we communicate in. Things like Podcasts, video reports, Slideshare presentations, persona flash cards can all help to make our reports more engaging. These formats also allow us to communicate findings in things other than text (e.g. photos, music, narration). This also helps us better communicate lifestyle related insights (see point 1) which can't always be replicated in text.

Storytelling

Matt had a great post this week linking to a Slideshare about storytelling by Joyce Hostyn. It's a great example about how powerful storytelling can be to share ideas. The great thing about qualitative research is that we talk to real people and figure out who they are and why they do the things they do. We tell stories for a living. Finding better ways to share our stories will make our reports more engaging and grab more attention from our clients. 

True Collaboration

I think the biggest development in qualitative reporting has to do with what happens after a report is delivered. It's the conversations we have with fellow researchers and our clients that go beyond the findings we prepared. These conversations inform future research, give us a better sense of client needs, and help us understand the areas that our report delivered (or failed to deliver) on. This interaction forces us be better at our job and helps us inevitably give clients what they really need. Finding more efficient ways to have these conversations and opening them up to as many perspectives as possible will be a great development (if you can stand it!)

Here is an interesting presentation on Slideshare.net that readers of this blog here might be interested in...  It's a (somewhat long) deck on storytelling that could be useful in thinking about the ways we all ask questions and communicate findings from qualitative research studies. 

Many of you may find this a bit "surface level" (particularly if you a qualitative researcher), but the way it's presented is pretty interesting...  Enjoy!

You’ve heard the news: Web (insert number) is here to stay. There are new ways to connect. Customers are talking about their experiences with your brand every day. There is this hidden, rampant conversation that you need to be a part of or else you will be left in the dust. Great - if you are talking about huge public communities or aggregating conversations from hundreds of separate resources, but what about smaller, private online communities?

Reality of Online Communities

Let’s be honest. In private communities, even at sizes in the thousands, are people consistently talking about you without direction? And, more importantly, are the things they are saying revolutionary or completely changing the game for you? We know community engagement typically spikes in the beginning and even in a heavily facilitated environment, tends to trail off over time (without proper refresh measures), so how durable is this unprompted conversation? Even by conservative estimates, <10% of people blog and <10% of people create discussions. These numbers will increase, but where does that leave us in the research community world today?

Real Customer Insights from Community

In a perfect world, we as researchers could sit back and listen to these conversations as they happen and dazzle our clients with the customer insights that emerge. But, reality is just a bit different. It takes work. It is about researchers/moderators crafting exercises that dig deeper and are truly in touch with the needs of their clients. It is about mapping and planning very specific exercises to meet client expectations, but also being able to adapt on the fly if needed. It is also about creating an environment that fosters creativity and aligns people with a common purpose so that the content they create has a chance to be insightful. I’m not saying that unaided ideas and feedback/conversation won’t happen… just that we can’t sit around waiting for it to happen.

Reporting Customer Insights

I’m all for listening, but I think it is as much about the “activities” that elicit conversation as it is the tools/venue of expression. Oh yeah, by the way, this is only half of the equation - what about community reporting? How are you experiencing the insights? Who at your organization has access? If these conversations happen but there are only a few people listening, doesn’t that defeat the purpose? More on this in future blogs. Sorry, I need to lay off the coffee and hop down from the soap box. In case you are wondering, winter has hit the Northeast. It’s not my fault!