Online Communities

Online communities are the ideal structure to combine the continuous high need for quality insights with pressures on internal insight team's resource and budget, especially if running longitudinal studies.

Our conceptual approach is based on ensuring different data collection methodologies are integrated within a common framework in which each draws on a common , pre-recruited and profiled database of respondents.

These respondents remain available for engagement in the research over the life of the project, and may be asked to participate in multiple data collection activities.

 

 

Benefits

1. Online communities will allow for faster distribution of "insight" within an organisation, allowing for faster, more targeted responses to activities in the marketplace.
   

2. An online community will represent a significantly more cost-effective and flexible data collection environment than separate streams of resource managed on an ad hoc basis.
   

3. Community database collects and holds key profiling data about each recruited participant on the basis of which respondents can be invited to participate in specific research projects.

4. Online communities provide the opportunity for organisations to engage more directly with their key customers and other audiences than has been possible previously.

5. Online community portal to update client with progress reports, research findings, summary of emerging issues & other relevant messages.
   

 

Typical Problems Businesses Face
 

• Continually having to recruit for new participants for ad hoc research projects is labour intensive and prevents ability to develop on-going relationships.

• Find it difficult to involve customers in new customer orientated decision making initiatives.

• Customers are not as engaged with the business as they could be, so retention levels may drop.
   

 

Clear Advantages

Creating an online community will provide a clear and distinct advantage over your competitors.

We believe there is significant potential for customers to feel more closely involved with an organisation and have the ability to influence that organisation on it's products, services and communications.

We see the community more as an engagement platform, a two -way communication tool between customers and the organisation, enabling you to keep ahead of your business rivals.

 
 

How It Works

 

In simple terms the key target audiences are pre-screened and then invited to become members of an online community.

 

Each project scope is very different and setup can vary considerably which reflects in the workings of an individual online community.

 

 

Main Benefit

By drawing on a single pre-recruited community or respondents, a valuable longitudinal dimension is introduced to the research process.

This contributes to superior results in terms of depth and quality of contribution  compared with ad hoc recruitment of participants to individual research tasks.
 

 

Checklist

When looking for someone to build online community solutions, here are some of the characteristics to look for:

• A company with an understanding of and experience in online research and customer segmentation

• Thorough understanding of eCRM structure and modelling