Marketing in Real Life

Earlier this week, I watched an AMA webcast on data quality and the role of questionnaire design in ensuring it. It was much better than most of the seemingly hundreds I have watched on this topic and had three main take-aways. Researchers need to take the time to construct a well thought out questionnaire that incorporates both research needs AND the respondent experience It is essential to pre-test new methods, question sets, and complex designs prior to using them in a live study Using technology and interactivity is essential, but make sure you are applying the right approach for the task. I couldn't agree more! Incorporating logical thought into the research process is key to higher quality and engagement and using technology built with engagement in mind (like Invoke and Vision Critical) makes the end result far more useful. Watch the webcast here.

Today I received invitations to a whole bunch of surveys through one of the leading panel providers. Two in particular jumped out and made me wonder if people really care about the quality of the people they are trying to research. First title: "FIVE DOLLAR SURVEY" Second title: "Do you travel?" Lets just say i left my 5 dollars on the table. This experience left me with three questions: 1. Do researchers just want completes or do they want people who are interested in the topic to offer their feedback? 2. Do researchers think people only take surveys for the money? 3. How much thought is going into the email titles and invitations that are such a critical component of the process? With all of the free expertise in email marketing available, researchers need to apply marketing best practices to email invitations. The quality of responses depends on it.

Taken from a full article in the SSI newsletter: As part of an SSI panel discussion at Insight 2007 in London recently they included Elaine Barker, a real member of the UK OpinionWorld community, shared her personal viewpoint on being a research respondent. Barker said she takes surveys because she enjoys it. "I'm a lady of a certain age and semi-retired now so it helps keep my mind occupied." SSI's research confirms that Barker is not alone. The majority of people surveyed in France, Germany, and the Netherlands are intrinsically motivated and say they take surveys because they want to give their opinions. Influencing decisions and the designs of products and services is also high on the list of reasons, as are incentives and sweepstakes. Still, survey-taking can be frustrating, and occasionally people drop out before they finish surveys. SSI research reveals that one reason people drop out of surveys is because of repetitive questions. In addition, respondents becom...