Much has been said about utilizing social media for market research, such as mining tweets for customer input.  But companies can use the concept of a social network to conduct market research more actively, with market research online communities (MROC’s).  Also referred to as “focus groups on steroids,” MROC’s consist of a large group of people recruited to a private online platform to participate in research activities over time.

Companies use MROC’s in a variety of ways:

• Co-innovation: involving customers in the product development process.
• Longitudinal input: obtain information over the whole course of the decision-making process, or input about product use over time.
• Speed: since MROC’s are on-going, when companies need consumer input on a question, there’s no need to start recruiting research participants.  Answers can be available in days rather than weeks.
• Identifying trends: participants recruited for MROC’s are engaged, creative types of people who tend to be at the forefront of trends.

MROC’s are usually comprised of a few hundred people.  They require an on-going commitment, since participants need to be kept engaged.  This is done with a variety of online activities, such as online discussions, photo diaries, blogs, contests and surveys.  And these online communities may actually save on a company’s market research expenditures, since all of the company’s formerly disparate research efforts can be folded into one ongoing MROC.

To learn more and discuss the best ways to obtain input from your prospects and customers, give us a call at (818) 752-7210.