Market research (r)evolution

Companies still neglect vital product and business feedback found in social media. Agreed, it is difficult to get the message out of the massive noise. Therefore professionals must develop new ways on how to listen to customers' voice. The following process represents the (r)evolution of market research: Microblogs (i.e. Twitter) are a valuable resource and this is the process to be used:

Strategic listening steps with microblog Twitter.com
Phase 1: Screening phase (research)
1.    Tracking trends		Strategic listening
2.    Setting objectives and goals	Systematic design
3.    Identifying particulars
4.    Retrieving data	Data collection
5.    Processing data	Data analysis
6.    Delivering insights	Reporting
7.    Reflecting screening phase
8.    Setting up strategy for phase 2
Phase 2: Conversation phase (relationship)
1.    Resuming listening		Engagement
2.    Creating personal network (panel)
3.    Delivering valuable content
4.    Gaining deeper insights

Get personal and start now!

Observing companies and their culture evidently makes me think of a culture shift that is strongly needed. Companies will not be able to interact with their peers if they do not get personal. A colleague linked me to the following slides that illustrate perfectly what happens if companies enter the dialogue without adapting their behavior.

Personal means person with person, employee with customer, expert with beginner and not blundering giant with the crowd of sensitive prospects.

View more presentations from Miikka Leinonen. (tags: leinonen miikka)

Prevent yourself from copy/paste marketing

He is one of the marketing guys that critically comments on the scene. His article's abstract provides an insight that should make marketers listen up and rethink their practices:

"Today’s consumers are marketing literate. They are acquainted with the tricks of the trade. They can deconstruct advertising campaigns in double-quick time and are fatigued by marketers’ fake familiarity, bogus benevolence, pseudo concern, friendly firesales. Cognizant that consumers are cognizant of them, marketing executives have responded to this second-guessing game in four main ways – with irony, via nostalgia, through inclusion and by means of mediability. Taken together, these responses represent an alternative to the “modern” marketing concept of Drucker, Levitt and Kotler, one that is more appropriate to our postmodern, postironic, post-Enron epoch."

Thank you, Stephen Brown.

A new tribe: the "WEBAPP NOMADS"

Robert Scoble discusses the how much the world has changed in the past decade. Obviously social media have developed because of early adopters and passionate people. The wide range of webapps that has been launched over recent months and years and the opportunities arising from them are fascinating.

The Internet seemed promising from its beginning but nobody would have imagined its full potential - even today's users do not know where it will end up ... in quality offline relations, probably?

However, starting with simple one directional information websites the Internet developed to be a multidirectional networking platform enabling communication and relationship. Numerous social networking sites, blogs, wikis, microblogging services, social bookmarking, etc. have emerged on the Internet where people share their thoughts, experiences, bookmarks, and link their virtual identities with others. Seth Godin points it that way: “Social media, in fact, is a basic human need, revealed digitally online. We want to be connected, to make a difference, to matter, to be missed. We want to belong, and yes, we want to be led.” 

Many new site, mash-ups  and services require continuous moving and exploring. Users - especially early adopters - follow the new trends, use new tools and thus, I name them the WEBAPP NOMADS!

A qualified list of micgroblogs to find market intelligence

Today I wanted to start a list of micgroblogging services. Before I started I stopped! I instantly realized that an unqualified list would be a waste of time because it already exists. If you are not afraid of a huge list visit the Top 250 list of twitter clones sites. 

I therefore plan to compose a qualified list that offers microblogging tools to assist companies in finding market intelligence easily and focused.

Thanks for any suggestions and keep you updated. Don't expect the list immediately it will take some time - be fair with me!

Hesitate or engage!

Marketing strategies even in postmodern times are still often described conventionally. While many Marketers still think Marketing is about selling stuff and create good viral campaigns they do not listen enough to the customers. Online polls and conventional Advertising on Social Media sites illustrates that the medium may have changed but the old way is still dominant.

There will be some circumstances where the Internet lacks of reliability when listening to customers. But you must be conscious that the Internet is powerful - even if you might hesitate.

Do not upset prospective customers!

Opening a new thread in a discussion forum without having checked if the topic already has been treated will instantly uncover you to be a newbie and upset other forum users.

Likewise consumers will react if companies start surveying without having checked existing conversations. Market Researchers, thus, must rethink their techniques and take into consideration existing information. They must not start from scratch and ask boring questions that were answered long ago. Market Researchers must be part of the discussion, adopt the language of (prospective) customers, and engage in a dialogue.

Research teams therefore need people who participate in conversations and get sensitive for the word that spreads. They must look out for trends, weak signals, and understand the core of discussions. This ongoing process takes time. Ambitious companies rather start now even if they don’t now exactly what they are heading for.