When it comes to market research, the Internet is such a practical tool to use. In fact, you may already be doing it without knowing—keyword searches, asking customers for input—even reading trade journals and research statistics relevant to your industry already constitutes online market research. Other tools, such as questionnaires and feedback forms, can also help you gather information about your market.

Primary Online Research Methods and Tips

Indeed, the Internet brings a wealth of additional resources to help business owners conduct low-cost (sometimes free) market research. Of course, you’re going to need the help of Greenville, SC web design professionals to harness these resources effectively. In a recent article, Business 2 Community’s Alex Pejak presented “8 Tips for Conducting Effective Market Research Online”. Below are four of them:

Instant Community

 

An instant community provides very quick consumer feedback, reducing the time needed for research from weeks or months to just a few days.

 

Polls and Surveys

 

With polls and surveys, you can structure your research more effectively and collect specific information needed in your marketing campaign. Polls and surveys collect information that is more reliable as it explores several aspects relevant to your market research.

 

Social Media

 

Social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook have proven useful as online market research channels. Researchers can gain access to useful information about their products in a very short amount of time.

 

Online Focus Groups

 

With online focus groups, pre-selected candidates take part in a discussion that is crafted around a series of research questions. The participants in this kind of research interact with each other to offer important insights into the product or service.

How to Write an Effective Online Questionnaire

When it comes to creating an online market research questionnaire, a Greenville, SC website design expert can ensure your efforts conform to the following important guidelines:

Direct to the point – you risk losing your survey taker’s interest when you give them a long questionnaire. Limit your questions to a maximum of 25. This should take people five to seven minutes to complete.

Make your questions easy to answer – use close-ended questions where they can simply click on a button to answer. Avoid open-ended questions, or if necessary, keep them to a minimum.

Online market research boosts the effectiveness of an organization’s web strategy. Consult a leading web design company like Spark Local Marketing on how you can move your business forward with online market research tools today.

(Source: 8 Tips for Conducting Effective Market Research Online, B2C, September 11, 2014)