July 8, 2015

Keeping up to date with Research developments

By Paul Laughlin

researchDespite training on the full breadth of Holistic Customer Insight, I’m finding that one of my most receptive audiences are research teams.

These fine folk seem particularly keen to catch-up with latest best practice and master using their research in collaboration with analytics & data developments.

So, in response to such a warm welcome & keen learners, today’s post is dedicated to sharing news on research practice.

Here I share three  ideas & concerns raised by three different sources for staying up-to-date on research methods. Quirks Magazine, GreenBook Blog and  Marketing Experiments Blog are all sources that  I’ve found helpful to follow. So, let’s share one update from each.

The first update to catch my eye was this great article on how improvements in eye tracking technology make that research method more usable than ever. The advent of wearable eye tracking devices to deliver real world, in context, shopper/customer insights is very promising. I’ve already seen the power of eye tracking as evidence for comms testing in FS and for where to focus (excuse the pun) when improving comms in light of behavioural biases. These continued technological improvements bode well for more innovation & application.

http://bluetoad.com/publication/?i=263497&p=46

Another technological opportunity that has become a challenge for maintaining research methods best practice has been the growth of online always available sampling methods. The plethora of sites now pushing to their members opportunities to participate in surveys/polls means an erosion in the traditional discipline of quarantine periods. This useful article explains the issue more fully & is worthy of consideration when using such providers.

How The Emergence of Dashboard Sampling is Impacting Quarantine Periods

By Mike Misel The growth in push-suppliers in the MR industry has been exponential, especially in the US market, and will continue to grow and become a real force in the sample supply chain. This has been further consolidated by the emergence of dashboard solutions and advanced API technology to make the most of this movement.

Finally, it was encouraging to see this interview with leaders from VolunteerMatch,  is the world largest volunteering network. They have recognised the importance of research and customer closeness exercises guiding what is tested through database marketing experiments. Without such a creative input, shaped by staying close to customer interests & concerns, A/B testing can be reduced to optimisation of internal groupthink. Useful commentary on embedded video from Kayla.

The Importance of Customer Centricity in Evolving A/B Testing – MarketingExperiments

When we talk about A/B testing, we often think about it on a test-by-test basis. While this singular focus is beneficial, it overlooks testing’s role as an ongoing system for optimization.

I hope those were of interest. If you lead a research team, why not share with the rest of us what sites/blog/magazines help you stay up-to-date?