Voxco will be at the CASRO conference: discover our new online surveying applications!

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The annual conference held by the “Council of American Survey Research Organizations” (CASRO) is a major event for the market research industry. This year’s theme “Strategies for Transformative Times”, is finely in tune with this period of intense change that we are going through.

CASRO Conference

These changes also amount to major challenges for the market research industry since its very existence is sometimes called into question: take another look at our article “Are you ready to find out more about your clients?”, which addresses very real cases. However, while these challenges are indeed at our doorstep, several CASRO presenters will explain how developments in technology and new data sources constitute extraordinary opportunities for market research. It is even said that we are in a “Golden Age” for this industry. Isn’t this exciting?

Another very interesting aspect of the program is the meeting with two of the leaders in social media, Facebook and Google. This is an excellent opportunity to learn more about one of the hottest topics of the moment. It will enable you better assess the benefits of our social media monitoring solution, Acuity4 Social.

At Voxco, we are very pleased to participate in the CASRO annual conference, and we invite you to come and see us there to discuss our applications for online surveys, multichannel data collection, mobile surveys and social media monitoring. We have just announced Actuity4 Survey version 4.5, our online survey software, so you can take advantage of this CASRO opportunity to learn about our new features for respondents using smartphones and tablet devices.

There will be many participants, so it would be best to reserve a time slot to come and chat with us!

Have a great conference, and looking forward to meeting you in Arizona!

Posted by Eric Perreault

Online Surveys VS Phone Surveys, Which is Best?

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There’s a lot of noise about the validity of online surveys these days. People questioning the reliability and accuracy of the results, the so called ‘error margin’, samples sizes and panels, and so forth. We’ve all read about it, and it can get pretty confusing.

Let’s clear some stuff up, shall we?

All online research is not the same. Just because fruit grows on trees, that doesn’t mean that all fruit that grows on trees is the same. Just like fruit, there are a variety of online survey types. Facebook polls, for example, are not meant to be used for serious research purposes, only for entertainment.

True market research requires methodology, scientific principles, oversight, and a plethora of other aspects. This holds true whether the survey is online or offline.

Telephone Surveys VS Online Surveys

What makes one survey more accurate than another? That is the question that people should be asking. Accuracy and reliability of data is the short answer, the long answer consists of the ‘why’.

It doesn’t matter ‘how’ you conduct a survey or a poll (online, offline, interception, etc.), it just matters that you follow and understand the rules of the art. We often see pollsters (political in particular) conducting very similar surveys, yet it happens quite often that each firm arrives at different results. Why is that? If I’m asking aß similar question to 1000 people, shouldn’t the results be statistically similar if I ask that similar question to another 1000 people?

No, the truth is that ‘similar’ questions are not ‘the same’ questions. Similar market research firms are not ‘the same’ firms.  Similar pollsters are not ‘the same’ pollsters. The truth is, when it comes to research, everything is in the details.

The Phone Survey Explained

Telephone surveys and polls work in the following way. First, draft up a questionnaire. The questions should be designed by a specialist who understands how questions work, for just as with everything else in surveys, it’s about minimizing error. “Do you like X brand or politician?” is a completely different question from “Would you buy X brand or vote for X politician?” The wording matters.

After making sure that the questions are neutral and don’t ‘lead’ the respondent, tackle sample. For the telephone, this means selecting a few thousand phone numbers in strategic locations which, in theory, could be projected upon the whole population.

(Note: there are many different types of surveys, some have lists of pre-selected eligible respondents (Doctors, Professionals, people between 24-35, etc), and some survey typed are called probabilists (these are the most reliable phone surveys, because the sample is truly random). More on this in later posts)).

Then the survey is programmed into a CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing) software, and the telephone interviewers get to work calling people.

Online Surveys Explained

For online surveys, the process is similar, first we design the questionnaire with the same neutrality as the phone questionnaire, but then, instead of random phone numbers to represent the population statistically, we turn to panel management software, such as the excellent one provided by CINT, and select a sample (or Type) of people from the panel list that represent the group(s) of people whose opinion or input we seek. Then, a questionnaire is programmed into an online survey program, like the one provided by Voxco, an invitation is sent to the panellists, and they answer the survey online.

The Difference Explained

For a typical phone survey, say a 15 minute, 1000 completes survey type with a completion rate of 2 per hour, and a deadline of 5 days, we need to complete 100 survey hours per day, and at 5 hours per shift, that equates to 20 telephone interviewers working per day on that project.

Not all telephone interviewers are created equal, some are great at their craft, and can complete 4 surveys per hour, some are terrible and can barely manage 1 per shift. We’ve all been called by a telephone interviewer that was so bad, so incomprehensible, rude, in a bad mood, that we asked to speak to their supervisor to complain. We’ve also all been called by those really good ones that even convince us to do the survey during suppertime simply because they’re that charming.

On the phone, people don’t always answer the same way to each question simply because the person conducting the survey on the other line is either good or bad, charming or boring, conforming to MRIA rules and guidelines or not, called you when you were in a bad mood, or during supper, or too early or too late, and for a plethora of other reasons. That, even though it’s being supervised, causes errors in the results for which ‘the margin of error’ doesn’t account.

Alternatively, even though we circumvent the ‘human aspect’, online research also contains some inherent flaws. For example, you can never be 100% sure that the person to whom the invite was sent, is truly the person answering the survey. Also, some research has shown that not everyone answering an online questionnaire takes the time to read the whole question before answering. Additionally, the general response rate is lower when using online research, and professionals (Doctors, Architects, CEOs, etc,) are quite harder to poll.

So What’s The Best Solution?

Well, that all depends on the type of survey you’re conducting, but generally speaking, if you’re looking for precision, the Mixed Approach is hands-down the best solution.

The analysis of the results gathered by a mix of online and offline surveys allows for greatest reliability of data. (Note: The analysis of survey results (online or offline) is just as responsible for accuracy as the survey itself. More on this in later posts).

By using both methods, online and offline, not only are you getting the best of both worlds, but you’re actually double checking your results using two different, and independent techniques. The mixed approach, in our ever-evolving electronic world, is truly the answer to all your research questions. Both techniques are complimentary to each other, and their weaknesses and strengths are often mutually exclusive, which is why, conducting both simultaneously, yields the most precise and reliable results.

This is a fascinating subject, and in the coming months, we will be exploring it, as well as methodology, phone room management techniques, online sample management techniques, the margin of error, and many other subjects related to the online/offline survey reality.

Meanwhile, if you have any questions about online or offline research services, software, or techniques, please don’t hesitate to give us a call. Also, if you have a chance, come and see us at CASRO Annual Conference (2012, October 8-11), we’d love to meet with you face to face and in this online world, shake hands. We’ll be answering questions and presenting many state-of-the-art research products, and would love to get your insights, comments, and opinions.

Until the next time!

Posted by Eric Perreault

For a customer satisfaction survey to be useful, listen to your employees as well!

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Several studies make the point: customer experience and employee commitment are strongly correlated. To put it another way, employees who are happy in their work will go that extra distance to make the customer happy. The diagram presented in this study is revealing: 75% of the employees of customer experience leaders are moderately or strongly motivated in contrast to 30% in less performing companies.

The benefits of a strongly motivated team go beyond impressive scores in satisfaction surveys. As shown in this article, revenue per employee in an Apple Store is  $473,000 compared to an average of only $206,000 for retailers in the same sector. However, as it points out, even if Apple’s formula is fairly classic (sufficiently high salary, selective recruitment, careful training), this is not a domain for sleeping on your laurels since difficulties can quickly ruin the party.

Under these conditions, it is crucial to frequently check up on troop morale. Many companies conduct an employee satisfaction survey every year or two. The term ‘Voice of the Employee’ is increasingly used to designate this type of survey, Xerox Corporation certainly uses it.

While all types of surveys present their own challenges, employee opinion surveys bring particularly delicate ones. The fact is that the employer-employee relationship can easily produce conditioned responses “to please management” rendering the results valueless. To counteract this tendency, the company must be transparent with regard to its intentions and methodology. Respondent anonymity is a key success factor, and must be clearly established. This is one of the principal reasons why many companies choose to entrust the exercise to an external research agency.

On the other hand, it should not be assumed that a satisfaction survey is sufficient to keep an ear on employee relations. As can be seen in the Xerox report quoted above, what is needed is a global view of the situation together with initiatives to start discussions about those issues which require changes or improvements. Experts in organizational performance underline that it is the employees, who experience these problems every day, who are able to propose solutions that will effectively contribute to organizational success.

To successfully undertake such a dialogue, it is suggested that one should start by establishing with employees the points that they consider the most important. This enables the motivational study to be focused in the right direction. Equally important is to conduct small surveys on chosen groups with a view to improving specific processes, for example installing new software. For this type of interaction some organizations favour direct discussions, but as pointed out by a human resources management expert one must not be afraid of new technology.

In this regard, an organization can easily use our Acuity4 Survey online survey software to quickly build the targeted surveys mentioned above. Software for monitoring the social media such as Acuity4 Social can also be useful for analyzing employee discussions and to better understand their concerns. Once deployed for your internal needs, these solutions can also be used to check up on the satisfaction of your customers – killing two birds with one stone.

Finally, as we discussed in a previous article, customer satisfaction surveys can produce useful results only if the right questions are asked: questions which match the real preoccupations of your customers. Your customer support staff are on the front line facing your customers. They are the ones to know what pleases and bothers them.

Why not put the questions to them?

Posted by Marie-Eve St-Arnaud

Are mobile users in a demographic class of their own?

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A survey conducted at the end of June 2012 by Harris Interactive revealed a significant difference of opinions according to whether collected from smartphone users or by traditional surveying methods. Specifically, 49% of mobile users opted for President Obama compared to 31% for his adversary Mitt Romney. Other surveys conducted over the same periods declare a much closer race.

In our article published last May Trends in mobile devices: not just new technology, but behavioural changes as well, we pointed out that in the US the proportion of smartphones is about the same as regular mobile phones. Adding to this, the firm comScore has just announced that the population of smartphone users in the US grew to over 110 million in July 2012. The sample is statistically significant. On the other hand, the spread of voting intentions clearly shows a difference in behaviour between ‘mobile devotees’ and the rest of the population.

One clue towards explaining the difference is to be found by looking at age categories.  The 18-44 age category figures highly among mobile devotees, while the most significant group is in the 25-34 category. Notable also, in the survey mentioned at the beginning of this article, is that respondents aged 18-34 were clearly in favour of the outgoing president while retirees showed the opposite.

Another clue is to be found in the demographic analysis conducted by the company Nielsen last May. While male/female proportions are well balanced, racial minorities are over-represented to a high degree among smartphone users: nearly two thirds of Asiatic Americans (67.3%) are skilled users of them, as are 57% of Hispanophones and 54.4% of Afro-Americans. What is more, this difference corresponds with Ethnographic analyses of president Obama’s electoral base.

Going beyond these demographic considerations, it is important to reflect on behaviours which are specific to mobile Internet users. For example, they make up the majority of people who are active in the social media. According to figures quoted in this article: 91% of mobile internet access is related to social media, and Americans spend more than 2 1/2 hours a day doing it. To say that social media play a major role in their life is certainly no exaggeration.

Once again, analyses such as Obama vs. Romney: Who’s winning the Facebook presidential race? show a clear superiority of President Obama in the social media. Whether it be in terms of the number of discussions, viral impact or the number of fans, the outgoing president overpowers his adversary. One figure says it all: in the course of a single month (May), 620,00 likes were posted on the president’s Facebook page! It stands to reason that this advantage will be reflected in the score for voting intentions when it comes to mobile users.

On the other hand, one must not lose sight of the dynamics of mobile users, not just those on the social web. They function in real-time, hence are likely to react and get excited whenever they feel confronted. This may be a developing trend in society, but it certainly has an extremely volatile effect. An unfortunate incident with a strong viral tendency can change everything.

As you can see, it is important to make the time and effort to fully understand the population of ‘mobile devotees’, they have a lot to teach us, and not only during the electoral season.

Have a great summer!

Psst… And have a look at our Mobile Survey Video!

Posted by Marie-Eve St-Arnaud

Mobile phones and marketing, a question of context

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In the UK, consumers are very open to mobile marketing, much more so than most firms imagine. According to an industry study ‘Velti and MobileSquared’, 55% of consumers are receptive to receiving communications about those ‘trusted brands’ which have gained their confidence. Clearly, there are limits to this level of trust. While consumers expect these brands to respect their commitments (the initial opt-in clauses), they nevertheless limit the number of such brands to 3, on average. Many are called, but few are chosen!

Even so, the conclusion of one of the authors is fascinating: “…our research shows that consumer demand for mobile marketing exceeds supply“. Despite the fantastic growth in mobile technologies that we spoke about in this article, firms appear to be reticent about jumping into this arena.

Basic human resistance to change partially explains this reticence. After all, research presented in the book ‘Immunity to Change’ reveals that even when cardiac patients are told that they risk death if they don’t change their lifestyle, only one in seven actually does so!

This resistance to change, however, is also a reflection of what happened fifteen years ago when on-line surveying first appeared. As well expressed in this blog posting, the issues of security, quality, and data protection are very similar, and will be regulated when we become more familiar with the technology. Nevertheless, despite similarities, there are differences, particularly in terms of proximity and even intimacy.

In fact, there are many people who use their mobile device in bed! What is more, this can be used to determine exactly where we are, information which is generally considered very confidential, but which is voluntarily shared by all users of the popular networking application Foursquare. It is also the ultimate ‘real time’ tool. As noted in the above mentioned article, it is not rare to see 80% of surveys conducted on mobile devices completed in less than two hours!

For marketing purposes these notions of proximity and intimacy support the key points identified for Web 2.0 interaction: context and pertinence. Consumers are interested in receiving messages which are pertinent to their interests, but are averse to receiving messages that bear no relation to their reality. The ‘real time’ aspect of social media and mobile technologies reinforces this point by adding the context in which they are used: a message must fit in with the user’s precise context at the moment it is received for it to be perceived as useful.

For marketers, while this is another handicap it is also an opportunity. By integrating various signals transmitted by users, for example through social media, geolocation services or interactions with a brand’s channels of presentation on the Web , it is possible to target promotions, surveys or recommendations with great precision. They will, as a result, be pertinent to the customers’ contexts, and thus especially effective. According to a study conducted by SoundBite Communications, 52% of respondents consider a mobile device superior to other marketing methods in terms of return on investment (ROI).

Certain practical examples are evident: studies aimed at obtaining information through a mobile application or device must absolutely function in mobile mode. If not, you will be acting like a company responding to an email with a fax – a big “fail“ in social media jargon.

Usage statistics can lead to even more innovative uses. It is known that 40% of mobile owners use them while watching television. Since they often make comments on social media about the programs they are watching, this represents a unique “targeting“ opportunity.

And you, do you follow your customers in real time?

The Voxco Team

What does a customer’s tone of voice express? Emotions!

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Customer service centers are likely be your organization’s most direct point of customer contact.  A customer’s voice, for them, is not simply an abstract concept, it’s something they listen to directly. Their objectives, however, are primarily defined in terms of effectiveness and cost control; so, It should come as no surprise that customer satisfaction is not their top priority.

A good example of this is the case of gaming software company Zynga’s support center, reported in Call Center Week. When Telus International was awarded its customer support mandate, it started out using traditional effectiveness measures. Since Zynga was aware of the crucial importance of satisfaction for its game players, it obliged Telus to take another approach. This required significant training effort, not only to achieve understanding of how the games operate, but above all to perceive them from the gamer’s (client) perspective. As Zynga’s Services President explains in this article, the gamers are emotionally involved in their games, and this has to be taken into account when interacting with them.

This doesn’t just apply to the gaming world, of course. Now that customers also hold forth in the social media, the emotive aspects of their postings take on more and more importance.

As Frank Eliason, author of the book “@ Your Service”, explains in an interview with Cynthia Clark, the essence of customer service is to treat our customers as human beings, and not numbers. It’s listening to them attentively and dealing with their requests in a respectful manner that will gain and keep their loyalty.  However, if customer service employees on the front line are obliged to operate according to ultra-strict procedures, this can quickly lead to dead ends and frustration. Frank Eliason clearly explains how customer support centers are often incapable of getting their organizations to make the changes necessary to improve the customer experience.

Even then, we hear numerous organizations boasting about their customer focus practices while there remain major gaps between what they preach and actually practise. This study from the Temkin Group shows that only 25% of the 255 companies studied achieve an adequate level of customer focus; not something to crow about!

The conclusion of the interview with Frank Eliason, cited above, is inspiring. It shows that simply reporting stories of unhappy customers can speed up decisions to make changes. Why? Simply because emotions expressed by customers are more powerful than rational arguments.

In fact, how many companies dress up their customer satisfaction studies with abstract performance indicators or dry tables of numbers? Instead follow Frank Eliason’s example and recount the experiences of your customers. Illustrate your report with concrete examples which put the numbers into context. You will be surprised by the result.

To validate directly how your customers perceive your service efforts (and those of your competition), complement your study with a social media analysis. Thanks to our Acuity4 Social tool  you can quickly draw up a sentiment analysis of your customers and bring significant cases to light.

Are you ready to share your customers’ feelings?

The Voxco Team

Are you ready to find out more about your clients ?

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Last November, the president of the US company Office Depot published an article in the prestigious Harvard Business Review questioning the usefulness of market research in his organization.

In brief, when he took charge of the company in 2010 sales were in decline. Sure, the US economy was suffering, but Office Depot’s sales were falling faster than their competitors’ or the retail sector in general. On the other hand, customer satisfaction ratings measured by an external service were increasing strongly. To understand this paradox, the president himself decided to play the role of anonymous client and make incognito visits to 70 of his stores.

Resulting from his visits he was able to confirm that the ratings were indeed correct, but also that they did not truly reflect the client shopping experience. Measurement criteria addressed aspects such as store cleanliness and shelf inventory, yet employees were neglecting clients and providing no help to those who could not find what they were looking for. In fact, employees were being evaluated on the measures used in the satisfaction questionnaires, and were doing exactly what they were asked to do. On the other hand the president’s anonymous visits prompted him to initiate an organizational change program which bore fruit.

Another article in the same magazine bluntly recommended that upper management not waste time analyzing market research reports. According to the author, they should rather be trailing their clients, and use direct observation to get a feeling for them.

Given such recommendations arising from a publication widely consulted by managers, should market research specialists be thinking of finding another job?

Let us take a step back in reflection. That a president and senior staff take the trouble to meet their clients is naturally good advice. However, how much time should they dedicate to this activity? What would be the appropriate sample size to observe? How could they find out the reasons why certain groups of people don’t come into their stores at all?

Returning to the Office Depot case. Yes, the president visited 70 stores, Yes, he discovered problems in the way they handled clients, and by correcting them he certainly improved the performance of his company. But, surely there are now other points to focus on info avoid falling behind? For example, has he thought about the behavior of visitors to his website?

The world is changing constantly. Individuals hence clients are always changing faster than organizations. Office Depot’s greater mistake was not to have questioned its performance measures. Not consulting market research specialists runs the risk of being stuck with feedback from just a handful of clients. Just think about the evolution of mobile technology, which we discussed recently. Can you fully understand its impact just by walking around a few stores?

Market research has one simple objective: understanding the behavior and motivation of current and potential clients. Attaining this goal is more complex than ever. Involving upper management in this process is part of the solution, but to forget the contribution of market research tools would be a serious mistake. To achieve this understanding we need more information, not less.

At Voxco we are proud to offer you with the tools to collect and analyze all this data, whether it be for traditional surveys, scanning the social media, or mobile surveys. By working with research specialists, you can make the best contribution to better serve your clients and develop your organization.

Are you ready to find out more about your clients?

The Voxco Team

Personal privacy and confidentiality – how important are these issues in market research?

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Google has recently modified, or unified rather, its privacy policy, giving rise to numerous discussions and critiques on the Web. Similarly, Facebook is another technological giant that has subject to sharp debates relating to the impact of changes in its interface on the confidentiality of its users’ data. It is clear that data confidentiality has become a very sensitive issue for internet users.

At the same time, this is an area which is difficult for organizations to master given the many changes which impinge both on the technology and user behavior. The TechCrunch blog has published an interesting article on this subject. It clearly illustrates the issue from Facebook’s perspective.  The Web is no longer simply a read-only medium, but a medium through which everybody can publish, and in which identifiable users have been replaced by anonymous ones. On the other hand, it is important to distinguish between public dissemination of group discussions and strictly private ones. Even when social media allow for such distinction, frequently users make errors and publish confidential information for all to see.

The market research world is certainly not excluded from this debate, particularly as its survey activities are increasingly conducted over the Internet. Organizations such as MRS (The Market Research Society) and CASRO (Council of American Survey Research Organizations) recently addressed this issue, and a series of recommendations concerning research on social media (Social Media Research Guidelines) is in the process of discussion.

To say the least, the opinion of research professionals seems to be very divided on this subject, as shown by the report on a Web round table in the Greenbookblog.org blog. They note the need to regain public confidence and to respect applicable legislation, but also the disparities that exist between the desire to establish rules and the operational realities of Web 2.0 and Social Media. The final summary contains three important points.

Firstly, it is very difficult to make sense of the forest of different laws and multiple privacy policies on different sites, let alone figure out how they might be interpreted by judges and lawyers in the event of legal conflict. Many laws deal with these aspects previous to the Internet and Social Media. Their application in this new context is extremely difficult to evaluate.

Secondly, we observe that even if many users may find it difficult to understand the implications of what they are disseminating on social media, the content which they are publishing is nevertheless their responsibility, and it is up to them to choose the appropriate settings when they use the media.

Thirdly, it should not be forgotten that the Web crosses frontiers and spans multiple laws which a far from being uniform and which are sometimes even conflicting. Can organizations settle for a least common denominator of simple basic rules? There is no easy answer to this question, unfortunately, other than a definition of them.

On the other hand, what is clear from this study, published in April 2012 is that any breakdown in trust bears severe consequences: more than two thirds of the 1,000 British consumers who were surveyed broke off relations with an organization which misused their private information. The issues surrounding personal privacy and the confidentiality of information should never be underestimated.

The Voxco Team

Trends in mobile devices: not just new technology, but behavioural changes as well

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The mobile device revolution is at a turning point from which things will change significantly. Do you doubt this? Take a look at the  following numbers. In 2011 more smart phones were sold than PCs. However, even though the number of smart phones in the US equals that of regular cell phones, globally this proportion is only 15%. It is estimated that in 2016 sales of tablets and smart phones will be 4 times that of PCs. In terms of internet access everything is going to change.

Note that these figures come from a publication, dated March 22, in which one of the conclusions is that Instagram (an application) is a remarkable example of success related to this mobile revolution. One month later, Facebook acquired Instagram, together with its 14 employees and more than 25 million users, for the lowly sum of 1 billion dollars. We can only conclude that users of mobile applications are enormously valuable to Facebook.

Perhaps you reckon that Facebook is being pulled along by a warped view of things, and that this acquisition is an act of folly. After all, they could have hired a team of developers and created an equivalent application for a fraction of the cost. But reflect for a moment on the following numbers. To get 1 million users it took AOL (the internet access services company) 9 years, Facebook (social networking) 9 months, and “Draw Something”, the latest mobile application of epidemic proportions, only 9 days! Can you see the acceleration effect?

As always, it’s easy to say that things are changing. But to predict the consequences of change is much more nebulous. At first sight, we are talking here about changes in technology: we are replacing a device, the PC, with another, a phone or a tablet. Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s not a replacement but an addition, or even a multiplication. In fact, more and more users in developed countries have a computer, AND a smart phone, AND a tablet device.

Forget the technology, it’s all about changes in behavior. Not long ago, advertisers used to plan on the basis of the number of TV viewers expected to be watching a particular program. The remote control has enabled viewers to change program on the fly. But if you think that this was the ultimate zapping tool, then read this. According to a study published this month in Adage magazine, new users change their media platform 17 to 27 times per hour, depending on their age category. The youngest among them, the “digital natives”, change media roughly every 2 minutes. In short, with mobile technology, the user is becoming a multi-platform browser.

To conclude, the use of mobile technology is now an established fact. However, beyond offering consumers an additional click, we need to understand them, accept their limited attention spans, and be able to follow them in their perpetual movement. To impose a particular platform on them is a guarantee of losing them. It is essential to offer them choices, to adapt to their rhythm, and to their preferred communication method of the moment. Our survey tools are ready for this new challenge, the consumers also. All that is needed now is your ideas and talent to forge ahead!

The Voxco Team

A Facebook survey can’t substitute for a traditional survey

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Many organizations have invested in creating Facebook pages to enable dialogue with their clients, employees or citizens. According to a study conducted in 2011 by CNW and Léger Marketing, 90% of American consumers (87% in Canada) are using this popular social network created by Mark Zuckerberg.

It’s perfectly logical, therefore, to consider adding a survey application to your organization’s page for the purpose of collection information. This will undoubtedly obtain data, but the real question is what decisions can be taken on the basis of it?

Facebook Survey

You may ask “If 90% of clients are there, why would the results not have the same value as a traditional survey?” Quite simply, because this high proportion, while impressive, hides a much more complex reality.

First of all, even if 90% of consumers are on Facebook, the above-mentioned study merely reflects that the majority are chiefly interested in conversing with their friends and looking for entertainment. Some of them, nevertheless, do follow certain brands, but their primary goal is to look for special offers, and not to respond to your questions.

You will certainly find it a challenge to entice these people to participate in your survey. You could, of course, achieve some success by offering a reward through a contest or draw. Obviously, there are additional costs associated with the operation, coupled with a risk of biasing the results. The respondents are unlikely to typify your targeted cross section of the population, and your choice of reward can easily skew the respondents. For example, offering an iPad is an attraction, but only for certain types of consumers.

Maybe you have thought of using Facebook profiles to get to know your respondents. Unfortunately, these are extremely unreliable. For example, it’s known that in certain countries 25% of 12 year-olds have a profile even though the minimum age limit is age 13. Facebook also has a known problem of false identifications, due to a variety of reasons.

Another point to consider is the actual dynamics of social media. This can be useful to you because, for example, it allows your most loyal clients to recommend your survey to their friends – an excellent method for propagating your study in “viral” fashion. However, some of them can also change into activists and recommend which answers to supply. It’s not just a matter of chance that the concept of “influencers” is present in all analyses of social media. Make sure that you seriously monitor the social web before analyzing your results.

As you can see, surveys conducted by market research firms still have a bright future. Besides, they still have more research to do, and that concerns the use of social media.

The Voxco Team