Picture this. Twelve participants funnel into a stark, fluorescent-lit room. Armed with notepads and pencils, they are instructed to answer carefully pre-determined questions, have discussions, share their opinion and then just as quickly funnel back out of the room and on with their day. This is how traditional focus groups function. They take time and effort to gather people together, they can be costly, and sometimes produce inaccurate results. After all, people in traditional focus groups can be easily swayed by popular opinion or by what they think they should say. Now, switch gears to Facebook as a focus group. You have hundreds, maybe thousands, of people already assembled. They’re offering truthful feedback, not constrained to a list of pre-determined questions. They’re showing us in their actions (and words) what they want and need from a brand rather than telling us what they think we want to hear. It’s real, it’s unscripted and it’s extremely valuable. It’s valuable to help better understand your customers, to improve your products, and to guide your content strategy – ensuring you are giving them the information they want, when and where they need it.

2. MARKET RESEARCH
GETS SOCIAL

3. Traditional Techniques
Focus Groups
Interviews
Observation
Intercepts
Etc….

4. Traditional Techniques
Focus Groups
Interviews
Observation
Intercepts
Etc….
Challenges
Recruiting Participants
Getting The Truth
Multiple Locations
Costly

5. Why Social
Speed
Pure & Real Responses
Cost Efficient

6. Research Through Social
Social Monitoring
Observe the market in natural form to
obtain insights.
Online Community Research
Panel, quick reaction to something,
monitor interest (buzz) among loyalists.
Web Enabled Interviews
Qualitative interviews using web based
sharing applications or web-cams.

7. Social
Monitoring
Why
Discover and explore new product/service
ideas.
How
Observe the market in natural form to
obtain market insights on us and our
competitors.
What
Product Reviews, Forums, Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram

8. Social
Monitoring
Poor Product Review
What can we learn?

9. Social
Monitoring
Excellent Product Review
What can we learn?

10. Social
Monitoring
Forum Review
What can we learn from competitors?

11. Social
Monitoring
Forum Review
What can we learn from competitors?

12. Online
Community
Research
Why
Obtain quick reaction to something or
monitor interest (buzz) among loyalists.
How
Use of social media tools.
What
Private Groups, Public Groups

13. Online
Community
Research
Ariens Power Brush Promotion
Quick Response from Brand Loyalists

14. Online
Community
Research
Ariens Power Brush Promotion
Quick Response from Brand Loyalists

15. Web
Enabled
Interviews
Why
Conduct qualitative interviews without
being in person.
How
Use web-based sharing applications or
web-cams.
What
Skype
Google Hangouts

16. Web
Enabled
Interviews
Google Hangout

17. Social Market Research
Listen To Your Customers
Monitor Your Competition
Test New Products/Concepts
Social Product Innovation
Opportunities transcend across Marketing, Sales,
Customer Service, Engineering, and More.

18. What It Looks Like for You
• Monitoring Current Product and Competitive Reviews for
Trends/Themes
• Invite Fans to Join Private Facebook Group and Share
Product Development/Enhancement Ideas
• Weekly/Monthly Google Hangout or Tweet Chat to Explore
New Ideas

19. Let’s Talk