Affordable Focus Grouping Through Online Surveys

Whether you’re confident in your ability to construct an engaging online survey to get more information from your site visitors or new to the notion of online software and all it can do for you, online surveys are a great alternative to traditional focus groups.

The process of rolling out any new product can be exhausting – there are hundreds of hours of planning, research and development leading up to the first samples being available. And once you’ve got those samples to hand, you need honest feedback from people matching your target demographic – which isn’t always easy to come by.

What’s a Focus Group?

The traditional approach is to consult a marketing or research firm, who can assemble a group of people broadly representative of your target market – a focus group. Your chosen agency will distribute your samples or concept to the participants, then ask them for feedback on the topics you’ve indicated are important to your project.

The feedback can be invaluable – but getting it can be expensive and time consuming. And, as many seasoned business owners know, when you’re steaming toward a new product launch, time and money are two things likely to be in short supply. This is why savvy business managers are turning to online surveys to obtain that vital, pre-rollout feedback on new products and services.

Online Surveys Can Help

You could spend hours wading through brochures and recommendations from firms offering focus-grouping services, and then spending even more time trying to negotiate an affordable fee. Or you could channel a few minutes of time into creating an online survey to retrieve the information you require.

Advanced online software allows you to design a survey that will produce results similar to those you get from traditional focus grouping. Because you control every aspect of your online survey, it’s easy to ensure that you’re asking the right questions to the right people in the right way. Use your existing client database, or a random sample of those who visit your website on any given day – whichever best suits your research needs. You can even include a standing link on your homepage inviting people to participate if they’d like to contribute to your research process.

Getting the Best Results

Before you design and launch your online survey, you’ll need to know what you need to know. It sounds ridiculous, but it’s true. Establishing a list of questions is much easier if you plan ahead – so consider what it is you need to learn from your respondents, and design your questions accordingly.

Similarly, you’ll need to ensure you are inviting the right participants to take your survey – if you’re launching a newsletter for women, there’s little point in surveying men. A good online survey software provider will give you access to tools that help you whittle out participants who won’t provide the sort of information you need. One way to do this is by using a pool of existing clients, another is by designing your survey to weed out unwanted respondents. For example, in the beginning, asking a question like, “are you a regular customer” will allow you to tailor the subsequent questions so you can learn either what the person regularly purchases or why they don’t regularly buy from your shop.