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“But I’m a small business owner. I don’t have time for research,” you say? On the contrary, you do and you’d better. In this tag-team presentation, GDC’s Marketing Manager Elizabeth Anderson and Cultural Anthropologist/Ethnographer Tim Craig, Ph.D. will walk you through how anyone on any budget in any time constraint can easily make use of the best research available. Tim will talk about conducting primary research (through simple, quick focus groups and interviews) and validating secondary research so you don’t take some reporter’s skewed interpretation as fact. Elizabeth will show you how easy it is to utilize social monitoring and website analytics that will assist in collecting data, as well as how to make sense of all those numbers. And together they’ll show you how these two processes can work simultaneously and continuously. That way, your customer insight will be as informed, relevant and constant as all your other business operations.
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SOUTH TEXAS WOMEN’S BUSINESS CENTER
WOMEN’S BUSINESS SYMPOSIUM
USING RESEARCH TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS
SEPTEMBER 1, 2010
INTRODUCTION
INSPIRE
CHANGE “
” Tim Craig, Ph.D.Cultural AnthropologistGDC
Elizabeth AndersonMarketing ManagerGDC
Anthropology & Marketing, What’s the Connection?
•What is Cultural Anthropology?
•Ethnography–‘grass roots’ approach—don’t speculate, ASK the consumer
•Many ethnographic methods–In-depth interviews–Focus groups–Random on-the-spot discussions–Send ahead exercises–Social media integration
Research Cycle—Circular and Continuous
Strategies and Tips (general)1. State your research goals immediately
2. Use the web — find out what’s out there, what’s been done, gaps, use what’s been done for your benefit (data)
3. Apply findings to your studya) Case study: Hybrid Mom transition from woman to
mother and her changing habits/behaviorb) Perceptions drive decisions and purchasing behavior
4. Use common sense — You cannot apply the same strategies/methodologies for research on cancer patients and doctors with research on shampoo branding and sales strategy.What’s the point? Look for: cultural/emotional/identity triggers in
addition to pragmatic solutions to drive your business
Strategies & Tips (Methodological)
• From IDI’s to quick surveys to focus groups; capabilities continue to grow with technological advancements
– Still, there is value in the old school
• Both qualitative and quantitative applicationsCustomize approach according to the data you seek AND the
audience you are targetingo e.g. hybrid methodology utilizing two or more methods
tailored to fit any size project small business to enterprise level corporation
o Case Study: Physician’s study
Strategies & Tips (cont.)1. Surveys yield quick and inexpensive data
a) Easy creation: Surveymonkeyb) Easy to reach out: newsletter recipients, customer
database, blogging groups, Facebook/Twitter accounts, Craigslist, etc.
2. Redundancy – ask the same question in different ways to verify consistency
3. Qualitative questions at the enda) Yields comparative datab) Consumer can answer questions in their own words
4. Further participation question
Strategies & Tips (Methodological)5. Talking to the people
a) Interviews—meet in consumer’s comfort zone (e.g. home, work, restaurant, etc.) more comfortable chat openly and freely
- Observations can validate or invalidate what person is saying/doing – Cultural Identity
6. Send ahead exercisesa) Photo/video/written journals, mobile/text uploads, etc. Techb) Mapping exercises – map out daily actions with comments
(interactions, retailers, etc.)
7. Incentives—offer contests to save moneya) e.g. target gift card contest
Red Flags for Secondary Sources
• Don’t take one article/source as gospel
• Legitimate source—watch out for the web - e.g. Wikipedia, bloggers, opinion oriented
websites, ulterior motives• Say versus do
- e.g. Case Study: Liquor Store
• Skewed data – people who fill in whatever answer just for chance at an incentive
Top 5 Lessons Learned • Record your conversations whenever possible—you cannot
remember everything!
• Observe, Observe, Observe—surroundings tell a lot about people and their behavior
• Direct translations can sometimes have bad results
• Be VERY clear about what you’re offering as an incentive
• People really do want to talk and be heard, you just have to figure out how to get passed their burgeoning skepticism
User-Generated Ideas and Research
Online tools enable businesses to betterunderstand real activity and realassociations users make every dayabout your brand/business and yourcompetition.
- Continually Monitor- Evaluate- Adjust
User-Generated Ideas and Research
There are a variety of simple to use tools that can helpyou:
- Locate your key words- Listen- Engage
Locate Your Keywords
To best manage your online presence, you must understandwhat people associate with your brand, and with yourCompetition.
Google Toolbox:• Wonder Wheel• Google Trends• Google Analytics
Wonder Wheel & Visual Search
Wonder Wheel cont.
Google Trends
Google Analytics• Easy to install on any site (big or small), provides invaluable
data for free • It’s not scary – online tutorials available
Tips For Using Google Analytics1. Think Trends vs. specific numbers 2. Allow numbers to normalize prior to experimenting3. Your data defines you – most website comparisons are apples to
oranges
Tricks of the Trade• Filter out your activity from the site. You want customer data, not
your data. Use your IP or domain as filter. If you have a business partner that also accesses site a lot, filter out their activity too.
• Grow into it at your own pace. You may not need to report on all the functions the tool offers. Baby steps.
Listen
• Web 2.0 and the rise of social media has introduced “user generated content” and it’s significant impact on consumer behavior.
• Understanding where the products, services, or related conversations that are of interest to a marketer are taking place within social media channels and communities is the key first step.
Listen
Listen
• Use social monitoring tools to keep an eye on what people are saying about your brand, your competitors and the keywords you previously identified.– Twitter– Facebook– Blogs
Twitter & Twitter Tools
• A variety of applications are available to administer your twitter feeds– Hootsuite, Tweetdeck etc.– Use these applications to monitor mentions as
well as keyword driven conversation– Before you can be a leader in the social sphere,
you have to be an intentional and diligent listener
Twitter cont.
• This just in: Facebook is not a fad– More than 500 million active users– 50% of all active users log in on a given day– Average user has 130 friends– More than 900 million objects people can interact
with (fan pages, groups, community pages)– Average user has 80 connections (fan pages,
groups)
Engage• With the information gathered through you user-generated
research you can formulate your “Rules Of Engagement”
– Where will we be? (must at least be on Facebook & Twitter, these should be linked to your company site)
– What is our social media persona?
– Now that we know what people are saying – what can we do to scaffold the conversation?
Engage
Tips for Engagement Marketing• Encourage two-way communication, ask open
ended questions, encourage consumer participation (share their experiences, post photos etc).
• Strive to be as personal as possible. A personal response and interaction deepens the consumers relationship with the brand.
• Be consistent with your “voice” and messages.
Continuously Monitor, Evaluate & Adjust
Follow Us
• gdc-co.com
• @GDCInspires
• facebook.com/GuerraDeBerryCoody
THANK YOU
Q&A
