Audience Analytics Survey
Audience Analytics Survey empowers brands to gain a deeper understanding of
their current and potential customers to improve their marketing strategy.
Also, customer feedback is imperative on subjective brand related
strategies. This enables a company to understand how to create more
successful marketing and advertising campaigns.
Audience Analytics Surveys help you know:
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Who is your Target Audience?
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What kind of messaging and content should you use for specific groups?
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What type of campaign will generate the most engagement with the audience?
Audience Analysis can be branded or unbranded. Branded analysis specifies
and details the audience for a specific brand (Handset Category - Samsung,
Nokia, etc.), while unbranded analysis covers audience using staple
electronic type of product and related topics (computers, tablets,
technology, etc.).
For businesses, the best audience analytics gives a deeper understanding of
what compels consumers to support a brand or to make a purchase. While
apprehending the basic demographics of an audience is helpful, it isn’t as
powerful as understanding the complexities of consumer preferences related
to a brand and product.
Four Research Methods for Audience Analysis
Ideally, before launching a campaign or strategy, assessment of the target
audience is essential to make sure that all statistics provided are
appropriate and at the correct level.
The audience, also referred to as the end-user, will be the beneficiary of
any items produced and shared, so it is imperative to make sure that all
targeted communications oscillate towards that group. To attain this goal,
many communication professionals wield research methods for audience
analysis.
A.Focus Groups
One of the most common methods of qualitative research is hosting a focus
group.
Focus group is a widely used tool for gaining feedback regarding new
products as well as various other subjective decisions such as packaging.
Focus groups are usually used in the early stages of product or concept
development, when organizations are trying to create an overall direction
for the marketing initiative.
Focus groups allow companies seeking to develop, package, name, or test
market a new product, to discuss, view, and/or test the new product before
the launch of the product to the public. This can provide immeasurable
information about the potential market acceptance of the product.
Methodology
It is a discussion conducted by the moderator with the help of interview
guidelines referred to as ‘Discussion Guide’. The survey is usually carried
out across multiple attribute groups of 8 to 10 persons selected in
accordance with the research aims. The optimal time span of a group
discussion is 1.5 - 2 hours. However, upon customer's requirements, both
brief (up to 60 minutes) and extended (up to 4 hours) focus group
discussions are organized. The warm atmosphere created during an interview
and vitalized by the moderator allows disclosing participants' habits,
judgements, opinions, preferences, tastes, alliances, etc. Consequently,
the focus group discussion reveals mental maps, stream of consciousness and
untapped demands.
Quantitative parameters are excluded for focus group discussion results:
sample size is not required, and the error of the results is not estimated.
The subjectivity of the content, particularity and interpretation are most
important.
The groups are indicative of population’s preferences that are clubbed to
map the reciprocation of universe of different kinds.
B.In-Depth Interview
It is the data collection method, involving one-on-one interview of the
respondent by the moderator on the basis of a certain agenda on a topic. It
is a sizable and deep conversation that approximately takes 1-2 hours.
During the in-depth interview, respondent’s attitude, evaluations, beliefs,
preferences, enjoyments, associations, etc., are discovered. This interview
gives the opportunity to delve into the mentation, stream of consciousness,
and hidden needs or to find the innovative solutions for the problems. This
method is usually applied to the product, packaging, advertising, customer
satisfaction and expectation research, in addition to the experts’
interviews.
TechSci in-depth interview takes place both in the natural environment such
as respondent’s home or in the special studio with recording and observing
devices. The interview is being recorded, and at the same time the client
can watch the emotions and reactions of the respondent through the one-side
mirror.
How is interview data used?
Typed transcripts are the most utilized form of interview data. During the
analysis of data stage, after data collection, transcripts are coded
according to participant responses to each question and/or to the most
salient themes developing across the set of interviews. While data is still
being collected, researchers use expanded interview notes.
C. Central Location Test
Central Location Test (CLT) is a tool for product marketing tests conducted
in controlled environments, different from home-user tests, which take
place where the products would be used.
Under this test, research is organized in a location such as a shopping
mall or a place of public gathering. In this case, respondents would be
recruited to participate in the live event for trial of a product at the
mall and the research would be conducted and completed at that time.
CLT is measured as the most suitable technique for testing concepts,
products, packaging, advertising effectiveness and conducting sensory
research.
Central Location Test offers several key advantages vs. other approaches,
such as home-user tests to researchers. Some of them are:
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Since the environment is controlled, researcher can eliminate bias. For
example, all participants can be shown a series of products in the same
order, packaging, etc.
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Researchers can obtain candid “raw” feedback based not just on what
participants say, but also by what they do not say, and what their body
language conveys.
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Researchers can dig deeper by asking follow-up questions to participants
based on their reactions and responses.
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Researchers can test intangible concepts instead of, or alongside,
tangible products/goods, such as advertising messages, sensory impressions
and opinions (e.g. how participants perceive scents, etc.).
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Booking a suitable location (e.g. room in a shopping mall) is typically
affordable in most cities, and researchers have the opportunity to
interview and engage a large number of participants in a short period of
time.
The following questions must all be taken into consideration when planning
such research:
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Which method of conducting the test should be used?
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What location should be selected for the test?
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What criteria should be considered in selection of respondents?
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How should the respondents be recruited?
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How can respondents be persuaded to take part in the test?
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What criteria should be considered in selection of respondents?
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How should the respondents be recruited?
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How can respondents be persuaded to take part in the test?
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How can the appropriate level of control be assured during the test?
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How can the test be scheduled effectively?
D.Price Sensitivity Banana Study
Price Sensitivity is defined as the degree to which consumers’ decisions
are affected by the price of the product or service. Price sensitivity is
also known as price elasticity of demand, which helps measure the extent to
which sale of a product or service is affected. The extent of price
sensitivity varies depending on various products and consumers.
Homogenous goods are extensively available and are prone to show evidence
of price sensitivity.
BREAKING DOWN 'Price Sensitivity'
The price sensitivity of a product refers to the level of importance
consumers place on price relative to other purchasing criteria. For
example, a needy customer seeks good quality products and is different from
those who like to bargain.
The Price Sensitivity Banana (PSM) is suitable to determine the cost bracket
of any new products and services. PSM can be used in initial stages of
product development, to unveil the price thresholds and to check potential
buyers in the targeted price segment.
The objective of the PSM is to limit the acceptable price range as well as
identifying an optimum price.
Top questions are as follows (general), for any specific product:
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At what price would you think a product is too expensive to
consider?
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At what price would you think a product is so inexpensive that you
would question the quality and not consider it?
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At what price would you think a product is getting expensive, but
you still might consider it?
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At what price would you think a product is a bargain – a great buy
for the money?
On the basis of the resulting intersecting points, four price points can be
determined:
- Optimum price: It is the price where consumer’s resistance to purchase is lowest
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Indifferent price: The difference between the current price and the optimum price is inversely proportional to the customer’s price sensitivity.
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Lower price limit: Minimum price to be benchmarked to achieve breakeven
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Price upper limit: The price limit beyond which the product will be perceived as expensive
Audience Analytics Survey
Pleasing customers and achieving high customer satisfaction in a dynamic business environment is quite difficult. And even those who are satisfied with your products/services can leave you for better price or quality. Thus, it is crucial to keep a finger on the pulse of customer satisfaction through surveys and feedbacks.
Customer satisfaction survey provides the areas that require attention and long-term improvements. The results of the survey should be less churn rate, strong brand reputation, high market shares, and happier employees. The customer satisfaction surveys require a lot of time on building action plan, training, and implementation. Here is a breakdown of how you should conduct customer satisfaction survey:
- Who should be involved in the survey?
- What should be measured in the survey?
- What are the methodologies for carrying out survey?
- How should the customer satisfaction be measured?
Who should be interviewed?
If your brand offers products to different types of customers then you should categorize them by type of person, purchase intent, buying behaviour, etc. For instance, for determining the customer satisfaction of a truck manufacturing company, you need to identify the right person for interviewing, whether to consult the driver, the transport manager, or the general management of the company.
What to measure in the survey?
Make sure the kind of questions you ask in the customer satisfaction survey cover different aspects of business and address a variety of issues to see how the company is overall performing. Here are some of the common questions asked in these kinds of surveys:
- What is your overall satisfaction with XYZ company?
- How likely/unlikely are you to recommend products from XYZ company to your friends?
- What improvements would you like to seek from XYZ products?
What are the methodologies for carrying out a survey?
The tool kit for carrying out customer satisfaction survey boils down to three options such as face-to-face methods, telephone interviews, and online surveys. Each kind of methodology has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, one can always mix and match methodologies to gather the best insights. While doing a field survey, ensure that the interview should be carried out without disclosing the identity of a sponsor to avoid any kind of biasness. When carrying out the survey, explain the purpose of the research to the respondents.
How should customer satisfaction be measured?
Generally, when respondents are asked how they feel about a company or its products in open-ended questioning, they likely answer using a variety of objectives, which could be problematic to measure results from a large survey. To overcome this problem, market researchers tend to set a verbal or numerical scale to measure attitudes towards the company or product. Measuring satisfaction is not enough as the researcher also needs to determine customers’ expectations or the importance they attach to attributes to know what factors play a role in determining purchase action.