Use Cases for Online Focus Groups in Insight Communities

Why use online focus groups?

Market researchers are increasingly relying on technology to help collect customer feedback. As research grows to be more digitized and now that customers are more comfortable with using video as a means to communicate, there is a solution for replacing the in-person experience within communities: online video focus groups and IDIs. Bringing focus groups online allows researchers, product teams, and stakeholders more opportunities to find the necessary feedback while cutting back on time, travel, and overall expense without sacrificing the quality of feedback; and running them within a community can make the entire process seamless!

Advanced online focus group tools allow for research-focused features such as the ability to have backroom observers watch, as well as providing a robust set of moderator tools to allow for full control that traditional video chatting methods do not provide. In addition, automation in transcriptions and video recording with the addition of editing tools for highlights are high-end reporting capabilities. Overall online focus groups and IDIs allow research teams to secure deeper qualitative understanding of opinions and emotions which can complement or inform quantitative studies.

Use Cases for Video Focus Groups and IDIs in Insight Communities

Product & Concept Testing

Video focus groups can be used to evaluate new products or concepts to members that either own and use similar products or are interested.

For new products and concepts this can begin by first identifying what participants are currently using within a specific category to better understand current pain points and what is working best. This sets the stage for introducing the new concept or product. This could be simply verbalizing a concept description in its very early stages or showing a physical prototype to members. The objective is to learn whether to proceed with developing the concept or product as is, or making changes before launching.

For products that are currently in the market and aren’t selling or performing as expected, focus groups can be used to identify why customers aren’t purchasing and to "test" customers’ knowledge on product lines. These focus groups identify what changes need to be made to the product or concept to entice customers to buy and see what they know.

Advertising and Marketing Evaluation

Another use case for video focus groups includes advertising and marketing asset evaluation. This can include showing potential advertisements, commercials, and marketing materials to potential customers. The primary objective is to understand from the participants whether the messaging, including the imagery, conveys the right information as well as whether it entices the viewer to purchase the product or not.

Customer Journey Evaluation

IDIs and one-on-one interviews can be utilized to map out the customer purchase path. In these, participants can share their screens and guide the moderator through their purchasing journey when it comes to researching and buying online products.

Conducting this type of research through a one-on-one would allow the moderator to chime in and ask questions during the process and ask things like why participants are taking these particular steps. This can allow for deeper insight into customers' path to purchase and enable organizations to understand shopping habits.

How My-Take Can Help Make Your Next Online Focus Group a Success

My-Take’s advanced insight community platform offers video chat sessions to clients as well as those interested in SaaS ad-hoc studies. Our expert researchers are available for additional services as well.

Contact us today to find out how we can bring your study to life online!