Marketing research on the internet

With the development of the global Internet, many new ways to reach customers and encourage them to buy a particular product or service have emerged. The original marketing mechanisms had their limitations - interviewers could only reach a certain number of people - call, visit few. The same was true of the outreach of radio or television advertising - it is received only by those who happen to have the radio and television on. The Internet has given completely new, basically unlimited opportunities to reach and influence the purchase decision of a potential customer. Based on the number of clicks, it is also easy to pick out the mechanisms that govern markets and the constant and seasonal trends that occur.  In a short period of time and at a minimal cost, companies are able to obtain a huge amount of information regarding the customer profile, competition and products offered on the market. Marketing research onthe Internet is currently the most popular form of obtaining information - it gives the opportunity to reach a basically unlimited number of consumers. This makes that their result can be much more reliable, and the correct conclusions will allow to take our business to greater heights.

What does online marketing research look like?

Internet marketing research takes a variety of forms. However, the most important thing in the context of any effort to check the reception of a brand or product image is a very precise definition of the target group. Only with such knowledge and by conducting a targeted marketing study on the group of people to whom the product is intended can one actually obtain information on reaction and reception. What is the profile of our customer? What are its habits? Is it a narrow group of people, or are we targeting the widest possible range of potential customers? It's all to be determined through online marketing research by observing, for example, direct competitors. If we don't have anyone to compare ourselves to, then we try to find a branch of the market that is as likely as possible to have customer behavior in the context of encountering our product or service. A good place to learn about customer opinions will be websites with the ability to leave comments on products. Of course, it is worth taking into account a certain margin of error and the fact that there are still people who appear anonymously on the Internet. However, many of us give our opinions in a matter-of-fact and specific manner, which makes it much easier to gather reliable data.

The next step of marketing research on the Internet are surveys on the specific preferences of our selected target customer group. They use one of the most popular and at the same time quick to implement forms which is an online survey. Some companies can prepare and start implementing such surveys actually within an hour. There are ready-made templates requiring only the application of relevant data. As a result, we get data in no time by marketing research standards. Their proper analysis and appropriate conclusions will allow us to get a good idea of the people who will potentially be interested in our product or the service we offer.

A very important tool that provides a lot of interesting information is an experimental study. To put it in a nutshell, we introduce, for example, a product that we intend to sell en masse and conduct an observation "on a living organism". However, this method is risky insofar as it requires some financial outlay. In order for such marketing research on the Internet to have a high level of credibility, it must be conducted on an appropriate scale. It will also certainly take some time, since the customer must buy the product or service, use it, and only then can the opinion be counted on. Interestingly, popular auction portals have a built-in reminder option to evaluate the purchased product. Running a store from within an already built ecosystem makes it easy to get consumer feedback. Just as important as conducting an experiment is the subsequent drawing of correct conclusions. For example - high sales of more expensive products and their favorable ratings among customers should prompt us to remodel our assortment, as it may indicate that our target customers are wealthier people looking for higher quality products. If, on the other hand, the research shows a much higher interest in cheaper products, then it makes sense to drop brand-name products, because in this case it will be better to sell more of the cheaper stuff than less of the more expensive stuff.

Advantages and disadvantages of online marketing research

Like everything, online marketing research has its advantages, but also disadvantages. It is important to answer the question of what we intend to research and to what extent.

1. Advantages of online marketing research

Among the most important advantages of this type of research is the price. They do not generate great costs. For the most part, they consist of applying data to already-ready forms and publishing the survey on the Internet. This is much faster than sending interviewers to homes or even calling random numbers. That's another advantage - you can get the results in principle within a dozen to several dozen minutes. All you have to do is post the relevant form on a forum or website. Companies carrying out marketing research on the Internet also point to the ease of archiving the data obtained in this way. It is enough to apply them to a server and you can return to them even after years. The same cannot be said of paper versions of surveys. Digging up specific survey results from years ago in a cardboard box at the bottom of the basement can be a real challenge even for the most thorough.

2. Disadvantages of online marketing research

Companies conducting this type of survey point to the challenges facing online surveys. First of all, there is uncertainty as to whether, in fact, the people taking part in an online survey should be considered the right target group for a particular job. Statistically, an Internet user is a young person, or at most a middle-aged person, living in a large city, often not working. The answers of such a person can often miss the actual view of the groups targeted by the survey. A certain safeguard is the large number of people who can take part in the survey, but from this group it is difficult to create something like a model customer - there are too many variables and diverse opinions. In addition, there is always the possibility of manipulating the results. Until recently, surveys could be made unreliable by the fact that one person could cast up to several hundred votes in them. Today, it is possible to block more than one vote from a single IP address, so the reliability of such surveys is definitely higher. The last disadvantage diagnosed by specialists is the possibility of Internet users deliberately indicating wrong answers. This issue is compounded by the fact that the "appearance of anonymity" is maintained on the Internet. Internet users are under the impression that their personalities are kept secret and they may be someone else online than they really are.

Is it worth conducting marketing research on the Internet?

The answer to this question is yes. First of all, because Internet users are very dynamic and active research participants. Realizing marketing research on the Internet, you can get a very large number of survey votes in a short period of time. Even if some of them should be discarded for reliability reasons, we are still talking about a large portion within the target group we can survey. As for online surveys - it's easy to arrange and conduct them yourself. However, if we put them in the hands of professionals, then the results may turn out to be more reliable and thus we get full knowledge of the issue raised in the survey. This is because they have access to a detailed database of respondents who can be selected based on the profile that fits the survey. So nowadays it can be said that marketing research on the Internet has gained more credibility than just a few years ago.