For B2B Market Research Professionals

The Online Panel Quality Wars: All Market Researchers Benefit — Especially B2B Tech

by Brad Bortner, November 20, 2009

At the same time that online quantitative research has taken off, dubiousness abounds about the representation of the online panel sample. Buyers ask: Are panels representative of the markets researchers use them for? What can we do about the moral hazard . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

What Type Of Market Research Online Community Vendor Should Tech B2B Market Researchers Use?

Three Choices Exist, Dependent On Budget, Usage Pattern, And Support Needs

by Brad Bortner, November 19, 2009

Market research online communities (MROCS) are the next wave in qualitative research, due to their combination of new qualitative research capabilities and ability to provide cheaper faster results. There is, however, buyer confusion about what type of . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

Do B2B Customer Satisfaction Right In Tech

Implementing Four Key Disciplines Will Save You Time And Money

by Brad Bortner, October 27, 2009

Business-to-business (B2B) customer satisfaction research is not some sort of rare, exotic research. The same benefits of highly satisfied consumer customers will come to those who execute on actionable B2B customer satisfaction research, including enhanced . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

A Simple B2B Segmentation To Increase Revenue

by Brad Bortner, July 1, 2009

A usable market segmentation analysis is one of the keys to any market-driven company's success, yet many segmentations fail. This is troubling not only because these types of failures tend to be expensive, but also because the need for organizational . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

Watch Out For The Landmine Of B2B Online Research

Challenge Vendors, Consider Geography, And Confirm ID To Succeed

by Brad Bortner, April 17, 2009

Business-to-consumer (B2C) online panels have taken off in the US and are gaining steam elsewhere. But business-to-business (B2B) online panel growth has been more fitful because there are fewer business decision-makers who wish to join panels, and incentives . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

Market Researchers Demand High Panel Quality

New Initiatives Can Help With Quality — Particularly With B2B Sample

by Brad Bortner, April 3, 2009

The rapid embrace of online panels as a primary method of quantitative research in the US and Europe is a Faustian bargain. Online panels enable cheap, fast insights, but the quality of respondents is a concern. This concern is exacerbated for B2B, where . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

Fused Research Modes Will Save You Money

How To Master The Faster And Cheaper Imperative In Stark Economic Times

by Brad Bortner, February 24, 2009

The economy is both eroding financial wherewithal to conduct market research and putting a larger burden on market research professionals to identify successful markets. While vast economies have already been realized in quantitative research using online . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

Role Insights: Market Researchers Struggle For Strategic Relevance

Align With Internal Clients' Business Needs And Prove Value To Be Valued

by Heidi Lo, Brad Bortner, January 7, 2009

Results from Forrester's Q2 2008 Global Market Research Organizing For Influence Online Survey show that many market researchers have not been able to position their market research groups as strategic partners within their organizations. Market research . . .

For Consumer Market Research Professionals

Predictions 2009: What Happens In Market Research?

When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Innovative

by Brad Bortner, December 2, 2008

Tough economic times will actually serve to turbocharge the "faster, cheaper, better" changes that have been revolutionizing the business of market research — but expect an increased emphasis on "cheaper." To save dollars in 2009, more firms will use . . .

For Consumer Market Research Professionals

Market Researchers: A Compass In The Financial Sandstorm

A List Of Must-Read Research To Help You

by Brad Bortner, November 17, 2008

Things are not looking good for the economy: Although the first half of 2008 showed a steady pace of technology spending, that pace is not continuing. In a down economy, businesses face tough decisions and inevitably look to cut spending. For market researchers, . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

IBM's Focus On Actionable Insight Paves The Way For Market Intelligence To Be A Strategic Partner

by TJ Keitt, Brad Bortner, November 10, 2008

It is often difficult for market intelligence entities to gain strategic importance. IBM's market intelligence group is achieving this goal with a focus on delivering actionable insight that drives business decisions. To accommodate this, the market intelligence . . .

For Consumer Market Research Professionals

Best Practices: The Next Wave In Customer Satisfaction Studies Is CRM Integration

How Firms Move From Measuring To Fixing Customer Problems

by Brad Bortner, October 17, 2008

A rising tide of customer satisfaction research is also lifting the tide of another type of software enabled solution to harness these insights. They are enterprise feedback management (EFM) systems that combine elements of survey tools with tight customer . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

The Verizon Information Research Network Utilizes Technology For Strategic Impact

by TJ Keitt, Brad Bortner, October 17, 2008

The challenge of managing numerous research requests with a small staff is one that affects many market research organizations. Verizon's repository of secondary research, managed by the Verizon Information Research Network (VIRN), has adopted a robust . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

CSC's ResearchNetwork Provides A Road Map To Becoming A Strategic Partner

by TJ Keitt, Brad Bortner, October 8, 2008

Becoming a strategic player within the company is a problem that plagues many business-to-business (B2B) market researchers. Computer Sciences Corporation's (CSC's) ResearchNetwork is a group that has successfully made the transition from tactical entity . . .

For Consumer Market Research Professionals

Best Practices: Enhance Customer Satisfaction's Impact

Fix Satisfaction Problems, Don't Just Report Them!

by Brad Bortner, September 5, 2008

Satisfaction studies often cost a lot and consume vast research resources without ultimately improving business results. Why? The market intelligence organizations that conduct the research often take just a "reporting" approach, while the business units . . .

For Consumer Market Research Professionals

Best Practices: Why Customer Satisfaction Studies Fail

How To Drive Bottom-Line Success With Effective Satisfaction Research

by Brad Bortner, August 13, 2008

Spending on customer satisfaction studies continues to outpace overall market research spend in the US, and yet there is a generalized dissatisfaction with the value that companies get from such studies. They continue because there is an intrinsic belief . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

Inquiry Insights: Why Do So Many Roles Have Market Research Questions?

Market Research Professionals Should Take Heed Or Risk Losing Relevance

by Brad Bortner, June 30, 2008

Forrester receives a significant number of inquiries about market research from its clients. These range from best practices to the implications of technology for research approaches. Strangely, less than one-third of these inquiries come from clients . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

Is The Long Online Panel Quality Nightmare Over?

Yes — If The Industry Embraces Several Key Quality Initiatives

by Brad Bortner, June 9, 2008

Today, almost half of the quantitative research in the US is being conducted with online panels. While online panels provide vastly lower costs and increased speed, they also create heartburn and anxiety for market researchers because of the lack of confidence . . .

For Consumer Market Research Professionals

Why Good Segmentations Fail

Five Steps To Have Segmentations Drive Business — And Your — Success

by Brad Bortner, May 6, 2008

Segmentations are the crown jewels of market research — they can provide organizations with deep understanding of particular customers' needs and wants, allowing the firms to align themselves to maximize success in the market place. A well-crafted segmentation . . .

For Consumer Market Research Professionals

Will Web 2.0 Transform Market Research?

Yes — But High Cost Will Mean That Firms With Big Budgets Lead

by Brad Bortner, April 24, 2008

Market research online communities (MROCs) will shock the qualitative market research world. They provide cheaper, faster, and newer types of insights that today's traditional qualitative research modes, such as focus groups, don't currently provide. . . .

For Consumer Market Research Professionals

Does Declining Research Projectability Matter?

Yes, But Not As Much As You Think

by Brad Bortner, February 22, 2008

Conventional wisdom holds that online panels are inherently problematic in supplying projectable findings to the general population — online and offline. Critics assert that online panels aren't representative and that new types of dirt in the data — . . .

For Consumer Market Research Professionals

How To Select A Market Research Portal Approach

Choose From Three Popular Approaches

by Brad Bortner, TJ Keitt, February 1, 2008

Market researchers tell us they want their rich and plentiful research data to permeate their firms — fueling strategic and tactical business decisions. Many market researchers are turning to a market research portal — a single Web interface that provides . . .

For Consumer Market Research Professionals

Professional Survey Takers: Still A Threat!

How To Reduce Corruption Risk From Voracious Online Survey Takers

by Brad Bortner, January 22, 2008

Professional survey takers (PSTs) are the potential Achilles' heel of the online panel industry. This issue was thrust into the awareness of the market research community almost three years ago when comScore indicated that its behavioral tracking panel . . .

For Consumer Market Research Professionals

Segmentation: The Allure And The Risk

Seven Ways Segmentations Fail, And The Best Practices To Avoid Them

by Brad Bortner, January 10, 2008

Savvy market research professionals understand the great promise of organization alignment and marketplace success that segmentations provide. Unfortunately, Forrester hears of many segmentations that fail. This occurs when organizations either fail to . . .

For Consumer Market Research Professionals

Top Market Researcher Predictions For 2008

by Brad Bortner, December 31, 2007

The market researcher profession continued to be redefined by the Internet in 2007. The rise of online panels, industry-level attention to the lack of standardization of online metrics, and the much talked about Web 2.0 communities for research set the . . .