January 17, 2008

Biznology Blog by Mike Moran

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Which Customers Are You Listening To?

Glenn Gow brought to my attention a post he wrote a few weeks back that should get us all thinking. In it, he summarizes a recent MITSloan Management Review piece that upbraids most marketers for doing the easiest kind of market research: Listening to our existing customers. Instead, we need to hear what the entire market wants, not just those people that already buy from us.

The prescription given is for full market panels, which makes sense. Market research has always operated based on customer panels and ensuring that you cover your entire target market rather than just the folks you know makes perfect sense. In the past, I've written about online panels that might get you lots of coverage for very little cost.

And I agree with that, up to a point. It's critically important that we keep in mind what online panels are good for. They're good for getting to the "why" behind behavior. But they are not always accurate.

My problem with market researchers is that they are sometimes too wedded to the tried and true survey techniques they are familiar with. Market researchers need to get involved with Web metrics so that they can help analyze the treasure trove of information we get every day from our Web sites.

Market research needs to embrace all methods of learning about customers. Online panels are great, but let's also analyze what customers actually do in real-life situations.

Posted by MikeMoran at January 17, 2008 4:27 PM

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Comments

Its a catch 22...

Traditional market research firms don't see the power of web metrics. If they did, they'd be changing their business model. Instead, they have to bury their heads in the sand and try to preserve what they have.

Posted by: Craig Klein at January 17, 2008 11:36 PM

I know you're right about at least some firms, Craig, but I hope that others are beginning to see the light. The interesting thing about economics is that when you get so big that you forget to deliver what the market demands, economic forces shrink you until you remember. For blindest of these firms, that might be when they start to change.

Posted by: Mike Moran at January 18, 2008 8:45 AM

Mike,
I think you're right on the money here. We have broader market data than we often think. If your online conversion rate tracks on/around the averages (3% or less), you've got an audience of the 97% of folks who came and didn't buy to learn from, too.

Posted by: Tim Peter at January 18, 2008 9:32 AM

Good way to say it, Tim. And can we even look more broadly to search keywords people don't find us for and traffic to competitors' sites? What are these folks looking for that we lack?

Posted by: Mike Moran at January 18, 2008 11:23 AM