January 20, 2012
Integrated Data: Making Music from the Cacophony
By Leslie Warshaw, SVP, Custom Panels & Communities
Like thousands of instruments in a concert hall each playing a different tune in a different key, data is blasting at market researchers from myriad sources 24-7-365. Our challenge – and it’s a substantial one – is to turn this discordant noise into a poignant symphony.
As an industry, we’ve been grappling with this idea for some time. If you’ve read some of the blog posts making 2012 market research predictions, you’ve no doubt seen the term “integrated data” pop up. At Lightspeed Research, we’ve been practicing different approaches to this concept. In one program we combine social media measurement, custom online communities, a custom online research panel and ongoing brand trackers. This integrated research program provides daily access to customers’ lives, the ability to maintain deep, long-term relationships and the ability to pose questions quickly and engage in conversations as the need arises. This approach provides a holistic insight system that can be utilized throughout the organization to address critical business needs.
Another program links panelists’ observed online behaviors through clickstream analysis combined with survey data. By tracking how consumers search for products; for example, how much time they spend on particular web pages, which keywords they search, and which other products they research; and combining this information with survey responses, we provide a comprehensive view of what a marketers’ key consumer segments intend to do and what they actually do.
These are a couple of the programs going on now, and we are always working with our clients on innovative solutions to combine data from multiple sources to get better, deeper, more predictive insights. To me, the availability of so many new data sources – some established, some emerging and some yet to be imagined – is one thing that makes our work so exciting.
Category:Custom Panels, Future of Online Research, Integrated Data
Posted on January 20, 2012
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