DIY Research Tools
Sometimes you don't have the time or budget to engage your favorite market research partner (hopefully MDRG). But that doesn't mean you need to skip the research altogether. There are some very simple, easy DIY platforms that can help you get data to make great decisions when you are low on time and budget.
You know you have the need for some quick research, but where do you start? Do you need qualitative research (like a rapid-fire focus group with your customers), or quantitative (a short survey sent out to a large group)? Let’s look at some DIY platforms reviewed by our team at MDRG.
For quick qualitative projects, we suggest trying:
- Remesh: An online conversation tool that allows you to conduct focus groups live - with up to 1,000 people! Real time AI analysis works as answers come in allowing you to compare segments and find themes quickly. You can also add images into conversations. Additional features include backroom collaboration, options to build your own questionnaire or use a template, and ease of downloading a report immediately into a PowerPoint document with a few clicks. Try this platform for foundation research, testing product names, brand preference, or even shelf placement testing.
- Ascribe: An online qualitative analysis tool which allows researchers to easily categorize open-ended comments through their robust verbatim coding management system. This platform can help you deliver high-level sentiment analysis of the text. This tool takes it one step forward and helps you visualize the verbatims and text into visual charts.
For a fast quantitative project, you might want to try:
- Upsiide: Uses Tinder-like swiping by participants to measure participants’ interest and engagement. This tool develops an Interest Score (number of people who liked an idea), Commitment Score (a favorite idea between two ‘liked’ ideas), and, finally, an Idea Score (composite of interest and commitment scores) using a gamified experience that keeps respondents engaged. This data is then laid out in a quadrant or idea map chart for easy analysis. This platform can help indicate which ideas hold strong interest and which need to be revisited. Try this platform for concept, message, creative, or package design testing.
- Pollfish: A mobile centric end-to-end platform with organic reach to respondents in more than 160 markets gathered directly through app developers and supported in more than 51 languages. They offer a simple 3-step set up, have AI quality checks to avoid bots and gibberish, and offer 24/7 support. Use this platform for A/B testing, finding net promoter scores (NPS), and concept testing.
- Perksy: A mobile-first survey design platform which allows for more insight into consumer behavior by reaching them during their daily routine. It can help you with hyperlocal research needs (e.g., only getting respondents from certain cities) and hypertargeting your audience by allowing you to segment 35+ demographic traits. Additionally, it incorporates how each respondent uses social media and things in their life which influence them.
- Conjointly: An all-in-one survey research platform allowing you to accomplish a multitude of your quantitative research needs. Here you can conduct pricing research, claims/messages testing, feature selection, concept testing, range optimization, and usage and attitude research. It can perform your conjoint analysis and produce report-ready data visualizations.
If you are looking for a tool that can help you create better digital experiences, check out:
- Fullstory: A tool that combines quantitative and qualitative data to give the digital experience of your brand a competitive edge. Watch sessions to see where there are opportunities to improve the user experience of your site. Findings can be shared with product managers, cross-functional teams, and marketers for ease of alignment and efficiency.
These are all just starting points to quickly answer some of your research questions on your own. Let us know if you try one of these options out! Did you find something useful or are you still searching for answers? Our team at MDRG is ready to help you sort through the noise, do that deeper dive, and work on that larger research project to answer your questions.