Ray Poynter, online research innovator and master networker
Ray Poynter is something of a legendary figure in the market research world. I first met Ray the way that many people do – at a conference overseas where Ray shone out as cheerful and sociable in an island of grey suits and seriousness. Ray dived into social media at a time when other people were cautiously dipping a toe. He has started up research networks on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Ning, and is currently chairing a virtual market research conference, the Festival of New MR, which goes live on December 6th. He’s a busy man: he is the author of a recent book on online research...
Read MoreHow to interview a customer (properly)
Ah, I know what you’re thinking. D’oh! Hah! Easy! Just go ahead and ask them the questions! WRONG! 99% of people asked their opinion out of the blue stammered, blushed and then lied. It’s a highly awkward social situation, and it goes roughly like this: MARKETER: (brightly) ‘So, what do you think of our shop?’ CUSTOMER: (caught like a deer in the headlights) ‘I er what? Hm. I er. It’s ok. It’s errrm, very nice really.’ MARKETER: (writes stuff down in big notebook, is triumphant) ‘They really like it. They think it’s...
Read MoreThat’s why it’s called ‘research’
A wee rant. I came across this conversation about online communities on Research Live. There is a discussion of the pros and cons of research-based online communities, branded online communities, and right at the end a commenter who says that all this community talk is ridiculous and simply listening to internet buzz (via networks like) Facebook is the way forward. Listen, my children. Many many years ago, I was a wee trainee research manager for a company that did a very boring thing. We made the fragrances that go into washing powders. We did not think this was at all dull. We...
Read MoreCan market researchers have an opinion?
Robert Bain of Research Magazine has a blog post today about the way that business people pick on market research as a way of underlining their modern business credentials. He quotes a piece by Marc Babej, a marketer writing in Forbes magazine who fixes the passing blog reader with a flinty stare and declares: ‘You burned big bucks to collect scads of data. Too bad much of it is meaningless.’ Babej’s article is less a research hatchet job and more about ‘smart’ research investment: after all, he has a proprietary technique up his sleeve. It got me thinking...
Read MoreManifesto
Some of us find it quite simple to put our real organisations and authentic selves online.
Others - well, let's just say that some of us can't bear to look at our own websites.
My mission is to help you transform your online presence so that other people understand and appreciate what you really have to offer. So that you can achieve what you want - whether that's better engagement, more readers, or more sales.