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The Impact of Technology in Market Research: What’s Changed and What’s to Come

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The Impact of Technology in Market Research: What’s Changed and What’s to Come

The Impact of Technology in Market Research

The rapid evolution of technology has impacted nearly every aspect of our lives, and that’s especially true for the market research industry. While some tried-and-true methods of collecting data about customers and the marketplace persist, new tools and understandings are shaping the way a new generation of market research professionals conduct business.

Online market research, for example, is influencing our collective concept of traditional market research. When we factor in the massive amount of data that’s found online and in all of our digital trails, insights about customers are now accessible at a more granular level.

What’s in it for you? Big data means a big impact, when your market research includes information shared, organized, and contextualized on the new digital frontier.

Then, there’s “secondary research”—technology market research gathered from work that others have collected. That’s easier to find nowadays, too.

Ready to make the most of technology market research? The market research industry is already moving at full speed ahead.

Fortunately, Creatives On Call can provide any organization with an appropriate market research process professional. No matter the objective, we’ve got a skilled market research ambassador standing by.

Market Research Technology Has Changed

The way we conduct market research has been forever changed, in large part because of innovative new market research tools. Data collection has become more precise, efficient, and targeted.

When we consider how technology market research itself has changed, we notice that analytics are increasing at an exponential rate. Artificial intelligence (AI) and other tools are changing the way we work and do business.

Companies must not wait before investing in AI or risk being left behind. According to IDC, worldwide AI spending will top $500 billion in 2023, with software as the dominant investment area. The ever-expanding breadth of no-code and cloud service AI offerings exponentially increases AI accessibility. With the technology infrastructure, data science and creation simplified, businesses with great ideas can produce AI-powered products and services that enhance customer interactions. —Newsweek, 12/12/22

Social Media

Social media is everywhere—and it’s a big part of contemporary market research. On Facebook, LinkedIn, or other social media platforms, users share deep insights about their behavior: shopping trends, hobbies, and work. That information is being collected as part of a broader tech-driven market research strategy. It is honest data, and yesterday’s marketing professionals would have done anything for access to what we have today. Social media also impacts market research by serving as a convenient platform for surveys or collective discussion.

It’s no surprise that technology market research is a booming industry. Creatives On Call can connect you with experienced professionals—from conducting the research to utilizing a project manager who understands the material, to a graphic designer or copywriter skilled in data visualization to optimize the work—so you can capitalize on the research.

Paying Attention to Customer Behavior

Effective market research allows us to harness the power of big data for even more insightful solutions. Audiences that were once elusive or difficult to observe have come within reach, all thanks to tech-driven market research. And a bigger audience means more opportunity.

Informed by this customer behavior, technology market research allows you to make game-changing decisions based on observations and patterns. Creatives On Call can provide the surveys and conduct sales enablement training, from content to learning development courses based on the findings. All of this will then allow customers to better implement their findings.

Automation

Today, we know that, without a doubt, automation and artificial intelligence are extremely important to conducting thorough market research. 

In fact, automation is one of the most important market research technology tools utilized all over the world. Market researchers have learned to manage data collection with the assistance of automated tools to save time and money. Communication has benefited from automation, and millions of technical processes have become more efficient. As market research teams conduct technology market research around the world, it helps to employ automation in order to gain more efficient insights.

Survey research has forever been changed by automation, which makes the process of pulling insight and sorting data easier than ever. This isn’t just big business; automation can benefit everybody.

Heavy Reliance on Remote Virtual Collaborations

The pandemic accelerated our collective embrace of remote and virtual collaborations. It’s led to a monumental shift in where and how we work, and it’s also made its mark on market research.

Take focus groups, for example. Old-school survey research had to be collected in person, or with a wasteful paper trail; compare that to virtual chat rooms, which can provide an avenue for immediate insights from across the world. Traditional research methods have their place, but the world is quickly changing. 

Creatives On Call can implement a true learning and development program to focus on curated virtual surveys, chats, and various other methods of collecting data. We can then implement a data visualization expert or professionals to foster ongoing insights.

Tapping into a Large and Diverse Audience

Advanced analytics allow us to conduct market research for valuable insights by tapping into larger and more diverse audiences. After all, marketing research–specifically, survey research–has always benefited from a larger pool of respondents.

Online surveys can quickly deploy around the world in a matter of minutes. The value of including perspectives from different socioeconomic groups and cultural perspectives is crucial, more so every day.

Creating More Meaningful Buyer Personas

One of the most important steps in creating a successful market research strategy is to implement buyer personas for the sake of data collection. They allow you to understand not only customers, but also the trends that impact their behavior.

We make the most of technology market research when big data is brought down to a conversational level. By using technology in market research, we’re able to craft more realistic buyer personas, and ultimately create campaigns that make a bigger splash. Creatives On Call can take this from the survey implementation all the way through to creating the presentation deck, copywriting, and visual deliverables that enable the leadership team to focus on what’s important.

Market Research Technology: What to Expect in the Coming Years?

Technology will always evolve, and our ability to utilize it for more efficient market research will only raise the stakes for the market research process. Here’s a look at some of the trending tech you’ll want to be on top of.

Tools Like AR and VR Will Become Mainstream

You guessed it—market research will be impacted big-time by society’s growing embrace of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). As we conduct technology market research for more informed and detailed market research reports, each bit of big data we collect will contribute to our larger market research objectives. Immersive customer experiences like AR and VR will yield even greater collections of data, and there are many developers with the ability to do this.

Extensive Use of Voice Assistants

The world of voice assistants–and how they apply to the research industry–is often misunderstood.

Have an “Alexa” device in your home? Consider the ways a device like Alexa might be able to streamline your workflow. When properly programmed, voice assistants can deliver or transfer data analytics reports and other market research documents with a simple “ask.”

That’s a game-changer for how we ready ourselves to review data collection and tech-driven market research. With AI speakers only growing in popularity, voice assistants are on track to have an increasingly prolific role in market research. Consumers are becoming less wary of voice assistants in the home, and are ready to trust them with business assistance.

Agility in Action

When we think of agility, we tend to consider athletic or gymnastic talent, demonstrated by highly trained individuals who can efficiently perform physical activities.

Agile market research, in turn, is understood as an ability to quickly and efficiently conduct research and draw conclusions from its market research online communities. Technology market research is data-centric, and without the proper agility, things can become pretty unwieldy fairly quickly.

Agility will become even more important in the coming years, with automation and machine learning technologies allowing efficiency to grow by leaps and bounds. Fortunately, experts are standing by to ensure your team has the agility it needs to create actionable insights. Contact Creatives On Call today to learn more!

Conclusion

The world of market research has always centered on data, and traditional market research methods are evolving as we continue to embrace and understand big data. Data collection will never be the same (that’s a good thing)!

As we conduct market research with tech-driven market research solutions in mind, we need to make the most of our new data-centric world. Information is everywhere, and market research can be dialed in with new, innovative tools.

Let’s remember: Market research will always be vital to our understanding of customers and the marketplace, but when we employ technological advances, the job becomes much easier.

Technology is certainly already guiding market research professionals around the world. Are you up to speed? Contact Creatives On Call today to get in the loop.

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