Ditch the tracker and other ways to save on research spend

Ditch the brand tracker

A regular brand tracking survey is a useful tool. A tracker measures awareness, helps a brand understand how it is perceived, assesses its performance on key metrics and helps evaluate the impact of marketing campaigns or new product launches. 

When budgets are tight, ditching the regular tracker or at least pausing it, might be an option to consider.

When deciding whether to ditch the tracker ask yourself these questions: How much do things change from wave to wave? Are you really getting new insight every time? Is your strategy and marketing optimised as a result? Can you see a clear ROI from every wave of the tracker? Unless you can say yes to every question then ditch it, even if just for a few waves.

Of course, it has to be recognised that there are some trackers that you simply cannot ditch. An example would be one where KPI measurement is deeply embedded within the brand's business.  In these cases it makes little sense to ditch it wholesale. There are two options here. First, miss a wave or two. If you track monthly then track every two months or quarterly instead. Similarly, if you track quarterly then perhaps move to six monthly. The intervals between waves will be greater but won't compromise the integrity of time series data.

Second, depending upon your budget, you might be able to do a 'light touch' wave instead of the whole thing. The key is to keep it short. You only really need to measure awareness and the things that consumers associate with your brand or product and one or two other KPIs. No more than 10 questions. That's it.

If you must do frequent or continuous brand tracking but don't have the budget for a fully bespoke one, then sign up to one of the syndicated offerings such as YouGov's BrandIndex. This will tell you most of what you need.

Use an Omnibus rather than doing bespoke survey research

Bespoke research is expensive because it has to be set up specifically for that survey. You pay all the set up costs and all the data processing and analysis costs. An Omnibus allows you to buy question space on a survey that can reach up to 2,000 people every day. With an Omnibus you share all these costs with other subscribers and usually pay on a per question basis. Some will also charge a small entry fee.

Our advice is to use an Omnibus rather than do bespoke survey research whenever you can.

Most big agencies run an Omnibus survey. Typically, they target a UK or GB population but more specialist Omnibus run in specific geographies (such as London, Manchester, Wales, Scotland) or specific groups (key workers, SMEs, financial decision makers, children and young people). Even a general Omnibus can be sliced and diced and run across multiple days so that you can get enough of the sample you need.

The point is that an Omnibus survey will meet most needs so why not see if you could save money by exploring this route?

Do it yourself

You could make savings by going down the self-serve route. Here, clients supply their own questions or use a question template provided by the supplier and run it through an online survey platform or self-service store. In relation to sample, suppliers either have their own panel of respondents or plug into the big sample providers. Results are often provided in a dashboard and some have a web based reporting tool with which you can analyse the data.

The advantage here is that you are not paying agency level fees and the survey providers are often very quick in turning things around. Some promise to get 1,000 completes by lunchtime if the survey is in field by 9am. That's pretty fast in anyone's book.

It can, however, be a drain on resources and you’re still left to sift through the data for the insight. Some providers will analyse the data for you but there is an additional fee for this.

Do online qualitative research

Online qualitative research, such as online focus groups, depth interviews, discussion forums and communities as well as mobile ethnography and diary keeping, has been around for years but really proved its value during lockdown. If you're not already doing your qual online then you should be because it's very cost effective.

Online qualitative research is cost effective because it cuts down on travel costs, expenses and incentives. It can also bring dispersed people together far more easily than in-person research can. In most cases a transcript of the issues discussed is produced in real time which not only saves money but also speeds up the process. In fact, the whole online qualitative process should be quicker than in-person research anyway.

If you're not yet ready to migrate all of your qualitative research to online then you could mix and match by doing some online and some in-person.

A word of warning though. Online qualitative research is cost effective but that doesn't mean it's cheap. It's always a good idea to shop around for quotes and consider using an independent qualitative consultant.

Make better use of existing data

Analysing existing data - your own and that from publicly available sources - can give powerful insight into how the brand is performing and what it needs to do to grow market share. It can be a better and more cost effective option than undertaking survey research.

Awareness and interaction with the brand can be measured using Google Trends. This tool is very useful because it enables a brand to see the relative volume of searches over a set time period. You can search for general terms about the brand and drill down to specific actions to see the strength of engagement consumers have.

Ratings and review sites can be mined for customer experience insight and for deriving key drivers of brand growth. Text analysis can be used to identify the attributes most associated with a brand and its competitors and how distinct it is from its rivals in the mind of the consumer.

Applying data analytics to user reviews can identify people who have moved from one brand to another and the reasons for the switch can also be identified. This is a very powerful analysis as it tells a brand how effective it is in acquiring new customers and from whom they are taking market share. It also alerts a brand to the factors that cause it to lose market share and the actions needed to retain customers. 

If a brand has a presence on social media, a segmentation can be undertaken based on the accounts also followed by followers of the brand. The information provides insight on discreet groupings of followers and on the people, events and media content that interests them. This information will help with more effective targeting of existing and potential users of the brand.

A brand will have a lot of data internally that can be mined for insight. Sales, CRM and other internal data and even historic brand tracking data, can be used to undertake predictive modelling, market mapping, marketing ROI, forecasting and to construct churn and retention ratios.

Small, independent agencies is where the value's at

There's a temptation to stick with what you know and place your research with well-known market research agency. But agencies have big overheads to cover and do not always provide the best value as a result. 

Outside of the traditional agencies, there is some top-notch talent working on their own or in small consultancies. These are usually people, with director level and above experience, who are dedicated to helping their clients succeed.

So, if you're looking for first-class insight with unmatched value then why not consider placing your research with an independent consultant, micro business or small agency? You'll find experts who really understand your business and are keen to get their hands dirty by doing the work rather than passing over to a junior colleague. And they don't charge agency level fees either. This means that you'll be able to get more insight for your money.

With insight budgets getting smaller, going down the smaller agency route makes perfect sense.

Takeaways

With the cost of living crisis and resultant fall in consumer spending, research budgets are being squeezed. But that doesn't mean that insight has to be put on the back burner. We have identified six ways that research and insight can be undertaken on a reduced budget.

It's inevitable that each involves some sort of trade off between what a brand ideally wants and what it can actually afford. But we would argue strongly that it's better to get most of what you need at a price you can afford rather than compromising the business through lack of insight.