Remember 2019? Market research was so simple then. You ran a survey to your target audience; maybe you hosted a focus group, collected consumer feedback, analyzed the data, and delivered insights that helped guide strategic decisions for the business. 

If you had a big budget and lots of time to spare, you might have simply hired a market research firm to do a good amount of the work for you. 

Fast forward to today, and you're now expected to do much more with way less. Less time. Less money. And zero in-person access to consumers. 

As marketers, advertisers, and product developers working in the consumer space, it’s your job to craft communications and strategies that capture the attention of specific audiences. 

But the past year has forced every industry to adopt new ways to market our products and services. For many successful brands, an agile methodology has emerged as the most viable path forward.

What is agile research? 

Agile is a popular buzzword in the market research industry with many different definitions. At aytm, we consider agile research to be iterative testing and learning, allowing for surveys at multiple stages of the customer journey as a way to keep the conversation going by routinely uncovering the opinions and experiences of consumers.  

More than ever, short surveys and quick polls are popping up on websites, social media feeds, and chatbots across the digital world. Online qualitative and quantitative research has gone from a ‘nice-to-have’ to an essential research practice across the consumer insights industry.

Use cases for agile concept testing

Collecting consumer feedback on new brand messaging

Challenge

You want to quickly understand how women perceive and react to your new brand messaging and advertising. You need an environment where women can freely offer feedback that can help you optimize your new brand messages and communications.

Solution

A concept test can help you gather quantitative and even some qualitative data on how your new advertising campaign resonates with women in your target market. 

Impact

• Understand how women perceive your brand’s messages
• Fine-tune creative concepts, content, and imagery based on real consumer data
• Quickly and confidently offer recommendations regarding consumer preference for one creative concept versus another

Informing product development through online surveys

Challenge
You’re tasked with digging into your consumers’ money mindset to understand how they make financial decisions.

Solution

Concept testing quickly identifies which features are most important to consumers. Confirm which benefits are a must-have vs. a nice-to-have. Gain immediate feedback and offer real-time solutions to your stakeholders’ challenges and burning questions.

Impact

• Uncover what type of financial information consumers respond to
• See how consumers use information in their financial planning process
• Learn how consumers perceive your new product/service

Agile research increases the impact of insights teams

Embracing an agile approach to research helps you learn from your customers early and often, ultimately increasing your brand’s impact and leveling up the influence of your insights team.

Aytm can help you incorporate agile methodologies into your research process by providing:

• Faster project turnaround thanks to real-time pricing with guaranteed delivery times
• A trusted online community of 100 million+ screened and verified consumers worldwide
• DIY tools to help you deliver research projects on time and under budget
• Dashboard and real-time reporting that ensures you never have to wait for insights and can unlock immediate answers to your stakeholder’s questions

(PS: Want tips for adopting agile into your research process? Our white paper, How Agile Transformation Increases the Influence of Insights Teams, has everything you need to remodel your research environment and get your stakeholders on board. Download here for free.)

How to optimize concept testing with agile methodologies

Benefits of tapping into the aytm platform for Concept Studies include:

1. Cutting down time for survey design, execution, and analysis with a flexible, customizable drag-and-drop interface
2. Increasing customer value by evaluating purchase drivers vs. detractors via automated key findings
3. Cultivating a deeper connection with brand ambassadors through open-ended responses that uncover critical qualitative consumer data
4. Done-for-you reporting features, including interactive word clouds, PowerPoint presentations, Topography, and more

Are you up to your eyeballs in research requests? No time to design a survey from scratch? 

Our Xpert Concept Study is a data-driven, templated solution that helps create a product synergy between your brand and your consumers. It allows you to take back some time in your day by leveraging a pre-programmed survey to develop and deliver insights backed by data vs. gut. 

At the end of the day, Xpert Solutions help you work smarter, not harder. 🤓

Ready to launch your first Concept Test? Contact us or reach out to your account manager to get started!