Category: Market Research

Insights into Millennials’ Mobile Shopping Behavior

Who Are The Millennials?

Millennials (also known as the Millennial Generation or Generation Y) are the demographic cohort following Generation X. Most observers use birth years ranging from the early 1980s to the early 2000s. Many use 1982 as the Millennials’ starting birth year and 2004 as the last birth year.

This is the biggest group since the baby boomers and they have a large influence in the marketplace for jobs, technology and shopping habits. They have grown up with technology at their fingertips and because of this they are comfortable and confident when shopping online.

Millennials LOVE to Shop Online

This group of young people have a combined purchasing power of $170 billion – so they should be seen as massive influencers in the retail space. But they don’t want to be seen as a group. The millennial are most definitely individuals. They want the companies that they buy from to treat them in that way.

By connecting with the average millennial through social media and email marketing, the organizations must respect their individuality. They want more than just somewhere to buy stuff. They want a brand that they can understand, respect and interact with on different levels.

Millennials Shop on Mobile Devices

More than a third of millennials shop on mobile devices at least once a month or more. This means that the savvy retailer has more than one way of connecting with the millennial generation. Mobile stores, social media accounts and interactive website services are an absolute must for any retailer that wants to capture a share of the millennial dollar.

You must be ready, willing and able to interact with the millennial on their terms to be able to do business with them. In fact in a recent survey, millennials ranked the use of technology as the one thing that they thought set their generation apart.

It has been cited that 83% of millennials sleep with their smartphone, so you can see that they are highly devoted to their technology! And it is here that the more successful retailers can see an opportunity and run with it.

Social Media is the Millennials’ Playground

The millennial generation are great users of social media. By having a social media account that can connect with the average millennial and give them something they can’t get elsewhere, a company can build a relationship that lasts a lifetime and brings in great rewards.

Your social media sites need to be more than just somewhere else for the millennial to see you, or buy from you. It needs to give them engaging content that appeals to them and their values. They love to see what brands their friends are following on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. An amazing 47% said that someone else’s following, liking, pinning or tweeting info on social media helped introduce them to a brand. This is marketing taken right into the digital age!

How to Connect with Millennials

Millennials want to feel as though they are valued by the organization they deal with. One way of doing this is to have millennials in the workforce. The US workforce is expected to be made up of 36% millennials by the year 2025. If you have millennials working for you then they are more likely to connect with other millennials, and solve the problems that other millennials want to be solved.For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Marketing and Social Media.

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About Lisa M. Chapman:

Lisa Chapman helps company leaders define, plan and achieve their goals, both online and offline. After 25+ years as an entrepreneur, she is now a business and marketing consultant, business planning consultant and social media consultant. Online, she works with clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa (at) LisaChapman (dot) com. Her book, The WebPowered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide is available at:

• Amazon.com
• Barnes & Noble

Avoid These Common Survey Question Design Pitfalls

Many times, survey questions are inherently designed to give unclear or less meaningful information. Familiarize yourself with these common mistakes BEFORE you design your questions:

Asking two questions at once (double-barreled questions)

Example:

How satisfied are you with the hours and location of our offices?

[ 1=very dissatisfied, 5=very satisfied]

You won’t be able to tell whether the participant is responding about the time, or the location, so you should ask this as two separate questions.

Leaving out a response choice

Example:

How many times in the past month have you visited our website?

[ 0 1-2 3-4 5 or more]

Always include an option for “not applicable” or “don’t know”, since some people will not know or remember, and if they guess, their answer will skew the results.

Leading questions

Based on their structure, certain survey questions can “lead” participants to a specific response:

Example:

This agency was recently ranked as number one in customer satisfaction in the federal government. How satisfied are you with your experience today?

[ 1=very dissatisfied, 5=very satisfied]

The first statement influences the response to the question by providing additional information that leads respondents to a positive response, so you should leave that text out.

Built-in assumptions

Survey questions that assume familiarity with a given topic:

Example:

This website is an improvement over our last website.

[ 1=strongly disagree, 5=strongly agree]

This question assumes that the survey participant has experience with the earlier version of the website.

After you design your questions, go back over this list and check yourself. Did you make any of these mistakes?

It’s worthwhile spending the time to edit now for more meaningful feedback.

(Many thanks to USA.gov for guidance on question design pitfalls.)

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

.. _____ ..

ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman:

Ms. Chapman’s new book has a name change! The Web Powered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide will be available in April 2012. Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. She helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

Common Survey Question Types and Examples

Multiple choice questions

Multiple choice questions have two or more answer options. Useful for all types of feedback, including collecting demographic information. Answers can be “yes/no” or a choice of multiple answers. Beware of leaving out an answer option, or using answer options that are not mutually exclusive.

Example 1: Are you a U.S. Citizen? Yes / No

Example 2: How many times have you called our agency about this issue in the past month?

□ Once

□ Twice

□ Three times

□ More than three times

□ Don’t know/not sure

Rank order scale questions

Questions that require the ranking of potential answer choices by a specific characteristic. These questions can provide insight into how important something is to a customer. Best in online or paper surveys, but doesn’t work too well in phone surveys.

Example: Please rank the following customer service factors, from most to least important to you, when interacting with us. (1=most important; 5=least important)

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

□ □ □ □ □ Call wait time

□ □ □ □ □ Call hold time

□ □ □ □ □ Representative’s customer service skills

□ □ □ □ □ Representative’s knowledge skills

□ □ □ □ □ Resolution of issue

Rating scale questions

Rating scale questions that use a rating scale for responses. This type of question is useful for determining the prevalence of an attitude, opinion, knowledge or behavior.

There are two common types of scales:

1. Likert scale

Participants are typically asked whether they agree or disagree with a statement. Responses often range from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree,” with five total answer options. (For additional answer options, see table below.)

Each option is ascribed a score or weight (1 = strong disagree to 5 = strongly agree), and these scores can be used in survey response analysis. For scaled questions, it is important to include a “neutral” category (“Neither Agree nor Disagree” below).

Example: “The customer service representative was knowledgeable”

□ 1. Strongly Disagree

□ 2. Disagree

□ 3. Neither Agree nor Disagree

□ 4. Agree

□ 5. Strongly Agree

2. Semantic differential scale

In a question using a semantic differential scale, the ends of the scale are labeled with contrasting statements. The scales can vary, typically using either five or seven points.

Example: “How would you describe your experience navigating our website?

□ 1. Very Hard to Navigate

□ 2. Somewhat Hard

□ 3. Neither Hard nor Easy

□ 4. Somewhat Easy

□ 5. Very Easy to Navigate

Open-ended questions

Open-ended questions have no specified answer choices. These are particularly helpful for collecting feedback from your participants about their attitudes or opinions. However, these questions may require extra time or can be challenging to answer, so participants may skip the questions or abandon the survey.

In addition, the analysis of open-ended questions can be difficult to automate, and may require extra time or resources to review. Consider providing extra motivation to elicit a response (e.g., “Your comments will help us improve our website”) and ensure there is enough space for a complete response.

Example: What are two ways we could have improved your experience with our agency today? We take your feedback very seriously and review comments daily.

Next time, we’ll discuss common mistakes and how to avoid them

(Many thanks to USA.gov for guidance on question design.)

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

.. _____ ..

ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman:

Ms. Chapman’s new book has a name change! The Net Powered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide will be available in April 2012. Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. She helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

Question Design

The way you design your questions will certainly affect the way the questions are answered. Or even IF they’re answered! We’ve all been caught on the phone with a surveyor who promised to take 3 minutes, then proceeded to ask 15 or more questions. Don’t ever be that person.

The Golden Rule “Do unto others…” certainly applies here.

Basics of Survey Questions

Keep questions short and easy to read. The longer and more complex the questions, the less accurate feedback you’ll get. This is particularly true of phone surveys.

Keep questions easy to answer, otherwise participants may abandon the survey, or provide incorrect information (e.g., giving the same answer/value for all questions, simply to get through the survey).

Keep “required” questions to a minimum. If a participant can’t or doesn’t want to answer a required question, they may abandon the survey.

Use a consistent rating scale (e.g., if 5=high and 1=low, keep this consistent throughout all survey questions). For rating scales, make sure your scale is balanced (e.g., provide an equal number of positive and negative response options).

Label each point in a response scale to ensure clarity and equal weight to each response option.

For closed-ended questions, include all possible answers, and make sure there is no overlap between answer options.

• Use consistent word choices and definitions throughout the survey.
• Avoid technical jargon and use language familiar to participants.
• Be as precise as possible to avoid word choice confusion. Avoid words like “often” or “rarely”, which may mean different things to different people. Instead, use a precise phrase like “fewer than three times per week.”
• Try to construct the questions as objectively as possible.

‘Skip Logic’ or ‘Conditional Branching’

When creating technology-based surveys, skip logic can be helpful. Skip logic enables you to guide participants to a specific follow-up question, based on a response to an earlier question. This technique can be used to minimize non-relevant questions for each participant, and for filtering out survey participants. For example, if you are looking for U.S. citizens only to fill out certain parts of your survey, anyone who answers “no” to the question “Are you a U. S. citizen?” can be skipped to the next relevant section.

Next time, we’ll discuss common survey question types and examples.

(Many thanks to USA.gov for guidance on question design.)

Do you have a favorite style for designing survey questions?

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

.. _____ ..

ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman:

Ms. Chapman’s new book has a name change! The Net-Powered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide will be available in April 2012. Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. She helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

Initial Design Considerations

Before you design your survey…

Clearly articulate the goals of your survey. Answer these questions before you even start. With this in mind, your survey has a 100% better chance of returning meaningful information.

• Why are you running a survey?
• What, specifically, will you do with the survey results?
• How will the information help you improve your customer’s experience with you?

Make sure that each question will give you the right kind of feedback to achieve your survey goals. When in doubt, contact a statistician or survey expert for help with survey question design.

Survey design

The opening should introduce the survey, explain who is collecting the feedback and why. You should also include some reasons for participation, and share details about the confidentiality of the information you are collecting.

The introduction should set expectations about survey length and estimate the time it will take someone to complete. Opening survey questions should be easy to answer, to increase participant trust and encourage them to continue answering questions.

Ensure survey questions are relevant to participants, to reduce abandonment. To minimize confusion, questions should follow a logical flow, with similar questions grouped together.

Keep your survey short and to the point – fewer questions will deliver a higher survey response rate. If you have sensitive questions, or questions requesting personal information, include them towards the end of the survey, after trust has been built.

Test your survey with a small group before launch. Have participants share what they are thinking as they fill out each question, and make improvements where necessary.

Thank your participants after they’ve completed the survey.

Next time, we’ll discuss specific question styles that affect the quality of your answers.

(Many thanks to USA.gov for guidance on survey design.)

Do you have a favorite survey design that’s worked for you?

——————

For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

.. _____ ..

ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman:

Ms. Chapman’s new book has a name change! The Net-Powered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide will be available in April 2012. Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. She helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

It always happens to trainers who are well-versed in speaking/communicating in classrooms and smaller groups. Inevitably they are tagged one day by their bosses to speak at the regional or national conference, participate in the plenary, or even act as a master of ceremonies. To the trainer perfectly comfortable in his or her training environment, the idea of speaking to a larger, dispassionate group is daunting. For the boss, the caveat is the assumption that a good communicator should be easily able to speak anywhere to any audience as if it makes no difference at all.

But size does make a difference. Some would think in fear level, but that can be dealt with more easily than you think. Personally, I like a bigger audience. I like the idea that I have to bring them all to me like The Pied Piper, and thus find it more challenging. The bigger the crowd, the more impersonal the individuals. For most of us that makes the audience seem less ferocious. Yet, the smaller audience is more attentive to your every move–or hesitation. Both groups want you to succeed, however.

While I love the smaller groups, I have more experience with the larger groups of 250 to 500 at National and Regional conferences. I am an introverted actor, if you can believe that, but I still love doing public speaking. Size does matter when it comes to an audience. There are some differences.

Theatre actors know this because theaters differ widely in the size of the house. I performed Hogan in O’Neill’s MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN in The Littlest Theatre in Oregon City, Oregon–just outside Portland; the theater prided itself on seating only 36 guests. In Colorado Springs, Colorado, I directed BLITHE SPIRIT and ROMANTIC COMEDY to an audience of 1600.

Although the performance space on stage was slightly different, the actors had to expand their gestures and movements so the entire audience could receive comparable performances. Sound must also be amplified. Sound can be improved with the use of strategically placed mikes or mikes hidden on the actors themselves. Musical theatre has been using them for years. Even so few theaters use them for non-musical plays–even with 1600 in the audience, preferring the age-old use of actor projection.

My character, Hogan, is a blustery and loud fellow, which would have made the larger audience pretty easy to play to. I had the opposite situation so I had to make sure I didn’t scream at my audience. The small, closer audience can see every wrinkle, every misstep, every expression, or lack thereof; for an actor, that means you can’t let up for an instant on character. In the same way, the trainer doesn’t want lose focus on learning and leave one smaller scale audience member behind either.

Naturally, it makes sense that with a large group that you can’t be quite as intimate as you can with a smaller group, and you need to be a bigger you. Like an actor on stage versus the actor in front of a camera. The bigger the area, the bigger the facial expressions and the gestures.

Here’s how I do it. While you can’t connect with individuals as you can in a small group, you can connect with groups who will think you are connecting with them personally. Don’t worry it’s a good thing; just don’t tell them. I try to connect with people in various locations in the room so I can spread my wings and move a bit, and concentrate my talk in their direction and in the other focused directions as possible without making it really obvious. Notice I said I wasn’t talking to them directly but about twenty people seated around them think I’m speaking to them directly as well.

Still, it’s like being a lion tamer–only with more lions. You can still tame them with your charm; your charm just has to be bigger to fit the room. You can’t be demure. And, you may have to get a read on your audience when you’ve said something important or profound by turning to the other side of the room and ask, “Right?” “Do you see?” Something like that.

Actually, if it is possible to transition to the larger audience, the best way to get started is to have a partner you feel very comfortable sharing the stage with. First, you follow your partner’s lead with the audience, and then your own lead as you feel more comfortable. Soon you won’t need the partner.

I happen to like the dynamic of two speakers or trainers working a group this size because you can more easily keep the audience engaged and surprised from time to time. For me, that’s fun. If you need a partner, give me a call.

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For more resources about training, see the Training library.

Careful research really is important for the success of your business. It’s definitely worth your time and extra effort to find relevant, timely, and credible research information. Keep these things in mind:

What Does the Research Provide for Me?

• Industry and customer base information
• Advertising focus
• Customers’ preferences and habits
• Market and industry trends
• Where and when to advertise
• Preparation paves the way for inspiration
• Return on investment for your advertising dollars

Find the Answers to these Questions:

• Where is my product/service typically sold or advertised?
• Might there be other places where I can showcase my business?

Research Tips

Keep track of where you found your information and search terms

• Helps you mine for more information at a later date
• Backtracking to a source is difficult
• Forgetting a successful search term is easy

Types of Information that May be Helpful:

• Niche-specific magazines and competitors’ brochures & flyers
• Facts/figures/trends
• How-to information
• Pricing
• Legal issues
• Hidden markets
• Secondary places to advertise your product or service

Note: Thanks to Pratt Library for tips and techniques.

MORE RESEARCH SOURCES:

Statistical Information – Fedstats

Available to the public since 1997, provides access to the full range of FREE RESEARCH SOURCES – official statistical information produced by the Federal Government without having to know in advance which Federal agency produces which particular statistic. With convenient searching and linking capablilties to more than 100 agencies that provide data and trend information on such topics as economic and population trends, crime, education, health care, aviation safety, energy use, farm production and more, FedStats is the one location for access to the full breadth of Federal statistical information.

Statistical Abstract of the U.S.

Publication of the United States Census Bureau, an agency of the United States Department of Commerce. Published annually since 1878, the statistics describe social and economic conditions in the United States. The 2010 (129th Edition) Statistical Abstract of the United States contains 30 sections, 926 pages and over 1300 individual tables covering over 200 topics including income and wealth, imports-exports, agriculture, energy production and consumption, natural resources and some international comparisons. All information is downloadable in PDF and Excel spreadsheet formats. The statistical abstract is the standard summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. It is also designed to serve as a guide to other statistical publications and sources. (Wikipedia.com)

SIC or NAICS code

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the standard used by the Federal government to classify business establishments for the purpose of government contracting and statistical analysis. Both Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) and North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes identify a firm’s primary business activity. These codes can be used in market research to find industry-related studies and overviews.

The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research

The world’s largest and oldest opinion archives and access thousands of opinion polls.
Library of public opinion data, focusing on data preservation and access, education, and research on public opinion.

Tradepub.com

Extensive list of FREE RESEARCH SOURCES – Business, Computer, Engineering and Trade magazines, white papers, downloads and podcasts to find the titles that best match your skills; topics include management, marketing, operations, sales, and technology. Simply complete the application form and submit it. All are absolutely free to professionals who qualify.

Publist.com

Search the database of over 150,000 magazines, journals, newsletters, & other periodicals. Find FREE RESEARCH SOURCES – in-depth information on familiar and hard-to-find publications from around the world, representing thousands of topics.

What sources have you found invaluable for researching your marketing plan or business plan?

——————

For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

. . ________ . .

ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman: With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

Research Your Marketing Plan

Typically no single source provides all of the information necessary for writing a good marketing plan for your business. This means gathering information from several sources. According to Pratt Library, you may need to gather information on demographics, industry trends and competition, to name just a few.

Market research can take a great deal of time even with an array of databases and web sites because you are filtering through a lot of information. Sifting through information may help you to prepare a more effective and focused marketing plan.

Why Develop a Marketing Plan?

• To create and develop a marketing strategy that achieves your business goals
• To learn about your niche, your customers and their potential needs
• To bring sales growth into focus
• To provide a vision or roadmap
• To help you see how you will fare against your competition
• To uncover your strengths and potential weak points
• To identify possible areas of growth

MORE RESEARCH SOURCES

Encyclopedia of American Industries

The Encyclopedia of American Industries is a major business reference tool that provides detailed, comprehensive information on a wide range of industries in every realm of American business, providing individual essays on every industry recognized by the U.S. Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system.

Free Edgar

Offers free, unlimited access to real-time SEC filings. A free alert service and Excel spreadsheets of financial tables. From this page you can search for company information. Company filings are available starting in 1994. See also full text search.

Google Trends

Identifies major news events for specific industries and companies over the last couple years. provides insights into broad search patterns. Please keep in mind that several approximations are used when computing these results.

Newspapers Online

Searchable by region and title

Public Records Search – BRB’s FREE RESOURCE CENTER

The links listed below lead to government agencies that provide FREE online access to public record information. For a comprehensive resource of access methods, restrictions, fees, and search procedures on over 28,000 government and private agencies (information you can’t locate with Google or search engines) visit the Public Record Research System. (PRRS-Web).

Social Media Survey by American Marketing Association

The American Marketing Association conducted a Social Media Survey to assess interest in social media tools and social networking behavior of its marketing professional members and website registrants. Recognizing the growing importance of social media in the marketing industry and the need for marketing professionals to utilize existing social networking platforms to form business connections and generate customer leads, the AMA sought to better understand current social media usage patterns of marketing professionals. The survey focused largely on current usage patterns of social media tools such as forums, groups, blogs and wikis as well as popular online social networking platforms.

For more information, see the full article, Research Sources

What sources have you found invaluable for researching your marketing plan or business plan?

——————

For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

.. _____ ..

ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman: With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

How to Research an Industry or Specific Company

Google is a great search tool, and we love it for most informal searches. But when it comes down to the nitty gritty, it’s sometimes tough to find detailed, accurate, timely, and highly credible business sources for FREE.

According to Free Management Library, various methods of market research are used to find out information about markets, target markets and their needs, competitors, market trends, customer satisfaction with products and services, etc. Businesses can learn a great deal about customers, their needs, how to meet those needs and what the business is doing to meet those needs. You can access additional resources on Free Management Library’s Market Research page.

RESEARCH SOURCES

A few FREE RESEARCH SOURCES here, and more in the next post!

Advertising Industry Literature

For coverage of the advertising business, especially for major consumer product companies. Major portals are:

Advertising Age

Brand Week

MediaPost

AdLand.com Database of 30,000 commercials, also covers advertising industry

American Marketing Association
Includes articles, a dictionary of marketing terms, and best practices resources. Registration is free, although some resources are available to American Marketing Association (AMA) members only.

Business Planning

While the Internet provides a wealth of resources, finding relevant, accurate, and current information to support your strategies and financial projections can prove to be a frustrating and time consuming challenge. If you decide to write a business plan, this website will help you locate the right information.

Business Valuation

BVMarketData.com^sm houses many searchable databases and reports that record detailed information on the sales of “Main Street” companies, middle market privately held companies, middle market publicly traded companies. The databases are used by a wide variety of merger and acquisition professionals, including business appraisers, business brokers, investment bankers, and professionals who work in venture capital. Additionally, the data is used in price discovery by entrepreneurs, investors, advisors, and business owners who are considering a business purchase or sale.

Census

A treasure trove of data on the U.S. population, economy, and government.

Economic Statistical Programs

Census Bureau programs that provide statistics about U.S. businesses and governments. Each description includes links to data products, related programs and additional information. “Programs” are major data collection, business list and research data operations, including some funded by other agencies or sponsors. All active programs are included along with discontinued programs of continuing interest. Links are provided to electronic data elsewhere at this site.

For more information, see the full article, Research Sources

What sources have you found invaluable for researching your marketing plan or business plan?

——————

For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

.. _____ ..

ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman: With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com