“Groups often make better decisions than individuals, but you need to create an environment in which people can express themselves and in which other people are prepared to genuinely listen to alternative points of view,” stated Eric Salama in a recent blog post. He went on to say, “Marketing can be an enormous force for good. The industry should remind itself more often of the impact it can and does have.”

So, how do we increase our brand equity and grow our influence as market researchers? We need to use data to iteratively improve performance and incorporate both mobile and millennials into our research agenda, while at the same time connecting with consumers on a more personal level.

Let's get started: 

1. Build a community: Bring your consumers into the conversation, and be there with them. Modern surveys shouldn't be transactions, they should be built on engaging content.
2. Listen to the naysayers: According to a recent Virgin blog post, “don’t forget your disgruntled customers, which every business will have at some stage. Research has shown that by dealing with a complaint respectfully and efficiently, people are inclined to be grateful and to tell others, and may also go on to become brand ambassadors for your business.” Tap into user feedback and satisfaction levels, across all devices, to drive continuous improvement throughout the survey experience. 
3. Put out an assignment to the community (create an experience): Mobile devices are used to communicate and share and be seen. The marketing research experience needs to take advantage of the incredible tools mobile makes available to us to capture in-the-moment experiences.
4. Be authentic: Millennials demand authenticity, and this holds true for their market research brand experience as well.
5. Know your story: Business story telling is building better alignment. Telling your story is more than your marketing materials – it’s making a human connection.

Consumer data creates compelling, engaging and deeply personal content marketing. It’s not about the number of surveys we produce, it’s about community building. Every platform is different, so we need understand what works best for our panelists and make their experience our priority. Consumers actually are still eager to participate in the insights process, but they need a modern, mobile way to do it. And being there with them, in the moment, also means being there for them in the moment: Building not just mobile-first but mobile-always experiences to capture the authentic, engaged moments that make data come to life. Lightspeed has seen evidence that rethinking the approach to how we engage with consumers in this way delivers promising results.

Since launching our mobile app LifePoints in June, we have seen a 16% increase in U.S. panelists who join on a mobile phone and go on to complete a survey. Looking at surveys designed and run through LifePoints recently, we saw 93% completion rates, with 97% approvals for taking more of these types of surveys. There were also above average open-end or verbatim counts.

Mobile marketing research brings businesses сlоѕеr to consumers than еvеr bеfоrе. Whether you’re an international consumer brand or a local start-up, the shift to mobile is changing your customers’ behavior and impacting your data quality. Mobile devices are now indispensable tools in data collection, representing a tremendous opportunity to capture authentic, in-the-moment feedback.

We need to view our respondents as a network with a potential for problem solving; and a network of thought and data. To echo Eric Salama’s words, marketing folk are in a unique position to make a difference using their creative skills allied to an imaginative use of technology and data, and marketing researchers should feel empowered by the tools we have at our fingertips to be drivers of that change.