We're sorry for all the survey spam, but I can't promise we'll stop anytime soon

Mitch Joel has every right to be angry about receiving spam from legitimate businesses. On behalf of the entire MR community I would like to admit that we're guilty of every dirty trick he described, apologize for our clueless and irresponsible abuse of email, and explain why we're not motivated to fix it.

Mitch received a marketing email, but there are plenty of survey-related analogues. The best example I can think of is the blinded B2B survey. Some of our clients are willing to pay top dollar for the thoughts and opinions of professional groups like IT decision makers and doctors, but they don’t want to be identified as the survey sponsor because it would bias the results. To make matters worse the email addresses of the people they want to survey can often be harvested pretty easily from public web sites or purchased from companies that specialize in that kind of thing. The end result is lots of pissed-off people complaining that research company XYZ is sending spam.

Just because we can find their contact information doesn’t mean these people want to hear from us, and online that matters … a lot. Naturally we can’t help ourselves, these projects are lucrative and we are in the business of making money. We must stop because this kind of email abuse is tarnishing our online reputation and destroying our already low response rates. Sadly, I don't see (m)any people looking for better alternatives.

Definition: Astroturfing

A couple of days ago I wrote about the dangers of paying bloggers for fake word of mouth, and today I came across this great example of CrunchGear exposing Motorola's astroturfing activities. I couldn't resist sharing it with you.

Little white lies

Abuse of the blogosphere is gaining momentum in the title race for "Survey Peddling Method I Loathe Most." When I see MR companies paying bloggers to lie, it genuinely gets under my skin. I consider this as evil as Lead Gen at its worst.

Here are some examples of companies like Ipsos, Research International, Fhios, Zoom Panel and others trying to recruit survey takers via fake, paid-for blog posts passed off as genuine recommendations. In another take on the same basic scam, a video post on Mom's Cash Blog is used as fodder for fake people to post fake comments about their fake great experiences with Survey Savvy, various lead gen sleazebags, and once again Ipsos.

This bizarro blogosphere is powered by sites like PayU2Blog, which are just another link in a long chain of scam artists on our payroll.

We tell ourselves these are little white lies. No harm done. We just need to get the word out about our sites, and is this really any different than buying ads on tv, radio, or print media? It's worlds apart, and we have to stop before it really comes back to bite us in the ass. 

These paid blogposts are lies, and savvy online users have excellent bullsh!t detectors. Paying someone to post a fictitious testimonial is almost guaranteed to backfire. Bloggers who sell ad space in their views and beliefs don't have large readerships, and it's unlikely more than a handful of people will ever read something they write. On the flip-side, when this type of post is seen by a lot of people, one of them will immediately expose it for what it is. In fact, when this type of post is seen by many people it's usually because it has been exposed as a big company trying to buy word-of-mouth.

Crowdsource your Market Research

Mitch Joel says companies should let crowdsourcing do their marketing research. How do you think Market Researchers will react to this idea? The ones I know will say it's absurd, crazy, impossible, impractical!!! Then they might call for Market Research's top minds and thought leaders to deliver a position paper proving beyond doubt that this is a terrible idea that will never deliver any value in the real world.

Market Research is a for-profit business, and it comes as no surprise that when this type of percieved threat appears our first instinct is to beat it down, but the fear driving this reaction is founded in ignorance. Crowdsourcing is not a threat, it's an opportunity. Unfortunatelly very few of us are willing to let our guard down and consider how we could benefit by helping our clients find the right research applications for crowdsourcing. We should give ideas like crowdsourcing a chance, here's why:

1. Participating in this type of open conversation with customers is something our clients MUST do if they want to change the negative, and for the most part accurate, stereorypes about big corporations
2. Trying new concepts online is very cheap. All you need is an open mind, an idea, a couple of smart web developers, and a web server. You probably already have the last two, and the first two are free. If it doesn't work, who cares! You've learned something and it cost you almost nothing. Keep trying new things until you find something that works. Launch & Learn! This is the model that produced every single internet success story you have heard of.
3. The current state of survey based online research is stagnant at best, and near death if you ask me. We need something new, anything! Ideas like crowdsourcing may or may not turn into solutions, but if we try lots of them some will succeed. If we treat each new idea as a stepping stone we will eventually find what we seek. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

It would be damn hard to make a business case for ideas like this, so I don't recommend you try it. What senior manager in their right mind would allocate company resources to develop something that will kill one or more of the traditional lines of online business? Senior managers got to where they are because they are good at avoiding risks, not taking them. We shouldn't expect the vision (or even permission) to come from the top. The closer you are to the bottom of the corproate ladder, the more likely you are to understand why drastic change is needed. So it's up to you. Don't wait for your boss to have an epiphany; it won't happen. The innovation will come from the bottom up, but this requires brave people with a vision to take a risk and challenge the status quo. It wont be easy, but it will be worth it.

Crowdsourcing is not the answer to all of MR's problems, but it might be one small piece of the puzzle, and even the longest journey starts with one step in the right direction.

Albert Einstein said "If at first, the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it." We need more absurd ideas about online MR, and if you have any I encourage you to spread them.

Have you tried completing one of your online surveys lately?

Nikki Sandison at Brand Republic wrote a great article about the effects of boring, stale, cookie-cutter HTML surveys on drop-out rates and data quality.

I hope this helps to bring the big picture into clearer focus. Our technology is 15 years behind our audience. It doesn't surprise me that our industry adopted the cheapest, most profitable, most production-line-friendly way of building online surveys. It does surprise me that so many years later, in the midst of so much innovation, no one in our industry has made any substantive progress toward a better way of asking questions online. And no, gimmicks like animation, drag-and-drop or scrolling matrices don't count as innovation. Absence of change = complacency. Complacency + online = game over.

Blatant Crotch Kicks

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that people are typically amused by the odd kick in the crotch video. I hate to pick on GlobalTestMarket but now do you get what I mean about fungal...I mean.."faux" viral videos?



One day we'll wake up and realize that "abusing" web 2.0 or whatever you want to call it is bad for business.

I have hopes that the day will come when clicking on this video will bring you to the friendly little Youtube message below...

Wag of the Finger: Synovate

Here is what happens when one of the web media sharks at ad:tech convinces a Market Researcher that a low budget rap video starring their CEO will do wonders for the research company's image among the Web 2.0 crowd.



I don't work for Synovate, but I was embarrassed for them.

And if you really believe that hiring that same creative agency in Boca Raton to produce a futuristic CG animation of web-enabled MR in the 25th century is the logical way to build on the momentum created by your rapping CEO ... well, it's counterproductive if it ends up looking like the Dire Straits Money for Nothing video from 1984.



So Synovate, on behalf of the whole industry, I wag my finger at you. At least we had plausible deniability before you did this. We could argue that we were so cool we didn't need gimmicky YouTube videos. Now everyone can see just how desperate and out of touch we are. For shame!!

Be Honest With Yourself

What's more important in your workplace, doing the right thing or reaching performance targets so the executives can collect their bonuses?

Does you organization foster, or even allow, innovation?

Does your manager welcome new ideas?

Are your colleagues passionate about their jobs?

Are you proud of the work you do?

Are these things getting better or worse?

If you don't like the answers to these questions, do something about it. You can't expect different results if you keep doing the same things. Find your voice, find others who share your vision for a better way forward, and start spreading those ideas. There is no one more qualified to lead than you, there is no better time to start than today.

Don't Work With Uncle Scam

Be wary of any company selling online services, especially Lead Gen, if they have a Boca Raton FL, address. Boca Raton is the spam and scam capital of the world, yet so many of the Lead Gen companies that cater to MR are based there. By working with these criminals we are financing the destruction of the online community we depend on.

Next time you are thinking about contracting a third party to do some email advertising for you, take a few minutes and Google their name, domain, and their server IP addresses. If you find more than one mention of them engaging in bad behaviour, you're better off working with another agency. Many specialized tools are available, free of charge, to help you idetify the bad actors. Site Advisor, TrustedSource and Sender Score provide great information in a user friendly format. If you don't mind getting your hands dirty, SenderBase, DNSstuff.com, and Spamhaus ROKSO are just a few of the places that can help you do a thorough background check on potential vendors. 

Take a revealing look at Boca Raton's role in the underground economy or read other people's thoughts on the subject, Google is your friend.

Get Survey Points! What's the point?

Why do we insist on awarding survey panelists points? Why do we think that points will keep people on our panels?

Points do work in some circumstances like buying gas, which is a "need" that you actively pursue on a regular basis. These products  are widely available and are limitless whenever you need them so when you get gas, companies want you to use them instead of the other guy.

This however, does not necessarily translate well with online surveys. As a panelist, you have to wait for surveys to come in so it may take a very long time for you to accumalate anything worth checking out for. 

Imagine if you had to wait far an email about available gas in your area that awarded you points per litre up to a maximum of 20 litres but if your car only takes diesel you might disqualify and get to fill up 5 litres? 

This business model would surely kill a whole industry so why do we think it will work for surveys?

If I want that iPod on SurveyBonanzaWorldPlus.com (fake site but it might as well exist) I would have to do about 250 surveys which would take me more than a year to do. By the time I accumalate enough points, that iPod that I initially wanted will no longer exist. It makes more sense to get a part-time job, quit after a week and buy that damn iPod with weeks of my life spared.

I'll end my rant here by asking one more question....

Is this the absolutely best we can do?

End Point.

Four things you can do right now to improve the survey experience

People don't like taking online surveys, and I don't blame them. Too often the survey is long, the questions are confusing, the answer choices don't make sense, and I have no idea how the research company obtained my contact information. I have heard more than one person say they would rather get a root canal than take a 30 minute survey. 

Maybe one day we will find a better way to collect data, but until we can get rid of surveys we must find ways to improve surveys. Here are four things you cand do right now to improve to the user experince.

1. Stop recruiting panelists through Lead Gen because the Lead Gen model is based on spam/scams.
2. Let respondents choose how and how much they want to communicate with you, and then respect those choices. If someone gives you their email address in a registration form but they indicate they only want to be invited to surveys through your survey widget, it's not OK to send them email.
   
3. Make surveys shorter and easier to interact with. People don't care about the research rationale behind a discrete choice question with 50 options, or a scalar question with 30 attributes. It's our job to figure out how to make those things easier on the respondent and online users have exponentially less tolerance for this kind of thing.
   
4. Write questionnaires that make sense to a respondent. Most questionnaires I read sound like the researcher is trying to impress her friends and clients.
   

Trying to convince a CEO of anything is a little like trying to convince a cop not to give you a ticket

From Josh Spear's conversation with Seth Godin:

JS: It’s not easy to convince CEOs that in today’s world marketing messages aren’t so much statements as they are responses. In fact, most of them still like to think that the majority of consumers to are too stupid to be trusted with the guidance and development of a brand. How do you convince them otherwise?

SG: Trying to convince a CEO of anything is a little like trying to convince a cop not to give you a ticket. It’s possible, but rarely worth the effort, given the odds.

Instead, just do it. Go fast, get where you’re going. The odds of getting stopped are small, the price of the ticket is small and if you’re doing the right thing in the first place, it’s worth it.

Plan your spending like Wikipedia

Take a look at the 2007-2008 planned spending distribution from Wikipedia:

Wikipedia will spend 57% on technology this year. 

I have a question for you.

Will your online market research company be spending over half their budget on Technology or will it be on advertising?

Customers vs. Consumers

It happened so gradually I can't remember the exact moment, but at some point the people who buy and use the things our clients produce stopped being customers and started being consumers. This also seems to coincide with a change in how we (manufacturers, service providers, researchers) view these people.

The customer was always right. A consumer is faceless unit in a market segment, whose only purpose is to purchase and consume whatever we produce.

Somewhere along the way we lost our respect for the people to whom we owe our existance. Hell, we forgot that they are people at all. We don't even bother to pick up the phone when they call us anymore because it's not cost effective. They should be able to fix their own problems by going to the FAQ on our website. If that doesn't work they can send us an email, but we get lots of email and it might take awhile for us to respond. If email fails or takes too long, too bad for you but please continue to buy what we sell. 

I propose we banish the word 'consumer' from our vocabulary, and upgrade our consumers to friends. If we start treating them with respect, if we start to listen to them instead of just bombarding them with advertising, maybe -- in time -- we will win their trust and they will want to talk to us when we have questions to ask them.

Bring the Love Back

A perfect example of how not to leverage web 2.0

Here's a tip, don't include the words "Viral Video" in your wanna-bee viral video:



Viral videos consist of skaters getting hit the groin or other spontaneous things that are unplanned and actually funny or shocking. Attention Market Research Companies", no one cares about you!

Market Research and [insert played out buzz word like web 2.0]

I think Samuel Jackson in the movie "Juice" said it best.

"Just cause you pour syrup on sh*t don't make it pancakes baby!".

This is what's wrong with Market Research today. The Market Research industry wants to incorporate the latest and greatest web 2.0 has to offer but it means nothing if you don't rethink how to gather insights online.

Some companies embed themselves in current social networks, others make widgets and some others even try to create their own "consumer generated" social networks to try to hold the attention of panelists. There are even new online "startups" that have taken it one step further to customize incentives based on the website offering virtual currencies to everyone who completes a survey.

I still see a problem with this because no matter what you do, real people still need to to take 20 minutes out of their day to do a survey that they did not really want to do in the first place.

If people (I mean real people, not coupon clippers and professional contest takers) really wanted to do surveys, we would not have the attrition and response rate problems that we have today. To be honest, research is important but online research companies have a needless product. People don't need to do surveys online. The people we really want to hear from don't go looking for surveys. Active survey takers do exist but these are not the people we want.

Before I continue, let's see if you can spot the difference between real people and survey takers.

Real People (Default image for all online survey companies):




Active Panelists:





Many companies even try to make the survey experience more engaging by adding all kinds of bells and whistles to the survey itself. That's nice but will last about a month before people realize again that a survey is a survey no matter what you do.

You can add all the cool stuff that web 2.0 has to offer but if you do not completely rethink the way data is collected with online surveys, research companies will continue to pour syrup on Sh*t with no success!

Day of the Longtail

I came across this video on Geert Desager's blog a while back.



Since then I have spent considerable time wondering privately and publicly how many MR people are aware of the ideas introduced by Chris Anderson, Seth Godin, the authors of the Cluetrain Manifesto, and others who have tried so hard to warn us of the impending doom. So far I have not seen much cause for optimism. The overwhelming majority among us don't have a clue these ideas exist. Perhaps even more frightening is the attitude of senior managers who know what's happening but either prefer to keep their heads in the sand or passionately defend the status quo because they fear the change that is needed before our organizations are invited to play in the online sandbox. In the online world the consumers hold all the cards, and until we are prepared to play by their rules we will remain on the outside looking in.

In his new book Tribes, Seth Godin says "ideas that spead, win." These are ideas worth spreading if there is any hope to repair the lines of communication between researchers and consumers.

Lead Gen is the root of all evil

I have seen thousands of complaints about hundreds of different scams used by Lead Gen companies to recruit people into survey panels, and based on this I contend that Lead Gen is the root of all evil in MR. Lead Gen is also the warning sign that can point us back to the path of righteousness, if we start paying attention to what it's trying to tell us.

We (survey panel companies) don't know how to find sufficient numbers of online panelists by ourselves, and many of us don't know much about online, period. So we go to ad:tech and other similar trade shows, where Lead Gen sales-folk wine & dine us and tell us they can deliver millions of eager leads for pennies apiece. Problem solved! We go back to our offices, kick our feet up and pat each other on the back for a job well done.

We are addicted to Lead Gen, but how much do we really know about Lead Gen? How many of us have followed all the various paths that lead into our panels? Here are just a few of my observations, to get the conversation started.

1. Those annoying pop-ups/banners/co-reg/[insert almost any type of online annoyance] ... that's your Lead Gen dollars at work.
2. Lead Gen offers lead to sites that make false promises (like this, and this, or this), but once the visitor registers it turns out to be a scam.
3. Some Lead Gen sites even make the visitor pay $50!!! for a list of survey companies by promising they can make hundreds or thousands of dollars a week doing surveys.
4. Once they have the person's information they sell it to all the other Lead Gen sites and the poor user is swamped with piles of spam.

This should lead us to some startling conclusions, but for obvious reasons it's taboo to talk about this in MR circles.

1. Only the most guilable and naive web users fall for these scams.
2. By the time we register a panelist, they have already had a negative experience they associate with being on the panel. Not the best way to start a long term relationship.
3. Our panels, ALL OF THEM, are built from the same pool of scam victims whose only motivation is the desire to achieve material gain by doing surveys.
4. Do we really think any of these people care about our surveys enough to answer honestly?
5. Every day that passes, the web user community is getting wiser to these tricks. They've already pressed the flush lever and the Lead Gen model has been swirling around the toilet bowl for so long it can't stay afloat much longer.
6. We have no access to real people or their opinions, we don't want to admit this is true, and we don't know what to do about it.

We can't stop the world and tell it to wait until we find solutions for these problems, but we can start by admitting to ourselves that the problems are real and giving ourselves permissions to talk about them. There are people in our organizations with great ideas, but they are afraid to speak up. The fear of criticism, rejection, termination, and the institutuonal resistance to change is crippling innovation. We have to eliminate fear to enable creativity. New ideas will  lead to new solutions. Yes we can!

What does a typical survey panelist's inbox look like?

It's is said that the average panelist belongs to 5 or more online survey panels.

If that's the case, and everyone is marketing to them via email, then this is what their inbox should look like: