Usage

What types of studies can you do with panels?

Some of the more common studies include:

• attitudes & usage
• ideation & innovation
• customer satisfaction
• ad & concept testing
• share of wallet studies

This is by no means an exhaustive list but it’s what we’ve found most of our customers are doing with their panels. 

Podcast: What can I do with my panel?

Attitude & Usage

With a custom panel, you get the ability to go beyond surface level answers with people. You'll get to watch how they change over days, weeks and even years. Find the different types of users or consumers you have, what their needs are and how they are changing over time. With a Vision Critical custom advisory panel, longitudinal studies are already built-in, because all the answers ever given are stored in the system. Plus, if you have the ability to tie your panel with CRM, you can get a real-world feel of usage. Not just what they said they would do, but what they are actually doing.

Ideation & Innovation

Why not ask customers how they would change your business, or products and services? When you have a list of new ideas and you’re not sure how to narrow it down, just go to the panel and have panelists return a manageable sized list to take to development. Dairy Queen uses Panel+ to pick some of their sweet treat features.

But maybe generating new ideas in the first place is the problem. Again, just take it to your panel and you might be surprised at what they say. We’ve had customers whose panelists who came forward with product ideas that have been successful when taken to market. For instance, a major book retailer implemented an idea from their panel to find it increased sales by 400%.

Customer Satisfaction

A panel lets you ask thousands of people about their recent experiences in your store or website. You can measure c-sat across many geographies to get a national perspective, or you can focus on very specific areas too. We’ve seen a lot of interest in likelihood-to-recommend studies, especially with the popularity of the Net Promoter Score, asking people if they would recommend your product or service to a friend.

Ad & Concept Testing

Ever wanted to know if your ad will be successful - before going to print? With an online panel you can send it to thousands of your panelists when you’re still developing the idea. Find out what they like, don’t like, or what might be a stronger call to action. You could also select a small sample of a few hundred to discuss how they think your ad fits in with your brand from a qualitative perspective.  The exciting part is that you don’t have to describe the ad to them if you don’t want to. Use images, audio or video to show them your ad. Read more here about how an airline tested an ad with their panel over a weekend and discovered the ad would significantly impact their brand perceptions.

Share of Wallet Studies

In a competitive marketplace you want to know where your customers are shopping and how much they are spending elsewhere. An online panel lets you collect this data from your customers so that you can get down to the really big question: why? Find out why they spend more at your competitors, or why they said they would buy your product when your CRM data says they didn't.  With a panel you can understand how to encourage your customers to spend more or even how to attract new customers.