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Slide 1: ==== ==== For more Traditional Marketing Tips please check this out; http://www.alexiskenne.com/online-business/3-ways-traditional-market-research-methods-canrock-your-online-marketing-efforts ==== ==== If what we read in the newspapers is true, the Government appears to have less money now than ever before to spend on traditional market research. Although the purse strings appear to have been pulled tight with cuts being announced every other day, it would be an inopportune time for the Government to stop conversing with their citizens. In an economic climate that appears unpredictable and a future that seems uncertain people have plenty to say about what is happening and what should be done. The sustained, two-way partnerships that online communities offer could help the government communicate better, more openly, and more cheaply. Online community providers are starting to building partnerships with public sector organisations in order to utilize this relatively unexplored platform. Online communities such as netmums.com and teachernet.gov.uk bring together people such as students, teachers, mothers and the unemployed to discuss topics, exchange views and provide advice. People in the Government often want to talk to these people about various topics such as services that they can access or regulations that might affect them - online communities give a platform for these topics to be discussed. Communities can offer the facility to run bespoke online campaigns and give immediate access to people for market research purposes. Mumsnet (mumsnet.com), an online community run by parents to share their parenting skills with others on the web, has tapped into this collaboration. Ed Miliband, the current leader of the Labour party (however at the time of the chat was the secretary of state for energy and climate change) came to Mumsnet for a live web chat. Mum's were given a time and date to attend the online chat group where they would be able to ask Mr Miliband questions, with those who couldn't attend being asked to propose questions in advance that could be posed. One topic that was discussed in detail was around the subject of "real" nappies verses disposable nappies. Unfortunately for Ed his opinion for favouring the "less economical" disposable over nondisposable, citing that this method has little impact on the environment compared to the traditional means, was not shared by all of the mum's on the site. With more than 25 million hits a month (Google Analytics October 2010) this 'chat' caused a bit of a stir. Communicating with this many people in one sitting is a powerful tool for the Government to utilize. As online communities evolve and grow, and members become engaged and more active the true value of this online sounding board comes to light. With two-way conversations being conducted via discussion forums and online focus groups, and opinions being expressed via blogs and polls, the use of online community market research could be a valuable tool to support democracy. What's more with David Cameron backing of Martha Lane Fox's plan to get everyone, of working age online by 2012 (Race Online 2012) the community platform could become an imperative
Slide 2: communication tool. We provide bespoke creative online surveys and innovative communities for marketing and research purposes. ==== ==== For more Traditional Marketing Tips please check this out; http://www.alexiskenne.com/online-business/3-ways-traditional-market-research-methods-canrock-your-online-marketing-efforts ==== ====