Fast-Track Insights with Virtual Face-to-Face Solutions

Even before COVID-19, companies were faced with numerous threats to their business, including increasing customer experience and innovation demands. With the rapid spread of COVID-19, the challenges have changed quickly and dramatically.

The seismic disruption from this novel virus is potentially rewriting the future of customer behavior. Many are exploring new ways to meet their day-to-day needs and establish a sense of normalcy. Now, more than ever, it’s important to engage in, and embark on, the journey with your customers.

Brands, up to now, have depended largely on innovative face-to-face techniques to establish foundational insights, ideate, and innovate in a short period of time. These approaches helped brands collaborate directly with consumers, and expedite their learning plans to develop messaging, communications, positioning, and customer experience strategies. So now that in-person research is not an option, how can organizations continue to connect face-to-face and fast-track learnings to guide their strategic initiatives?

Virtual insights solutions give brands the ability to maintain their momentum through online platforms that provide continuous connection with the customer. They give organizations efficient and time-sensitive ways to address short-term challenges of customers, as well as direction for long-term planning for after this crisis ebbs. Brand teams can maintain face-to-face engagement with customers and actively participate in the learning process.

Below are a few of the techniques your brand can use to connect face-to-face with customers in their own environment, while still maintaining stay-at-home and social distancing requirements:

Online Ethnography enables organizations to delve deep into consumers lifestyles, hopes, dreams as well as understand their category values, needs and overall behaviors.

Shopumentary allows organizations to gather shopper insights either online or in-store by letting the consumer capture their own shopping experience documentary-style. This approach can be leveraged to better understand the customer’s journey to a brand, service or product.

Virtual Consumer Cocreation allows companies to connect with consumers to share concepts or packaging to gather feedback, optimize and further refine. These programs can be conducted using online bulletin board or via web-conferencing platforms.

Pop-Up Communities allow companies to connect with their consumers in-the-moment while in their environment. Communities can be used to capture product usage and reactions through multiple platforms including videos, live chats and quick polls at their convenience.

The pool of potential participants for these techniques is broadening as customers embrace webcam solutions to maintain connections with family, friends, colleagues and educators in the face of travel limitations and increased telecommuting. It’s a perfect time to engage them in this manner.

Want to explore how to connect face-to-face with your customers using virtual insights tools? Contact us.