Recently I had the pleasure of listening to John Heffernan discussing MediaCo’s approach to SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). The overriding lesson that I took from his presentation was the importance of doing the basic things well. Ensuring the fundamentals are correct gives you a firm foundation on which to build a solid solution. It’s a simple premise but one that’s easily overlooked.
This principle stretches beyond the SEO work I am currently doing on our website and applies also to the research panels that we build. It’s easy to get distracted by the bells and whistles, the shiny new features or the newest technology, however without the fundamentals underpinning your research panel or community, the integrity of any of your research or feedback could be flawed.
For example focussing your budget on the appearance of a web portal such as a gimmicky flash animation at the expense of the basic cornerstones that underpin a quality research panel or community may be unwise. Likewise a failure to collect the right information on panellists could compromise bespoke segmentation systems and undermine the effectiveness of monitoring representation.
Firm foundations at the heart of any research panel…
Jimi Hendrix once sang “And so castles made of sand fall in the sea, eventually”. If your research panel is not solidly built on firm foundations it will fall apart when it comes under serious scrutiny. Without robust data any further interrogation could cause any research inferences you make to crumble as the shortcomings of its foundations are highlighted.
We really believe that foundations are fundamental and should be at the heart of any research panel or community otherwise budgets are being wasted. Why not refer to our Custom Panel best practice guide.