The Marketing Research Association (MRA) and the Council of American Survey Research Organizations (CASRO) are merging: the new Insights Association officially launches January 1, 2017.
The Marketing Research Association (MRA) and the Council of American Survey Research Organizations (CASRO) are merging: the new Insights Association officially launches January 1, 2017.
Planning to hire a market research agency to help with a project? Before you do, be sure to create a list of questions you will use to assess potential agencies for fit and qualifications. Some questions are obvious: experience with similar projects, years in business, company size, and so on. But here are two important questions are often overlooked:
1. Do you belong to any professional associations? The answer should start with…
Do these websites matter? Aren’t they just electronic billboards?
I think they do matter. A lot of people who buy and use market research visit agency websites. And frankly, they are more likely to visit an agency site than that of a professional association (such as the MRA or CASRO) or of a trade publication (such as Quirk’s or Research Magazine). So these agency websites are, intentionally or not, a key source of client education.
Websites are the virtual storefronts of market research agencies. It’s where you often get your first impression of a potential research supplier. You peek in the window and see if the goods are narrow or diverse, dated or current. You get an impression about personality and culture. You may even get a sense of trustworthiness.
But if you have ever looked at more than 2 or 3 agency web sites, you will see that the quality and content vary dramatically. Almost dismayingly so.
So how to compare them?…
