Traditionally, market research was done by physically going outside and gathering market insights from potential customers in person. However, due to the current global pandemic, face-to-face contact restrictions were put in place that made it difficult for researchers to collect data. Hence, the progressive shift towards online market research. 

Qualitative research has adapted to modern times. Digital methods are now frequently employed to conduct market research. But if you consider yourself a traditional researcher and are not yet familiar with how to do online market research, adopting a hybrid approach to your methods may be the right move. Combining the in-person aspects of your study with the convenience of technology can have the benefit of being cost-effective and more efficient for your research as opposed to only traditional methods. 

How to do online market research with a hybrid approach

Know the target audience

When recruiting your respondents for a hybrid research study, find out whether they prefer to participate online or in person. Many factors play a part in defining your target audiences, such as interests, behavior, and demographics. Choosing a target audience based on specific factors helps you streamline your pool of respondents, ensuring that these chosen people can provide you with insight relevant to your study.

Prepare research questions

Once you have identified your target audience, prepare questions relevant to your target audience. Make sure they are open-ended to help you avoid receiving one-worded answers. You can also develop a discussion guide to make the conversation flow smoothly. Consider the technologies your participants will utilize when presenting stimuli. If they are going to participate online or in-facility, your materials should still be clearly visible. Being thoroughly prepared ensures that they will share data that can help you improve customer satisfaction, marketing strategies, and business operations.

Engage with your respondents

Look for research methods that allow you to conduct hybrid traditional and online market research safely. These tools must possess features that accommodate all the parties involved digitally and physically such as a state-of-the-art camera that can capture everything or a viewing capability that allows researchers to see all their remote and in-facility respondents on one screen. Nowadays, there are tools with these specific features tailored for hybrid research to make the process as convenient as possible.

Before the session, make sure to ask the participants for permission to record. This will be important when you need to review and curate the footage afterward. When engaging with your respondents, whether remotely or on-site, keep the session natural and conversational and make use of a discussion guide to ensure that you ask all of the top-of-the-mind questions. Check if the group is on track with the agenda of the interview and keep the momentum of the conversation going. Lastly, allocate your time wisely and probe into certain areas as you see fit.

Summarize and analyze insights

After the session, you can watch the recorded meeting to review key points and curate videos.

Organize them according to common themes that you have found to create a storyboard and a list of action items. An informative summary and analysis should include your participant’s background, the main findings uncovered, and what those findings signify.

What tools are the best for hybrid market research?

While in-person focus groups, one-on-one interviews, or phone interviews have their pros, digital methods can replicate these discussions or sessions through various online formats. Some examples of these are emails, chat boxes, or web surveys, with online webcam meetings arguably being the most popular amid the pandemic. But how will traditional researchers employ these online methods in their studies?

Luckily, there are tools today that enable you to safely conduct in-person and remote qualitative research simultaneously. Moderating face-to-face and online market research discussions can be easily done with recording and streaming solutions such as CCam^® focus that offers a unique hybrid capability that lets you view remote and in-facility respondents on one screen, making it feel like you are in the same room with them. Tools like this are the best option today for researchers looking to merge their traditional practices with digital methodologies.

Pros of using a recording and streaming solution for hybrid research

Clear audio and video recording

With a 360° omnidirectional camera and microphone, researchers will be able to see their in-facility participants in multiple angles with crystal clear audio even through obstructions such as masks or plexiglass.

Logistics-friendly

Even if your respondents are at home or in the same room as you, you can still see all of them on one screen using the recording and streaming solution’s hybrid feature.

Cost-effective

Make use of the equipment as needed since there is no subscription fee. Competitive and collaborative pricing can be arranged to benefit everyone.

Tech support 

A tech support team is always present during every session to ensure that your sessions go smoothly.

Curation and Collaboration

You can utilize the video curation feature to organize and analyze your clips. You can also collaborate with colleagues to summarize your insights and create storyboards to strengthen your online market research report.

Conduct Your Hybrid Research Through CCam® Focus

Our unique hybrid approach lets you combine in-person and remote participants with moderators anywhere and everywhere in the same live interview or focus group. Find out how CCam® focus can help your research.