Traditional market research is like a speed date – we ask, consumers answer, we move on to a different set of
consumers.

With communities, you, the client and the customers are in it for the long haul which means that you need to invest more time and effort in building a relationship with your client and with the customer. If consumers don’t think you are interesting enough, they will break up with you.

So, here are some thoughts on how you can keep this relationship going!

• Spend some time thinking about what would make the experience better for the customer. Research them when, where and how they would like to be researched.
• Make sure the research is interesting and engaging – and when you have topics that are less interesting, spend time on making the format and the invitation more engaging.
• Inject some variety into it – no one wants to be doing the same type of research every month.
• Keep your tone of voice conversational, and adapt it to suit the type of people you have in the community.
• Reward your community for its efforts. This can be in the form of incentives, prize draws or exclusive tickets and giveaways.
• Have a feedback loop – tell the community how their research feedback has translated into actions.
• Keep the relationship fresh – surprise your community with interesting content or a cool prize.
• And lastly, check in with them to see how you are going and how you can continue to improve the relationship.

It’s certainly harder to keep a relationship going than it is to speed date, but in the long run, the rewards to your business more than make up for the effort.