An Insight Community is a way of conducting ongoing research with a group of users. They allow brands to engage with their customers (current and future) in real-time, in a safe, transparent, and secure online environment.
Communities are a versatile tool that can help you to explore new opportunities, understand the path to purchase, test your creative, validate your ideas and make crucial decisions.
Brands want to be best buddies with their customers. They talk about “putting customers at the heart of everything we do.” yet often fall short. Insight Communities make it much easier to embed your customers and prospects into your plans.
Sometimes you need answers and you need them fast! An Insight Community is always-on, allowing for real-time consultation without project setup. Even better, it will also alert you to issues before you’re aware of them.
Make better decisions faster. Get useful responses from profiled members and turn questions into answers and answers into strategy. In hours not days. Spend more time analysing and less time managing.
Streamline your roster of research suppliers. Cut down the need for individual project pitches and tenders. Save time managing projects. Insight Communities are most effective when used on a long-term or ongoing basis.
The first generation of Insight Communities were often their own little bubble, with limited ability to incorporate wider data. This is no longer the case. A modern Insight Community is designed to be part of a greater data lake, and can integrate CRM, ERP and third-party data, making them a greater strategic asset.
An Insight Community can adapt to the size and needs of any brand wishing to use one. Short-term plug-and-pay communities are becoming as common as the highly managed long-term versions, and both fit a particular set of business and knowledge needs.
This is going to sound a little obvious, but the most important reason to use an Insight Community is… the insight. If you want real, unfiltered customer views and opinions. If you want genuine customer knowledge. Then you need a platform to engage and capture it on a regular basis.
“The insights have the power to influence strategic and commercial plans at Twinings by ensuring we continue to put the consumer at the heart of what we do.” Consumer Insights Director, Twinings
This article is an excerpt from our series of 3 ebooks around insight communities. Download now to receive:
In this three part series, we outline everything you need to know about Insight Communities – what they can be used for, how to get the most of them and why they should be considered a vital strategic asset.
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