Would you benefit from best-of-breed software solutions?

Have you ever had to go through the process of buying market research software for your company? If you have you will know that there is no one simple solution. Finding the right software that suits the needs of your business is like finding the right piece for your jigsaw puzzle.

There are many software packages available; all offering something slightly different to the rest, yet you may find that each software package is missing a vital feature or function that is essential to your requirements.

The alternative is to buy each component separately. For example, you purchase the interviewing software from one company, your panel management software from another and so on. This way getting exactly what you need using the best software available.

For many buyers this option can be seen as far too complicated. One of the major hurdles faced by buyers of market research software is being able to integrate the “best-of-breed” tools from multiple vendors into a single system.

To make this approach effective, the most efficient way to do this is by implementing an automated process of data transfer between systems, using a file based system and the industry standard, Triple-S, which is widely recognised and used by many in market research for data processes.

Triple-S is a language for describing survey metadata. The information is stored in a text file and automatically generated by the source package. It is an industry standard that is used by more than 50 software producers worldwide. If two different programs can generate or read the Triple-S format then the survey metadata can be translated automatically, eliminating the need to do it manually.

Integration of two or more software platforms, using an automated process for the data transfer, makes it possible for all data to be kept up-to-date in real time. It also provides a seamless software system to work with and means that market research projects, that are conducted using the multiple software packages, can be undertaken in a more efficient manner.

Another advantage is that it allows you to bring back profile information into the panel database, which is drawn from the research projects. This then enhances the profile information available in the sample selection process.

Some examples of the benefits of automating data transfer processes include:

• Easy automation of data flow between 2 or more programs
• The latest and most accurate information stored in all databases
• The industry standard format Triple-S is used for all data transactions
• Automatically handles data updates such as:
  • Adding new panellist details to a panel database
  • Adding new panellists’ profile information
  • Ideal for building a new panel database from people active in other surveys
  • Updates unsubscribes and removes panellists that want to leave

 

Our MARSC Generic Refresh tool allows for seamless integration between our sampling and panel management platforms and many of the market research software solutions available such as interviewing software systems, data collection software as well as your own database.

Below are some of our partners with whom, we have integrated systems already in place

NIPO Software (Netherlands) (newly formed partnership January 2012)

Voxco (Canada)

MI Pro (Norway)

For more information please email sales@marsc.com

NIPO Software teams up with MARSC Limited

NIPO Software (NL) and MARSC Limited (UK) have come together to develop a direct link between MARSC’s sampling and panel management software, MARSC.net and NIPO’s interviewing system to offer a seamless software solution for market research projects.

 
Surrey, UK – January 17, 2012: NIPO Software, industry leader in interviewing software, has been working with MARSC Limited, global panel management software provider, to develop a direct link between the two products. Sample drawn from MARSC.net goes directly into NIPO’s CATI and/or CAWI survey table, whilst MARSC’s Generic Refresh automatically returns outcome codes and other information back into the MARSC.net database. This partnership is aimed at providing current clients, as well as new customers of NIPO Software and MARSC Limited, a seamless software package for market research projects.

NIPO Software, part of the TNS group, offers software solutions to setup, conduct, and manage CATI, CAPI, CAWI, Switch mode and Pen and Paper interviews.

MARSC Limited offers software solutions for sampling and panel management for organisations conducting market research studies.

Sjoerd Gras, Product Director of NIPO Software says “Together we offer a strong combined portfolio to the market with outstanding panel and research capabilities in CATI, CAPI and Web.“

Nicky Forsyth, Managing Director of MARSC Limited says “We are very happy to be working with NIPO Software and look forward to this opportunity of providing clients a fully integrated survey and panel management solution.”

About NIPO Software (http://www.niposoftware.com)
NIPO Software is the premier global software partner for the market research industry. Every day over 15,000 interviewers and many more respondents from all over the world use a NIPO software product to conduct CATI, CAPI, CAWI, Switch mode or Pen and Paper interviews.

NIPO Software focuses on making research operations more successful; by increasing efficiency and by offering tools to create new business opportunities. That is why over 200 leading market research companies worldwide rely on NIPO Software to help secure their long-term growth. NIPO Software’s data collection and data delivery solutions are reliable, highly adaptable, and efficient, and can be used just as easily locally as in a complex international setting. NIPO Software has a long history of outstanding innovation, with its technological firsts including the first CATI and CAPI field forces and the first software that enabled telephone interviewers to work from home.

NIPO Software has offices in Amsterdam, Hong Kong and Buenos Aires.

About MARSC Limited (http://www.marsc.com)
MARSC Limited provides software solutions for sampling and panel management for the market research industry. MARSC.net is a family of unique sampling and panel management tools for market research providing a platform for the provision of sample for all types of research project. MARSC.net enables your researchers to quickly and easily source, balanced stratified sample, and with a host of panel management features, MARSC.net will ensure the most efficient use of your data for all your projects. MARSC.net can exist seamlessly alongside any standard database system, or act as a panel management system communicating directly with a survey software solution.
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Information:
Sjoerd Gras, Product Director – NIPO Software
+31 20 522 59 96
s.gras@niposoftware.com

Lucy Mackins, Marketing Executive – MARSC Limited
+44 (0)1306 621 062
lucy.mackins@marsc.com

Should you be using mobiles for your surveys?

Results from Ipsos MORI’s Technology Tracker, February 2009, showed that 89% of people in the UK use mobile phones and according to the ONS (Office for National Statistics), mobile internet use in the UK is nearing 50%. The most rapid growth has been seen in younger people, where 71% of internet-connected 16-24 year olds use mobiles.

With a high penetration of users and a high percentage of mobile users accessing the internet, this makes the mobile phone a viable tool for research studies. The benefits being quick responses, good response rates, a broad demographic reach, instant reactions, mobility plus a valuable link with the youth market.

Mobile phones are generally always on and are usually close by to the user, so high response rates can be achieved almost immediately. They are especially useful for customer satisfaction and feedback surveys, as the participant can be reached at the exact moment their opinion is formed.

The mobile phone has the widest demographic reach and participants can be reached almost anywhere. This has made it a very popular in places such as Africa, where other methods were not so successful, due to the ability to reach areas previously unreachable. Plus, with the permission of the participant, other data can be collected including GPS location and activity with the device.

The youth market has previously been a difficult one to reach, but with the high penetration of users in this age range the mobile is a great way to access this group.

When considering whether this is the right research tool, it is important to keep in mind that surveys on mobiles need to be kept short and simple. If the participant starts receiving long surveys on their mobiles, with too many questions to complete, it is quite likely to put them off. As with other survey methods, such as online, face-to-face and telephone, the same rules with regard to quality, relevance and contact frequency must be followed to ensure you retain your participants.

Mobile surveys should be viewed as an additional tool to online surveys rather than a replacement, as they offer different benefits, whereas mobile surveys could be used instead of telephone and face-to-face surveys, offering cost savings in these areas.

Mobile use is fast becoming a popular way of conducting research. The way in which research is being undertaken is rapidly changing. New and innovative methods are being introduced and existing ones are evolving. Mobile is just one of them.

As well as having the most accessible tools to deliver the research to the end user, it is also, just as important, to ensure that the back-end system is working in alignment. This will determine the difference between poor research results and excellent research results. By using the MARSC.net sampling software you will be able to target the right people, as little or as often as you want and keep the database refreshed with the most up-to-date data.

To find out more about the integration possibilities of MARSC.net with your survey or data collection software, please call 01306 621 062 or email sales@marsc.com.

What really is panel management?

There is a lot of talk these days about panel management. The use of panels is growing and management of a panel is obviously important, but what really is panel management? Many think of it as a web site for online panellists, creating a community forum, and while these are important activities in running an online community, that doesn’t necessarily, cover the whole job of managing a panel.

The aim to create active communities is important for specialist panels which have a natural draw from a specialist interest, but is not necessarily practical for all panel providers because of the need to find enough interesting material to draw a diverse group of people to their site and into a community.

What panel providers are really striving to do is to improve the experience of the panellists hoping it will result in them answering more surveys and staying active in the panel for longer. There are some simple direct ways of doing this which are all too often ignored and it involves controlling the use of a panel for the benefit of both the panellist and the panel provider.

Amongst other things the necessity to select relevant people for a survey is important to avoid respondents from becoming despondent.  For example: don’t ask someone about motherhood and child-rearing when they have answered a previous survey telling the panel that they are single and have no children. Obvious really! But unfortunately it happens all too often.

Another area of true panel management that gets missed all too often is the need to manage the frequency of sending surveys to individuals. Sending nothing out to an individual for 6 months and then asking that person to fill out 5 surveys in as many days is not going to motivate a panellist to respond. Maintaining a steady trickle of surveys going out to individuals and making sure surveys are appropriately targeted, while running a busy panel – is panel management at its best.

This type of control is notably lacking in many panel management systems that focus more on the community building aspects and less on managing what the panellist actually receives. It is important that the user is able to select people on the basis of their previous activity in the panel to maintain that contact frequency: not too often and not too seldom. It also important that the user is able to select people based on their answers to previous surveys thereby keeping the surveys relevant.

Do the community building as well, but don’t miss out the important aspects of sample selection in running a panel.

MARSC.net allows the user to select people on the basis of their previous activity in the panel and to maintain that contact frequency; not too often and not too seldom. It also allows users to select people based on their answers to previous surveys, thereby keeping the surveys relevant, and it can operate alongside any interviewing system receiving information from the interviewing process as required.

For more information about MARSC.net, sampling and panel management software, visit www.marsc.com.

MARSC Limited releases v1.3 of MARSC.net

Latest version to feature new data tools and sample selection options

Surrey, UK – September 14th, 2011:  MARSC Limited, providers of software for sampling and panel management to the market research industry, are pleased to announce the release of the MARSC.net v1.3 sampling and panel management system. The official launch of MARSC.net v1.3 will be at ESOMAR Congress in Amsterdam, September 2011.

Enhanced features in this version of MARSC.net include:

• Improved profile and activity filtering  
• Introduction of custom dimensions enabling the combination of interlocking and
  non-interlocking sample selection methodologies
• Introduction of sample prioritisation as an alternative to random selection. (e.g. prioritisation can be determined on frequency of invitation or survey completion
• External files (storing a list of panellist IDs) may be used as the base (or as an exclusion criteria) enabling the precise targeting of sample (e.g. product purchasers over the last 4 weeks)
• User definable Metadata fields allowing users to store more detail against sample jobs (for reporting purposes)

Nicky Forsyth, Managing Director of MARSC says “this new release is a major enhancement of MARSC.net and now provides fully featured sampling for all sizes of panels”.

With the addition of new data tools and sampling enhancements, MARSC.net v1.3 continues to maintain its position within the industry as one of the best systems available, offering an extremely competitive solution for sampling and panel management.

About MARSC Limited (http://www.marsc.com)
MARSC provides software solutions for sampling and panel management for the market research industry. It is used by companies that run online panels be they small or large, either for general consumer research or for smaller panels dedicated to specific topics. The MARSC sampling tool can be used for management of customer satisfaction studies by phone, online or by any other means.

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Information:
Lucy Mackins, Marketing Executive – MARSC Limited
+44 (0)1306 621 062
lucy.mackins@marsc.com

New product development for MARSC.net

Busy times in the office at the moment with our development team. Heads down, working away on new and exciting developments for our sampling and panel management software system.

Constantly striving to offer the latest, up-to-date sampling and panel management software, here are some of the new features to be included in the new version of MARSC.net, due for release later this year.

• Advanced filtering in dimensions – now offering the ability to combine interlocking and non-interlocking.
• Load external files – provides extra information/data that can be linked to existing data of panel members stored on the database to act as a filter on the panel.
• Ability to customise description fields for sample projects and prototype (survey) projects which can also be used for reporting and/or activity filters.
• Extra flexibility and functionality being added to the returning of outcome codes, making the link between MARSC.net and the interviewing software more comprehensive.
• Ability to allow for an automatic close – useful for projects where there is no response to survey invites. (For example, for invites that have not been clicked on or have not been completed, they will be automatically closed by a defined date, removing the need to manually close each invite on a project)
• Sample prioritisation - Sample is usually selected at random. this new function will allow you to use another factor to determine who you select, based on the number of interviews the panellist has completed or the number of invitations that have been sent out, ensuring that all contacts/panellists on the database are used effectively.

For more information please email sales@marsc.com

ARF 2011

Held in New York this year, the ARF 2011 was a great way to kick off the conference season in the US, and our MD, Nicky Forsyth and US Sales Manager, Chandler Eaton were there to be part of it. It is one of the key meetings for the research industry in the USA and the exhibition was filled with many of the normal suspects, bringing together the end users to chat with vendors about everything going on in the industry. It brought in a new element of market research to the forefront with new companies that develop software and services in the social media and customer database area.  Luth Research, from San Diego were making a particular splash with talks on their new product for tracking web usage, which monitors the websites visited by their panellists. There was a big interest in the function that social media can play in the MR industry and several products were being offered for finding and analysing web content for positive/negative comments. The outlook for 2011 seems to be that every company will have to find ways to keep up with the evolving technology and MARSC is on the cutting edge of being able to do this by managing valuable panellists and providing the on-going updates to its software to keep ahead of the new trends in technology.