Analysis of a Hashtag: What Twitter Means for Market Research
by Ben Leet, Sales Director, uSamp
Last week, while travelling home from work, a trivial tweet of mine was retweeted by a complete stranger. My initial reaction was one of annoyance; I didn’t really want complete strangers knowing that I was frustrated by my train service that day. But then I started to question myself… why had I put a hashtag into the tweet citing the train company by name if I didn’t want it to be found in the Twittersphere?
What even compelled me to tweet in the first place? Sure I was frustrated at the delays, and the probable untruths that were being used as explanations for these delays, but did that tweet improve the situation? And more importantly, did it make me feel better that I’d voiced my anger directly at the train company, who may or may not be paying attention to the random rant of a customer on Twitter?
Sample Aggregation in Market Research: Critical Questions to Ask Online Suppliers
by Matt Dusig, Co-Founder & CEO, uSamp
If you’ve worked in the industry long enough, you’ve experienced a five-alarm fire drill. You’ve carefully plotted out what you believe will be the perfectly executed project. Everything is running as scheduled when suddenly, incidence drops without warning, response rates tank, and the client unexpectedly adds that last minute “little” change that screens out potential respondents. Your best-laid plans are no longer suitable and more resources are needed—fast. What do you do to keep your project alive and your client satisfied? Did you say…aggregation?
INFOGRAPHIC: uSamp Datapoint Study on Social Media Habits in the UK
Men are more likely to share information about themselves on social networking sites than women apart from when it comes to shopping, according to new research from uSamp™.
uSamp surveyed 600 adults in the UK in January 2012.
INFOGRAPHIC: Why 13% Don’t Engage on Social Media Sites
More findings from the uSamp’s “Social Media Habits and Privacy Concerns Survey“: Read the rest of this entry »
3 Tips for Successful Market Research Project Management
By now you’ve heard a variety of voices from uSamp, and hopefully learned a little bit about our culture and position within the market research industry. From debates on panel size and DIY to European Union forecasts and remote management strategies, uSamp’s has attempted to wrangle diverse perspectives and reveal our willingness to be transparent. We recognize the importance of contributing to the heated discourses that are happening in various MR forums across the web and at conferences. But at the same time, we realize that it is important to let you know how we operate. One of the key pillars to our success as a client-facing firm is our project management team and the methodology they use to put our panelists to good use. So without further adieu, let’s go behind the curtain, and find out how our PMs make uSamp tick. Norm Williams shares tips that are not only valuable to other PMs, but can be applied to client-services and consultants across the board.
by Norm Williams, Project Manager
In the world of project management, the definition of a successful project is one that is adequately completed according to clients’ specifications, and within their established timeline. Although this definition may sound simple, it is anything but straightforward. There are various nuances that go into managing a successful project. Years of market-research expertise certainly helps, but you never know what issues will come up that can throw even the most seasoned veteran for a loop.
All projects managers know there are a myriad of issues that regularly arise—which is why, communication, preparation, awareness and flexibility are key components in determining the success of a project.
INFOGRAPHIC: uSamp Datapoint Study Finds Gender Gap over Social Media Privacy
Most women using social media are just as willing to reveal personal information about their relationships, jobs, brand preferences and political and religious affiliations as men — but when it comes to details like phone numbers, location, and email or physical address that might put their personal security at risk, women are significantly more wary than men.
These are among the findings of the “Social Media Habits and Privacy Concerns Survey,” a new nationwide study conducted by uSamp, a leader in providing targeted audiences for global consumer insights and innovative SaaS technologies for audience engagement and business intelligence. Using SurveyBuilder™, its self-serve survey authoring platform with on-demand consumer audiences, uSamp surveyed nearly 600 adult men and women about the social media sites they frequent and the kind of information they share online.
What do you share on social media sites?
Will Social Media Kill Market Research?
by Ben Leet, Sales Director
It’s easy to sit and blame Mark Zuckerberg. After all, isn’t he the one that radically changed the way that humans interact with each other, creating this frenzy around two buzzwords: “social media”?
However Facebook hasn’t changed the way human beings think, interact or communicate–it’s simply given us a tool to do this more efficiently than we could have done before. Read the rest of this entry »
Entrepreneur Journeys: Sramana Mitra Talks Sample
uSamp’s CEO, Matt Dusig recently shared his entrepreneurial path with Sramana Mitra, founder of the One Million by One Million global initiative aimed at helping a million entrepreneurs to reach a million dollars each in annual revenue and beyond by 2020.
The case study can be accessed in its seven-part entirety on Sramana’s blog.
Census Rep vs. Balanced: What type of sample best serves your MR project?
by Scott Worthge
Senior Director of Survey Solutions; Manager of Knowledge Development
As uSamp’s Senior Director of Survey Solutions, I spend a large part of my day thinking about sample. For me, sample is not just about numbers, but about real people who are representative of a population, a sentiment that Matt Dusig touched on in his post on Online Sample Quality. Over the past year, I have noticed an increasing demand for “Census representation.” It has become somewhat of an industry buzzword coming up in conferences, market research articles and postings, discussions with colleagues, and proposals from clients requesting a “Census rep” audience. Why has it become so popular? Does this type of sample necessarily produce better quality results? I decided that this concept would be best explored in a blog post.
From The CFO’s Chair: Strategies For Coming Out Top In 2012
by John Woolard, Chief Financial Officer
What if we told you that one of our leaders was a big wave rider with a photographic memory who once was lost in the Saudi Arabian
desert, and now can be found in a corner office in Encino? uSamp challenges you to find another CFO with that street-cred. John Woolard is a CPA with more than 20 years of diverse financial leadership experience in entertainment, retail, manufacturing and distribution, including positions as CFO, VP of Finance, and Controllership. Before taking this role as CFO, he led finance teams in the U.K., Netherlands and the Middle East. Woolard has a proven ability to manage and optimize financial results within rapidly changing environments. He possesses an extensive background in strategic planning, financial reporting, treasury operations and internal controls and has solid relationships in the investor and lending communities. Woolard earned a degree in accounting and finance from Cal State Northridge. Not listed on his resume, but worthy of mention: his ability to read minds and penchant for English pubs especially–when Chelsea is playing.
As we reach the end of a year of rapid growth, it is hard to imagine that three years ago, we were a small but ambitious start-up where office space was a non-issue, and elbow grease went a long way. uSamp has been successful in expanding its reach in terms of employees, projects, markets, and clients. But as with any success comes responsibility.
Over the next 12 months, we will continue to face key challenges like growing the business in proportion to the revenue, and managing this growth while maintaining quality. These challenges are not new nor are they unique to uSamp, but are an inevitable part of maturing in the venture ecosystem. At this stage in our own venture, we continue to think big but stay focused. These key points create the ambition and stability we need to keep our competition guessing in 2012.
Thinking Big:
Over the past year, uSamp expanded its reach across North America, Europe, and India, and hired 100 new employees for entry-level roles, software engineers, and senior level strategy heads. This fast growth was necessary to accommodate for our growing traditional sample business, and essential in building the optimal infrastructure for the suite of new products launched over the year. It all comes down to timing–investing in the right projects and resources, and hiring the right people at the right time.
uSamp announced the official launch of our European business and local presence in London. With the help of our Gaelle Normand, our Managing Director in Europe, our growth in Europe greatly surpassed our expectations. The excitement, energy and anticipation on Grays Inn Road is reminiscent of our early days in Encino.
Additionally, we have invested time and resources into our India presence. This past fall key executives including myself from our North American office had the opportunity to spend time in the Indian office, and to witness the intelligent and dynamic team in action.
We have done a solid job of managing many different moving parts, in large part due to our strong leadership team who operates independently. We do a good job of bringing new ideas to light, and constructing a plan to make those ideas a tangible reality.
But all of this growth doesn’t come easy. It requires the dedicated management of a global enterprise, and staying true to our original intentions. Which brings me to my second point….
Staying Focused:
As uSamp continues to grow in terms of revenue, market grasp, panel numbers, and product offerings, it’s important to remember our original mission and value proposition. At the heart of uSamp is our panel—one of our strongest assets. We will continue engaging current panelists, while sourcing new niche panelists. Our focus will be on cultivating business, medical and Hispanic audiences, and expanding our reach to the Asian Pacific in order to meet the demands of the marketplace and better serve our clients’ needs.
In 2011, we’ve are lucky to have been rewarded by tremendous growth in North America and around the world. But at the end of the day, it’s clients that matter most—the key contributors to our success. We have a dedicated operations team that is on call 24/7, so that we can efficiently meet all of our global clients’ needs day and night. In all of the noise, the excitement, the chaos, it is easy to lose sight of our intentions. But we will continue to prioritize listening to our clients, to our leadership, to our employees. And we will continue to imagine ourselves in start-up survival mode. This past year, uSamp was recognized by The Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the best places to work in Los Angeles. We will strive to live up to the praise, and bring a dynamic work culture to every office across the globe.
