Focus Group 101
Companies all over the country incorporate Focus Groups as part of a well-rounded marketing strategy. From large Fortune 500 companies to smaller start-ups, executives realize that they can uncover valuable insights about promoting their products by moderating a focus group. Understanding how this part of the marketing process works will help you better understand and seek out focus group opportunities that fit your interests.
In a nutshell, focus groups are a form of qualitative research used to capture and analyze people's perceptions, feelings and thoughts. Because these “intangibles” are difficult to measure with numbers, the open-ended and verbal format of the focus group works well. Marketers have found that focus groups are a good tool to understand the emotional factors which can drive a consumer’s behavior. Sometimes focus groups are used to gauge reactions to new product offerings or to record opinions of proposed changes to products and services. Focus group input can also be used to guide the design and development of new products and services as well has help shape the launch of a new advertising campaign.
Focus groups are typically help in a group setting at the facilitator’s office space or rented hotel space although it is becoming more and more common to see focus groups online in a webinar or chat format. The standard focus group consists of eight to twelve people that are lead by a moderator who is charged with guiding the group, making sure they stay on topic, and encouraging all the participants to interact. Participants in the focus group will be asked to answer questions of the moderator and to also comment on the feedback from other participants.
It is common for a focus group to last about 2 hours or so, give or take depending on the particular topic at hand. Your session will probably be videotaped or recorded so that marketing executives can refer back to the feedback at a later date and make sure they have your reponses noted accurately. You also may be asked to fill out a money survey about your experience. For your time and efforts, you will be compensated with a nice chunk of change – anywhere from $30 to $300 – depending on the company and project.