Marketing research is essential to identifying your strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. Understanding your customers goes a long way in defining your value propositions. Traditional methods of data collection, though useful, have major disadvantages. The list below includes some techniques that you are surely familiar with; you may even use them in your current research.

• Focus groups
• Mail-in surveys
• Telephone surveys
• Online surveys

These methods are evolutionary. As technology changes, the way customers interact with it changes and subsequently so do our marketing efforts. Whether we like it or not, our society has become accustomed to laptops, netbooks and smartphones. Relying on old-school techniques is no longer an option.

You have used substantial resources on defining your client base. Now it's time to capitalize on your efforts. Choosing the right communication channel will decrease your research costs and boost your return on marketing investment.

By implementing a mobile survey program you can:

• Get real-time feedback
• Capture relevant data
• Add value to a loyalty program
• Monitor brand awareness
• Evaluate purchase intent of products