Why do we use surveys as opposed to online tracking tools?
Self-completion surveys are the only method to collect the data required. While internet tracking and buzz tracking promise much they fail to generate the insight and understanding required to deliver meaningful online strategy.
Surveys Capture the Voice of the Consumer
- Behaviour: you know and understand where they have been but also what they actually do online and why
- Value is added to the data by including a tangible picture of consumers online and not just an IP address; we ask about themselves, outside of online and social media
- Tracks multi-access platform: their behaviour on various internet enabled devices
- You can build an accurate picture which differs by online platform
- Comparable data: consistent data across each wave and market as we use one source and single survey
- Track aggregated web behaviour e.g. Writing blogs – and you know whether it is on multiple sites / platforms
Online Tracking Tools (IP, browsers, buzz…)
- With online tools you only know where consumers have been – which sites etc
- You can never know who is behind a tracked computer.
- Does not track access across platforms; is the device they are tracked on the only way they access the internet or not? – Unlikely in this day and age
- Do consumers who are knowingly being tracked behave as they usually would if browsing privately? (Think of consumers who visit pornographic sites – would they use that computer to access those sites? Are they enabling private browsing?)