Market research continues to evolve in exciting ways. New tools continue to develop, and platform capabilities are upgrading with better, faster and stronger features. The marketplace is flooded with these shiny tools that make market research look easy. But research expertise is still essential to help companies make the right decisions. All flash and no rigor will lead to bad research and sub-par business results.

Throughout my career in market research, we have used PowerPoint decks to present findings and communicate information to marketing teams, R&D, and organizations overall.

You’ve got some important decisions to make about your products or services. But before you forge ahead, you want to make sure you really understand what makes the most sense for the people who make or break your business; your customers. The questions you have can’t be answered by checking a few boxes. You need in-depth answers to know how they are using your products currently, what features or benefits they really value, and how you can optimize your offering to gain their loyalty.

If you rely heavily on focus groups to conduct your research, you’re probably hesitant to experiment with online tools.

Recent industry blog posts lament that research has become a commodity and qualitative is on its last gasp. I agree that some research practices are being commoditized by online, mobile and big-data research approaches. But I actually believe that these tools will create strong growth in qualitative research in the next 5 years.

From saving you money, time and travel to yielding productive insights, online communities can benefit your company in many ways. But the unknown can be intimidating, so for you novices, let’s break down how to conduct online research with this revolutionary tool.