A list of the smartest apps out there for marketing researchers

“Around eighty percent of doctors use smartphones”. Wonder where this statistic comes from? Most probably, from a high-rise inManhattanorNew York, teeming with young, up mobile, and, energetic, marketing researchers. Traditional data collection and interviewing methods have given way to new, unconventional techniques and being a marketing researcher is even more glamorous than ever before.

There are several applications that have made gathering and recording information easier than before. A quick run through of the best ones in the market.

isurvey; the app of 2012

It is a cool app that works on ipad, ipod, and iphone and helps a great deal in conducting surveys, to store and gather survey results, and also easily analyze the data collected. You don’t need to be connected to the net which is a welcome relief for researchers as busy servers have been the dampener of many field surveys.

Offline information is safely stored and it fits neatly into the back-pocket. Creating online surveys has never been so easy.

Market speak

Thumbspeak is a free application that can be downloaded from the iTunes store. It follows a simple model and let’s people sms their opinions and answers. The researcher has to send in a question to Thumbspeak and registered users who are willing to take up the survey can sms their replies. Certainly saves the trouble of asking questions in busy and dusty areas and screaming to be heard!

dScout is all that you were scouting for

dScout allows researchers to design questions related to the topic and select scouts to share pictures and information such as their daily agenda, shopping experience or disappointments! It has made gathering realtime information, without from your seat, plausible.

AYTM anytime, anywhere

This tool is easy to use and even helps in preparing a questionnaire. You post your surveys using aytm and the answers and results to your surveys are available in the dashboard at a real quick time. You can also create neat presentations of your data to your finicky boss using the pre-designed charts and graphs available.

Smartphones a smart way to work on the field

Most market researchers use smartphones to record dictations as it can be password locked and portable. Alerts and reminders can be created so missing out on an important interview is less likely. Smartphones offer dictation options that are almost on par with conventional audio recorders.

Transcription firms that keep an ear to the ground now offer specialized transcription services for marketing research audio data recorded in the erstwhile Blackberries and iphones.