PinchForth recently did an interview — in their Rediscover Marketing segment, with Catherine Gutierrez, our Vice President of Marketing. We share an excerpt from her interview, below.
Value-driven content.
According to Catherine, Marketing is all about creating value-driven content.
But, how do you build it?
Well, at MFour is doing market research for some of the biggest brands in the world. So, each week, the team sends out free research reports to help brands learn about their buyers – and sell more of what people want.
All this research comes from an app, called Surveys On The Go®.
In the app, consumers share their feedback with the companies that need input, via a survey. In return, they earn cash. It’s why the brands that use MFour see:
- 50% participation rates within 24 hours.
- 95% completion rates on 20-minute surveys.
That’s 10x higher than sending out an online survey. This mobile research is better, faster, and more accurate. It’s leaving traditional market research behind — and reshaping a whole industry.
Here’s how research and content, come together.
Research + content go hand in hand.
What Catherine shares next…is how to adapt.
In February of 2020, the world was facing a pandemic. The industry was struggling. Immediately, market researchers couldn’t just walk up to ask consumers to take a survey. And online surveys were already struggling.
It was time to adapt.
Surveys On The Go®, the nation’s largest, highest-rated consumer panel — was already socially distant. Because it’s an app, MFour could leverage it to bring free market research to clients, in an unprecedented time.
For Catherine and her team, giving out free market research became the new focus. They needed to get these changing consumer behaviors to clients — and fast.
It worked.
The 38% decline in airport foot traffic was the first market research on the pandemic.
Clients quickly saw massive value in this real-time research, especially with behaviors changing so quickly. What followed was 17 months of studying COVID-19 consumer behaviors. Everything – from the stockpiling, to the shift in online shopping, to the emergence back to ‘normal’ was all documented.
And, it helped.
Brands slowly regained their footing, and market research started to bounce back. Now, Catherine and her team continue to offer free weekly insights, because it’s the right thing to do.
Final feedback, for marketers.
Catherine shares her final thoughts for marketers, below.
They are:
- Get outside your comfort zone.
- Be aware of how things have changed.
- Accept that what might’ve worked before, won’t necessarily work in the future.
- Always be willing to try something new, it’s worth testing on a small scale to see if it works.
You’re in charge.
Learn from your consumers. They’ll tell you what they want. And, you can use it to create an even better customer experience. When you do, you’ll see 86% are willing to pay you more, than your competition.
Now, that’s research any brand should want to do.
About Catherine.
Catherine started her career in 2005 as a senior marketing director in Orange County.
A Cal State Long Beach alum, Catherine completed both her MBA and her B.S. in Marketing at The Beach — ultimately doing a thesis on consumer behavior, that she says led her to MFour.
Before MFour, Catherine served as the Director of Corporate Accounts at Parsec Automation Corp, in both sales and marketing. She was also the Global Marketing Manager at Avetta: 2011 to 2014.
