Navigating Online Interviews: Your Essential Checklist

Online interviews have emerged as an essential tool for collecting insights and understanding consumer needs in our current digital era. Their adaptability, paired with the in-depth understanding they provide, has made online interviews a go-to method in market research. Businesses aiming to polish their products or fine-tune their marketing approaches find immense value in these interviews.

Yet, like any powerful tool, conducting online interviews requires thoughtful planning and care, particularly given the intricacies involved in the process. Before embarking on any online interview venture, it's paramount to have clearly defined objectives. This article is a friendly guide that highlights key considerations when conducting online interviews, ensuring your results are accurate, reliable, and valuable.

1. Survey Planning and Design

Determining the purpose of your interviews is the first step. Are you seeking to understand customer preferences, identify market trends, or uncover latent needs? Clarifying your company's business issues and related objectives will shape your survey planning and design. Here's your checklist:

• Your company's business issues are clear.
• Purpose of conducting interviews is clear.
• Purpose of data analysis (what you want to analyse) is clear.
• Questions are designed in line with the purpose of the survey.
• Your company has a clear target for the interviews.
• Output based on the interview data is clear.
• Marketing measures based on the results are considered.
• Schedule in time for the next action.
• Survey cost (one-time or annual budget) has been decided.

2. Interview Participants

Identifying the right interview participants is vital. Make sure your selection criteria are not overly niche to avoid biases in your survey results. Here's a checklist for choosing interview participants:

• Interview at least three people per survey.
• Target conditions set are not extremely rare.
• Select participants who will not bias the survey results.
• Consider participants with devices such as PCs, smartphones and tablets.
• Consider that the participants are Internet users.

3. Pre-Interview Preparation

Ensure the environment for the interview is conducive, and that your communication equipment is in good working order. Proper organisation of your questions is vital to make the most of the time allocated. Here's your pre-interview checklist:

• Prepare an environment that is free from noise and disturbance during the interview.
• Prepare a communication environment with no audio or screen delay.
• Set up a background image with a calm atmosphere.
• Prepare a moderator with good communication and facilitation skills.
• Prepare enough questions to fit within the time limit.
• Ensure that questions are not repeated.
• Make sure that the survey items are not designed with the intention of the survey creator.
• Confirm that the questions are easy for respondents to understand.
• Confirm that the questions are designed to minimise psychological burden for the respondents.

4. On the Day of the Interview

Create a comfortable atmosphere for your participants. An ice-breaker or an introduction may help to ease any tension. Here's your day-of-interview checklist:

• Interviewer should be well groomed.
• If possible, have a person take notes in the background in case the interviewee refuses permission to record the interview.
• Create a comfortable atmosphere for participants to talk (ice breaker).
• Ask participants for permission to record/photograph.
• Introduce yourself.
• Remind participants of the overall flow of the meeting and the scheduled end time.
• Start with questions that are easy for participants to answer.
• Do not use ambiguous expressions or jargon.
• If participants are at a loss for an answer, the interviewer will offer a helping hand.
• Use good humour with the participants.

The above checklist serves as a valuable resource in planning and executing effective online interviews. As a company committed to supporting businesses in their market and successful marketing research endeavours, we are always here to assist you in your journey towards garnering powerful insights.