Once you have your focus group gathered and ready. Now, it’s time for the fun part. The questions.
Sometimes thinking of the questions may seem difficult. You’re not sure if the questions are the “right” ones to ask. You want to make sure you get the answers you need. Following are 7 tips when designing focus group questions:
Where Do You Want to End Up? What are your goals? Is it to see which ad is best? Is it to determine whether your new product will resonate with the public? Or do you want to find out where thoughts land on a particular subject? Create your questions from where you want to end up. As Steven Covey says, “Begin with the end in mind.”
Keep It Short and Simple. Only a few questions will do. No more than seven. There is a time limit on focus groups. You want to make sure you get the information you need. The purpose of focus groups is defeated if you don’t get your questions answered.
No Yes and No’s. Only ask open-ended questions. You want the “why” and “how” and “when” answers. Yes or no will not get you the information you need.
Elaborate. Like the above, ask your partipants to speak more about their answers. Probe a little. Get them to talk. If your objective is to find out why they like a certain ad campaign, then ask them why.
Ask Again. If you didn’t get the answers the first time…ask again. Probe a little deeper. Ask in a different way. Make sure they share.
Suggestions? Ask for suggestions on how to make it better. If there is something that did not resonate with the participants, ask what they would do.
The core reasons for focus groups is to get answers. You want to find out what’s in the minds of your potential customers. If that’s what you want, then ask questions.