Over the last couple of years, new ways of conducting market research have arrived, with companies like Gutcheck, Zappistore, Toluna, and Google in the ecommerce industry, and InCrowd for life sciences related companies, bringing forward mobile, digital solutions that reach target audiences faster, more cheaply, and more iteratively than ever.

These modern-day applications make market research an ongoing dialogue—outside the discrete “project” approach—and provide real-time answers to critical business questions. They eliminate the need for long processes and make market research an affordable, often-used tool.

This means that businesses can finally leverage powerful, agile technology like automation and algorithms (and combine them with advanced business process thinking), to get market research that is a strategic and tactical tool—something that has been nearly impossible until now.

Often times, a business decision must be made within hours or days—and market insights to inform this decision are necessary but outside one’s ability (and budget) to execute a traditional market research “project.”

Here are some ways you can think outside the “project” and use new market research technology to your advantage:

• Integrate real time market insights into your everyday workflow and get closer to the customer easily.
• Understand discrete KPIs and track them with a “set and forget” approach on a monthly or quarterly basis, rather than draw up a big ATU once or twice a year.
• Move quickly to meet business challenges and react to unexpected market events.

For life sciences companies in particular, the impact can be dramatic. The drug development and commercialization process is long, arduous, and expensive. Every day that a drug is not on the market means ongoing human suffering or even death, and big financial losses that hit the bottom line. So, it’s more important than ever to know that market research is no longer a monolithic endeavor—but a real time, rapid fire, ongoing process that can deliver results as fast as your business needs to move.