Arkansas Business is the state’s leading business journal, providing business news, research and analysis to 80,000 readers monthly. Faced with a need for richer readership information, MarketSearch, the independent market research division of Mangan Holcomb Partners, created a co-branded web survey to meet this information gap. Inc. Tanc, as it was coined, was created to serve as an Arkansas “Think Tank” comprised of key business decision makers.
As envisioned, Inc. Tanc would 1) supply Arkansas Business with accurate, timely information about its readers’ habits and preferences, 2) allow Arkansas Business to generate content for its publications that directly mirrors the Arkansas business community and public at large, 3) permit both Arkansas Business and MarketSearch/Mangan Holcomb Partners the opportunity to provide clients exclusive access to proprietary survey questions, and 4) supplement Arkansas Business expertise with the added credibility of a market research firm.
The Inc. Tanc survey was structured as a quarterly online survey. A range was set of 20 to 25 questions that could include up to five demographic questions, three Arkansas Business proprietary questions, six Arkansas Business content-oriented questions, six Arkansas Business external client use questions and five Mangan Holcomb Partners/MarketSearch external client use questions.
The first Inc. Tanc survey was launched June 4, 2008, and ran through June 30, 2008. A total of 12,500 Inc. Tanc survey invitations were sent out. The survey received approximately 1,200 completed responses, giving this first wave of the Inc. Tanc quarterly survey a 9.6% survey response rate. In entirety, 23 questions were developed for survey participants to answer by multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank question formats. A preview of Inc. Tanc findings were released to survey participants approximately two weeks prior to their release to the public in an e-mail formatted with the same design as the Inc. Tanc survey invitation.
Findings arrived as raw data four days following survey closure to respondents. MarketSearch analyzed data to reflect total percentages and comparisons, and then interpreted the results to understand their implications for the state of Arkansas. Inc. Tanc results framed the Arkansas Business environment in an assortment of distinct marketplace niches, including potential growth for online ad revenue, health insurance policy coverage by employers, future staff count expectations, revenue expectations, staff recruitment sources, wage/salary expectations, percentage of wireless telephone service reimbursement by employers, overall top of mind economic concerns and strategic investment potential.
As a statewide survey tool, Inc. Tanc provides a snapshot of current economic conditions as viewed by leading business decision makers, their outlook on the future economic environment, insight into new business opportunities, marketability for new products and services and new employment opportunities. Ultimately, Inc. Tanc has created the source for an economic thermometer. Because the Inc. Tanc surveys will be fielded quarterly, the Arkansas marketplace will be monitored for change consistently and will be powered by key Arkansas decision makers. Inc. Tanc findings are timely, specific and directly relevant to every Arkansan with an interest in the current and future state economy.
The Inc. Tanc initiative can be duplicated for any organization in need of richer marketplace information for its target audience. The methodology is simple: Inc. Tanc is an online survey, designed exclusively for one audience and fueled by responses from the distinct voice of that audience. An Inc. Tanc effort can define a region in terms of opinions, attitudes and outlook.
The Inc. Tanc initiative began as an answer to the need for richer readership information and outlook. This process out-performs other methods by way of its specificity, high response rate, flexibility, timeliness, low cost and simplicity. We look forward to measuring the changes of the Arkansas public over the coming months and adding new parameter to the perceived Arkansas economy by giving it valid definition collected from its people.