Crowdsourcing is an effective strategy for retailers to engage with their customers and gain fast, valuable insights into their preferences and needs. However, successfully activating a crowd for crowdsourcing in the retail sector requires a thoughtful and strategic approach.
At SmartSpotter, our primary goal is to keep the crowd happy and motivated. We always aim to have enough tasks available for the crowd by managing the balance between the number of spots available and the size of the network. And to be effective, crowdsourcing also requires encouragement and support of spotters through regular communication.
Here are my tips for keeping a crowd motivated and active.
Clearly define your goals and identify your target audience
Defining your goals before launching a crowdsourcing campaign will help you identify the type of crowd you need to target and the specific questions you want to ask. For example, are you looking to generate new product ideas, improve customer experience, or gather insights on market trends?
At SmartSpotter, we first define a strategy with our clients and then design the campaign that best suits both spotters and retailers. Each assignment is different and should be generated through a mutual understanding of what we want to achieve and the questions to be asked.
Create a compelling call-to-action
Once you've identified your target audience, it’s time to create a compelling call to action to motivate them to participate in your crowdsourcing campaign. This could be a contest, a survey, or a challenge that offers an incentive or reward for participation.
To keep spotters motivated, SmartSpotter has a reward system for each assignment. The payment per spot is based on the degree of difficulty, location or length of the assignment. The number of spots already completed and the number of spots still available in the app can play a role too.
Leverage social media and provide regular updates
Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram can be powerful platforms to effectively promote your crowdsourcing campaign, share updates, and encourage participation.
To keep them engaged and motivated, share insights and ideas generated through the crowdsourcing campaign and acknowledge the contributions of your crowd members.
Provide clear and concise instructions
It’s important that all assignments are carefully designed to be clear, concise and illustrative. We ensure our assignments are formulated in plain language and provide example pictures so that spotters (crowd members) can easily understand what we are looking for.
Use personal reminders
We inform crowd members about nearby tasks using automated messages based on their location. We also send notifications to groups of spotters via email or the app about relevant tasks that are coming up. Personalised messages sent through the app, email, or phone are highly valued by spotters and are effective at keeping them engaged.
Don't forget about direct communication and fast support
The support teams prioritise promptly reviewing tasks to ensure crowd members receive their rewards as soon as possible. If we observe multiple members of the crowd making the same error, we can quickly modify the task description to ensure that the client's desired result is achieved successfully.
By following these steps, retailers can successfully activate a crowd for crowdsourcing and gain valuable insights and ideas to improve the customer experience, generate new products, and stay ahead of the competition.
To learn more about how crowdsourcing can help your business, reach out to andres@smartspotter.com.au
SmartSpotter is an Associate Member of the Drinks Association.