--- title: 5 Top Tips for Moderating Online Focus Groups description: Focus groups provide dynamic, evolving and real-time data that can often be invaluable to market researchers. Read five top tips for moderating focus groups online to discover how to get more for your money. image: https://blog.flexmr.net/hubfs/5%20Top%20Tips%20for%20Moderating%20Online%20Focus%20Groups.jpg --- close ## Ready to level up your insights? Get ready to streamline, scale and supercharge your research. Fill out this form to request a demo of the InsightHub platform and discover the difference insights empowerment can make. A member of our team will reach out within two working days. close ## Cost effective insights that scale Quality insight doesn't need to cost the earth. Our flexible approach helps you make the most of research budgets and build an agile solution that works for you. Fill out this form to request a call back from our team to explore our pricing options. 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[Read more](https://blog.flexmr.net/workshops-beacons-customer-salience) 9 MIN READ #### Ed Hill - [Events (1)](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/events) - [Insights Empowerment (38)](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/insights-empowerment) - [Practical Application (178)](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/practical-application) - [Research Methods (285)](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/research-methods) - [Strategic Thinking (232)](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/strategic-thinking) - [Survey Templates (7)](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/survey-templates) - [Tech & Trends (397)](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/tech-trends) I ran my first Live ChatMR on our FlexMR platform back in 2007 and, thinking back, there are quite a few things which I have discovered in the intervening 5 years and 50+ live online groups that I wish I'd know then. Here's a list of 5 handy hints. It should be noted that here I'm talking about live chat focus groups with around 6-10 participants lasting for 1 - 2 hours, rather than asynchronous question boards. ### 1) Focus, Focus, Focus! In all types of focus groups, having a specific topic for discussion really helps, but for online groups this is even more important. Not everyone is a top touch-typist, or used to using Instant Messaging and quite as quick at responding as you'd like. This means that a jam-packed topic guide however carefully planned, might go out of the window and you find that you never get to that vital last section. ### 2) Be a Top Touch-Typist It's far from essential (especially when you can pre-load questions and prompts as you can in FlexMR's focus group facility), but for ad-hoc responses and probing, it makes life useful to be able to post a speedy reply before the discussion moves on. Now where did I leave that 'Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing' disc? ### 3) Have a Road Map for the Group Participating in an online focus group could be a disenfranchising experience if you've not taken part in a group before and aren't sure what is expected of you and when. If you're talking about a process or customer journey, why not tell participants at the start of the discussion what you'll be discussing using a diagram or map, then refer back to it throughout the group, for instance at the start of each section? This helps frame the discussion and participant expectations and can also help reassure them that they won't be expected to hang on online all afternoon! ### 4) Mix It Up A variety of methods is even more important in online groups than in face-to-face groups as they help to break up large amounts of text-based discussion. Images to be annotated, quick 'shows of hands' and showing stimuli (images and video) break the experience up for participants, and also allow a bit of 'breathing space' for participants, moderator and any clients viewing as well as facilitating great feedback on ads and concepts. ### 5) Respond and Reflect Good practice in a face-to-face group but even more important when moderating online! Without feedback, response and reflection, participants start to feel that they are involved in an online survey rather than a live discussion. Further, reflecting on people's points, asking for examples, sympathising, explaining and so on go a long way to showing that they are engaged with a real researcher and not a chat-bot! Why not share your top tips and online focus group experiences with us using the comments form below? *To book a free trial of the FlexMR research platform and make use of our wide range of quant & qual tools, click [here](https://resources.flexmr.net/free-demo). Or, click [here](https://www.flexmr.net/services.aspx) to read more about the flexible service levels we can provide* #### About FlexMR We are The Insights Empowerment Company. We help research, product and marketing teams drive informed decisions with efficient, scalable & impactful insight. #### About Annette Smith As Technology Development Manager, Annette has been vital to shaping InsightHub into the world-class hybrid platform it is today. #### Stay up to date ## You might also like... ![Blog Featured Image Header](https://blog.flexmr.net/hubfs/Marketing_Files/Blogs/Headers/retaining_human_touch_customer_salience_cx_ai.png) ### [Retaining a Human Touch with Custom...](https://blog.flexmr.net/customer-salience-cx-ai) In recent years, companies have embraced artificial intelligence (AI) at pace, swept up in a technological momentum that promises efficiency and cost savings. However, in their rush to pursue quickly ... 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