The ability to bring people together in an online community to discuss a product, service, advertising campaign, or future planning can be a very valuable addition to current market research methodologies. Such an online market research or focus group has several advantages for the organization:

• It can be much less expensive than traditional focus groups and market research consulting
• Participants are more likely to divulge their real thoughts and feelings
• Many web-based tools are available to help you get feedback and insights from existing and potential customers
• Online focus can be launched quickly by hand-picking a representative sample from your current customer database or existing customer communities and product user groups
• You can remove the guesswork from new product directions and marketing campaigns by asking your current clients for feedback before launching a full campaign.

Focus groups can potentially be put together online quickly by tapping into customer communities and product user groups, where a continuous stream of new, prospective participants can be readily identified.

Because they aren't face to face with the other participants and the individuals running the focus group, participants won't be influenced by facial clues and body language, and they may be more likely to say what they truly think.

Fortune 500 companies are using online communities to interact directly with customers (as reported in the Wall Street Journal).