AnswerTap Debuts DIY Social Media Testing Tool

Seattle-based start-up AnswerTap has launched a DIY feedback-gathering tool called MagicMarkup, to enable agencies and researchers to obtain consumer feedback on their marketing collateral, logo designs and proposed ads from their social networking followers and fans.

Since its launch earlier this year, AnswerTap has made use of a partnership with online panel specialist uSamp to build up a pool of 9 million respondents, providing feedback on a variety of issues such as product development and testing of ads, packaging design and web concepts.

Once users have uploaded an image onto the firm's new MagicMarkup tool, they can recruit their own respondents from their firm's existing fan bases on Twitter and Facebook. These fans are then invited to 'markup' the image by crossing out those things they don't like, circling areas which they think should be bigger, and providing their overall comments. The tool instantly aggregates all feedback into a comment heatmap that visually displays what is and is not connecting with the audience.

For a fee, companies looking to expand their market research beyond their social media fan bases can also tap into AnswerTap's community of respondents.

Founder Zach Simmons (pictured) comments: 'Facebook interaction can tell a company what fans like and don't like, but MagicMarkup lets companies go deeper, much deeper, at no cost whatsoever. It's an inventive tool that will make market research available to all companies, even if they don't have a single dollar to spend.'

Earlier this month AnswerTap launched a 'Consumer Webcam Interview Service', through which marketers and researchers can participate in real-time webcam interviews with targeted respondents pulled from the panel. Once users have defined their preferred demographics, a respondent matching the specified criteria appears 'within minutes', according to Simmons, and interviews can then take place on a secure platform.

Web site: www.answertap.com .