Insightful Connections

Insightful Connections

di QualRecruit

Ep. 25: Kayte Hamilton, The Social Question

Unpacking how The Social Question captures authentic feedback from engaged consumers where they already gather. TSQ partners with influencers to “moderate” their communities in-platform, introducing research questions into existing conversations. The result is rich, conversational feedback from consumers talking about categories they already care about. In this episode Seb sits down with Kayte Hamilton, founder of The Social Question, to explore a form of social media research that sits somewhere between traditional qualitative research, social listening, and influencer engagement. They discuss: How The Social Question partners directly with influencers and creators to field research questions through Instagram Stories. Why existing audience relationships can produce more conversational, story-rich responses than traditional open ends. How influencers can function as natural qualitative moderators when two-way conversation is already part of their relationship with followers. Why keeping participants in-platform can reduce friction compared with sending them into a separate survey or research environment. Where social media research fits alongside traditional qual, quant, and social listening—and where its methodological limitations remain. What Kayte’s experience with progressive hearing loss taught her about accessibility, text-based research, and finding new ways to connect with participants. Key moments 06:16 — How influencer-led research works in practice A walkthrough of using Instagram Stories, polls, and question prompts to collect research responses from existing communities. 10:18 — Why staying in-platform matters Kayte explains the difference between asking someone to leave social media for a survey and engaging them directly where they already spend their time. 12:03 — The limitations of the method No screener, limited demographic precision, and a much more “big picture” approach to insight than conventional sample design. 14:45 — Influencers as moderators Kayte describes how she evaluates creators based on their ability to sustain genuine two-way conversation—not simply follower count. 17:57 — Why market research needs new data streams A broader discussion about the industry’s tendency to stay within familiar research environments and the case for combining traditional and emerging forms of data. About Kayte Hamilton Kayte Hamilton is the founder of The Social Question, a social media research agency that helps insights teams connect directly with social media users through influencer collaborations. Her background spans qualitative moderation, quantitative research, sales, and app development before she built a research model around creator communities and in-platform engagement. Links The Social Question Kayte Hamilton on LinkedIn The Social Question on Instagram Insightful Connections Podcast About Insightful Connections Insightful Connections explores the people, practices, and ideas shaping qualitative research. QualRecruit helps research teams recruit high-quality participants for qualitative studies across the U.S. and international markets.

Aryn Korpalski: Fieldwork Inc

Aryn is Senior Vice President at Fieldwork Inc. Fieldwork makes qualitative research easy, effective, and human. They handle details from recruiting participants to hosting and managing projects, allowing their clients to focus on the insights. With welcoming, convenient, and purpose-built facilities across the US and a trusted virtual platform, their team is here to support all kinds of research from consumer conversations to complex medical studies. Fieldwork believes that great research starts with great people, and they're here to connect you with them.

Pam Goldfarb Liss, LitBrains! Igniting Ideas Inc.

Our guest today is Pam Goldfarb Liss. Pam is president-bigbrain at LitBrains! Igniting Ideas Inc., and the founder-superfriend trainer at Mission Kid Possible, an online library of kid-sized workshops and live training courses for moderators who want to work with kids and teens. After running Lit Brains for over 30 years and spending over a decade perfecting the Riva course on moderating with kids and teens, Pam founded Mission Kid Possible to further share her expertise on moderating with kids. Prior to founding LitBrains, Pam held a variety of agency-side roles and cultivated her expertise moderating with kids for numerous leading brands.

🚨 EMERGENCY POD: Vivek Bhaskaran, QuestionPro

Sign up to hear more Insightful Connections. QuestionPro CEO and founder Vivek Bhaskaran talks about Qualtrics' B$6.75 acquisition of Press Ganey Forsta and how QuestionPro is moving aggressively to capture market share in the aftermath. Do you have a Decipher, Confirmit, or Qualtrics contract? Hit Vivek up on LinkedIn and he'll cut your bill in half. (Mention Insightful Connections to Vivek and we'll send you a shirt)

Ep. 21: Lena Hesselgrave, AskNicely

Today's guest is Lena Hesselgrave. Lena is head of product marketing at AskNicely. AskNicely is the customer experience platform built for multi-location service businesses. Unlike traditional survey tools that just collect feedback, AskNicely turns customer insights into daily habits for frontline staff, helping businesses improve retention, grow referrals, and deliver consistently great experiences. In addition to her role at AskNicely, Lena is a recently appointed board member at NextMinute, a fast-growing startup for project management in businesses that deal with tradespeople, construction, all that good stuff. Prior to joining AskNicely, Lena held product marketing roles at Xero, in addition to past roles in public service media and other work in SaaS companies.

Ep. 20: Ray Fisher, Aha! Insights Technology

Our guest today is Ray Fisher. Ray is the CEO and founding partner at Aha! insights technology. Founded in 2013, Aha! insights technology is a global activity-based qualitative research platform designed to give insights teams and consultants the tools to deploy and analyze live and asynchronous consumer and B2B research studies using the sophisticated AI-enhanced digital technologies. In addition to their leading qualitative platform, they offer services ranging from DIY to full-service project engagements. The platform is very ad hoc and friendly and also offers subscription plans for organizations of all sizes. Prior to founding AHA, Ray was a brand manager at PepsiCo, was an EVP at Influence, an early internet consultancy, and was a strategic consultant at RealityCheck.

Ep. 19: Raina Rusnak, StarKist Co.

Our guest today is Raina Rusnak. Raina is Head of Consumer Insights at StarKist Co., a socially responsible company dedicated to providing nourishing, convenient protein products to consumers across the US. In her role, Raina drives product sensory research, brand health analysis, and the development of innovative flavors. With her expertise in consumer behavior, she helps shape strategic decisions that enhance StarKist's product offerings and consumer experiences. Previously, Raina served as Director of Consumer Insights for Ahold Delhaize USA, overseeing insights for five distinct brands. Her career spans both client and supplier side roles, giving her a well-rounded perspective on leveraging data to craft consumer-driven strategies. Raina is the author of Sampling Life, 100 Ways to Find Joy in Unemployment. Having lived through a long period of unemployment, Raina offers perspective on how to stay positive through a challenging time.

Ep 18: Izzy Parashos, Xero

Izzy Parishos. Izzy is a lead insights consultant at Xero. Founded in 2006, Xero is the global small business platform that helps customers supercharge their business. Prior to working at Xero, Izzy was a consultant at C-Space and a senior research executive at Harris Interactive. She's worked out of offices in Australia, the UK, and most recently the US, conducting research on every continent in the meantime. Izzy is a Green Book Futurist honoree and was named in Significant Insights 30 under 30 in 2023

Ep 17: Nithi Kumar, Kantar

Nithi Kumar is Global Head of Experience Solutions and CX Growth North America / APAC at Kantar. Kantar is the world’s leading marketing data and analytics business and an indispensable brand partner to the world’s top companies, including 96 of the world’s 100 biggest advertisers. Prior to joining Kantar, Nithi was leading CX for Telenor Group in Asia, one of the largest global communications service providers.

Ep 16. Roddy Knowles, dtect

Roddy is the COO at dtect. Founded in 2022, dtect is the data quality platform that prevents survey fraud. It makes you more effective by using advanced technology to ensure your data is real. Prior to joining Detect, Roddy held leadership positions at DISQO, Feedback Loop, and Dynata.

1 di 3