In the past few years DIY research tools (like Survey Monkey, Zoho, QuestionPro etc.) have risen in prominence due to their promise of being easy to use and providing quick and affordable insights. Many of our clients have experimented with these tools with various levels of success. Some were happy with getting some quick and affordable feedback. Others had horrible experiences with data that was neither accurate nor comprehensive.

As a small business ourselves, we understand the appeal of getting results quickly and affordably, and many of us have used a DIY research tool at some point or another (an informal poll on where to hold an event or gathering, a student project, etc.) However, we had never used these tools before in order to make a business decision--a decision that could have real implications to the bottom line. 

Given the growth of these DIY tools, the Lab42 team asked ourselves just how effective are these DIY tools? To better understand that, we set out to conduct a side-by-side ad test using a DIY research tool and then repeating the same research using our own Lab42 process and sample.