Crowdsourcing has been in the spotlight ever since its inception in 2006. It is a promising business practice with limitless possibilities that offers rewards for businesses and consumers alike. Crowdsourcing best describe as a process whereby organizations outsource work that is normally done by internal staff and contractors to an undefined group of people. This allows for a high level of interactivity and collaboration between organizations and consumers, creating a mutually beneficial relationship.
Benefits of Crowdsourcing:
- Problem-solving is explored for very little cost or no cost at all
- Participants experience collaborative brand-building
- Companies gain consumer insights
- Talent outside of the organization is discovered
- Talented laypeople are given a chance to stand out
- Companies gain full rights to the materials
For Businesses, crowdsourcing presents an opportunity to lower expenses while maintaining their creative and operational footing in the marketplace. Rather than hiring expensive engineers, designers and other specialists, companies can tap the creative and inspired talents of the masses for the accomplishment of these same tasks, often at little or no cost.
Crowdsourcing continues to prove to be a plausible way that businesses can use to reach the mass intellligence. Instead of expensive R&D costs that may not necessarily provide accurate information about a client's likes and dislikes, crowdsourcing through interactive media and technology offers is an indispensable tool in market research that allows companies to really understand their consumers.
