Social media vloggers, bloggers, and influencers are one of the more popular audiences in research lately. Lucky for many of our clients, Drive Research is highly experienced in recruiting this audience.
When an agency reached out to us on behalf of a large international video tech/equipment brand, we knew we were the right fit for the project.
This case study blog outlines our step-by-step process of recruiting YouTubers and vloggers.
Report: A Brand's Guide to Working with Influencers
Project Overview
Our goal was to recruit 10 social media vloggers for a mixed methodology project consisting of:
- Virtual research interviews
- Online focus groups
- Mobile ethnographies conducted on an online diary platform
The total time commitment for this project was between 4 to 5 hours, and vloggers received $800 as a thank you for their time and feedback.
Objectives
The video technology brand used these findings to have an understanding of vloggers’ lives and relationship to their equipment.
The brand also wanted to get a better understanding of its target audience for new company initiatives.
Step 1: The Requirements
Before our qualitative recruiting company can begin on any project, we need to understand our target audience.
This project had the following requirements:
- Ages 20 to 34
- Posts content several times a month or more often
- A mix of verticals (type of content created)
- Posts content on YouTube or Twitch
- Has at least 5,000 followers
- Uses a primary recording device from a pre-approved list
- Has a channel that has grown over the last year
Step 2: The pre-screener
Before we began our outreach to social media vloggers, the first step was to program a pre-screening questionnaire to gauge qualification.
This pre-screening questionnaire included the following questions:
- How old are you?
- How often do you post content?
- Which of the following best describes the category of content you create?
- On which platforms do you regularly publish your content?
- Please list the links or usernames to your social media channels/platforms
- About how many followers do you have on your main platform?
- What is your primary recording device?
- Do you record your own videos?
- Do you edit your own videos?
- Which of the following best describes the number of subscribers your channel grew by in the past year?
- Do you have an occupation outside of vlogging/creating content?
- If yes, what is your occupation outside of vlogging/creating content?
- Contact information
Recommended Reading: What is a Recruitment Screener?
Step 3: Outreach
With our experience in this field, Drive Research has our own in-house panel of social media influencers willing to participate in research with us.
We also conducted a grassroots campaign to reach qualified participants for this project. This grassroots campaign consists of a team that researches social media platforms and profiles to locate contact information for vloggers.
Once contact information is recorded, personalized email invitations are sent to social media bloggers inviting them to participate in the project with us by first completing the pre-screening questionnaire.
Step 4: Re-screening and Scheduling Calls
We take the quality of our participants seriously, which is why our team utilizes a re-screening questionnaire on every recruitment project.
This questionnaire touches on core qualification criteria to make sure participants are a good fit.
Before participants are re-contacted, our team also verifies as much information as possible using the information provided to us in the pre-screener (i.e., social media pages/websites).
We also review all project requirements and deadlines to ensure participants are available and engaged.
Step 5: Confirmations and Follow-ups
When recruiting social media influencers, we follow a rigorous confirmation process for all participants. This process ensures that participants are engaged and willing to follow through.
Our confirmation process is as follows:
- During the re-screening and scheduling call, if we sense any hesitation that participants will be available or willing to complete all requirements, they are placed on hold status.
- After re-screening and scheduling, participants receive a confirmation email and they are required to confirm receipt by replying with a "yes" response.
- Participants receive a calendar invite that they are required to accept.
- The day before an online session, participants receive a reminder call where we:
- Confirm they have received the link
- Confirm they have tested the link and their equipment
- Confirm they will be joining 5-10 minutes early. If we do not reach participants live on the phone, we will continue trying to reach them.
- On the day of the virtual sessions, participants receive a final reminder text with a required yes response.
We also touch base with participants often to ensure they remain on track throughout the project.
The End Result
In total, 10 participants were recruited for this project. All 10 participants created content on YouTube, with 3 also creating content on Twitch.
Of those 10, we conducted:
- 2 In-depth interviews
- 1 Focus Group consisting of 4 participants
- 2 Triads
We had a 100% show rate for the online sessions, and all 10 participants fulfilled the diary requirement of completing 5 daily diaries over a 5-day period!
Recommended Reading: 4 Ways to Improve Show Rates For Your Qualitative Research
Contact Our Qualitative Recruiting Team
Planning to conduct research with social media vloggers, bloggers, YouTubers, or other types of influencers? Contact Drive Research.
With our experience with recruiting content creators across various platforms, follower tiers, or content verticals, we know what steps to take to reach your target audience.
From our in-house panel of influencers to our tried-and-true grassroots campaigns.
Interested in conducting receive with vloggers, bloggers, content creators, and/or influencers? Contact us below.
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040
Ashley Reynolds
With nearly 10 years of experience in market research, Ashley has worked on countless quantitative and qualitative research studies. As a Fieldwork Manager at Drive Research, she’s involved in every stage of the project, especially recruitment.
Learn more about Ashley, here.
