A custom research panel offers organizations the opportunity to gather timely, consistent, and high-quality insights tailored to their specific needs.
In the age of data-driven decision-making, having direct access to a dedicated group of engaged and relevant participants is invaluable.
Unlike traditional survey methods, a custom panel provides a reliable and flexible resource for continuous feedback, fostering deeper connections with your target audience.
This blog will guide you through the essential steps to building a successful custom research panel, from defining your objectives and recruiting the right participants to maintaining engagement and ensuring data quality.
What is a Custom Online Research Panel?
A custom online research panel is a group of individuals who have expressed willingness to partake in research studies online on a periodic basis.
Panel members are typically recruited from a market research company's customer or membership list.
The panel itself usually has a good mix of B2B and B2C respondents to ensure that any necessary quotas can be met when fielding for a study.
Why You Should Invest in Building a Research Panel
Custom online research panels are an invaluable tool that can provide insights to companies both big and small. The reasons why businesses should invest in creating a custom panel are endless, but we’ll limit it to just a few of the important ones here.
Research Flexibility
Having a custom panel makes utilizing different research methods a breeze.
Looking to run a simple online survey? Send invites to your panel members.
Are you trying to conduct in-depth interviews or focus groups? Recruit from your panel.
Looking for a few mystery shoppers to partake in a customer journey study? You guessed it, go to the panel!
Better Response Rates
With a custom panel, response rates are likely to be higher than if you randomly contacted individuals to participate in your study.
By joining the panel in the first place, panelists already indicated their willingness to participate and they’re already aware that they are going to be asked to partake in research studies.
Real-Time Data
Custom research panels allow for easy tracking studies.
By inviting a similar group of people for each survey, market research companies can easily compare waves of data to benchmarks that may have been set previously.
And, before launching the study, you can even set up a dashboard-style program that can provide you with the ability to see respondents’ data as it comes in.
Save Time and Money
Saving on both time and money may sound too good to be true, but with custom panels, this kind of saving is easily within reach!
One of the most time-consuming pieces of the research process is the recruitment phase.
With a custom panel already built, you can eliminate the time otherwise spent on trying to identify and recruit willing participants. This allows for quicker turnaround times and a more efficient research process.
Not only will you save on time, but also costs!
The costs associated with recruiting individuals for research studies can add up quickly.
But with a panel at the ready, you can begin inviting pre-qualified individuals without having to pay anyone to contact them.
Examples of Panel Research
Here are a few examples of how custom online research panels are used in market research today.
Example #1
A software/tech company building a panel of consumers to provide feedback on the design, rollout, and modification of a new product.
Panelists are invited to complete a short online questionnaire after reviewing initial product designs and after testing out the new product prototype.
Future modifications to the product can also be tested with quick questionnaires sent to panelists.
Example #2
A consumer packaged goods company consulting a third party to build a panel of individuals who drink soda/pop beverages regularly.
As they develop potential new advertisements for a drink, they consult the panel via focus groups to understand how the new advertisement may be perceived once launched.
Example #3
A pharmaceutical company is launching a new over-the-counter medicine to combat seasonal allergies and creates a custom panel of both pharmacists and consumers to gauge perceptions of the product.
The company gets feedback from pharmacists and consumers alike, which helps to ensure that the product is marketed in the most efficient way possible.
Steps to Building Your Own Research Panel
Step 1. Define Your Objectives
Your objectives will directly correlate with your target audience.
Within that plan for regular research, you’ll want to have an idea of the long-term objectives of the research you’ll be conducting. It’s important to know exactly what you want to learn from the research, and how you’ll use the results.
A good place to start is spending some time planning out what you want to do with the research.
Common topics may include…
- Consumer behavior
- Gathering feedback on specific services
- Testing out a new product
By clearly defining what you hope to learn and how you’ll use the results, you can begin thinking about what audience will be the best at providing you with this information.
When you have this data, it will be easier to pinpoint demographic characteristics of the participants who will offer forth the most useful information.
Step 2. Determine Your Target Audience
This step will require some foresight, but this is arguably one of the more important steps. After all, your target audience is the foundation of your research goals.
You’ll want to do your best to clearly define who you’ll want to engage in the research studies you’ll be utilizing the panel for, as well as any targeted mixes you’ll want to include.
To help determine your target audience, we recommend asking yourself questions such as…
- What type of feedback are you looking for?
- Are you wanting to hear from existing customers or are you more interested in data from specific market niches?
- What common demographics make up your ideal respondent or participant?
Trust us, having this information planned out will make directing outreach to the panel fairly easy.
Additionally, this will reduce fatigue/drop-off from consistently reaching out to panelists who do not qualify for studies. By consistently reaching out to those who do qualify, you’re automatically maintaining their engagement.
Since choosing the right target audience plays a key role in research, this approach will ensure you gather detailed, relevant data.
Step 3. Create a Pre-Screening Questionnaire
Once your target audience is defined, creating an initial screening questionnaire is the next step.
This questionnaire will be used as the first opt-in for the panel, as well as provide crucial information for future panel usage. Your pre-screener should be exhaustive of all qualifying criteria, and as many of the upcoming quotas as possible.
Once the screening questionnaire is finalized, it is programmed into an online survey platform and launched to respondents.
Step 4. Conduct Re-Screening/Sign-Up Calls
Frankly, this is where the ball is dropped in a lot of custom panel-building.
Unfortunately, every person who completes the pre-screening questionnaire will not ultimately follow through with the panel engagement.
To reduce attrition right out of the gate, it is best to conduct re-screening calls.
During these calls, recruiters can confirm:
- Qualification criteria and quota information, ensuring the responses given previously were valid.
- That the panelist will be a good fit for future research engagements (articulate, engaged, creative in their responses).
- Interest and ability to complete the various research opportunities that may be shared with the panel.
If someone will not answer the call to opt-in, it is pretty unlikely they’d follow through with future research engagements. This re-screening call is also a nice opportunity to begin building a rapport with participants.
Step 5. Share A Consent/Confidentiality/NDA
Sometimes, people can be wary of telling a recruiter they are not interested during a one-on-one conversation.
We would want to have some sort of engagement in between the initial sign-up and becoming a panel member to provide an off-ramp for those participants.
Since the overall goal in the recruiting process (in addition to having high-quality and qualified participants) is reducing initial attrition, it’s essential to have only panelists who are engaged and excited about the opportunity.
Typically, we'll use this opportunity to have participants sign some sort of consent, confidentiality, or non-disclosure agreement.
An added bonus is that when you contact panelists for the first research engagement, you’ll have a record of their consent and willingness to keep any intellectual property private.
Step 6. Provide a Small Incentive for Signing Up
It’s all in the name! Providing a reward incentivizes respondents to complete the initial panel sign-up survey.
Something as small as a $5 to $10 reward helps set the tone that you value the participant and their time.
Even a $10 incentive increases the chance of someone returning a survey by 30%, showcasing their effectiveness.
These incentives can be gift cards, access to raffles, or other similar offerings. Essentially, the goal is to ensure participants understand their time is valued.
Incentives are a gesture of goodwill and are more than just a bonus.
If anyone has reservations that the offer may be legitimate, the incentive will act as confirmation they will be paid for offering their feedback when opportunities arise. Including this in your research also helps foster a sense of encouragement among participants, likely keeping them loyal to the panel.
Building a Custom Research Panel? Contact Drive Research.
Creating a custom research panel may seem daunting, but with the right approach, it can become a strategic asset that drives innovation and growth.
At Drive Research, our team will go the extra mile to ensure the panel will be a success right out of the gate.
Use the information below to contact us for custom panel building!
- 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.
