The Fundamental Merits of Using Online Survey Panels 

Online panels are essential when recruiting participants for a market research study. An online panel includes a group of pre-recruited participants who have signed up to take part in future research studies, such as online surveys for quantitative research, and focus groups and detailed interviews for qualitative research. There are numerous benefits associated with using Survey Panels, but first, you must understand the process of using these panels.

The Process of Using Online Survey Panels

Before reaching out to an online research panel, researchers must be aware of different factors of a study. These include:

• The objective of the study being carried out
• Quotas to reach the desired market
• Incidence rate, which considers the number of respondents who are targeted and can qualify to take the survey
• Target location
• Target audience
• The number of survey questions
• The time needed to complete the survey in minutes

By providing this information, the Panel Provider creates a cost estimate for the market research. After making your choice of vendor, you can then launch your online survey and begin collecting responses. The simplicity of the process depends on the type of study and how challenging it is to reach the desired outcome. 

Benefits of Online Survey Panels

Online Survey Panels offer multiple advantages to market research buyers and sellers, including the ones highlighted below. 

Project Feasibility

Survey panels enhance targeting capabilities that minimize the overall cost of a market research project. Oftentimes, market research targets getting feedback from specific groups of people. However, a client may want feedback from specific types of job responsibilities, habits, demographics, and industries. Some online research panels collect specific information about their members. 

For instance, they can collect feedback from people who live within a certain distance in a city and who drink at least three cups of coffee every day. This allows them to target survey invites in a more effective manner. This targeting correlates with the payouts they process to survey participants to encourage participation. 

Ease of Sampling

Since Online Panel Sampling uses targeted invites, gathering responses is much easier. Online survey panels have the resources to manage quota requirements and process incentives. Processing incentives can be challenging, but online panels make it easy because they have the ability to handle the entire process. Some online panels also provide respondents with points to use towards gift cards and more. 

Increased Affordability and Time Saving

Online panels provide resources and partners that help lower the cost. The issue with other sampling methods, like online ads, is that they can be expensive when they don’t produce the expected returns, and security is another concern. However, panel providers offer customers a full cost breakdown so you can understand how much you will spend on completing each survey. Further, since you get responses from a panel of online respondents faster, an online market research panel allows you to save time and start the data analysis process faster. 

Increased Control Over Survey Respondents

When you choose to work with an online panel and field a survey, you know the panel company has the expertise to target the desired qualifications. Since you are working with an online panel, they have survey participants already profiled. The online panel company will have details of their job, hobbies, and interests in their database in order to help them target respondents. Moreover, it is more convenient to contact respondents online because a lot of people spend most of their time online. This further helps in creating an understanding of your audience and what they prefer. This is what makes online panels perfect for research studies that focus on sensitive topics. 

Higher Response Rates

The ability of online panels to save time and reduce market research costs allows them to provide higher response rates. Respondents can participate anytime and anywhere, which allows them to provide detailed information without rushing. An added merit of online panels is that respondents know how they work. Respondents know how to access surveys, login, and request for the panel company to process rewards. 

As a result, they can access these panels when free and willing to participate in the survey. This contributes to better engagement rates. 

Increased convenience

Open communication is an added benefit of online panels. You have the ability to communicate with your pre-selected respondents easily online. The process of providing incentives can also be completed online, which is way more convenient than reaching out to each respondent in person. Further, it is more convenient for research analysts to collect data, which saves them a lot of time.