Now we need to understand what online panel is. Another common practice for online surveys is the use of online panels. An online panel is a group of selected individuals that have agreed to participate in online research projects for a particular company at specific intervals over a period of time. These participants are selected through a screening process according to their demographics, lifestyles and habits, and are usually rewarded for their efforts by the research company regularly.

Online panels may allow companies to glean insight into creating long-term relationships with their customers. These panels may also allow customers to give direct feedback about products and services without the potential reluctance that may occur in face-to-face interactions. Online panels may also mitigate bias caused by peer pressure to agree on a certain viewpoint, a phenomena that may occur in face-to-face panels.

Our panel recruitment process

Here are the steps involved in recruiting a market research panel:

• Use the right recruiting channel: The internet is the best source to recruit global panel members. Use your website too to advertise panel recruitment or consumer recruitment and directly recruit panelists. Email and social media play an essential role in the scanning of members for the panel.
• Keep the process short and sweet: Once your contacts decide and commit to joining the panel, send them a brief survey to get important identifying demographic information about them: name, address, occupation, etc. Sending out lengthy emails can put off respondents, and they might drop out of the study.
• Send the survey to members only after their confirmation: Once you have received the essential details from the respondents, they will now be the right time to send them a detailed survey so you can know your target audience better.
• Send a “Welcome” email: It’s good manners to say a simple thank you to the members once they have officially agreed to be on-board. This email should be clear and straightforward, reminding them of the purpose of joining the online research panel. Also, it is good to mention any reward criteria associated with participating in the studies.
• Announce your rewards: It is a good practice for rewarding your panel members for investing their time in the research. The rewards don’t necessarily have monetary gains; you can offer your members amazon and flipcart gift cards, coffee vouchers, gift coupons, Starbucks coffee vouchers, discounts at well-reputed stores, and many more etc.