Laying the Foundation for Qualitative Market Research Recruiting

Our insite research recruiting teams assist seasoned market research professionals and newcomers to market research. Whether you’re working on your 1,000th market research study or your first, there are fundamentals to recruiting that need to be considered. Recruiting for a qualitative market study is different from recruiting for a quantitative study. Today’s blog will focus on recruiting tips for qualitative studies. Next week we’ll explore best practices for recruiting for quantitative studies.

Before you can begin recruiting participants to fill a study, you first need to define qualifications for your ideal participant recruitment agency. If you don’t have some clear persona types to guide your recruiting, some questions to first ask are: What criteria do participants need to have (see our blog on demographics vs. psychographics for more guidance) and who would most likely be able to provide answers to your questions.

Once you have an understanding of the characteristics and qualifications for the type of participant best suited for your study, you can then build a screening tool that will assist recruiters to sort through potential participants.

Some of the more commonly used qualitative research consultant methodologies include in-depth interviews, focus groups, and mobile ethnographies. Qualitative studies rely on fewer participants, which is one reason why it’s so important to think about the characteristics and features that are relevant to your study.

For those newer to conducting a qualitative study, it isn’t uncommon to underestimate the time it takes to think about the ideal participant and all the boxes that need to be checked. The more you can categorize the geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral criteria, the better your study outcome will be!

Think of this part of preparing for your study as laying the foundation. Paying attention to the details at the earliest stages of your study will ensure that everything that builds off it will be useful and meaningful.

Contact us Today to learn more about how we can assist you in all your market research recruiting needs!

Improving B2B Market Research Recruiting

We’ve written a lot of blogs that discuss how important screening guides are for market research recruitment. The same applies when recruiting for B2B studies.

Before we dive into how you can improve B2B screening guides, let’s first review the basics of what a screening guide does for the recruiter.

At their most basic, screening guides ensure that the individual you’re talking to meets specific eligibility criteria. Depending on the scope of the study will determine who is and isn’t eligible to participate in a study. Once you’ve gone through this first filter, the next portion of a screening guide helps ensure that you are recruiting a mix of individuals that are representative of demographic you’re wanting to include in the study. Some qualitative market studies are very niche, or specialized, and it’s sometimes necessary to do a double screening.

When creating a screening guide for a B2B market research study, here are additional considerations.

· Don’t use broad categories or definitions.If the focus of a study is aimed at educators. Educator covers a lot of different categories, so narrowing down the definition will ensure that you’re only recruiting educators who are appropriate for the study.

· Job responsibilities, not job titles, are what matter. Don’t ditch screening for job titles altogether.Including this is an important part of the screening guide, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing across different organizations, which is why including job responsibilities is more important.

· Ensure the candidate is knowledgeable and articulate. Qualitative research consultant studies are smaller by nature, and if a participant can’t clearly communicate and isn’t very knowledgeable about the subject matter, then they are not a good fit. Including open questions in the screening guide is one way to filter for knowledge and clarity when communicating. The recruiter can record the screening interview and the researcher can compare how respondents answer the open questions. This can help figure out who to ultimately recruit to participate.

· Keep it short and organized. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, screening guides need to strike the right balance between being short enough to engage with potential recruits, while being long enough to identify who is most qualified. Especially when market research recruiting firms recruiting for B2B studies, the length of the screening guide matters! Organizing the screening guide in such a way so that it can quickly filter out people who don’t qualify is also an important feature of B2B screening guides. Ideally, your B2B screening guide should be no longer than 12 to 15 questions and should take 10-15 minutes to complete. Any longer and you risk losing qualified people because they lose patience or are frustrated by too many questions.

To Learn more about Recruiting for Your Next B2B Market Research Study, Contact Us Today!

Original Reference: https://bit.ly/38uCtBh



   

2021 Market Research Trends

It’s probably fair to say that most of us are happy to see 2020 in the rear-view mirror. Not that Q1 of 2021 will be too different, but the light at the end of this long COVID-19 tunnel is at least visible.

No industry or nation was spared the devastation brought on by the pandemic. The market research industry was no exception and underwent a lot of changes in 2020. Rather than enjoy in-person focus groups and in-depth interviews, all modes of qualitative research switched to virtual platforms. While researchers can still gather lots of rich data from online focus groups, the word on the street is that qualitative research consultant can’t wait to be able to conduct in-person focus groups and interviews again. A lot of nuance gets lost or obfuscated when conducting qualitative research remotely.

We anticipate that some of the changes to market research will remain with us into 2021 and beyond. Below are three trends that expect to see in 2021 as it relates to market research.

Trend #1: Virtual Qualitative Research is Here to Stay

Virtual market research platforms have been around for many years but they really got a boost in 2020. While researchers will tell you that if they have the option to conduct focus groups or in-depth interviews in-person, they’d prefer it, but they’ve adapted well and most market research firms will continue to design studies that incorporate virtual offerings. The upside to virtual studies is it allows recruiting firms to reach a much broader audience. Removing the barriers to having to meet in-person has made for better recruiting outcomes.

Trend #2: There Will be Increased Interest in Journey Mapping

With most consumer behaviour now happening online, companies are scrambling to ensure that their digital offerings can meet the demands of their customers. Only market research can inform companies of how their customers feel about their digital experiences. Researchers can design legitimate surveys for cash that reveal gaps and opportunities for companies. Journey mapping will provide much more useful data than click stats, KPI data, or even heat mapping. A well-designed journey mapping study will reveal much more detailed and informative data that will help companies improve their digital offerings.

Trend #3: Market Research Recruiting Will Expand

Companies that are nimble enough to pivot during times of disruption are the ones that have staying power. What separates long-term successful companies from those that flounder is having a good handle on what drives consumer behaviour. This doesn’t happen by looking into a crystal ball, but rather by conducting market research. Market research doesn’t happen without vetted participants. Because so many market research studies are now taking place online, market research recruitment agencies are able to pull in qualified participants from a much broader geographic area. We’ve recently recruited study participants from around the world to participate in U.S.-led research because we weren’t limited by geography.

Request a Proposal Today and Get a Jumpstart on Your Next Market Research Study!

Original Source: https://bit.ly/2MB4L50

Four Essential Questions to Ask Before Conducting Focus Groups

When qualitative research consultants design market research studies, it is likely to include focus groups. While there are a number of other research methodologies that can be utilized, focus groups remain popular. Deciding to include focus groups in a study is the easy part, but focus groups won’t be successful if some thought isn’t first given to a number of questions. Four essential questions that need to be considered before conducting focus groups include:

• What is the overall budget for the market research study? This question informs the researcher about how many focus groups can be included in the study. If the budget is small, a lot more consideration needs to be given on who is invited to participate. You want to extract the most meaningful information from fewer people, so considerable thought needs to go into recruitment efforts. With more ample budgets, researchers can conduct enough focus groups to be more holistically representative
• Who should be invited to participate in a focus group? When recruiting for focus groups, the aim is to find participants whose backgrounds, interests, or professions best match the subject matter being studied.
• How many people should participate? Professional moderators aim to have between 6-10 participants in a focus group, with 7 being ideal. Too small a group and participants feel self-conscious. Too large a group, and participants don’t have enough time to share deeper insights. Keep in mind that you should recruit extra participants so that last-minute substitutions can be made.
• How will you incentivize participants? It is near impossible to get participants to commit without incentivizing recruits.

Answering these questions upfront will make recruitment a much smoother process. At this point, the researcher may decide to hire a nationwide recruitment agency. Reputable market research recruiting firms have proven track records of not only finding the right people, but managing them throughout the study, thus freeing up valuable time and mental space for the research consultant.

Focus groups work best when there is homogeneity between participants. There are no hard-and-fast rules around this, but experience will inform researchers about the type of participants and context so they can create screening guides that are used when recruiting.

As you can see, a lot of preparation goes into market research studies. Working with qualitative research consultant firms and market research recruitment agencies is your best bet to ensuring successful outcomes with your market research.

Request a Proposal today to see how our recruiting professionals can help you!

Original Reference: https://bit.ly/38ome7K

Why Nationwide Recruitment Services are the ‘Secret Sauce’ of Market Research

For those who don’t work in market research, it isn’t uncommon to think that recruiting suitable participants is simply an administrative task. How hard could it be to develop a study discussion guide, find people who would be interested in getting paid for a legitimate study, then synthesize the results into a final report? We’re here to tell you it’s hard. It’s hard because finding the right people to participate in market research studies can be challenging and directly affects the quality of the research findings. Managing study participants takes a lot of work. Not only do you have to connect with qualified participants, you need to ensure that they hold up their end of the deal and show up, whether it’s for a focus group or in-depth interview.

Focus Insite has been called numerous times from companies that thought they could manage recruitment, only to learn that it is much harder than it seems. Recruiting isn’t an administrative task that can be easily managed as a ‘side project’, it’s the hub that connects the business commissioning the study; the study participants; and the qualitative research consultant.

Market Research Recruiting Firms

Each market study is unique and requires different types of participants. Some studies require insiders such as CEOs, other top-tiered managers or health professionals, while other studies require actual users of a particular product or service. Depending on the focus of the study, recruiters are constantly trying to connect with potential qualified candidates, all the while knowing that there are many reasons that the effort it takes to connect with these individuals may be for naught. Sometimes the researcher learns that the suggested participant doesn’t qualify for a number of possible reasons, other times there are schedule conflicts that arise and a participant who was all set to go, suddenly can’t make a scheduled focus group or in-depth interview.

Study Participants

A participant recruitment agency spends a great deal of time and energy building rapport with study participants. If participants don’t have a connection, even a casual one, the study can get derailed with high attrition rates. Connecting with participants starts at the moment of contact and continues throughout the study. Nationwide qualitative research firms outsource recruiting to market research recruitment agencies because they know that it takes a lot of hand-holding, people management, and follow-up to manage study participants.

The Business

There are a number of market research recruitment agencies and firms that exist because businesses know how important market research can be to the ‘bottom line.’ They hire such firms to gain deeper insights into their target demographic, or before launching a new product or service.

The Qualitative Research Consultant

Once the researcher has the right number of qualified participants, the study can then proceed. There are a number of methodologies market researchers rely on when conducting a study. Some studies are better suited toward mobile ethnographies, while focus groups are better for others. Hiring a qualified and experienced market research firm ensures that the study design is appropriate for the study objective.

Contact us here to learn more about recruiting for your next market research study.

Original Reference: http://bit.ly/2YavCqx

3 Tips for Recruiting the Best Participants for your Market Research Study

Recruiting is the beating heart of market research. It’s essential to properly recruit so you can gain the insights you need. It’s not just about asking the right questions, it’s about asking the right people. Regardless of which methodology is used when conducting market research, recruiting is the common denominator.

Know your Target Audience

Before creating a market study, qualitative research consultant first seek to understand who the target audience is. There are many factors that come into play here such as, does the study aim to gain insights from across a customer base, or are is the objective to solicit feedback from a specific segment of the market.The better defined the target audience is, the better the insights. Once the target audience has been defined, a market research recruiting firm can find the participants who meet the criteria of the study.

Segmentation

Segmenting the target audience of a study ensures that there is accurate representation of insights. For instance, if the aim of the study is to get feedback from a broad audience, it will be important to segment the recruits into categories to make sure that there is representation from various groups. Audiences can be segmented into various categories such as language spoken, geographic region, ethnicity, age, or profession.

Good Screeners

Screeners are an important tool for recruiters to have when selecting participants for a study. Writing a decisive screener helps ensure that unqualified recruits are less likely to be selected for a study. Recruiters will use the screener to ask a potential study candidate specific questions to see if s/he qualifies for selection. Depending on the scope of the market study will determine how comprehensive the screener is. For certain studies, it’s imperative that participants meet specific thresholds or criteria, and a screener can quickly identify candidates who do or don’t qualify.

Nationwide Recruitment Services

Once you’ve identified the audience you want to be included in your study, the challenge is then connecting with these people and getting them to commit to participating in a study. Hiring a nationwide recruitment agency is the easiest and most cost-effective way to recruit participants for your market study.

Most nationwide qualitative research firms know this, why not take a page from their playbook?

Want help recruiting for your next project? Request a proposal today!

Original Reference: http://bit.ly/33ZJkhP

Recruiting for Focus Groups

Companies looking to launch a new product or service often hire market research companies to conduct qualitative research to explore the thinking, perceptions, and the decision-making processes of participants. There are a number of methodologies used in qualitative research, whether it be a focus group, in-depth interview (IDI), online bulletin board, or mobile tracking. Professional market researchers often employ a variety of methodologies when exploring the “how” and “why” a consumer behaves or thinks a certain way.

Regardless of the methodology chosen for qualitative research, the most important component is the quality of participants recruited. Many market research recruiting firms understand that recruiting is time-intensive and an expensive component of the overall project and often outsource this vital task to qualified recruiting firms.

Experienced qualitative research consultant firms have access to well-organized databases from which to choose participants that best match the demographic and geographic requirements for qualitative studies. Beyond finding the right people is managing them so they follow through and participate in the study. This follow-up and follow-through of managing recruits is why research companies are so keen to outsource this to the professionals.

What are the keys to successful recruiting? Here are four steps that recruiting firms often take when soliciting participants for studies.

Step 1: Finding Participants

One of the first questions recruiters ask is how best to reach potential participants? If a majority of a targeted respondent base prefers to be reached by phone, then recruiters know to pick up the phone rather than send an email. The opposite is also true. Cold calling people can feel futile as many people will ignore a call from unknown numbers. Understanding the targeted demographic is useful here.

Beyond phone calls and emails, recruiting firms spend a lot of time on social media developing networks that allow them to put out the word when looking for a specific type of participant.

Successful market research recruiting firms will employ a variety of tactics to reach qualified participants.

Step 2: Screening Participants

Once potential participants have been identified and contacted to gauge interest, the next step is to screen the participants to make sure their backgrounds, interests, or professions match the subject matter being studied.

Let’s say a client is putting together a focus group to study the online gaming habits of young men between the age of 18-30. Just because a recruiter has a large pool of young men in this age group, doesn’t mean they are good candidates. A recruiter will screen the whittled down list to ensure the participants meet the specifications of the study.

Screening is also important when considering geographic regions. If a company is looking to focus on a specific area, then screening potential participants to ensure they live or work within the targeted area is critical. It does little good to recruit a person who lives in Ohio if the study is intended for Oregonians.

Step 3: Saying “I do”

Once a recruiter has screened the best qualified participants, the next step is extending an invitation to participate. This is where the rubber meets the road in the recruiting process. It isn’t uncommon for schedules not to align, or other obligations that prohibit potential recruits from actually committing. Most seasoned recruiters will tell you that for every five qualified potential participants only one will commit. Getting participants from “I’m interested” to “I do” can sometimes be the most frustrating part of recruiting. This is why longer established recruiting firms are constantly updating their databases. The bigger the pool to draw from, the easier it is to get the most qualified people to participate.

Step 4: The Follow Through

Now that all the participants have been identified, screened, and pinned down, the next step a recruiter takes is making sure each participant has been given all the particulars. Sending confirmation emails, explaining compensation (if any), laying the groundwork, and then coordinating with the market researcher are the next steps in the recruitment process. There are often a lot of questions participants want answered, which is another reason market research recruitment agencies like to outsource recruiting to the professionals.

Want to learn more about recruiting for your next study? Contact us here.

Original Reference: http://bit.ly/33yPVPU

Don’t call us, we’ll call you

Qualitative market research is impossible to do without the participation of people. When designing studies, qualitative research consultant design screening parameters to ensure that study candidates match the criteria of the study. The quality of market research studies depends on selecting participants who are already users of a product/service/or technology, OR meet the persona types identified for a project.

Depending on the type of research will influence who participants are recruited for the study. Market research recruiting firms often keep databases of names and contact information of people who would like to be considered to participate in market research studies. It’s helpful to nationwide recruitment agencies to tap into such databases for more general types of studies. Market research recruiting firms manage their databases according to demographic and geographic breakdown, making it fairly quick and easy to find candidates for studies. Some nationwide qualitative research firms keep their own databases so they can populate their studies without having to hire a recruitment agency.

Most every focus group recruitment agency keeps a database of people who have opted in for consideration for market research studies. What differentiates market research recruitment agencies are how effective they are in ‘cold recruiting’. Market research studies are increasingly becoming more complicated and specialized. This can make it especially challenging for recruitment. Sometimes it’s because there are very few people that match the criteria for the scope of a study, and sometimes it’s because a study needs to be populated with C-suite execs or specialized tech workers. While it’s not impossible to recruit for such studies, it is definitely not easy.

Selecting a market research recruiting firm that is experienced in finding these hard-to-reach people is crucial if your project requires such participants. What makes these recruiting firms stand out in the field is they know how to go out and find these people. Recruiters know that finding participants for specialized studies won’t happen by tapping into their database, they need to go out and find these people. Some of the ways to reach these more challenging audiences is through strategic ad placement in forums, LinkedIn, social media, and professional organizations. Attending conferences and trade-shows is another way to connect with more specialized audiences.

Qualitative research consultants will be the first to tell you that hiring a proven recruiting firm is key to the success of the study.

Want to learn more about recruiting for your next specialty market research study? Contact us here.

Original Reference: http://bit.ly/30kbGAV

 

Focus Groups Basics

Focus groups are small groups of people, usually recruited by a nationwide recruitment agency, that are brought together to have conversations around a specific brand, product, or service. Focus groups are moderated by a trained interviewer who is experienced in managing group dynamics and probing participant responses to get a more nuanced understanding of what drives their behavior.

Focus groups are most productive when they have between six to 12 participants. There are also “micro” focus groups that are composed of two or three people. These are known as dyads or triads.

Qualitative research consultant are trained to understand how group dynamics may influence people’s choices or behavior, especially as it relates to market research. Group discussions often stimulate engaging and dynamic conversations. Such conversations often allow the moderator to discover, explore, and go in-depth on various topics and subject matters. This deep-dive into subjects helps contextualize the influences behind decision making processes.

Typically, a focus group lasts between one to two hours. Any longer than two hours and a focus group becomes unproductive, as participants start to feel fatigued. Experienced market research consultants know how to craft discussion guides that will give them ample time to discuss the various subjects needing to be explored.

When a market research project includes focus groups as part of a study, there will usually be between two to ten scheduled groups. Sometimes a researcher will reduce the number of scheduled focus groups if s/he finds that “subject saturation” is occurring. This is when most focus group participants are giving similar answers between groups and no new discoveries are being made.

The factors that help a qualitative research consultant decide on the number of focus groups are:

• number of topics needing to be explored or studied
• research goals, done in collaboration with the client
• schedule
• segments
• budget

Before launching focus groups, some moderators will first conduct a pilot group which helps define question clarity, flow, and understanding.

Most moderators prefer in-person focus groups because it’s easier to watch group dynamics and body language. Sometimes, due to geographic or logistical challenges, face-to-face isn’t always possible. Alternatives to face-to-face focus groups include online and telephone. If it is necessary to conduct virtual focus groups, make sure you’re working with a nationwide qualitative research firms that is experienced in these alternative options.

Once the focus group is underway, moderators will direct a free-flowing discussion about topics related to the products, services, brands, and advertisements being studied.

For business marketing research purposes, moderators will hold focus groups at facilities designed for conducting focus groups. Such facilities are often coordinated by market research recruiting firms. Typically, focus-group rooms have one-way mirrors so that the client, usually managers and executives, can listen to and observe focus groups. Most qualitative researchers also insist on audio and video recording focus groups so they can more easily collate the data.

A successful focus group moderator is like a juggler keeping several balls in the air at once. The moderator will ask questions, follow up with more questions, and keep the conversation on track and on subject.

While a good focus group moderator makes focus group moderating look simple, it isn’t. Moderating requires skill and practice. Most moderators are trained in how to manage groups to keep the conversation flowing, and how to probe answers to get more insight.

Original Reference: http://bit.ly/30Z177S