One of the questions we're asked on occasion is whether or not younger audiences tend to be better targets for market research online communities (MROCs).  The theory is that since these audiences tend to be communicating frequently through social media that a MROC is a natural approach for researching these audiences...

While that idea certainly makes sense (and is something we see firsthand in our "Teen PluggedIN Nation" community), I usually mention that the approach works well for most audiences, including audiences that are traditionally considered to be less savvy than teens. 

Today I felt a bit "vindicated" in this recommendation when I came across a blog post on Fast Company called "Our Kids Aren't Web-Addicted, Says Study.  Are We?"  While the study mentioned in the post deals mostly with teen media habits, it's worthwhile to note that adults spend more than twice the amount of time as teens browsing the internet each month.

The post also links to a Nielsen study on "Power Moms" pointing to the influence of "Power Moms" (women age 25-54 with at least one child) on the internet, as they are heavy online shoppers and users of social networking sites.  Not only are adults heavier users of the internet than teens, but specific subsets of the adult population tend to be heavy users of social media...and it's not the "geek" audiences you would expect.

What's the takeaway?

MROCs aren't just for researching the Millennials audience...  Use of social media is pervasive, and the use of online communities as a method for conducting market research makes sense for many audiences.

-Matt

One of the most common questions we are asked about market research online communities (MROCs) is what the recruiting process is like and how it differs from other (online and offline) research methods.  In short, the process is actually very similar to other research methods.  However, there are a few nuances that make recruiting for a MROC a bit different.  Below is an outline of the typical steps in recruiting participants for a MROC, with some tips for success based on our experience here at PluggedIN...

1. Determine your recruiting specifications and estimated incidence - As in any research study, the first step in recruiting for a MROC is to determine the specifications that the target audience needs to meet.  This step isn't much different than any other research method, so I won't elaborate too much here...  However, for a bit of advice on this step check out our earlier post on combining segments in a single research community.
2. Find your sample source - Client/company sample from a source that has opted in to be contacted is generally the best way to go (if you have that luxury available).  Otherwise, you may want to check out various sample providers that typically provide sample for surveys and focus group studies.  One relatively new alternative is to conduct your recruit through public social networks and existing communities.  Peanut Labs is making some interesting inroads in the latter category, and may be worth checking out...    
3. Develop your screener - The actual screener for a MROC is similar to a screener for a focus group or online bulletin board.  We recommend adding a few questions around the use of communities and social networks, including which other communities/social networks people are members of and the nature of their participation in these communities.  I would also add an articulation question just to see if it's the type of person who is likely to write a decent, well thought-out response to your discussion topics.  If you're using the PluggedIN Platform for your MROC, you will want to keep an eye on how your questions are structured, as this will form the basis for how you target and segment participants and activities once the community is launched.  
4. Determine how you will deliver your screener - Typically we will use online screening surveys for MROCs.  However, we've also used telephone recruiting (similar to a traditional focus group recruit) for smaller communities.  Telephone recruiting can be cost prohibitive for larger studies, but can be well worth the added expense if you need to ensure a higher response rate, and want someone to follow-up with participants for you after the community has launched.    
5. Download the results and filter - As the responses roll in, you'll want to keep a close eye on your quotas (if you have any), as well as potential recruits that may not be a good fit for your MROC.  It's here that we'll typically spend a lot of time looking through the spreadsheets for potential client competitors and professional respondents.  
6. Send out custom invites - Once you have your initial list of members who have qualified, it's time to send out custom invites.  We like to be as transparent as possible about the purpose of the community and the benefits to members in the initial email invite.  We also try to match the actual design of the invite with the community, so the transition to the community site appears to be seamless.  It's key to send out your invites as quickly as you can, as the longer you wait the lower your response rate will be.  A general rule of thumb is to try to turn around invites within 24 hours after the respondent has taken the survey.  Also consider using an email delivery service that provides analytics around click-through rates so you can see what is working well (or not working).  We use and recommend Campaign Monitor for this step.  
7. Monitor progress of recruiting against invites until quotas are met - The last step is basically a repeat of Step 6 until you have met your quotas.  We recommend a "rolling" recruit, whereby you launch the community early and send out small batches of invites.  That will help you control the number of members you have actually sign up.  It will also make for a better member experience upon signing in for the first time.  Keep in mind that not everyone you invite will actually sign-up for the community.  A "rolling" recruit will help you determine the percentage of members who are likely to sign-up, and adjust your sample numbers accordingly. 

Of course there are nuances to the process that may impact how these steps progress.  The way you recruit for a MROC can be influenced by the audience, focus of the community, community size, community length and the incentive strategy (among other variables). 

I hope this post helps provide a decent overview of what the typical process is like and helps to dispel some of the questions around recruiting for a MROC.  PluggedIN offers MROC recruiting services as part of our service offerings, and can help you with any (or all) of the above steps.  Feel free to contact us directly, or leave a comment with any questions!

Happy recruiting!

Matt
@mattpluggedin

One of the early decisions to make in setting up an online research community is the incentive strategy to use for encouraging members to consistently participate in research-related activities. 

Below are three sample research communities, along with what we would recommend for incentive strategies in each approach.  By no means are these the only "right" way to approach an incentive strategy; rather, they provide guidelines to think about for your own research community endeavors.

Scenario #1 - Branded, ongoing research community with 50 IT Managers from small organizations

This might be a case for a points-based system based, with a point value being allocated based on their participation in individual research activities.  We'll assume that since it is an ongoing community (what we call a Nation) that the required amount of participation each week is relatively low (~15 minutes/week).  The maximum incentive value will vary based on their experience and level within the organization.  At 50 people, we may recommend a maximum incentive of $50/month (depending also on the budget for the study).

Scenario #2 - Branded, customer community with 50 members over 3 months

Since this is a short-term community (what we call a Neighborhood), it's likely that each week will require a fairly decent amount of time on the part of participants (on the order of 45 minutes/week or more).  However, this is also a customer community, meaning that members may have a vested interest in participating and helping to improve the products/services of the sponsoring company. 

For this community, a points-based system may also make sense.  However, the amounts could be based on monthly totals, with participants only receiving their incentive based on their point totals for each month.  Actual incentives amounts may vary from $10 - $50/person/month, with the biggest variable being time required each week.  

Scenario #3 - Unbranded, ongoing community with 300 affluent consumers

In this case, it may make sense to again use the points system, but have their points accumulate with the intent of donating to charity at the end of the month.  We may run a survey to choose which charity the community will donate to each month.  If participation starts to wane, an occasional sweepstakes may help to keep some members interested.  Budgeting for a sizeable honorarium for up to 300 members on an ongoing community is just not feasible (for most companies, at least).  

The variables in deciding on an incentive strategy...

You may have noticed from these scenarios that there are some key variables that influence the recommended incentive approach.  These include:

• Branding - Branded communities tend to get slightly better participation rates than unbranded communities, by virtue of the participants knowing who is sponsoring the research and potentially having a greater affinity toward that brand.
• B2B/Consumer Audience - Similar to traditional focus group studies, consumers are generally offered a lower honorarium than B2B audiences.
• Size - Offering an incentive to everyone in a large community can be a budget breaker.  In these cases, points or sweepstakes-based incentives may work best.
• Duration - Attrition occurs naturally in any community over a long period of time, and accounting for that in the incentive strategy is important. 
  
• Incidence Rate - Losing a recruit from a hard-to-reach audience can be expensive.  Providing them with an appropriate incentive for their time can be money well spent.
  
• Purpose/Objectives - One variable not included in our scenarios above is the objective of the study.  If the objectives tend to be fairly broad (e.g., general lifestyle/audience understanding), then some members may be turned off by the lack of focus.
• Customer/Prospect - Customers tend to (though not always) participate more than prospects, as they have a vested interest in the outcome of the research and the background knowledge of the company's products and services.
  
• Time Requirement/Activity Level - If you're asking people to spend a lot of time each week in the community, you should really think about adjusting the incentive amount accordingly.
• Budget - Last, but definitely not least in today's economy, is the budget available for the study.  While we would all like to pay an audience/situation appropriate honorarium to effectively thank people for their time and opinions, sometimes it's just not possible to fit within the budget... 
  

The conclusion

As you can see, there is no "one size fits all" approach when it comes to incentive strategies in online research communities.  There are just too many variables to account for...  However, this post will hopefully give you a few guidelines to think about in preparing an incentive strategy.

Thoughts?

Have an incentive strategy you'd like to share?  Wondering what makes sense for your community?  Comments/questions are welcome!

If you read through the title of this post and were mildly intrigued by what “exclusive” access might entail, then read on…

I caught an article on MarketingProfs today which discusses the role that using the word “exclusive” has in increasing interest in email marketing pieces. I believe the same tenets apply for research communities. From our experience with recruiting for research communities at PluggedIN, we couldn’t agree more. In fact, we think it can be a huge contributor to increased (and sustained) interest in an online research community from prospective (and current) members…

Why would that increase interest?

As the article states, “everyone wants to be an insider.” The desire to be “in the know” and among those who are shaping the direction of the products they use is a significant motivation to join an online research community. We’ve found this to be especially true in our tech-oriented communities, where gadget lovers drool over the chance to know about products before they are released.

Is that a bit misleading? Are they really “insiders?”

It’s not at all misleading. Online research communities by their very nature provide members with a direct ear to the people making decisions in the organization. While public communities for marketing, loyalty or buzz building efforts often provide companies with opinions from a wide range of sources, a private online research community truly is “exclusive” in the sense that everyone is not invited. Being a prominent member of a 200-300 person online research community versus a member of a multi-thousand member public company community has an inherently different feel for members. You can see this in their contributions and the time they spend providing their honest and insightful feedback.

So what’s the takeaway

When you’re recruiting members for an online research community, be sure to emphasize the exclusive aspect of membership throughout your communications with members - from the very first time you reach out during the recruiting phase, to your ongoing reports back to the community on the progress you are making as a result of their feedback.

So I’m curious - has this been working for you? We’re open to comments

Side note…

As a side note, if you’re not already a member of MarketProfs , be sure to signup. It’s a great way to stay “in the know” on a wide variety of marketing-related issues. Also, if you’re a lucky iPhone owner, their iPhone application is great for quick marketing insights on the go!