What’s Your Status-EMI’s Social Media Sampling

Dear Fellow Researcher,

EMI strives to bring you the very latest in sampling techniques.  While the majority of projects require simple online panel resources, we’ve also explored river sample, routers, online communities, mobile apps, and even custom recruiting via phone to web.  Our newest development at EMI is in the use of social media, via an exclusive partnership, to offer access to respondents not currently enrolled in traditional online panels.

We have included social media as a part of our sample blend in the past (with client permission) and have found great success. Here is a basic description of how we have used social media to access more respondents:

1. A social media user visits their favorite online community or application. The community includes surveys as a fun way to earn virtual currency in exchange for their time and opinions.
2. Respondents complete a profile questionnaire.  They are screened via digital fingerprinting prior to survey participation eligibility.
3. Survey participants who meet the required criteria receive highly targeted survey notifications in real-time – while they are logged in to their online community environment.
4. Upon completing the survey, respondents are rewarded for their time with virtual currency and the research firm receives real-time response data, often within minutes of a survey launch.

Like other methodologies, we don’t believe that recruiting via social networks is perfect for every study. Business to business targeting is limited and field time on lower incidence studies can be longer, but we would recommend considering it for consumer studies keeping a few key benefits in mind:

• Unique: Respondents are not already members of numerous other panels, making it a great fit for geo-specific studies normally plagued with high duplication rates when using multiple online panels.
• Fast: Since respondents are active online in the community at the same time the survey is presented to them, they are more likely to participate and do so quickly. This allows studies to field in a matter of minutes or hours as opposed to waiting for panelists to respond to an email invite.
• Access: Social networking sites are used by a far greater number of people then even know what an online panel is, giving us reach into an abundant pool of potential respondents, and the ability to find harder to reach groups like Hispanics or young adults.

Each day we are challenged with the task of finding the best sample for our clients’ research projects, and as the world changes we realize how we recruit respondents will need to change as well. Social media has become another weapon in our arsenal to continue delivering the best combination of quality, feasibility, and price.

If you’re interested in learning more about new technologies, please register now for our upcoming AMA Webcast “Bridging The Gap – Mobile and Online Research.”  In this presentation we will explore the best practices for using mobile surveying and how it may fit into some of your research.  The webcast will occur on Friday April, 26^th at 1:00 PM Eastern. 

Sincerely,

The EMI Team

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