We’ve touched on a variety of market research panel topics on the company blog over the years. Online panels are growing for a variety of factors including a decline in landline telephone usage and a desire for paying clients to obtain quality market research that is inexpensive and timely. If you deal with market research at any level of your profession, you’ve probably come across the term panel on more than one occasion. The industry has witnessed a growth in both provider panels and corporate panels.

Need Help Developing Your Research Panel? Focus on These 7 Areas.

Need Help Developing Your Research Panel? Focus on These 7 Areas. (Picture Via Evolllution.com)

If you are a company interested in developing your own corporate panel of customers and potential non-customers, or if you are a market research supplier looking to provide a panel service to your clients, here are 7 areas to consider when developing a research panel:

  • Defining parameters – determine geographic focus, determine profiles for recruitment including demographics, determine any niche segments you want to recruit or over-recruit.
  • Protocol and operations – establish processes and protocol, design registration and sign-up form, develop FAQs for participants, determine appropriate database, plan resources.
  • Communications – establish strategy for audiences and stakeholders, name and brand panel, create panel marketing materials for recruitment, publicize panel and recruit through channels, communicate with internal staff.
  • Rewards program – research and determine appropriate rewards program for your panel through partnerships, barter opportunities, sweepstakes, pay per complete, point systems, or other reward options.
  • Competitive profiling – research other panel providers and document best practices.
  • Business development – establish strategy for growing and selling panel to internal corporate teams or clients, determine other areas of application for the panel through partnerships or syndication.
  • Exploring opportunities – share new ideas and connect with the panel team on a regular basis, brainstorm ideas to evolve the panel and increase usage and growth of the initiative.

Here are some other relevant blog pieces RMS wrote about market research panels in the past:

Research & Marketing Strategies (RMS) is a market research supplier with an extensive regional online panel for Central New York. Our panel is named RMS ViewPoint and if you are interested in signing up for paid research in Syracuse, click here. If you are a business in the Syracuse NY area and you need access to market research data from real respondents in an inexpensive and timely manner, give our Business Development Director Sandy Baker a call at 1-866-567-5422 or email her at SandyB@RMSresults.com.