You can’t get useful market research insights from bad data. And you can’t get good data without willing participants that answer all your questions.
There are so many good options for creating interesting market research that getting statistically viable and complete data should be your norm.
You’re not asking for a favour, crossing your fingers in hope, accepting a low participation rate – or paying extortionate fees to get people to take part in your market research. And you don’t need to invest a load of extra time, money or resources.
Here are 7 ways that show you how to get people hyped about doing your market research – you just need a sprinkle of creativity, a splash of empathy, and the right tool.
The problem with most market research surveys
Be honest (we won’t tell anyone), you’ve had at least one of these reactions to the plethora of market research that we’re bombarded with:
- ‘Boring!’ – Why does every company ask the same 3 questions?
- ‘No, I don’t have 15 minutes to answer your 56 questions!’ – There’s how many questions?! Tl;dr
- ‘Not this again’ – Why is my inbox full of these surveys? *deletes before opening*
- ‘Nothing in it for me’ – What do I get for sharing my thoughts? Nothing. Great. Why should I bother?
If your survey is too long, asks boring questions and doesn’t give anything back to the participant, why would they invest any time or thought into answering it?
We’re not suggesting you’re going to create ‘5-year-old-you getting a party bag for the first time’ levels of excitement with a market research survey. But you can certainly improve your current participation and completion rates by updating your strategy using a tool like ScoreApp.
Here’s how:
1. Explain the value to participants
If people understand the context of your questions, they’ll be more likely to take part. This doesn’t mean a summary of your entire business strategy, just a couple of sentences setting the scene. For example:
- ‘Last year our customer satisfaction level was at 80%. Help us make it 90%!’
- ‘Help! We’ve got 3 ideas for new features. We want to get 1 into development next month. You’re the user – which one will you find the most useful?’
- ‘Help us get the right price match for our new product before we launch. We think it adds tonnes of value, but what’s it worth to your business?’
Your audience should never be left thinking, ‘Why are they asking me this?’. Including them in the specifics of why you’re asking makes participants feel like they’re involved in something. It gives them a solid reason for spending their time answering your market research questions.
It’s also important to explicitly show the value of the market research to the participants themselves. They benefit from being heard, so explain this on an emotional level. This looks differently depending on what you’re trying to find out, such as:
- Ownership: Make it clear that their opinions directly influence improvements to existing products, the development of new ones, your brand values, or customer service throughout the buying process. This imbues a sense of ownership over products, when customers’ suggestions are taken on board – and strengthens connections with your brand.
- A place to be heard: Directly asking participants how you can make their lives easier or better with your product or service: ‘What else can ‘X’ do to save you time?’ Frame your market research as the place where they can express their needs, challenges and aspirations that aren’t yet being met. Participating in the research directly leads to making life better for themselves.
- Practical benefits: Provide instant gratification with a direct benefit like early previews, quick improvements to the product they use every day, or exclusive insights based on your research. Everybody loves a quick win!
2. Create engaging market research formats
‘On a scale of 1 – 10’’
‘Tick all that apply’
‘Answer yes/no’
All legitimate ways to ask questions that give you measurable answers. But look at your market research from your participants’ perspective. Does a traditional survey format usually catch your eye? No – so why would it make your audience stop and take part?
There are so many different ways of presenting your market research questions that you can move away from the predictable and uninspiring. Have a think about using these ideas in your next market research projects:
- Quizzes or Scorecards: Tools like ScoreApp engage your audience with the research by giving them a stake in the outcome. They get personalised reports based on their answers and can see how they compare to others – embrace their competitive spirit.
- Gamification: Give people somewhere to play! Include elements like levels to reach, or points to earn – literally turning an everyday experience into a game.
- Keep it short and sweet: Make sure everything you include is absolutely necessary and to the point. No boring, wordy or overly technical questions. Don’t underestimate the power of making it beautiful – design thoughtful visuals that are on-brand and relevant.
3. Offer incentives to take part
We’re not saying, ‘bribe your audience’, but giving them a little something in return for their time and thoughts is a good way to boost your market research participation rates. There are all kinds of incentives you can offer your audience, like:
- Save money: Discounts and coupons are really good for people that are already involved with your brand. They’re already likely to buy, so an exclusive discount or promo code is really interesting – definitely worth a couple of minutes doing a quiz!
- Be ‘in the know’: Your lead magnet can be a downloadable report, industry insight, eBook, or other information resource. People enjoy getting quality information first – especially when it contains ideas that are immediately actionable in their context. Just like this report into entrepreneur mental health, produced by Jammy Digital. It contains very probing questions and just sharing the results with participants helps participants feel like they’re not dealing with these challenges alone.
- Chance to win: Contests and competitions with a valuable prize are another option. Prizes like gift cards or new products are always tempting.
4. Personalise the survey invitation and outreach process
Stop asking everyone the same questions. Your insights need to be more personalised and nuanced in order to be useful. And your audience segments won’t all find the same lead magnets or questions relevant to their circumstances.
Address each audience segment specifically in your invitation and highlight how their opinions influence areas of their interests. This is a brilliant opportunity to share past success stories of how previous research initiated real change. Reading this type of story shows participants that they’ll be listened to – so it’s worthwhile taking part.
5. Build hype in your marketing
Right, you’ve designed your brilliant market research… now you need to shout about it!
Build it into your overall marketing strategy and make sure you’re reaching your ideal participants wherever they are. Don’t forget to tap into:
- Social media: Pique curiosity by getting across the right channels with testimonials from previous participants, benefits of joining in and teasers about the findings. Gold standard: people enjoy the experience enough to share it themselves!
- Influencer partners: Get influencers in your industry involved in the promotion of your market research. They’ll add their credibility to your research and encourage their followers to join in – increasing your participation rate nicely.
- Personal invitations: Make sure your email outreach isn’t just a generic ‘everyone in the list’ click. Your invitations should be personalised to each audience group to make them feel valued.
6. Build a sense of community
You can build a whole community around their participation in your research, particularly if it’s around industry-wide issues. You can offer access to a group where they’ll meet other participants to continue the discussion outside the research quiz.
For example, a Slack or Facebook group that you already run, or one dedicated just to this piece of research.
This can be a safe space for like minds to share thoughts in a professional space and where they get a first look at the results of your study.
You can highlight how this doesn’t just benefit the individuals involved, but the community and industry at large – the power of the hive mind and collective action through unity.
7. Share the results for transparency
If you’ve invested time and thought into answering research questions, you’re sending a strong signal that you’re interested in the outcome of the research.
It’s good practice to share the findings of your original market research project with participants first, before you make it public. This strengthens your relationship by making them feel like insiders to the process, not just guinea pigs.
As well as the overall data points, it’s helpful to summarise the key learning points in a way that’s applicable to their business. Perhaps your project is evidence to support a long-held assumption or uncovered a new direction for your industry – useful food for thought they can consider for their own strategy.
Or your findings indicate an actionable, practical step your participants can take to get the edge on the competition (because they’re hearing about it first).
Never underestimate the power of ‘thank you.’ Maybe it’s a public shout-out on LinkedIn, a named acknowledgement within the report, or a simple email. Not only is this excellent manners, but it’s also making your participants feel fully included in the successful impact of your research. Everyone likes hearing, ‘We couldn’t have done it without you’. Saying thanks publicly endorses those people with your credibility.
Make your market research irresistible with ScoreApp
Shoot your participation and completion rates off the charts by using ScoreApp as your market research partner.
Why?
- Gorgeous templates that are easy to use through a user-friendly interface
- Scorecards give impressively detailed results to every participant
- Built-in automation makes personalised segmentation a breeze
And that’s just for starters! Wait till you see the range of lead magnets you can create inside the platform – waitlists, mini video courses, the lot!
Create your market research quiz for free, right now, with ScoreApp.
