Custom Online Panels Explained

Custom online panels provide an efficient way of gathering survey feedback from a regular group of participants. This article looks at the what, why and how of creating custom online panels.

Custom online panels are one of the hottest trends in research, but there’s a lot of confusion around what exactly they are and how they are used.

The overall purpose is to make research easier, more affordable and more productive. Many clients conduct a series of ad hoc surveys throughout the year. They reinvent the proverbial wheel too often, using their time and money inefficiently.

A custom online panel is simply a community of people who have agreed to participate in research projects periodically online. Usually the survey-takers are from the client organization’s customer or membership list.

There are many providers out there, each doing things slightly differently. Let me summarize the elements that are common to most custom online panels.

Panelist Website: A custom website for panelists is password protected and typically has a look and feel very similar to the client’s own website. When a user logs in, he or she can change profile information, see which surveys have already been completed and complete additional surveys. In most cases there is considerable non-survey information on the site as well, including interactive elements such as discussion boards and user-generated polls.

Specialized Recruitment: Panelists are recruited typically by email, but phone or in-person recruitment is possible. Recruits are sent to a signup page, where they validate their identity and agree to participate. The panel sponsor makes clear to the respondents what is expected of them.

Incentives: Most panels provide incentives for members to complete surveys. Incentives can take many forms. For non-profit and charitable organizations, a good choice can be t-shirts, mugs, and other such materials. Panels of business customers tend to provide money (in the form of check or online payments), discounts or gift cards.

Tiered Access and Reporting: While respondents can only see their own information, the panel administrator gets a dashboard interface which allows management panel meta-statistics (response rates, number of active panelists, etc.), create new surveys, launch invitations and reminders, and create reports and export data for analysis.

Custom online panels are gaining popularity because the amount and quality of data for the dollar can be quite remarkable. Indeed, it’s the budgets originally created for stand-alone research projects that end up being redeployed to pay for custom panel creation.

- May 2009

This content was provided by The Operandi Group. Visit their website at www.operandigroup.com.