Focus groups are essential for discovering key insights to help you market your business more effectively. When you’re organising a focus group, one of the main things to consider will be the location. 

 The most common places that we see focus groups being held are:

• Market research viewing facilities
• Hotels or nearby places of interest
• Offices

Here we take a closer look at the pros and cons of each one.

1. Viewing facility

A viewing facility is often the most popular choice for holding a focus group because it involves less work on your part. However, as a result, the price is often higher, so you have to decide how much you are willing to spend.

Viewing facilities are specially designed for market research purposes, so they include everything you will need. This includes:

• A room that is the right size for your group
• Catering
• One-way mirrors for viewing
• Recording equipment
• A designated host

As well as providing the above, they also provide a professional and comfortable environment, and they are usually located in easy-to-reach places.

If you’d like to learn more about viewing facilities, you can read more here.

2. Hotel or nearby place of interest

Hotels or places of interest can also be good places to arrange focus groups and they have many benefits.

They often have large rooms, such as conference rooms in hotels, so this can be convenient if you have larger groups. You can also choose a location that you know will be easy for everyone to reach, which can help when it comes to successful focus group recruitment.

It can be cost-effective when viewing is not included, but if you need to use recording equipment, things can get more expensive. Viewing the research can also be trickier.

Confidentiality is also a consideration. This can be harder to control than in a viewing facility because hotels are not set up specifically for market research purposes.

3. In your office

Another popular option is to simply carry out your research in your office. The obvious benefit is that it can be more cost-effective, but organising catering and the equipment can involve a lot more work if it's required.

Also, your office might simply not be a suitable space for carrying out a focus group, and viewing the research and recording the sessions might not be possible.

It can also be more intimidating for the respondents when they are in an office environment rather than a comfortable hotel room or a dedicated viewing facility.

Other things to consider

 As well as choosing the right venue, there are other considerations to keep in mind:

• Make it easy for respondents to schedule in the focus group by sending them an invite in Google Calendar, Calendly, TeamUp or a similar tool
• Send reminders before the event
• Make sure you can be reached easily so respondents can contact you whenever they need to
• Wherever you choose, make sure it is easy to get to, private and quiet with no distractions. It should also be comfortable for the participants. 

Start arranging your focus group event

Choosing the right place for your research makes the whole process easier to arrange and more comfortable for your respondents.

A market research viewing facility is often the best option simply because it is so much easier for you, helping to remove the stress so you can focus.

And if you want to find out more about getting the best respondents for your focus groups, make sure you download our free guide today!