The Power of Social Media in Recruiting Fresh Research Participants

Social media has never been more popular.

82.2% of the UK population use social media, with the average user spending one hour and forty-nine minutes on various platforms every day. That might not sound too bad—until you realise it adds up to nearly five years of your life spent scrolling, liking, and sharing.

And younger generations clock up even more hours, with recent research suggesting Gen Z spend a staggering nine hours a day on social media platforms—more than the average working day!

So it makes perfect sense that more and more researchers are recruiting research participants through social media. It’s a powerful and cost-effective way to reach your audience quickly—and it’s a brilliant method for avoiding over-researched participant pools by helping you connect with fresh faces.

Read on to discover four reasons why social media is helping to deliver better results in qualitative market research recruitment.

4 reasons recruiting research participants through social media generates better results in qualitative market research: 

1. It gives you access to a bigger audience than ever before

1.47 billion people across the world log on to Facebook every day. Instagram has 1 billion monthly users, whilst the world’s largest professional platform LinkedIn has 546 million users. So if you want to reach out to a wider audience - well, social media can help you do just that!

The average Facebook user has 338 friends, so if your advert or information about your research is shared online, that's 338 new eyeballs reached instantly with just one click of the share button.

That means your project can snowball and you can reach fresh respondents that you wouldn’t have otherwise been able to access. So whatever you are researching and however unique your criteria, with social media you’ll reach a bigger audience online than you ever could using traditional methods.

2. It allows you to target strict criteria

Looking for petrol-heads in Peterborough? Dog owners from Dudley? Marmite lovers living in Manchester? Ok, that sounds like a bit of a weird project, but our point is no matter how specific your criteria, social media tools can help you reach people with more unique criteria than ever before.

Platforms like Facebook allow researchers to target by:

• Age, gender, and relationship status
• Job roles and lifestyle interests
• Location, page likes, and brand preferences
• Even past purchasing behaviour.

That means you can easily reach fresh respondents, whatever type of participant you are looking for - and it will even give you an estimated audience size so you know just how many people you are reaching as well!

3. It’s a great way to reach out to Millennials and Gen Z

Millennials and Generation Z are the consumers of tomorrow and an increasingly important target demographic for your qualitative market research.

They’re also digital natives. With 98% of Gen Z owning a smartphone and growing up with social media as a constant part of their lives, it’s the most natural way to reach and recruit them.

If you’re looking to connect with younger participants and stay ahead of the curve, social media recruitment is your best bet. And with new platforms continuing to grow, it’s only going to become more essential.

Need help keeping participants switched on and involved throughout your project? Don’t miss our Top Tips for Engaging Respondents in Qualitative Market Research.

4. It means you’re not limited by location

One of the biggest benefits of social media recruitment is that it removes geographical limitations.

Gone are the days of needing local respondents to attend in-person sessions. With digital methodologies like video interviews, online communities, and remote diaries becoming the norm, you can recruit from anywhere.

Social media campaigns help you:

• Reach participants across the UK (or further afield)

• Find people in rural or under-researched areas

• Widen your net without widening your budget

In conclusion...

No matter the type of qualitative market research you're conducting—be it online communities, in-depth interviews or video diaries—social media can help you recruit the right people. Social media is empowering qualitative market researchers by enabling them to access a huge range of respondents, breaking down boundaries and allowing them to conduct research with fresh faces and deliver better results too.

If you’d like to find out more about recruiting research participants through social media for your next
qualitative market research study, including our top tips on how to use social media as part of your recruitment strategy, make sure download our guide!