Due to rising economic concerns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses have pulled back or completely stopped their advertising spend.
On the contrary, social media users have never been higher. Facebook recently shared its own data, noting that time across all apps (Facebook Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp) had grown 70% since the crisis came to fruition.
Right now, there is a major opportunity to leverage Facebook Ads for market research. With little competition, ads can be shown to target participants and respondents at a fraction of the cost.
Our market research company often relies on Facebook to find quality survey respondents, as well as pre-screen qualitative research participants for our clients. Now is the time to try it out!
COVID-19 has presented an interesting opportunity for marketers and researchers. Learn why Facebook Ads is the best source for finding market research participants right now.
Why Facebook Ads?
The term “paid social media advertising” is very broad. Many different platforms fall under this umbrella such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.
Realistically, any online advertising platform could potentially find survey respondents – we know this because we’ve leveraged almost every social media site for finding quality respondents.
Time and time again, Facebooks Ads have proven a far better return than any other platform for our market research firm. The access researchers and marketers have to behavioral targeting and audience reach is simply unmatched.
Let’s dive into the four benefits of finding survey respondents with Facebook Ads – especially during the COVID-19 economy.
Benefit #1: More Impressions
As rules for social distancing get stricter, consumers are forced to entertain themselves with little interaction from their friends and families. To stay connected with loved ones (or even the outside world), people are actively scrolling and engaging on social media more than ever.
In a blog post titled, “Keeping Our Services Stable and Reliable During the COVID-19 Outbreak” Facebook discussed increased usage of its platform in areas hard-hit by the outbreak.
“As the pandemic expands and more people practice physically distancing themselves from one another, this has also meant that many more people are using our apps.”
There are more eyes, more consumers, more real people using Facebook right now. Take this opportunity to collect survey respondents from those that have similar traits and characteristics of your target market.
Conducting market research on Facebook will provide you with feedback from real consumers, not fake survey bots that you would find on cheap online panel sites.
Benefit #2: Low Competition
In the same article, Facebook also discusses the status of their advertising platform.
“We’ve seen a weakening in our ads business in countries taking aggressive actions to reduce the spread of COVID-19.”
In efforts to reduce spending, many organizations are pausing their advertising efforts. As a result, there is a greater opportunity for you to reach your target audience because they are likely not being served as many ads.
This aspect serves a greater benefit for a small or midsized business that doesn't have the budget to compete with larger corporations who are currently reducing their advertising spend.
Benefit #3: Low Cost
Let’s break this down a little more. So far, we’ve discussed how there is an increased number of Facebook users, but fewer businesses spending money on Facebook Ads.
More Impressions + Little Competition = Lower Conversion Costs
While our market research company typically sees low conversion costs regarding survey completes anyways, this cost has decreased even more due to Coronavirus.
If your business is like many, and are trying to lower costs where possible, your research budget should not be impacted. Using Facebook to conduct market research is perhaps the most cost-effective way to find qualified participants.
Benefit #4: Easy to Participate
There are only so many shows to binge or at-home projects to complete before boredom really sets in. Consumers are looking for anything to do to keep them occupied. Why not complete a 10-minute survey?
Online surveys offer a multitude of benefits for marketers and researchers – one being that they are easy to complete for respondents. In normal circumstances, your target audience may not have wanted to take time out of their day to provide feedback.
However, during quarantine your target audience is more likely to not only participate but provide more detailed and engaged responses.
Facebook Is Not Your Only Option
There are a variety of approaches researchers and marketers can take when finding respondents for their online survey, video focus group, phone interview, etc. The data collection method used is often dependent on who your target respondent is.
If you are surveying your customers, perhaps you have a CRM with their contact information, allowing you to email a link to participate in customer research.
If your target respondents are those of a specific market or general population (non-customers), then maybe you could benefit from an online panel company.
Our full-service market research company can deliver and execute an online survey using any of these approaches.
Need More Help?
If you're new to the Facebook Ads platform and market research, not to worry! Our market research company can help build, design, program, and field an online survey in a matter of days. We also specialize in finding participants for qualitative research such as video focus groups and web interviews in a little as one week.
Drive Research is a national market research company located in New York. Our team has the knowledge and tools to quickly find quality participants for your qualitative or quantitative research, cost-effectively.
Interested in receiving a proposal for a project? Reach out through any of the four ways below.
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040