Answers to Your Questions About Focus Group Recruiting in the U.S.

Focus group recruitment can be a very challenging task for an organization or marketing agency to undertake. It often takes a lot of time and logistics to ensure success. It involves time spent on designing a screener, finding a list of targeted participants, paid outreach, re-screening phone calls, confirmation emails, confirmation letters, confirmation texts, and reminder galore. Sound daunting?

This is often why organizations across the U.S. come to a focus group recruiting company like Drive Research to assist. Our team of experts manages all of this from start-to-finish for your team so you can focus on other priorities. We have a tried and true process to not only find highly specific audiences, but we also apply the necessary rigor to ensure a large percentage show up to the focus group.

As a full-service market research company who often conducts our own qualitative research which requires recruiting, we understand the importance of finding a trusted and high-quality recruitment company. Many of our qualitative research projects not only involve recruitment but also moderator guide design, moderation, and reporting. But we also offer recruitment-only services for our friends who want to manage the other portions.

Looking for a company to assist you with your focus group or qualitative recruitment needs? My friend, you've landed in the right spot.

Answers to Your Questions About Focus Group Recruiting in the U.S.

Questions about the focus group recruiting process? Here are some answers to some of the most common questions we receive.


Can Drive Research Recruit Outside of Upstate New York?

Yes. Although Drive Research is located in Syracuse, NY, our recruitment services span across the country. In just the past 6 months our team has recruited highly specific audiences in not only rural areas of New York State but in regions such as New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, Charlotte, Greensboro, Appleton, and Newark to name a few. Our team has also recruited in fairly rural locations of the country including several less populated regions of Upstate New York. We continue to grow panel members all across the U.S. With each new research project in out-of-state markets, our pool grows stronger.


How Does Drive Research Target Hard-to-Find Participants?

In addition to panel invitations for the study, Drive Research excels in digital targeting through social media. Our team of analysts pre-screen audiences through paid randomized newsfeed ads encouraging participation in a short pre-qualification survey. This gives our clients and our research team the ability to reach any and all types of audiences across the country.

Nielsen data points to more than 60% or more of residents using Facebook across a 30-day period in most major DMAs. Social media advertisements can be targeted to any geographic region, radius, and targeted demographics including business owners, homeowners, and renters. More than enough sample size exists in most areas to make focus groups feasible in most populations across the U.S.


Where are the groups hosted?

Drive Research has experience recruiting and hosting focus groups in non-traditional facility locations across the country. This even includes rural areas. These locations include college meeting rooms, high school conference rooms, library community rooms, and hotel conference rooms. The most convenient and best-fit option will be selected in each region for the focus group sessions. This includes locations which offer easy access, free parking, and spacious rooms. In some situations, if the town or city is large enough, a traditional focus group facility is often utilized.


Can food and beverages be offered at these locations?

Sometimes. In some locations light food and beverages are allowed. This can be arranged by Drive Research if needed. Some potential locales do not allow food and beverages (e.g. public libraries). This has some but little impact on the feasibility of the recruit. Our team will manage this for each location on a case-by-case basis based on the locations chosen. These perks are recommended to assist with participation rates. Food and beverages are commonplace at traditional focus group facilities.


Can the focus groups be audio recorded?

Yes. Drive Research also offers the ability to audio record sessions on a digital recorder at our off site locations. The device is placed in the middle of the focus group table at the beginning of the session. These files can be emailed, posted to a secure online folder, or added to a flash drive at the conclusion of the groups.


Can the focus groups be video recorded and streamed?

Yes. Our team also offers video streaming services at off-site locations. Our focus group recruiting company creates a private channel streaming link and shares this with the client prior to the group. This can be shared with any team member and there are no limits to the number of viewers.

Sessions are recorded through a laptop or other recording device from a position in the corner of the room. This is completed through a Wi-Fi connection or mobile hotspot provided by Drive Research. The sessions are available to be viewed using the link well-after the groups are completed. In order for Drive Research to assist with audio and video capabilities, the client must select the on-site host option. These services cannot be supplied through remote staffing.


Does Drive Research prepare transcripts?

Yes. Drive Research contracts with the best transcription services in the country. Our partners offer accurate, cost-effective, and timely transcripts for our focus group and interview sessions. These files prove extremely valuable for our clients.


Contact Our Qualitative Research Company

Drive Research is a focus group recruitment company in the U.S. Our recruitment services span across the country and offer our team the ability to recruit in any location for your qualitative research needs.

Interested in learning more? Need a quote? Contact us.

Message us on our website
Email us at [email protected]
Call us at 888-725-DATA
Text us at 315-303-2040

Qualitative Recruiting