Surveys are a powerful tool for gathering feedback and insights from customers, employees, non-customers, and other stakeholders.
However, conducting surveys in-house can be time-consuming, resource-intensive, and the results may not always be objective or trustworthy.
That’s where third-party surveys come in.
By outsourcing online surveys to a third-party market research company, businesses and organizations can save time and resources while ensuring the integrity and impartiality of the results.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the definition of third-party surveys, their advantages, and their importance in today’s fast-paced business environment.
Interested in working with a third-party survey company, like Drive Research? Get in touch with our team by completing an online contact form or emailing [email protected].
A third-party survey is a type of questionnaire that is conducted by an external organization or entity, which is independent of the company or organization being surveyed.
In other words, the third party conducting the market research survey (such as an online survey company) is not affiliated with your company or organization being surveyed and is therefore considered an unbiased source of information.
Third-party surveys can be used to gather feedback and insights from a variety of stakeholders, such as customers, employees, or the general public. They are typically administered using various methods such as online surveys, phone surveys, or in-person surveys.
Here are some common types:
Whether you’re a business owner, market researcher, or HR professional, understanding the benefits of third-party surveys can help you make informed decisions and improve your bottom line.
The benefits of conducting third-party surveys include:
As a full-service market research firm, Drive Research knows the ins and outs of market research.
When you decide to work with a third party for your survey, you’ll be sure your survey is written, fielded, and analyzed with expertise.
Working with a third party ensures questions are written to yield the most accurate, high-quality data, providing your company with the best possible insights.
Plus, third-party survey companies often can reach your target audience more effectively through in-house panels, vendor connections, and social media.
Recommended Reading: Six Common Survey Writing Mistakes
One of the most challenging components of conducting an online survey is finding qualified respondents. Online survey market research companies have access to hundreds of thousands of people across the country.
Regardless of age, gender, household income, job title, or other key demographics that make up your target audience – a third-party research firm can easily find these respondents.
Additionally, there will be no concern with vetting that these are actual people taking your survey, rather than fake online survey bots.
Throughout fieldwork, market research companies like Drive Research will validate the feedback by looking for duplicate responses, streamlined answers, and other important data quality checks.
Chances are, you interact with customers, employees, and other key stakeholders of your company almost daily. When it comes to market research, hiring a third-party survey company means fresh sets of eyes and ears to bring new perspectives to the problems at hand.
While in-house market research may initially seem appealing, you and your team need to consider all of the biases in market research that may occur throughout the process.
Outsourcing your survey ensures fresh perspectives and minimizes biases, providing your company with the best possible data.
Thinking about conducting an employee satisfaction survey? While it may seem simple, an in-house survey won’t result in high-quality data in these situations.
Without confidentiality or anonymity, it’s impossible to know how accurate the survey feedback is.
If an employee can be tied back to their responses, they’re more likely to not be forthcoming about issues they’re having.
Therefore, using a third party for employee surveys ensures employee feedback is as honest and accurate as possible.
In return, your company will be able to make the important changes it needs to increase workplace satisfaction and motivation.
The same can be said when conducting customer satisfaction surveys.
Gathering high-quality data is one of the most challenging aspects of conducting online surveys. But the good news is that outsourcing your online survey to a third-party service provider can help you with this.
Market research survey companies like Drive Research have the expertise and resources to design and conduct surveys optimized for high response rates and high-quality data.
We use techniques such as randomized sampling, survey testing, fraud detection, and data validation to ensure that the data collected is accurate, reliable, and high-quality.
With this information, brands can make data-driven decisions based on facts–not just speculation.
To learn more about survey testing and data cleaning, read our blog: Online Survey Testing: What to Look for Before Hitting Send.
The success of online surveys depends on the quality of the data collected. High-quality data is crucial to ensure that the results of the survey are accurate and dependable.
With accurate and reliable data, you can identify patterns, trends, and relationships in the data, which can be used to gain insights and inform decision-making.
Better analysis leads to better outcomes and a more successful survey.
Additionally, high-quality data is cost-effective.
Collecting low-quality data can lead to additional costs, such as the need to conduct more surveys or correct errors in the data collected.
When you decide to work with a third-party survey company from the outset, you can save time and money.
The cost of third-party surveys can vary depending on several factors, such as the scope of the survey, the size of the sample population, the level of detail required, and the complexity of the questions.
In general, third-party survey costs will range from $8,000 to $40,000 including consultation, design, programming, data collection, and reporting.
Watch as our online survey company talks about these factors in greater detail.
Conducting third-party surveys carries many advantages – as you now know.
In short, these include:
It can also help you earn more high-quality data, which can lead to better insights and more informed decisions.
If you are considering conducting a survey, it is worth outsourcing the task to a third-party service provider to ensure that you get the best results.
Are you interested in working with a third-party survey company? Contact us for a rate sheet or custom proposal for your survey project.
We will consult with you from end to end to give you exactly what you need for your market research project.
Contact us through one of the four options below.
