The market research industry is operating in a new age. A new era that uses technology to hear from consumer groups that were previously near impossible to reach using traditional means. An era where we now start to question the quality of methods being used, because we have found a more trustworthy way of sampling.

“I don’t even put you guys in the same bucket as the other agencies we work with. I consider you to be up there with tech giants; able to get insights from almost any target consumer there is”. 

That is part of the feedback I received just this very morning, from a first-time client who had never worked with programmatic sampling before.  

Is this the kind of feedback you’re giving your insight provider? 

The reason I got this feedback is because I helped this client gain fundamental insights by sampling with our proprietary programmatic sampling technology called Dynamic Sampling. 

A technology that eases the frustration and lapses in traditional panel research, which is exactly why our Dynamic Sampling was born.

Let me list a few reasons why the programmatic sampling technology we have created - Dynamic Sampling - is far better than panels.

‍

Why Dynamic Sampling is better than panels

How do you refer to the people who purchase your products? Do you call them panelists? NO! Of course not. You call them consumers. And that’s exactly the people Dynamic Sampling has participating in our surveys. 

It’s a very specific type of personality that would ever join a panel and agree to take surveys often. 

So you’re already missing the majority of your consumers. Dynamic Sampling gives you a fresh pool of anonymous consumers for every survey by sampling programmatically.  

And what’s a better way to really get to know how many consumers know your brand or what they think of your new concept/packaging/marketing message than those who most likely take a survey for the first time? 

I have a client that we run a quarterly tracker for, the wonderfully meticulous kind. His words have stuck with me: ‘Dynamic Sampling offers a better representation of the consumers in the markets we operate in.’

And I get why he loves that he can get data from all their markets from one supplier, collected through the same methodology. It’s not just convenient because he doesn’t have to deal with a range of different suppliers (how much time do you spend on supplier management when you need more suppliers for the same project?), it’s also methodologically simpler to have just one methodology in his project.

Panels on the other hand eventually run out due to churn and exclusion periods, and are actually only as big as the ‘active’ members in them. Then we get into the conversation of multi-sourcing and over-exposure, and well….you get the idea.

‍

Reaching target audiences anywhere in the world

Dynamic Sampling can reach just over 1 billion consumers around the world, making it essentially an unlimited supply of consumers. 

Just recently I ran a project on a small island off the coast of France, with a population of around 1 million people.  We were approached for this project by a client, because they told us no one else in the industry could do it. 

But the advantages go further than the low IR segments, because with Dynamic Sampling we can target consumers from a national representative study, to young consumers, affluent consumers, even pregnant mothers or mothers with infants. No matter how broad or specific your target audience is, Dynamic Sampling will help you understand them. Almost. Because there is one target group we cannot help you survey at the extent we offer for any other target group.

‍

The one target audience you should still use panels for

Flat out, the achilles heel of Dynamic Sampling is the older generation. I’m talking about 65+. 

Panels are much more efficient at reaching these consumers, partially because the senior generation is more used to partaking in market research panels, especially compared to today’s youth. 

If this is your core target audience, it’s probably best to stick with traditional panels. Dynamic Sampling can do it, but the sampling runs slower than we like to see and we don’t feel this is our strength.

‍

Try it for yourself to see the difference

Do you see the benefits of applying our innovative sampling approach yet? 

I get that “innovative” can also be a bit scary. It’s easier to stick with what you know, right?

Here’s the paradox: I often get questions about data quality and it’s interesting because I hear a lot of complaints from clients about paying for X amount of interviews in traditional panels, but having to chuck out, say, 20% of them because it’s useless data. 

So obviously, panels are not delivering on speed, reach, geographies or quality. And you probably hate the amount of project management juggling different suppliers in the same project.

I challenge any market research professional reading this to test Dynamic Sampling for yourself: step outside of using panels as your comfortable way of getting insights, and run a small test pilot to see for yourself.  

I believe as time goes on, we will see more and more of this sort of technology emerge, because it truly is where the industry is going. Like the evolution from CATI to online panels, this is where quant MR is headed.  You can join the future now and reap the competitive advantage that you can have over your more conservative competitors.