Online focus groups offer a better way to tap into more minds of a targeted demographic. But first, PR pros have to get the audience into the chat room.
"It's actually easier for people to blow off an online focus group because usually they come to the study straight from work. They don't go home first," says Janet Allbee,
marketing director for Driveoff.com. "You might invite 25 people to a online focus group and get eight, maybe even four, to show."
Variances between invitees and no-shows in offline focus groups seldom vary as much; if you need 10 people, invite 12. Jeff Walkowski, off- and online focus group moderator and
president of research firm QualCore.com, outlines the reasons:
- People mentally prepare for offline focus groups because they have to leave their homes to participate in them, which means scheduling the event into the day's agenda,
like a dentist appointment or a date. - Most people participate in online focus groups from home, where they view the research session as simply another option in the television-watching/Internet-surfing mix. They
don't have to be anywhere or meet anyone, making attendance less pressing.
There is also less incentive for participants of online focus groups to belly up to their monitors. Where offline attendees receive up to $100 for their input, online
participation garners users no more than $40 for their effort.
"I boosted online incentives to equal those given by offline," says Walkowski. "It impresses upon the online participants that we really do value their time." But securing
attendance for an online focus group takes more than offering bigger cash incentives.
Pre-emptive Strikes
Personal contact is either lacking or nonexistent with most recruitment done for online focus groups, putting the enlistment process at a disadvantage. Potential participants
become eligible for an online event by answering questions via the Internet.
Off-line enrolling takes place over the phone, usually by someone living within the same area as the participant. After this contact is made, Attendees verbally promise the
caller they will show up for the event. Such a commitment, although not legally binding, carries more weight than the online participants promising their attendance to the
electronic cosmos. Initiating a phone campaign after the participant qualifies for the focus group can overcome the problem.
"To make it work you have to call [the participants] several times a week," says Walkowski. "In doing so, a bonding occurs between the recruiter and the attendee. It takes the
event from an online process to a personal process."
In a perfect world where attendees are qualified weeks in advance, calling should begin a few days before the focus group and continue up to the day of the event. But when
there is little time between qualifying the participant and the online focus group, Walkowski suggests calling them anyway, even if it's an hour before the focus group begins.
This is standard operating procedure for offline events and another reason why they capture more of a crowd.
It's all in the Timing
No matter what type of focus group is used, on or offline, attendance depends on what else is competing for the participant's time. Online groups are more susceptible because
of television. Be sure to schedule around television events - award shows, big sports events, the last episode of Seinfeld.
"You can also lose participants gearing up of the weekend on Thursday," says David Bradford, VP and director of the virtual research room VRROOM. "We moved those sessions to
Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon and got a better response." Bradford suggests the best days for an event online are Monday through Wednesday.
Online events are also more sensitive to people's attention spans. Offline focus groups can run as long as two hours. If an online study runs over 90 minutes it will lose
attendees.
"Business-to-business online focus groups need to be less than an hour because they are usually done during the attendees' lunch hour," says Bradford. "They should run between
30 minutes and an hour."
Who will Show
Based on his experience, Bradford outlines the different types of resource pools potential participants come from and how likely they are to show:
- Opt-in email: 50% chance of showing.
- Random intercept (a Web site randomly offers its users who qualify for a chance to join a focus group): 60% chance of showing.
- Company's clients: 70% chance of showing.
- Panels (pre-selected people called in to fill in a focus group for either off- or online): 90% chance of showing.
(Allbee, 303/431-4515; Bradford, 212/390-5633; Walkowski, 612/377-3439.)
Avoiding Technical Difficulties
- Before the event, send qualified attendees the URL of the chat room. Individually, they can log-on to make sure their browsers support the hosting site's software.
- Plan a pre-meeting at the host site with all the attendees. Once everyone is on the site, send them messages to make sure they can read what you're writing. When doing this,
the cash incentive to the attendees should reflect their extra effort. - Make sure the browsers the attendees' test are the ones they will be using for the focus group. Because of the timing of the test, some will test their work browser for a
focus group they will attend on their home computers.
(Allbee, 303/431-4515.)
Time Saver
It's better to have two moderators in the focus group. While one is writing, the other can be reading the responses to the previous question. This way there is no down time
for attendees to suffer through, speeding up the entire process.
(Nick Andrus, VP/Partner, Slack Barshinger & Partners, 312/527-0777.)