About online panels
Gathering relevant research from existing and potential clients is vital to any organisation and the internet provides an excellent base for gathering information from people who are willing to partake in the knowledge gathering task.SwissPeaks is now able to offer an online customer panel service to allow organisations to tap in to this rich stream of invaluable information.
Online customer panels are created by forming a pool of persons who are repeatedly invited to or volunteer to take part in systematic surveys, which can lead to long term relationships with existing and potential customers.
From the information that participants offer on their personalised pages when they first join, organisations are able to access and incentivise panellists on many different levels, allowing research to be targeted and the most important information that is gathered is far more relevant.
From these panels many organisations go on to form online communities which allow a much deeper and longer form of communication between businesses and customers.
How online panels works
- Customers are invited to join the panel via email invitations or they can join by clicking on a button on the organisation website
- The panellist is asked to complete a form which can be as in-depth as the company wants. The more information requested allows for further segmentation when conducting surveys
- Once joined the panellist will be sent regular communication from the organisation which can be either in the form of longer surveys or quick polls
- Incentives can be offered to the panellists to ensure a high take-up rate on the surveys eg: vouchers, loyalty points, entry into prize draws etc
- The information can be disseminated quickly therefore providing the organisation with more business opportunities by acting quickly on the customers' needs and wants
Advantages of online panels
- Fast - information can be gained at high speed, ensuring that the information received is far more accurate than traditional methods
- Reliable – not only is the customer assured of getting results in a timely manner they can also be assured of the information being accurate as the people on the panel are interested in what the customer has to offer
- Low Cost – because the work is web based the costs are extremely low, especially when compared with more traditional methods, as there are far fewer overheads
- Accuracy – targeting the exact markets is far easier as the panels can be broken down due to the information provided when panellists first join
- Global – undertaking international research is made easier, quicker and more accurate as the questions and answers are available at the click of a button
- Flexible – as the panels are web based it allows for the use of videos, pictures and sound for research questions making them more interactive