Consumer research on social networks: what to remember

Introduction

Although it is difficult today to talk aboutconsumer study without mentioning social networks, it is certainly not without reason: from Facebook to Instagram via Tiktok or Snapchat, these new tools of Sampling social have gradually replaced traditional methods such as face-to-face, telephone surveys and traditional consumer panel.

But before playing the modernity card, several questions arise: Why turn today to social networks to realize your consumer study ? 🤔 Are social media samples reliable and representative? What differences with consumer panels paid? The answer in this article!

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Unlimited consumer studies on social networks!

If social networks and the Internet have revolutionized the market for consumer studies marketing is undoubtedly due to the enormous precision they provide in terms of targeting. “Classic” consumer panels or telephone surveys, for example, remain very limited in their geographical segmentation, since they are predefined and restricted samples of individuals.

This is where social networks make all the difference because when it comes to geographical boundaries, good news: there are none 🥳

Out of 7.8 billion people in the world, more than 4.95 billion are connected to Internet ; this represents more than 8 out of 10* active people on social networks, only in France 😲! This is an enormous potential number of consumers to question, a real gold mine of information for any consumer study.
That's why Discurv, uses social networks in order to obtain targeting as precise as the needs of its customers: Whether it is a country, a region, a city, or even a neighborhood, our sampling tools allow us to select the geographical areas in which to broadcast the survey to the nearest kilometer.

During a recent study on the practice of yoga among men around the world ‍, our consumer survey via social networks allowed us to reach a total of 2900 respondents. Thanks to our Madein360 sampling tool, we were able to apply quotas by country and by city, especially in France, Spain, Germany, Germany, Germany, Italy, England, but also in cities such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles or even Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi in India! 🌍

Thanks to Internet, no one can escape a Social media survey : And what a boon for a company that wants to reach consumers anywhere in the world, including in countries that are generally difficult to reach such as Russia, Saudi Arabia or India!
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*Source: Digital Report 2022, Wearesocial.

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Unpaid consumer studies, for honest and committed answers
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Today, the success of a consumer study depends on both the quantity and the quality of the responses it receives. Traditional consumer panels depend on a network of paid participants who regularly respond to surveys. In some cases, this remuneration could alter the spontaneity and authenticity of the answers... 😕
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In order to change the traditional methods of marketing research, Discurv (ex Medinvote) offers an alternative and does not offer any compensation to its respondents (remuneration or gift). This limits the occurrence of biases in the responses and insights collected.
Our surveys target participants based on very specific criteria, so that they feel concerned about the subject of the study and that they share honest and thoughtful opinions.

It is in this that the social networks represent an asset in a marketing study, because they guarantee a higher data quality.
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Make a consumer study on social networks, it also means offering participants the opportunity to express themselves on topics where they are rarely invited to speak 🎤.
According to a survey conducted on Facebook & Instagram in 2021 by Discurv, among 1002 individuals representative of the French population (in terms of sex, age and CSP), 5 out of 10 French people say they have never participated in an online survey because they were never solicited. Respondents on social networks are motivated to respond to our surveys and share their experiences, either out of curiosity or because they want to contribute their thoughts on certain topics.

Moreover, we guarantee a certain freshness in the answers of our questionnaires since, unlike paid consumer panels, we never solicit the same target twice and the participations are much more spontaneous 😉.

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Infinite targeting capabilities on social networks for your consumer studies

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Social networks now represent a methodology of choice for carrying out an ultra-precise consumer study. With Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and many others, it is possible to achieve Geographical targeting to the nearest kilometer 🌍: target people passing through a geographical area, on vacation or on a business trip, or rather target individuals according to their place of residence, whether it is a city, a region, a department or even a country.
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In 2022, we carried out a consumer survey on social networks to assess the expectations of funicular users in Savoie 🏔️: Social networks allowed us to collect the answers of 300 inhabitants of Bourg St Maurice and its surroundings, but also the opinions of 300 tourists who had used the funicular during their previous vacations over the last 6 months.

Beyond the geographic targeting, our unique poll&roll technology also allows us to reach a multitude of other targeting criteria, depending on the theme of the marketing study. For example, you can use social networks to broadcast your customer survey. with Internet users who have common areas of interest, such as sports enthusiasts, brand fans or even second-hand enthusiasts.
In 2022, we carried out a study in Europe among regular football players ⚽: We were thus able to draw up a typical profile of players by country in 5 days thanks to a sample of 1500 respondents (France, Germany, Italy, Italy, Italy, Italy, Italy, Spain and Belgium).

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Not least, the sociodemographic criterion is just as requested by our client companies, in order to gather information on a specific segment of the population, such as students, retirees, CSP+ students or even professionals in a certain sector of activity.
For example, we have already interviewed students from Mont-de-Marsan to identify their expectations in terms of student residence 📚. We also send online surveys to BtoB targets working in various sectors of activity (building, construction, health, consulting, HR...). This type of study can be more difficult to carry out with a consumer panel, due to the specificity of the subject and the niche target to be interviewed... 😕

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As part of a consumer study on social networks, our Madein360 targeting technology also allows us to interview intentional targets on various themes: whether it is the intention to have a house built, to buy a specific product, to stay in a tourist residence... etc.
For example, in 2021, we surveyed people in 6 different countries who intended to buy a mattress in the next 6 months.

Finally, for a consumer study On a specialized market, Discurv strives to use adapted targeting tools in order to reach niche targets and guide the company in its marketing decisions. The data collected as part of a barometer on the latest trends in terms of innovative catering have thus encouraged a repositioning of our client company's offer, and therefore expertise in relation to the competition 💪.
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Guaranteed representativeness for your consumer studies

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Consumer studies on social networks now allow us to obtain key insights on all segments of the population: from the youngest to the oldest, from the richest to the most precarious. We thus have the possibility to constitute an ad hoc panel of consumers. representative of a population. La Quota method applies to social networks at the same time on standard criteria (age, gender, CSP, region...) but also on tailor-made criteria, specific to the needs and intended target of our customers.

For example, TikTok and Snapchat allow access to very young profiles, between 18 and 25 years old on average, unlike Facebook, which is preferred by middle-aged users. Apart from The age group, the topic Of a consumer survey largely determines the type of network on which we are going to interview Internet users:

Facebook and Instagram for general public topics 🌍 such as improving the customer experience in supermarkets; LinkedIn and Twitter for BtoB 💼 topics such as professionals in a certain sector of activity, or Pinterest for inspirational topics 🎨 such as the future layout of a store or testing a new product concept.

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Conclusion
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In the universe of consumer studies, the use of social networks as a means of collection is becoming a habit for brands and all organizations wishing to listen to and understand their stakeholders. Whether in France or abroad, people like to express themselves and share their opinions. Usually not very popular on other channels, this guarantees a a certain freshness and spontaneity in their responses.

Thanks to our ultra-precise targeting tool Poll&Roll, we have the ability to interview all segments of a population and to obtain relevant insights On your customers/non-customers, while guaranteeing a representativeness of the sample. Whether with general public and rarer targets, we can carry out any type of study: Pre/post test, image and reputation, competition & catchment area, customer satisfaction...

Do you want to know more? Visit our FAQ page or contact us hither to share your study needs with us 😉