How to recruit research participants & avoid expensive recruiting firms
If you have the funds, you might consider using a research recruiting firm that specializes in recruiting for user and market research projects. However, you don’t always have access to that budget in every project. Here are a few tips for DIY-ing research recruiting.
1) Create a screener to filter for the people you want to talk to
When recruiting, we typically create a screener questionnaire that filters for the types of people we want to talk to (based on demographics, psychographics, etc.)
2) Post to places online people are self-selecting into based on a topic related to your research
We then post that screener around the web, especially in places where people are self selecting into a community based on a topic related to our research. So for example, If we were doing research around electric cars, we would post the screener to online communities focused on sustainability, car culture, etc.
3) Leverage your “weak-tie” connections
Leveraging your personal network is always a good strategy. Even better is leveraging your acquaintances. According to sociologist Mark Granovetter, people adopt ideas from their “weak ties” (ie. acquaintances) more than ideas from their “strong ties” (ie. close friends and family).
4) Snowball recruiting
Ask your participants if they know anyone else that would be good for your study. Snowball recruiting is a great way to find participants in a network that’s hard to break into from the outside. Your participants likely know people like themselves, so you can leverage their networks to find more participants. Of course, you can’t be as picky with this strategy, but often, the serendipitous moments in research are the most insightful!
What are your tips for scrappy research recruiting? Share your ideas with us in the comments and on Twitter (@aconsultingfern). If you are working on a project that needs research or recruiting support, reach out to us. We’re helping teams of all sizes to better understand the communities they serve.
