What makes us different from typical survey apps?
We reward you for answering questions. Surely this means that we’re a survey app, right? Well, not quite. But we understand that looks can be deceiving, so we’ve prepared this quick blog post to explain what makes us different. To really drive the message home, we’ll do a little compare and contrast — show you how others do it versus how we do it. No gripe, just different perspectives!
How others do it
In short, most paid survey sites and apps are platforms for market research. When launching a new product/service, or making changes to an existing one, companies turn to market research to make sure that what they come up with will make their customers happy. It gives them a rough idea on what works, where to make changes, or to scrap projects altogether, inevitably saving them money. These days, companies can conduct a survey themselves, but more often they’ll contact one of the many survey sites and apps in existence and ask them to distribute a survey to their users. These sites and apps are paid for this service, and a portion of this money then gets passed on to the users as an incentive.
Survey sites and apps, therefore, act as a middleman between you and the companies conducting their market research, and that comes with some limitations. For example, if you don’t fit into the (sometimes very specific) demographic that these companies are looking for, then you may go for long periods of time without any surveys. As well as this, you usually aren’t able to skip questions — if you want to get paid, you need to complete the survey in full. In this respect, it’s worth having a look at the Privacy Policies of the sites and apps you’re joining, to make sure the data you’re disclosing about yourself (both your demographic data and the data derived from your answers) is being adequately protected.
How we do it
First of all, the majority of the questions you’re asked are not provided to us by companies doing market research — we create them ourselves. The purpose of these questions are to help you build a rich, high-quality data profile. That said, we understand there are some things that you might not want to share with us, in which case, you can skip individual questions. You’re in control. The answers you do provide help us establish who you are as a person and help you realise the value of your data, rather than just rewarding you for offering your opinion.
Our aim was never to be a ‘get-rich-quick’ scheme, but rather to redesign the relationship between you, the consumer, and brands; shifting the power from them to you. The big difference is that with people.io, you retain ownership of your data — although we are the ones holding it, you are in charge, and we never claim it belongs to us. Even if other sites or apps keep your data safe, the fundamental understanding is that you give them your data/opinions and they pay you in return. That’s different path from how we operate. With people.io, the data you enter helps to create a unique profile, based on which we can connect you with brands that you want to hear from.
And remember — we never share your data with these brands 😉
We are all about realising the value of your data
We hope that this blog post helped you understand why people.io is not quite your usual survey app. We know some of you have been disappointed that the payouts you’re getting from our app are not quite as high as you may have experienced with other apps, and that is due to the fundamental differences in how we operate. Our revenues depend not on asking you questions, but on forging partnerships with brands, and those simply take longer to build. people.io is hoping to make a difference with how you see your data and its value, and we hope you will stay with us on this journey.
We’re keen to hear your comments about how we can better communicate.
