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HOW TO

Any user research project can fail even when recruiters have the biggest community of potential participants at their disposal: a database might not include suitable participants that fit the client’s requirements, or the candidates might simply be unresponsive. So many things can go wrong!

If the recruitment process hits a wall, the old saying “when the going gets tough, the tough get going” applies. That’s where free find comes in to play.

What is free find?

At People for Research, we call the process of recruiting new participants outside our database ‘free find’. It does what it says on the tin: it means we use every method – from hanging posters at a school to commenting on streamers Twitch accounts – to make sure we find the right participants for each paid research study. In other words, we get creative!

However, market research and usability testing are continuously changing, which means recruiters need to update their techniques on a regular basis. So, how do we find new participants to take part in paid market studies? Here is the updated list of techniques we adopted or improved throughout the past year.

🔍 Messaging, timing and tone

A message is not just about saying the right words – it’s how you say it. Whether we are writing or talking to a potential participant, we always adapt our speech to the participants’ language and provide all the important information the candidates need to know.

This messaging helps to increase the amount of participants booked and the overall efficiency of the recruitment process, as well as reduce the percentage of drop-outs. Even if we are tweeting about a research opportunity and only have limited characters, we will do our best to share the maximum amount of information we can.

We adopt the same strategy to timings of updates to ensure we get the best response for each specific campaign, so sending emails, scheduling social updates or directly contacting individuals at the right time to ensure we are reaching the right people at the right time with the right message.

🔍 Create a connection

This second technique is an extension on the messaging element highlighted before, but this is so specific it needed its own section. Whenever we promote a paid research study or recruit new participants to the PFR database, we always try to create a connection with the user on the other side of the screen.

The easiest way to do it is by adding a relevant element to the message, whether that is relatable language, a familiar photo or a mention to a trending issue. People want to feel drawn to the subject, and we have to conquer their attention if we want them to engage with us.

We are surrounded by endless stimulus at the moment, especially in this completely digital age. People can multi-task and often and working between 2 or 3 screens, so capturing attention is more important than ever.

🔍 Match the tools to the audience

Rather than trying everything for every project, go where your target participants are to find the best users. This saves time, budget and ultimately means you’ll find get the right people for research projects.

Find out where they spend time online, where they are approachable and the types of communities they surround themselves with. By studying these areas you can quickly get an idea of the best methods of approach.

🔍 Use data to improve results

A free find approach isn’t simply writing a blog or a Facebook post, publishing it and praying for results. Rather than wasting our time, we would rather research, analyse data and then plan our strategy, especially if we’re talking about a tricky job opportunity.

Here’s a good example: we know when most of our audience is active on Facebook, so we always try to schedule our posts to go out at an optimal time during the day so we can organically reach the biggest amount of people.
It’s the same for posting to Facebook groups with business professionals, Reddit channels for Swedish plumbers and Radio ads for tiddlywinks fans.

To make sure any team sails smoothly through the process, the recruitment and the marketing experts have to work side by side like a well-oiled machine. And that’s what happens at People for Research to ensure usability testing, remote research and your next research project runs smoothly.

 


 

Maria Santos, Head of Digital Ops & Data Protection

If you would like to find out more about our in-house participant recruitment service for user testing or market research get in touch on 0117 921 0008 or info@peopleforresearch.co.uk.

At People for Research, we recruit participants for UX and usability testing and market research. We work with award winning UX agencies across the UK and partner up with a number of end clients who are leading the way with in-house user experience and insight.