Qualitative recruiting is the beating heart of a market research study. The quality of recruits can make or break a qualitative study, and it’s crucial for recruiting teams to find participants that best match a company’s targeted customer. Qualitative studies differ from quantitative studies in that they’re designed to look for specific ideas, perceptions, motivations, and trends from a select group of customers. Quantitative studies, on the other hand, cover broad segments of a market to discover statistical correlations.
Recruiting for a qualitative study dovetails with a company’s market segmentation strategy, where customers are segmented by type. Market segmentation is helpful to marketing teams so they can create outreach and messaging campaigns that are relevant to each market segment. Being accurate with qualitative recruiting has ripple effects beyond the commissioned study, it also informs marketing and strategy teams.
The success of a project hinges on whether recruits match characteristics of a segmented audience, meet the targeted profile, and can be articulate and forthcoming with their ideas, opinions, and motivations. Recruiters are looking for all these characteristics when recruiting. Sure, they may find a candidate who meets the qualifying criteria set forth in the screening guide, but if the candidate can’t communicate clearly, or is too shy to participate, then the recruiter will keep looking for better-suited candidates.
Qualitative recruiting for B2B audiences
When it comes to B2B recruiting, we’re looking for candidates in specialized industries with specific job titles and roles who can provide insight into their industry; how their service/product works; and how roles and responsibilities are defined. Focus Insite has successfully recruited many ‘hard-to-find’ participants for medical studies, cyber-security studies, and niche industries. We don’t rely solely on databases, but leverage our many professional networks in combination with personalized outreach to find the most suitable candidates.
Qualitative recruiting for B2C audiences
Typically, recruiting B2C participants is easier than B2B. B2C is usually segmented category based on demographics and psychographics. We may be asked to recruit postpartum mothers, or GenZ users of a specific gaming app. In addition to recruiting the ‘ideal consumer’, researchers will often include study participants who fall outside a known customer segment. Gathering insights from such participants helps companies understand the barriers, opinions, misconceptions, and perceptions of non-users.
Similar to recruiting for B2B studies, when recruiting B2C, we take a scattershot approach and comb our database, leverage professional networks, and connect with social media groups. Our goal is to always fill a study with the most qualified participants, no matter how niche or general.
The recruiting teams at Focus Insite have proven track records in all areas of recruiting. Whether your next study is a medical study, B2B, or B2C, our recruiters will find you the most qualified participants.
Contact us today to help with your next Qualitative Recruiting Study!
