This content has been archived. It may no longer be relevant
Market research studies depend on the quality of the research participants. You can have the best questionnaire with all the right questions, but if you give it to the wrong group of people the information they provide won’t yield any actionable insight. In a niche market with highly specialized products and discriminating consumers, reaching the right people is even more critical since “the right people” are the only ones cognizant of the nuances within their specific market sector and the only ones capable of speaking intelligently about any of the issues in it. For instance, here at Ag Access, we do a lot of work within the agriculture industry. Our experience means we understand ag business cycles, along with the policies and concerns affecting them. Indeed, we are especially adept at quickly identifying the people capable of best informing our clients’ future decisions because we have spent over a decade doing it for others. For example, take a look at how we recruit research participants from crop protection retailers:
Develop a Specific Objective
In order to identify the people who possess the information you need, you have to identify the information you need. We believe that the more specific your objective, the easier it will be to identify your target respondent. Therefore, we work with our clients to narrow research objectives to the most specific ones possible. In this way, our target audience nearly identifies itself. We only have to figure out how to reach them!
Stick to a Plan
Budget concerns often dictate market research plans. But regardless of the amount available, it is paramount for researchers to create a plan and adhere to it as much as possible. Big projects, as well as little ones, all benefit from organization and follow-through. Each helps you maintain focus and keeps respondents (whether focus group members or survey participants or interviewees, etc.) interested and engaged. No one wants to allocate more dollars to a project on a whim; similarly, respondents don’t want any surprises regarding their responsibilities. With Ag Access, we always endeavor to lay out a budget and timeline that is realistic for the objective(s) at hand. Only then do we contact our respondents, heeding our own established and previously communicated expectations of them. This guarantees that no one is caught unawares.
Identify (and Approach) the Target Audience
We maintain our own database of contacts within the agriculture industry. With access to over 30,000 people in our insights community, we can quickly identify and categorize possible respondents according to any number of qualifiers (location, crop or livestock type, equipment ownership and more). This improves the sampling process since our clients are able to analyze competitor and consumer information quickly and recognize ideal customer demographics more easily. With Ag Access we can create a usable contact list with little delay, permitting our clients access to targeted crop protection retailers (or livestock dealers or any other sector within the ag industry) as needed.
Consider Timing
Of course, to recruit any sample, you have to find available and willing participants. Much of the agriculture industry revolves around seasonal needs with certain periods corresponding to heightened activity that leaves little time for participating in market research studies. Pick the wrong time of year to survey the market and the availability of the right type of respondents can be severely compromised. To assess crop protection retailers, for example, it would make sense to schedule any market research studies during the off seasons for the crops with which they primarily work; that way they have the time to really help you.
Want More Information?
Crop protection retailers are a varied bunch, selling everything from pesticides and pest control products to fertilizers and other weed management systems. To recruit them as participants in a market research study, you must ensure that you know the larger agriculture market. Understanding crop seasons and the cyclical nature of each ag sector enables you to identify and approach a potential sample at the most opportune times (read: “when they have time to assist you”), as well as devise recruitment incentives that best meet their needs and interests. Our team at Ag Access can help you narrow your research focus and recruit the most qualified respondents. Please contact us to learn how our expertise can benefit your bottom line:
