market research survey for money

Online Focus Groups: 26 Paid Research Companies that Pay Up to $250 an Hour for Your Opinion

I recently participated in a paid focus group in San Francisco. You know, the kind with the one-way mirror on the wall.

We talked about travel habits and preferences for an hour and half, and I got paid $150 for my time and opinions. Not bad!

The whole thing was pretty quick and painless—and actually kind of interesting—which got me thinking that this could be a great side hustle . Especially if I could do it from home!

So down the rabbit hole I went, trying to find other companies that conduct paid research studies online .

And I should note before we get started that these aren’t the typical companies that pop up when you search for “online surveys.” Those companies, like Swagbucks and  InboxDollars , are legit, but pay relatively little .

The companies I was after here were the ones that pay bigger sums to make it more worth your time. I earned $100 an hour for my little focus group adventure, and you can too.

Earn $50-150/hr, with thousands of new studies added each month.

Earn an average of $75 per project, and get notified of upcoming studies you may qualify for.

Patients and caregivers can earn $120/hour while helping advance medical research.

1. User Interviews

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User Interviews facilitates in-person and online consumer conversations about products, websites, and services. The pay rates vary, but the average seems to be around $50-100 an hour.

I’ve earned $105 through the site so far, in exchange for about an hour a half.

In one of my studies, I earned a $10 Amazon gift card for completing a short online survey for bald guys! It said it should take 15 minutes, but all the questions were straight yes/no, so it probably only took 5.

User Interviews is a legit facilitator of online (and in-person) consumer research studies. Participants can get paid (generally $50-150/hr) to share their opinion and shape future products and services. While this won’t replace your day job, it can be a nice supplemental income.

• One of the best-paying survey companies I've found.
• Easy to sign-up.
• Lots of new studies added every week.
• Can be difficult to get selected.

Click here to join User Interviews .

Or check out our full User Interviews review .

Respondent is a cool service that facilitates consumer research studies online—and often pays $100+ an hour !

Once you create your account, you’ll be able to browse all the open studies you might qualify for. The research brief shares the type of person the company is looking to connect with, the expected time commitment, and pay rate .

If it looks like a fit, answer the brief screener questionnaire to throw your hat in the ring. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get selected right away—I’ve been selected for 5 studies out of 50 screeners so far.

While there are some “general population” studies, the best-paying opportunities are for industry professionals— up to $750 an hour!

The company takes a 5% processing fee, but the rest of the funds you earn will hit your PayPal account within 8-10 days of your study. (I’ve earned $395 through Respondent so far! )

Click here to join Respondent .

Read our full Respondent.io review here .

(Since recording, I’ve done a couple more studies.)

A leading source for medical research, Rare Patient Voice pays patients and caregivers $120 an hour. You can browse a full list of available studies on their site—nearly all of which are phone or webcam interviews.

If you suffer from any sort of medical condition (even if it’s not super rare), this one is worth a look.

The site is open to residents of United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand.

While most Survey Junkie earning opportunities don’t pay much, you’ll occasionally get emails for better-paying focus group and product testing studies.

These admittedly are pretty rare, but pay up to $75.

Still, power users of the regular Survey Junkie site/app report earning up to $40 a month. 

The site boasts more than 20 million members and pays out more than $1 million every month.

Click here to sign up for Survey Junkie .

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Another well-established market research company is Product Report Card . They offer paid surveys, product testing and review gigs, and online focus groups.

The best-paying work is for in-home product tests and remote interviews and focus groups — often in the $75-$150/hour range.

Product Report Card will also give you a $5 welcome bonus for completing a short survey after you join. There’s a $25 minimum to cash-out.

Lightster is a unique money making app , where you get matched with brands and researchers based on your profile.

To get started, you’ll add some demographic information about yourself and answer some questions about your experience and interests.

After that, you may see some questions pop up in the app. Answer those to qualify for paid research conversations that pay $1 per minute.

I got invited to my first half hour session within a couple weeks of downloading the app, and got paid (via Amazon gift card) right away.

I was excited to discover PingPong as a newcomer to the online market research field. The service specializes in user experience testing for apps and websites, with pay rates ranging between €40 and €100 an hour. (Roughly $45-110.)

You might be curious—with the rates in euros—if this one is open to non-Europeans. PingPong let me join as an American and says they welcome testers from all over the world.

Since joining, I’ve received invites to several studies but haven’t been able to book one just yet.

Fieldwork was the company that hosted the San Francisco focus group I participated in. They have locations throughout the US:

• Los Angeles (Orange County)
• Minneapolis
• San Francisco

Compensation starts at $75 for participating in focus groups, which usually last between 1-2 hours. The drawback was I got paid in Visa gift cards instead of cash, so I went to the grocery store and bought Amazon gift cards with them instead.

FocusGroup.com offers nationwide paid research opportunities. (The site is powered by Sago, a leading market research company.)

Be on the lookout for the “National” studies that pay between $75 and $200 . These are scheduled over the phone or webcam so you can take the calls from anywhere at times that are convenient to you.

It took a while, but I eventually earned $115 for an online study related to a well-known Seattle-area company.

The next one I did was an hour-long online focus group on credit cards that paid $100.

Other studies I saw were  related to cars, technology, and banking.

I receive a few email notifications every month with studies. Those range from around $2 for 20-minute surveys, up to $150 for 90-minute in-person or online focus groups.

Check out my full FocusGroup.com review to learn more.

Experience Dynamics specializes in user experience and user interface testing (UX and UI). Corporate clients pay Experience Dynamics to help “make their users smile,” and they turn around and pay people like you for honest feedback on website designs and software applications.

According to the site, they recruit testers worldwide with all levels of technology experience. Most studies pay between $50-$150 dollars.

Experience Dynamics also facilitates:

• Field Studies, 1-2 hour interviews at your home or work.
• Diary Studies, where you to record your thoughts over 1-2 weeks.
• Phone Interviews
• Online Focus Groups
• Online Surveys

American Consumer Opinion is another market research company where you can qualify for several surveys a year.

Annoyingly, they insist on using their own “virtual currency” point system. Still, you can earn up to $50 worth of points for longer market research surveys.

There’s a $10 minimum to cash out and you can deposit your earnings directly into PayPal. To give you an incentive to complete the low-paying screener surveys, American Consumer Opinion will add your name to a monthly $50 drawing .

On L&E Opinions , I found nationwide studies paying $125-250.  The company has been in business over 30 years and pays out millions of dollars in research incentives every year.

FocusGroups.org is an aggregator service that lists focus groups and paid research opportunities around the country. When I registered, I saw online focus group options that paid anywhere from $75 to $625!

Topics included pets, hygiene, cooking, luxury cars, and lots more. There are some handy filters you can use to select only online or “National” studies.

Another site that pulls in lots of different paid studies, FindFocusGroups.com was a great find. 

At press time, they had the best-looking interface of most of these sites, but hadn’t been updated in several months.

When I checked, the compensation for these ranged from $50 to $200.

Through “compensated interviews” and focus groups, SIS helps brands figure out direction for their products. You can see a full list of available paid studies on this page .

I found rates from $25-200, depending on the time required and complexity of the topic. SIS recruits participants from all around the world, not just the US.

Similar to FindFocusGroups above, SurveyFeeds isn’t a market research company itself, but instead a promising “feed” of paid survey opportunities.

I found their Facebook page updated more frequently than their website, so it might be worthwhile to check there and see what you might qualify for.

The online studies I saw ranged from $75 to $300 .

Recruit and Field is one of the longest-running national market research companies. Since 1977, they’ve built up a participant database of over 300,000 consumers, business leaders, and medical professionals.

The company works with lots of name-brand clients and typically pays $100-275 for in-person and online surveys.

I recently earned $250 for a 1-hour call about business banking!

When I checked out Field Voices , I found a couple available studies to apply for. One was a neighborhood improvement interview that paid $150 for one hour, and the other was a group workshop on snacking habits that paid $300!

This firm works directly with companies as well, which means they’re not just pulling together lists of other research projects.

Consumers, medical professionals, and executives are in demand for Probe Market Research’s panels. Focus groups pay between $50 and $400, and you can often participate online or over the phone.

Major brands enlist Probe to conduct online surveys, mystery shopping gigs , mock juries, product trials, and more .

The popular and well-rated dscout app connects you with “engaging research missions.” Through those, you can get paid to share your feedback on a product or service.

Typical studies pay anywhere from $2 to $100 , paid out via PayPal. The biggest complaints from users are that the often in-depth screener surveys are unpaid.

Less of a market research firm and more of a consulting marketplace, GLG Insights aims to match you up with their clients looking for industry-specific expertise. Request to become a “Council Member” to get notified when relevant paid studies are available.

On GLG, you’ll be asked to connect your LinkedIn profile and upload a resume (or link to an online resume) to verify your career credentials. You can also name your own consulting rate — usually $100-150 and up .

After that, I answered a series of ethics questions based on GLG’s terms and conditions.

When academic and research institutions need opinions from the general population, they turn to Prolific . It’s easy to sign up and start completing online surveys.

The pay on Prolific is a bit lower — often in the $8-15/hr range. But in my Prolific review , I found plenty of quick and easy surveys available, and you can cash out to PayPal.

WatchLab has an obnoxiously inadequate website, but they claim to facilitate all sorts of focus groups, usability tests, interviews, mock juries, and more.

The pay varies depending on the research, and may be in the form of gift cards or cash. I saw ranges from $100 to $175 for 1-2 hour focus groups. WatchLab has locations in San Francisco and Chicago, as well as online options.

For in-person focus groups, you get paid on the spot — online may take 4-6 weeks.

Mindswarms is a unique video consumer research platform. They’ll pay you $50 via PayPal to answer 10 questions about a product or service.

These studies normally take around 10 minutes and can be recorded via your webcam or smartphone, but competition to get selected can be fierce.

To create your account you’ll need to record a 60-second video about one of your passions. Or you can do this through the Mindswarms app on iOS or Android .

Earn $50-150 for online focus groups and studies. While the website doesn’t necessarily inspire confidence, 20|20 Panel has been around for over 30 years.

I found several online focus groups paying $50-200 on Focus Insite . The company popped up in my Instagram feed, a signal they’re actively recruiting new participants.

You can join their panel database as a medical, technical, or business professional, or just as a general consumer. Alternatively, you can apply directly to the available market research studies listed.

The companies listed above certainly aren’t the only research companies around, and for this side hustle, it makes sense to join as many firms as you’re comfortable with.

That way, you’re presented with all the opportunities available, not just the projects managed by one company.

Here are a few more to consider:

• Ascendency Research — On average, studies pay $60-350. Many are local to the Twin Cities, MN, but they have some national studies, too.
• Elliott Benson — Conducting paid market research since 1995.
• PRC Market Research — You can browse upcoming projects (and their pay rate) before registering. Most studies pay $100-300/hour.
• NewtonX — Strictly for industry professionals to share their insight and get paid.
• Focus Forward — A unique aggregator of paid focus group and survey opportunities.
• UserTesting – Earn $10 for completing 20-minute online user tests of websites, apps, shopping portals, and more. This is pretty fun but you have to be fast because these tests get snatched up quickly.
• Brutal – Earn $30 an hour to give feedback on websites and apps. (Love the name!)
• Pulse Labs – Earn up to $100 a week providing video feedback on products.
• Intellizoom – Get paid an average of $10 testing and reviewing websites.
• UserBrain – Receive new websites to test every week, an earn $5 for each 5-15 minute test.
• Google User Experience – Google pays gift cards for feedback on their products.
• Nelson Recruiting — Nationwide market research company established in 1980.
• Marketade – Specializes in remote usability testing, market validation, navigation research, and more.
• Engage Studies – Earn as much as $100 per focus group through this research company.
• Tell Us Your Opinion – Mainly operating in Tulsa but may have online/phone opportunities as well.
• Adler Weiner Research – In-person studies in Chicagoland and Southern California, plus remote studies nationwide.
• Advanced Focus – Hosts market research panels and focus groups in New York City.
• Nichols Research – Get paid to participate in in-person focus groups, primarily in Northern California.
• Herron Associates — In-person studies in Indianapolis, IN and Tampa, FL.
• PrizeRebel – Earn $10-12 an hour doing surveys or completing other tasks. (Just avoid the low-paying ones.)

As with any side hustle, there’s an opportunity cost. As in, what else could you be doing with your time?

I encourage you to check out our monster list of side hustle ideas , but here are a few that are similarly flexible.

Become a Bookkeeper

One of the first jobs that many companies hire out is “someone to keep the books.” If you have experience in this field, or just love numbers, becoming a remote bookkeeper could way to make extra money.

Most businesses don’t need a full-time bookkeeper so they’re open to hiring someone part-time. Most virtual bookkeepers charge $100-300 per client per month.

Network with business owners locally or online and let them know about your service. It might make sense to check out this  free training on how to start a remote bookkeeping business .

Alternative Investments

If you’re after passive income , you might consider adding some alternative investments .

For example,  Fundrise  allows you to invest in professionally-vetted commercial real estate. This spreads your risk around with properties in multiple geographical locations–and minimums as low as $10 .

Disclosure: I’ve been a Fundrise investor since 2015, and earn a commission when you join through my referral link. Opinions are my own.

Resell Furniture Returns

Reselling furniture returns is a unique low-risk side hustle .

How it works is you join Sharetown as a local “reverse logistics” rep. Sharetown partners with direct-to-consumer mattress and furniture brands to handle their return requests.

When customers decide they don’t want to keep the item, you’ll get dispatched to go pick it up. After that, you’ll:

• clean it up
• photograph it
• list it for resale on sites like Facebook Marketplace

The Sharetown reps I’ve connected with target $150-250 per flip — and, importantly — you don’t have to pay Sharetown for the inventory until the item sells.

Check out my full Sharetown review to learn more.

Sharetown reps make money by reselling gently-used furniture and bed-in-a-box mattresses. Top reps earn $4000+ per month.

• Low startup costs
• Great earning power
• No hunting for inventory
• Requires a truck or SUV
• Bulky items to store
• Not available in all areas

Mobile Notary Service

Becoming a mobile notary loan signing agent is one of the most popular gigs among the Side Hustle Nation community. The flexible, part-time side hustle involves walking new homeowners through their stack of mortgage documents.

Appointments typically take around an hour and pay $75-150.

One big drawback to focus groups or online surveys is you’re limited in how much you can earn. It’s a great side hustle, but it’ll never be a full-time income.

Focus groups or paid research studies won’t pay your mortgage, but one or two a month will definitely help build your side hustle snowball .

Have you had any success in landing paid focus group studies? What do you think of this little supplemental side hustle?

Let me know in the comments below!

• Start Your Free $500 Challenge . My free 5-day email course shows you how to add $500 to your bottom line.
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Is there such thing as an online focus group?

Yes! Several companies facilitate online consumer research focus groups, which is great because that means you can earn money from the comfort of your home or office. Check out our full list to learn more.

How much do focus groups pay?

The pay for focus groups depends on how long the session lasts. Most commonly, you’ll find rates average around $100 an hour.

Where can I find legit paid focus groups?

Companies like Respondent, Fieldwork, and FocusGroup.com are all legit facilitators of paid focus groups. Or, for the best results, you might try an aggregator service like FindFocusGroups.com, which pools together focus group opportunities from several sources. Be sure to check the list of providers on Side Hustle Nation as well.

How do online focus groups work?

Online focus groups work either via conference call or more commonly, through a group video chat to more closely mimic the in-person experience. A moderator will lead the group discussion and participants can chime in through their webcam and computer microphone or phone line.

********* Stock photo  by Akhenaton Images via Shutterstock

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About the Author

Nick Loper is a side hustle expert who loves helping people earn more money and start businesses they care about. He hosts the award-winning Side Hustle Show, where he's interviewed over 500 successful entrepreneurs, and is the bestselling author of Buy Buttons , The Side Hustle , and $1,000 100 Ways .

His work has been featured in The New York Times, Entrepreneur, Forbes, TIME, Newsweek, Business Insider, MSN, Yahoo Finance, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Financial Times, Bankrate, Hubspot, Ahrefs, Shopify, Investopedia, VICE, Vox, Mashable, ChooseFI, Bigger Pockets, The Penny Hoarder, GoBankingRates, and more.

58 thoughts on “Online Focus Groups: 26 Paid Research Companies that Pay Up to $250 an Hour for Your Opinion”

Nice job, Nick! I have only ever been able to score low paying “mystery shopper” gigs. I get a free meal and $15 or $20 for my trouble. It usually takes about an hour, so am making $15 – $20 per hour. I have repeatedly mystery shopped a “Roy Rogers” restaurant that is on the NYS thruway. Almost every time I have had to travel to or from my daughter’s college campus I have been able to get a free meal, $10 or $15, and a portion of my tolls paid. I wouldn’t make the effort except that I am already driving by and there is a good chance that I would need a bathroom break anyway. Everybody wins. :>) I will be checking on a couple of the sites you provided to see if there is anything I qualify for.

Thanks Kevin. I’ve been half-heartedly attempting to find a mystery shopping expert to school me on how it really works :)

Hi Nick – If you are still reading these comments, I hope you will remove User Interviews from your list. After reading your article, I applied with them and was excited at first, but they have a serious flaw. They do not screen what the companies post for the surveys. First you have to take a questionnaire to see if you will be selected for the survey. Time after time you spend time answering the flawed questionnaire, and then not being selected, probably because of being forced to complete an answer that is not correct. Here’s an example that I just sent to Tabitha at User Interviews:

“I was applying for the Medical Injectibles survey, and the first several questions went well. Then there was the question “Do you care for a child with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis?” with the options of yes or no. I checked no, and I cannot imagine there are vast numbers of people who would have been able to check yes.

The next question was required, and it asked for the age of the person I care for, and had a box, also required, asking for the required medications.

Why was I prompted with that question when I had answered no?”

So that was yet another questionnaire that was flawed that completely wasted my time because I could not proceed. I have asked them to remove me from all further communication as I want nothing to do with them anymore, and I honestly don’t think you should be recommending them.

Hmm sorry for the trouble, Balinda. I agree, their conditional logic on the screener surveys could be better — or they could just advance to a “thanks but you’re not a fit” page. When those types of funky follow-up questions happen for me, I just back out and go back to the list since it’s clear I’m not going to qualify.

Nick, this list is AWESOME! I’ve been using User Interviews for about a month and a half and it seems like I hardly ever get selected for any of the surveys. In fact, I’ve only been selected for 1 so far (which literally took 10 minutes and I got a $30 Amazon gift card) and the second one I got approved for, by the time I got around to actually confirming my spot that evening, it was already fully booked up! I’m wondering with all the different options available if it would be feasible to make some decent side money – assuming the time commitment doesn’t get overwhelming. I’m gonna dig into this a little I think and see what I can come up with.

Hey Kyle, I hope you found some good “side jobs.” You mentioned that you used user interviews and only got 1 job. I’m so surprised by that. I have been using them for a few months and I have made a good bit of money. I had a 20 minute telephone survey and was paid $150! I had another that was in person. They came to my apt (they originally said to see my wardrobe in closet, but never did) they interviewed me on camera for about 10-15 minutes and then we went to a clothing store! They asked me if I liked the store, clothes, etc. In all I was with them about an hour. I got $350! I could have made another $100 for doing “homework,” but I was too busy. That’s just 2 of jobs I had from them. Anyway, I just wanted you to know, bcuz you should keep trying with them. I plan on hitting all these new ones, thanks to Nick! Good Luck!

It’s funny you bring this topic up. I LITERALLY started signing up for focus groups last Monday (going on two weeks) and I’ve already made $650. Most have came from respondent. I also signed up for the Reddit r/paidstudy group as well as the cool work ideas.com FB which posts multiple studies a day. I’m loving it so far!

Hi Nick, I’ve been using ACOP for a few years now it does take a long time to gather up money. I usually wait till I get up around $50 or so to cash in. The problem I find is it takes two to three months for it to show up in my Pay Pal account, very slow turn around.

Nick, I’ve been doing these for several years. I probably average about $1,000 per year doing these. This a great comprehensive list!

I tried Mindswarms. I had no trouble creating a profile video (though it really does not flatter me, nor had I trouble applying for studies. However, I have been on there for over a month, and I have been rejected for every. Single. Study. Besides that, they do not ever bother telling me, or giving me helpful suggestions. Their FAQ section is so useless as to be counterproductive. And I suspect that my mind and my interests are not average enough to make Mindswarms (or online studies/surveys in general) worth my while.

Here is a good rule of thumb: if you prefer the musical works of Vasily Kalinnikov (or just know who Vasily Kalinnikov was) over “Lady” Gaga, do not bother with surveys. Only the most average individuals with the most average minds can succeed with this rubbish. Or so my experiences would indicate.

Actually, the opposite is true. just regular surveys do kind of suck. However, the focus groups and interviews and so forth, all the ones that I’ve actually gotten into have been because I’m weird or different. That’s why so many people get declined. They look for people who don’t conform, mostly because they’re looking for new and innovative ideas. Why would you research the monotonous and mundane?

Thanks so much for the information. I signed up on Respondent today and have a 71% match on 1 survey. We’ll see how it goes.

I just tried to sign up with Respondent, and probably I’m the only one in the world with this problem of not having any social media sites. They want to verify your work on LinkedIn or your FB profile. I don’t have a FB account nor do I have a LinkedIn account. I know, I must be living in a cave, but the work I do does not allow me to use social media. What to do? I guess Respondent is out. Bummer.

This is pretty much the same for me too, Shari. Even if I had an account on social media I would only have my family and close friends on it. I wouldn’t want to give some site access. I also ran into one (can’t remember the name) where they wanted you to upload a video of yourself in order to get the surveys. I am also not comfortable with that. I’ve signed up with all that was listed above. We’ll see how it goes. Good luck to you!

Since I haven’t seen it noted in the comments or main blog anywhere I just wanted to put it out there that technically if you make over $600 with any single company like this they are supposed to issue a 1099 for your payouts. Normally if you accumulate that much over a year they may not bother BUT I was lucky enough to get into a study that paid $875 which immediately put me over that threshold. So then they issued a 1099 for all my earnings from them in that year. That hurt at tax time. This year I’m going to spread it out over as many companies as I can to hopefull get a lot but no single one over $600. And if you are lucky enough to get into a single high paying study, keep the tax implication in mind.

Very nice blog post. Thanks for sharing. On respondent I made $30 today. Not bad!

Thanks Nick, this list is AWESOME! I’ve been doing surveys and focus groups for about a year. I’ve had some great paying, easy jobs. I’ve also spent, what felt like like forever, time trying to qualify for them to no avail. However, from my experience, I can definitely say not to give up! Surveys are time consuming with little pay, for the most part. Focus groups, interviews, etc., is where the money is! I have been looking for more sites and you just gave me a bunch! I am gonna try them all! Keep the info coming! Thanks again!

I’m wondering if the earning need to be claimed on our taxes? Is there a record that we are being paid? Do these companies ask for any personal information? Thanks

Try Jackson/Adept in Los Angeles. They have a Beverly Hills and Encino location.

Here are Metro Detroit Focus Groups and my reviews of them

Morpace Inc. 31700 Middlebelt Road Suite 200 Farmington Hills, MI 48334 Phone: (248) 737-5300 http://www.morpace.com Pays $80-$250 Focus Group Surveys (In Person). If they over fill the group which happened to me on one occassion then you get paid instantly without doing the survey. They pay by check or cash after the 1-2 hour in person survey. They offer surveys 1-2 times a year.

Shifrin Hayworth 26400 Lahser Rd #430, Southfield, MI 48033 Phone: (248) 223-0020 https://www.shifrin-hayworth.com/ Pays $50-$300 Focus Group Surveys (In Person). They pay by check or cash in person after the 1-2 hour survey. They offer surveys about 1-2 times a year.

I recently learned that you can only participate in 1 survey every 6 months which is why after being asked if you’ve done one recently you get disqualified.

I just did a study for them last week. They promised a $200 virtual gift card within 48 hours but it’s been a week and still nothing. They’ve stopped answering my emails and I can’t find a phone number for them, which seems pretty shady.

Did they ever get back to you/pay you?

So I have had really good luck with a lot of these companies you listed. I am a stay at home mom have been looking into all this and actively participating for about 6 weeks and made over 3000 dollars I have made 630 dollars on users interviews, 585 on respondents, 310 on user testing, 270 on validately usability studies , 250 on 20/20 panel, about 140 on intellizoom/ what users do Usability studies, 90 dollars on TrymyUI, and 50 on ping pong research. I have also made 375 dolars from focus point global. plus more companies that i got under 20 each from so there is money to be made here if you invest the time. I have done one on one studies with a web cam, phone interviews, product testing (shampoos, and even new cereal), online diary studies (usually about things you eat), and lots of usability studies. the key is knowing how to answer the screener questions. Thank you so much for your list I am going to check out the companies I have not uses yet

Whoa that’s awesome Casondra – thanks for sharing!

Hi Nick-I just found this post and thank you for “heads up”… I’m writing to share with you two top performers here in Seattle for in-person focus groups. In-Sight Space and Fieldwork / Seattle.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have had a few gigs with each of these company’s who conduct only focus groups. Most of the time the pay is cash on the spot and the groups range from 45 minutes to 2 hours. These two company’s have frequent remarkably high-paying gigs. It’s fairly common to attend a 90 minute focus group that pays anywhere from 150.00 – 350.00. On occasion I’ve landed one of their mock jury groups, sometimes held at one of Seattle’s finest hotels and lasts close to 8 hours. These mock jury groups have paid me between 300.00 to 550.00 for the gig and always provide a catered breakfast and lunch. Again, thanks for sharing your information and I hope you’re able to use my information and experience to help others.

Sincerely, Jason B.

Nice, Jason — thanks for sharing!

I’m registered with two companies for focus group and mock jury participation. I’ve done both and found them enjoyable and worthwhile. Usually payment was cash. One time it was a VISA gift card. The mock juries required more hours than the focus groups. One was Friday evening, all day Saturday, and Saturday evening. My experience has been food and beverages were provided when the event was more than 3 hours.

Participants were usually limited to one event in 6 months.

I’ve seen a large dropoff in opportunities since I reached a certain age. Sigh.

Very occasionally the local newspaper has a classified ad for focus group participants.

I need the mock jury site

Ok…I see several people are interested in Mystery Shopping so I thought I’d share a little info. I have done a lot of mystery shopping in the past and love it. Not amazing money but interesting and I enjoyed it. So…here are a few sites to start with…I hope this is OK…I see a few people said they would send information, but a lot of others requested info and I don’t know if they got what they needed. I hope this helps. So…first… this is the official website of the Mystery Shopping Professionals Association…it has a ton of good info and resources https://www.mspa-global.org/index.html Work available always depends on the type of job you are interested in and where you are located so the best companies to work with will vary for different people. Here are some other resources that may help… https://www.mysteryshopperjobfinder.com/members/resources/mspa-interview/ https://www.mysteryshopforum.com/ https://www.mysteryshoppermagazine.com/?source=forum-top-discussions and last but not least… https://www.shadowshopper.com Shadow Shopper…the first thing that pops up when you google Shadow Shopper will be scam alerts. I’m here to tell you it is not a scam. I have used them for years off and on. They do have a fee option, and to get anywhere, you probably will want to use it at least for a short time. But a lot of job boards charge a small fee. Basically it is where companies post work that they need to get done and shoppers go to find work. It’s a great way to see what is available in your area and skill set and interest and sign up with those companies offering that work. You can go out on your own and start just looking into shopping sites, but that sign up processing can be lengthy and if you pick one that doesn’t offer work in your area or jobs you want, you have wasted time and effort. Once you sign up with a few companies that you’ve found on Shadow Shopper, move on until you want to look for more. No need to keep your subscription if you have the work your want. Just my suggestion, but it has landed me several really good opportunities. One lasted years and was around made me around $2000/yr. Oh…and if you are wanting a list of companies…go here… it’s a tedious process to choose, but it’s an option… https://www.mysteryshopforum.com/companies/ Good luck and enjoy :)

Thank you Anna!

I’ve used Focus Pointe Global and Schlesinger in the Boston area for years. I’ve made really good money with them ($75-200 per session). People seem to over-estimate how difficult this all is. Sign up in the database, fill out a survey if you get an e-mail, if you pre-qualify for a study they call you to screen you again, you either qualify or you don’t on that phone call. If you’re picked, you go to their office and sit with the other people picked and just give your opinion for about 90 minutes. The hardest part for me is fighting traffic to get to the office in the city. These focus groups have been a lifesaver for me in periods of unemployment.

Will you get called every week about a survey? No, you definitely won’t, maybe not every month either. But if you sign up with 5-10 companies your chances of getting picked go up. And I agree that sites like Swagbucks are more or less a waste of time. It’s very small money.

Everyone is asking: How do I join? You have to go to the companies website and sign up for the panel (“Join the Panel”) and then wait. Also, the bigger companies post surveys on their Facebook pages so sign up for their notifications.

I do the best with Respondent, User Interviews and UTest.com. Also check out Affectiva’s job listings if you’re in the Boston area. I’ve made a lot helping to test out their automotive AI.

I have been doing focus groups online for prob 3 years or so. I have done a lot of them with watchlab and user interviews. Also accelerant research is a good one. Field work is another I’ve done them with. I’m sure there is more that I’ve used but i gotta tell u that these have been a life saver for me at times. I most recently did one that paid $400 which is the most I’ve made. I am signed up and in the databases of all that u listed plus a few others like accelerant research. Oh yeah another great place is Elliot Benson research.

Thanks for sharing Shelley!

you might try Mturk if you money to pay…

Great job on this article! I’ve been doing focus groups for many years. Probably made about $2,000 or so altogether.

I’d also recommend instapanel. I’ve been using them for several years to complete video surveys. They pay $20 for about 5-10 minutes of work. Here’s a link: https://instapanel.com/ .

I work for one of the market research companies that hire these focus group facilities/recruiters to get us the research we need. For in person focus groups (in facility) you can expect to get paid around $100 per hour, and more expensive if you’re in a specialty group (certain ailments, professionals such as tech). For online focus groups they run around $75 per hour.

If you want to know the panels to join around your area to join focus groups, I’d recommend going on Green Book (for research) and search on recruiters or facility around your neighborhood. This is where researchers go to find panels to do research with and you’ll get more opportunities with the facilities/recruiters there.

I don’t recommend online surveys bc you might terminate out of many surveys before you complete one and they won’t pay you more than $5 for one, and that’s on the rare end. Hope this helps!

Appreciate the insight — thanks Michelle!

I love love love all the great information I just obtained by reading your blog. OMG ! If anyone has any leads for Indiana specifically please let me know. I know of Herron Associates does a lot of research focus groups. Just go to their website and sign up. Ive done a few for them in the past and made anywhere from $50-150 for about an hour or so in person focus group. I think those are great and very interesting. If anyone wants to contact me to give me some tips on the mystery shopping I’d greatly appreciate it. TIA ( Thanks in Advance) Carrie

Thanks a bunch for the informative post! I signed up for several of the ones you have on this list and already got selected for a study. Just curious – most of the prescreen questions ask if you’ve recently participated in a study. If you have (I’ll fall into this bucket once I complete the study I just got picked for), does that greatly reduce your chances of being selected for another one?

Hi, are any of these open to people under 18?

All clinical trials are for ages 18-99.

Amalia, I apologize. I read your question to quickly & transposed the numbers. I thought you said 81.I’m rarely asked to prove my age, but they may have some way of checking. Product reviews are open to 16+, I believe. I’ve never had to show my ID online, only when I do things in person. Obviously medical care you’d show your ID.

Withpower.com is a great website to checkout medical trials. There are all sorts & bonus if you need medical care & don’t have the money to pay for it. Some just monitor or interview you…all the way up to getting medicated treatment for your condition. I even saw dental work on there.

Every clinical research compensated me for my time & travel. It’s always paid out very well for me & it’s definitely worth the time. I got $365 for downloading an app on my phone that I recorded how long I slept the night before.They sent a little survey with 4 questions every day to the app & I told them what time I went to bed, did I wake up during the night, how long did it take me to get back to sleep, and what time I woke up. I got paid in intervals at week 2, 6, 10, & 14. Super easy money.

I’m on #4 of this list now. User interviews has been fair to me. I’ve seen product reviews, online, and focus groups on there. If they let you know that you are qualified, act quickly!

Clinical research & focus groups are my favorite. I used to like doing product reviews & I still do. But once you really start getting into it, the rewards get better & better. Thank you so much, Nick. Yes, I referred you when signing up. You deserve it.

Hi Nick, this is a great job.

Many of these websites do not authorize participants from Nigeria and Africa. They have country-based restrictions. It sucks.

I have a master’s degree in business administration. I have a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. I have a postgraduate diploma in economics, a postgraduate diploma in education and a professional diploma in early childhood education. I have a CEFR Level C1 in IELTS exam. I have done some surveys in my country, Nigeria and I performed well.

What survey sites do you recommend that do not have country-based restrictions? I am really curious Nick.

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20 Places that Offer Paid Research Studies: Get Paid for Your Opinion

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We test online survey websites weekly and provide real-user reviews so you can decide whether each platform is right for you to earn some side money. So far, we have reviewed over 100 survey sites. Methodology .

Best Paid Research Studies Websites

Branded Surveys

$0.50 – $5 on average per survey with bonus points ($1 sign up bonus)

Average survey length is 10-20 minutes and minimum payout is $5

Collect rewards in PayPal, Direct Deposit or gift cards (100+ brands)

$0.50 to $1.50 per survey – earn up to $100 each month using Swagbucks

18 unique ways to earn money and free gift cards, plus $5 sign up bonus

Redeem e-gift cards from $1 or withdraw $5 minimum payment from PayPal

Survey Junkie

$0.50 – $3 per survey + extra ways to earn up to $100 with focus groups

Each survey time varies, but on average it takes 15 minutes to complete

Redeem rewards using PayPal, e-giftcards or bank transfer when earned at least $5

Table of Contents

20 Paid Research Studies

Survey Junkie Summary

• $0.50-$3 average earnings per survey
• Get 2-3 extra points if you screened out of survey
• Additional ways to earn up to $150
• Install Survey Junkie extension for bonus

Survey Junkie is one of the most well-regarded survey platforms available. You can earn money simply by sharing your honest opinions, which brands can use to improve their products and services. What makes Survey Junkie stand out from other platforms that offer paid research studies is that you can start making money immediately. 

During sign-up, you will need to provide some of your personal details, so Survey Junkie can match your personal profile with research studies and surveys. You can then earn up to $100 per survey or focus group. Nonetheless, high-paying opportunities are rare and most surveys pay $0.50 to $3.

You can redeem your earnings via PayPal or via gift card starting from just $5. Depending on how active you are on the platform, you can stand to earn up to $200 per month.

American Consumer Opinion

American Consumer Opinion Summary

• Easy to understand point system
• Longer surveys can pay up to $50, but most of them pay $0.50 to $2.50 on average
• Product reviews pay up to $200
• Low minimum payout threshold of $10

ACOP, also known as American Consumer Opinion , has accumulated millions of members since it began in 1986. This platform offers some great opportunities to participate in paid research studies . Most shorter surveys will pay you around $0.50 to $2.50, but there is the potential to earn up to $50 with longer studies.

You can redeem your earnings via PayPal starting from just $10. If you prefer, you can alternatively donate your points to charity or use your points to enter into sweepstake draws for the chance to win cash or other prizes. 

Ipsos i-Say

i-Say Summary

• You can earn as much as $50 each month
• Earn $1 for each friend you invite
• Low minimum cash out threshold of $5
• Instant cash out for e-gift cards

Ipsos i-Say believes that personal opinions can make a massive difference in the world. This platform has more than three million members who regularly earn rewards from paid research studies conducted via surveys.

On average, you can earn up to 150 points per survey. In addition, one unique feature of the platform compared to other platforms on this list is that you will receive 5 points even if you get screened out of a survey. The platform also features a loyalty program, and you can earn more points per survey the more surveys that you take. 

When you accumulate at least 1530 points (worth $15) in your account, you can withdraw your earnings via PayPal .

Note that it can take up to 3 weeks for your earnings to appear in your PayPal account.

Respondent Summary

• Earn up to $700 per hour for your opinion
• Get between $20 to $50 for each referral
• Get paid even if the study is cancelled
• Get paid via PayPal, usually within 5 days

Respondent is a platform that frequently conducts market research through online focus groups and in-person studies.

When you create your Respondent account, you can browse the available studies that you qualify for based on your demographic information. You will also see the number of hours you will need to commit to each study and how much you can earn.

If you are interested in a project, you will need to answer a brief screener questionnaire to determine whether you qualify for it.

How much can you earn with Respondent?

You can earn an average income of $140 per hour by participating in the company’s paid research studies. Respondent charges a relatively low 5% processing fee. Your earnings will usually arrive in your PayPal account within 10 days of completing the study. 

User Interviews

User Interviews Summary

• 4 types of studies you can join to earn
• Over 2k new studies launched each month
• Get a $30 bonus when you refer a friend
• Earn up to $100 per hour for your opinion

User Interviews is a popular platform that organizes online and in-person paid market research studies. In general, study participants can expect to earn $50 to $200 per hour. Depending on the study’s goal, participants could discuss anything from their financial decisions to the types of skincare products they use.

Like most other platforms on this list, you will need to answer a screening survey before each study to determine your eligibility.

Before answering the screening survey, you can see what the research study pays. Thus, you can decide which studies really interest you.

Related: 10 Sites for Phone Surveys

Valued Opinions

Valued Opinions offers paid research studies that pay up to $5 per survey. On average, it takes 15 to 20 minutes to fill out one survey and you may need to complete 2 to 20 surveys to reach the $10 threshold. 

Once you have at least $10 in earnings, you can redeem them for gift cards. You can claim gift cards from Amazon, Target, Macy’s, The Home Depot, and Restaurant.com.

The paid research studies topics typically revolve around:

• Environmental issues
• Blockbuster films
• Fashion trends
• Favorite food

Toluna Influencer

Toluna Influencers is a market research platform that has been around for over 20 years.

Some of the paid market research studies you can earn money by participating in include:

• Focus groups
• Product testing

On average, most opportunities on the platform will reward you with around 100 points. You can also earn more points by referring family and friends. You will get 500 points for each successful referral, up to a maximum of 10 friends per month.

You can redeem your earnings for a $10 PayPal payment.

Related: 9 Highest Paying Survey Sites for Money

Mindswarms is an innovative market research platform that uses video surveys instead of traditional online surveys . Thus, this means that you will have to record yourself answering each question in a survey. Similar to other platforms on this list, you will need to answer some qualifying questions to determine your suitability before each survey.

Each project will have specific instructions that you will need to follow. Typically, you will need to record your answers for up to seven questions. Usually, there is also a set time for you to answer each question. 

Up to $50 can be earned per project. However, shorter surveys typically offer $10 per question. Mindswarm processes payments through PayPal, and generally, the money will be in your account within 1 day of submitting your video recording.

Brand Institute

Brand Institute is a branding company that specializes in the medical industry. Although the company has surveys on various topics, the medical surveys are the best paying. Regular surveys can pay up to $5, whereas medical surveys can pay up to $30. 

To join the platform, you need to complete a simple questionnaire with your basic personal details.

Brand Institute also gives priority to applications from medical professionals such as:

• Pharmacists
• Medical technicians

However, note that the company processes payments quite slowly. Brand Institute only releases payment when surveys close, so you may sometimes need to wait several weeks to receive your payment.

Nonetheless, there is no minimum cash-out threshold, and you can redeem your earnings via PayPal or check. 

Engage Studies

Engage Studies regularly advertises for participants to join the various market research studies that it organizes. The format of the paid research studies hosted by Engage Studies can range from online discussions to in-person focus groups .

To join the platform, you need to provide some personal information. Engage will then review your application, and you will receive an email notification when a suitable study becomes available. 

The topics of research include:

• Electronics
• Food Products
• Medical Conditions
• and many more

You can expect to earn $50 to $250 for your participation, paid via PayPal or check. 

Focus Group

Focus Group Summary

• Many ways to earn money
• Make money online
• Earn $1 to $10 per survey
• Work from home or on the go

As its name suggests, FocusGroup .com conducts paid research studies and online focus groups. 

The company conducts national research studies that can pay between $75 to $200 each. You can participate in research studies over the phone or using a webcam. As with most other platforms, you will need to complete a relatively simple screening survey to qualify for projects.

The research studies conducted by the company can be on any topic ranging from banking and pets to entertainment and beer. As such, you are sure to find the best paid online focus groups that align with your hobbies and interests. 

Related: 20 Places that Offer Paid Research Studies

PingPong is a relatively new online market research company. Unlike most of the other platforms on this list, PingPong does not conduct its studies through surveys. Instead, the platform specializes in website testing for websites and apps. You can test these products and get paid for providing feedback on your user experience. 

On average, you can earn between $45 to $110 per website testing job. Each job usually takes no more than an hour to complete.

Payments are made via PayPal or Wise within 7 days of completing each job. 

Fieldwork is one of the most popular companies that carry out in-person paid research studies in various cities across the USA.

The company has locations in:

• Minneapolis
• Los Angeles
• San Francisco

Typically, most sessions hosted by Fieldwork take around one to two hours to complete. Compensation for participating usually starts from $75. Fieldwork usually pays via Visa gift cards and you will receive your payment on the spot after each study.

WatchLab is a leading company that facilitates all types of focus groups and research studies. The pay varies for each project, although it typically ranges from $100 to $175 for a 1 to 2-hour focus group. 

The company has locations in Chicago and San Francisco, where you can receive on-the-spot payments for joining a focus group. There is also the option to work online, but you will need to wait four to six weeks to receive your payment. 

Related: 28 Online Paid Focus Groups for Money

Probe Market Research

Probe Market Research also regularly conducts research panels for medical professionals, executives, and consumers. You can participate over the phone or online to help researchers gather the data they need.

The company works with major brands and manufacturers, conducting mystery shopping projects, online surveys, product trials, and other paid research studies. 

Focus groups conducted by Probe Market Research typically pay between $50 to $400, and take just a couple of hours.

Survey Feeds

SurveyFeeds isn’t a market research platform itself but provides access to the best paid online focus groups and survey opportunities. The projects are mostly online, but there are some that are conducted physically throughout the US. 

This company frequently updates its website and social media feeds as well. Thus, you can browse its Facebook page or visit its website to for an idea of the types of paid research studies available. 

The payout for each study can vary, although most studies typically pay between $75 to $300. 

Resolution Research

Resolution Research offers paid research studies in various subjects. After you create your account, you can immediately start participating in opportunities.

Once you have earned at least $10, you can withdraw your earnings via Payoneer or exchange them for gift cards. 

Recruit & Field

Recruit & Field is one of the longest-running platforms on this list and has been conducting paid research studies for over 40 years.

As a participant, you can participate in various types of studies to earn money, such as:

• Online surveys
• Phone interviews

In general, you can expect to earn between $100 to $275 per research study. The company typically pays participants via PayPal, but some studies may offer the option for payment via gift cards. 

Research studies on the platform are open to participants of any age or gender. However, medical professionals such as nurses, doctors, and lab technicians get priority for participation slots.

Plaza Research

Plaza Research has facilities in 14 cities throughout the USA. It also offers online and phone-based paid research studies. This company caters to all demographics ranging from parents and teens to business professionals and physicians. 

There is the opportunity to earn up to $200 for discussing various topics in a two-hour focus group session. 

Carnegie Mellon University Research

If you’re an English speaker over 18 years old and have never joined any studies at this research center, you can join paid research studies at Carnegie Mellon University Research . 

The topics of the studies vary, and can include topics such as:

• Decision making
• Personal beliefs
• Interpersonal perceptions

Online studies typically take 5 to 20 minutes and you’ll earn approximately $8 per hour.

However, the institution does not compensate study participants in cash. Instead, participants will get gift cards as a token of appreciation for their time.

What Is a Paid Research Study?

Companies pay research studies to get honest feedback about their products and services from consumers. Online surveys are one of the most common ways that companies conduct such studies.

In general, paid research studies take the following format:

• A business hires a market research company to get feedback on their product
• The researcher creates a survey or focus group
• Participants answer questions in the survey or focus group anonymously
• The researcher collates the data and presents it to the business
• The business uses the feedback collected to improve their product

What Are the Requirements for Research Studies?

Most studies are designed to gather feedback from a target demographic.

Depending on the goal of the survey, you may need to:

• Be of a certain gender
• Be of a certain race
• Fit into an age range
• Have a specific occupation
• Meet some other criteria

Due to the targeted nature of paid research studies, you will usually be asked to answer some screening questions before each survey. These screening questions identify whether you fit the target demographic of the survey. If you don’t you may be disqualified.

Most platforms offering paid research studies do not provide any compensation if you screen out of a survey. However, there are some platforms that will pay you a small amount even if you do not qualify for a survey, such as Ipsos i-Say .

Do You Get Paid for Research Studies?

Depending on the platform that you join, you could earn up to $100 or more per hour by participating in paid research studies.

For instance, Respondent pays its market research participants one of the highest rates on the market. Research study participants on the platform can earn an average of $140 per hour. Participants from certain in-demand demographics can even earn up to $700 per hour.

Are Focus Groups Safe?

Focus groups are generally safe. However, you need to ensure that you choose a legit platform. As with most industries, some scam companies promise unrealistic pay and usually require you to sign up for something. 

If you choose a legit company, you can rest assured that participating in a focus group is safe and a fun way to earn cash in your spare time. 

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15 Legitimate Places to Participate in Paid Research Studies

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From testing products and services to sleep and diet studies, here's a list of vetted places you can participate in paid focus groups.

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A few years ago, I got an invitation to attend a research study hosted by a local skincare company. They were launching a new line of products and wanted feedback from 20 to 25 year-old-women with dry skin.

Since I was a new college grad who needed extra cash, I decided to go. They asked me various questions regarding my current skincare regimen, the products I used, and how I felt about them. It only took an hour, and I got a $75 Visa gift card and a few product samples. Not a bad way to kill an hour.

If you like the idea of getting paid to share your opinions, you’re in luck. There are plenty of places that host paid research studies. While the study I did was in-person, there are many online research studies you can do at home.

Websites That Offer Paid Research Studies

You can find online focus groups that’ll pay you for your time and feedback through a variety of websites. Each site has its own requirements and payment structure, so it’s a good idea to explore all the options available.

1. Survey Junkie

Survey Junkie is a survey site that’s been around since 2005. It will pay you to take surveys and express your opinions to big brands who want to improve their products and services. After you answer several questions about yourself and create a profile, the site will match you to surveys that are relevant to you.

Any time you complete a survey, you’ll earn virtual points, which you can redeem for PayPal cash or online gift cards. Most surveys take anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes, and you can expect to make between 100 to 200 points or $1 to $3 per survey. You won’t have to buy any products or sign up for other websites.

2. American Consumer Opinion

American Consumer Opinion is a survey panel that partners with large companies who want customer opinions. To join, you’ll enter basic information such as your age and where you live. Then, you’ll take a general household survey where you’ll share details about your lifestyle.

You’ll likely receive survey invitations via email several times a year. The number of points you’ll rack up will depend on the length of the surveys.

While short surveys are typically worth anywhere between 5 and 50 points, you can earn up to 5,000 points with longer ones. One point equals $0.01, and you can cash your points in for PayPal cash or donate them to charity.

Related: 17 Best Places to Take Paid Online Surveys for Money

3. Respondent

Respondent is unique because it organizes one-on-one paid research studies online and in person. You can sign up with your email address or via your Facebook or LinkedIn profile through the site.

Once you do, you’ll fill out some basic personal information such as your name, birthday, and email address. They’ll also ask for demographic details like your gender, ethnicity, and educational background.

After you’ve signed up, you’ll browse all of the “projects” available and details like the pay and how long they take to complete. When you see a project that interests you, you can apply to it through a short questionnaire. You’ll be emailed if the company chooses you for their project.

Most of the projects focus on small business or technology and pay anywhere from $50 to $85 via PayPal for 45 minutes to an hour of your time.

4. FocusGroup.com

FocusGroup.com began in 1988 and offers surveys as well as in-person and online focus groups via phone and webcam. After you create a profile, you’ll be emailed surveys and focus group invitations.

The majority of the site’s surveys and focus groups revolve around health and wellness, pet products, finances, and shopping habits.

You’ll earn between $75 and $150 if you participate in focus groups and points for surveys, which you can apply toward a prepaid Visa debit card. You can cash out 100 points for $1.00.

5. Plaza Research

Plaza Research pays parents, kids, teens, students, doctors, and business professionals to share their opinions on new products and services. It hosts surveys and a variety of in-person focus groups throughout the country.

If you attend a focus group, you’ll likely be asked to try a new product, watch a TV commercial, or discuss your thoughts about future products. To receive survey and focus group invitations, fill out an online form. The form will ask you questions about your education, electronic use, employment, household, pets, and more.

You’ll get an email if you’re a good fit for a survey or focus group. The amount you’ll earn depends on its length and scope. Most participants will earn between $50 and $200, paid via check, for two hours of their time.

Related: How to Get Paid to Write Reviews

6. Mindswarms

You can create an account online or via the Mindswarms mobile app and get paid to answer questions via your smartphone or webcam.

After you apply to a survey that appeals to you, you’ll answer a few targeted questions to make sure you’re a good fit for it. If you are, you’ll answer seven questions and earn about $50. The money will be sent to your PayPal account within 24 hours. You can also redeem your earnings for an Amazon gift card.

7. Fieldwork

Fieldwork has facilitated marketing research studies since 1980. The company hosts in-person focus groups in 11 cities across the U.S. If you don’t live near any of these cities, you can still register for Fieldwork’s national database and participate in online or phone interviews.

To register, fill out an online questionnaire and wait for Fieldwork to call or email you when an opportunity is available. Most in-person focus groups last between one and two hours and can be on random topics such as cereal and video games. Compensation is usually a $75 Visa gift card.

8. User Interviews

User Interviews organizes focus groups in-person, via phone, or video streaming about products, services, and websites. For a chance to participate, create a profile with your birthday, gender, household income, marital status, and education level.

If you find a project that interests you, complete a short screener survey to see if you’re eligible. If you are, you can sign up for the focus group and earn an average of $50/hr. You’ll get paid via check.

9. Brand Institute

Brand Institute is a branding agency that supports healthcare and pharmaceutical companies with their marketing initiatives. You can become a Brand Institute panel member after you fill out a short online registration form. If you qualify for a paid research study, you’ll get an email notification and can participate right away.

Payment depends on the survey you take, and you’re more likely to receive invites for higher-paying surveys if you have a medical background. You can earn between $2 and $30 via check or PayPal. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and others in healthcare report that they receive about four surveys a month.

Engage finds respondents for various market research and usability studies. It offers both in-person focus groups and online discussions for panel members. You can join the healthcare panel if you’re a medical professional or consumer panel if you’re an everyday consumer.

You’ll have to provide information about your income, marital status, education level, and job. Once you do, you’ll receive an email notification whenever you qualify for a study. Most studies cover topics like cars, electronics, food products, music, and medical conditions. They usually pay $50 to $250 via check or PayPal.

Universities that Facilitate Paid Focus Groups

  You can also find paid focus groups at colleges and universities. Many of them offer year-round opportunities and focus on psychology and human behavior. While most of these studies are performed online, a few require that you participate in person.

You don’t have to be a student to participate, and payment is typically in the form of PayPal cash, gift cards, or a check. If you’d like to earn money via college-run focus groups, take a look at the schools near your home. Their websites will likely include details about these types of opportunities.

• Purdue University ( See studies )
• Center for Decision Sciences Columbia Business School ( See studies )
• Northwestern University Department of Psychology ( See studies )
• Harvard University Psychology Study Pool ( See studies )
• MIT Behavioral Research Lab ( See studies )

DollarSprout co-founder Jeff Proctor participated in a six-week research study on high-fat diets at Virginia Tech. During the study, he was compensated with meals and $500.

“It was a great experience but very involved,” he said. “I had to check in every day to get weighed, choose my meals, and get several blood and urine samples taken.”

How to Tell if a Focus Group Opportunity is Legit

Even though many focus group opportunities are legitimate, there are plenty of work-from-home scams out there. If you have to pay to participate or reveal confidential information such as your Social Security number or credit card details, that’s a red flag. Stay away from any focus groups that force you to buy products or services or sign up for other websites.

If you find an opportunity that interests you, do some online research to make sure it’s valid. Check the Better Business Bureau to see its rating and read any complaints. This way you can avoid a situation where you get excited about a focus group and then find out it’s a scam.

A legitimate company will never charge you to attend a focus group or take a survey. In addition, they’ll have a privacy policy that’s prominently displayed on their website and will only email you from a business email account, rather than one from a free service like Gmail or Yahoo.

Related: How One Woman Earns $5,000 per Month as a Surrogate Mother 

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Business growth

Marketing tips

How to conduct your own market research survey (with example)

After watching a few of those sketches, you can imagine why real-life focus groups tend to be pretty small. Even without any over-the-top personalities involved, it's easy for these groups to go off the rails.

So what happens when you want to collect market research at a larger scale? That's where the market research survey comes in. Market surveys allow you to get just as much valuable information as an in-person interview, without the burden of herding hundreds of rowdy Eagles fans through a product test.

Table of contents:

What is a market research survey?

Why conduct market research, primary vs. secondary market research.

6 types of market research surveys

How to write and conduct a market research survey

Tips for running a market research survey.

Market research survey campaign example questions

Market research survey template

Use automation to put survey results into action

A market research survey is a questionnaire designed to collect key information about a company's target market and audience that will help guide business decisions about products and services, branding angles, and advertising campaigns.

Market surveys are what's known as "primary research"—that is, information that the researching company gathers firsthand. Secondary research consists of data that another organization gathered and published, which other researchers can then use for their own reports. Primary research is more expensive and time-intensive than secondary research, which is why you should only use market research surveys to obtain information that you can't get anywhere else. 

A market research survey can collect information on your target customers':

Experiences

Preferences, desires, and needs

Values and motivations

The types of information that can usually be found in a secondary source, and therefore aren't good candidates for a market survey, include your target customers':

Demographic data

Consumer spending data

Household size

Lots of this secondary information can be found in a public database like those maintained by the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics . There are also a few free market research tools that you can use to access more detailed data, like Think with Google , Data USA , and Statista . Or, if you're looking to learn about your existing customer base, you can also use a CRM to automatically record key information about your customers each time they make a purchase.

If you've exhausted your secondary research options and still have unanswered questions, it's time to start thinking about conducting a market research survey.

The first thing to figure out is what you're trying to learn, and from whom. Are you beta testing a new product or feature with existing users? Or are you looking to identify new customer personas for your marketers to target? There are a number of different ways to use a marketing research survey, and your choice will impact how you set up the questionnaire.

Here are some examples of how market research surveys can be used to fill a wide range of knowledge gaps for companies:

A B2B software company asks real users in its industry about Kanban board usage to help prioritize their project view change rollout.

A B2C software company asks its target demographic about their mobile browsing habits to help them find features to incorporate into their forthcoming mobile app.

A printing company asks its target demographic about fabric preferences to gauge interest in a premium material option for their apparel lines.

A wholesale food vendor surveys regional restaurant owners to find ideas for seasonal products to offer.

Market surveys are what's known as "primary research"—that is, information that the researching company gathers firsthand. Secondary research consists of data that another organization gathered and published, which other researchers can then use for their own reports. 

Primary research is more expensive and time-intensive than secondary research, which is why you should only use market research surveys to obtain information that you can't get anywhere else. 

Lots of this secondary information can be found in a public database like those maintained by the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics . There are also a few free market research tools that you can use to access more detailed data, like Think with Google , Data USA , and Statista . 

Or, if you're looking to learn about your existing customer base, you can also use a CRM to automatically record key information about your customers each time they make a purchase.

6 types of market research survey

Depending on your goal, you'll need different types of market research. Here are six types of market research surveys.

1. Buyer persona research

A buyer persona or customer profile is a simple sketch of the types of people that you should be targeting as potential customers. 

A buyer persona research survey will help you learn more about things like demographics, household makeup, income and education levels, and lifestyle markers. The more you learn about your existing customers, the more specific you can get in targeting potential customers. You may find that there are more buyer personas within your user base than the ones that you've been targeting.

2. Sales funnel research

The sales funnel is the path that potential customers take to eventually become buyers. It starts with the target's awareness of your product, then moves through stages of increasing interest until they ultimately make a purchase. 

With a sales funnel research survey, you can learn about potential customers' main drivers at different stages of the sales funnel. You can also get feedback on how effective different sales strategies are. Use this survey to find out:

How close potential buyers are to making a purchase

What tools and experiences have been most effective in moving prospective customers closer to conversion

What types of lead magnets are most attractive to your target audience

3. Customer loyalty research

Whenever you take a customer experience survey after you make a purchase, you'll usually see a few questions about whether you would recommend the company or a particular product to a friend. After you've identified your biggest brand advocates , you can look for persona patterns to determine what other customers are most likely to be similarly enthusiastic about your products. Use these surveys to learn:

The demographics of your most loyal customers

What tools are most effective in turning customers into advocates

What you can do to encourage more brand loyalty

4. Branding and marketing research

The Charmin focus group featured in that SNL sketch is an example of branding and marketing research, in which a company looks for feedback on a particular advertising angle to get a sense of whether it will be effective before the company spends money on running the ad at scale. Use this type of survey to find out:

Whether a new advertising angle will do well with existing customers

Whether a campaign will do well with a new customer segment you haven't targeted yet

What types of campaign angles do well with a particular demographic

5. New products or features research

Whereas the Charmin sketch features a marketing focus group, this one features new product research for a variety of new Hidden Valley Ranch flavors. Though you can't get hands-on feedback on new products when you're conducting a survey instead of an in-person meeting, you can survey your customers to find out:

What features they wish your product currently had

What other similar or related products they shop for

What they think of a particular product or feature idea

Running a survey before investing resources into developing a new offering will save you and the company a lot of time, money, and energy.

6. Competitor research

You can get a lot of information about your own customers and users via automatic data collection , but your competitors' customer base may not be made up of the same buyer personas that yours is. Survey your competitors' users to find out:

Your competitors ' customers' demographics, habits, and behaviors

Whether your competitors have found success with a buyer persona you're not targeting

Information about buyers for a product that's similar to one you're thinking about launching

Feedback on what features your competitors' customers wish their version of a product had

Once you've narrowed down your survey's objectives, you can move forward with designing and running your survey.

Step 1: Write your survey questions

A poorly worded survey, or a survey that uses the wrong question format, can render all of your data moot. If you write a question that results in most respondents answering "none of the above," you haven't learned much. 

You'll find dozens of question types and even pre-written questions in most survey apps . Here are a few common question types that work well for market surveys.

Categorical questions

Also known as a nominal question, this question type provides numbers and percentages for easy visualization, like "35% said ABC." It works great for bar graphs and pie charts, but you can't take averages or test correlations with nominal-level data.

Yes/No: The most basic survey question used in polls is the Yes/No question, which can be easily created using your survey app or by adding Yes/No options to a multiple-choice question. 

Multiple choice: Use this type of question if you need more nuance than a Yes/No answer gives. You can add as many answers as you want, and your respondents can pick only one answer to the question. 

Checkbox: Checkbox questions add the flexibility to select all the answers that apply. Add as many answers as you want, and respondents aren't limited to just one. 

Ordinal questions

This type of question requires survey-takers to pick from options presented in a specific order, like "income of $0-$25K, $26K-$40K, $41K+." Like nominal questions, ordinal questions elicit responses that allow you to analyze counts and percentages, though you can't calculate averages or assess correlations with ordinal-level data.

Dropdown: Responses to ordinal questions can be presented as a dropdown, from which survey-takers can only make one selection. You could use this question type to gather demographic data, like the respondent's country or state of residence. 

Ranking: This is a unique question type that allows respondents to arrange a list of answers in their preferred order, providing feedback on each option in the process. 

Interval/ratio questions

For precise data and advanced analysis, use interval or ratio questions. These can help you calculate more advanced analytics, like averages, test correlations, and run regression models. Interval questions commonly use scales of 1-5 or 1-7, like "Strongly disagree" to "Strongly agree." Ratio questions have a true zero and often ask for numerical inputs (like "How many cups of coffee do you drink per day? ____").

Ranking scale: A ranking scale presents answer choices along an ordered value-based sequence, either using numbers, a like/love scale, a never/always scale, or some other ratio interval. It gives more insight into people's thoughts than a Yes/No question. 

Matrix: Have a lot of interval questions to ask? You can put a number of questions in a list and use the same scale for all of them. It simplifies gathering data about a lot of similar items at once. 

Example : How much do you like the following: oranges, apples, grapes? Hate/Dislike/Ok/Like/Love

Textbox: A textbox question is needed for collecting direct feedback or personal data like names. There will be a blank space where the respondent can enter their answer to your question on their own. 

Step 2: Choose a survey platform

There are a lot of survey platforms to choose from, and they all offer different and unique features. Check out Zapier's list of the best online survey apps to help you decide.

Most survey apps today look great on mobile, but be sure to preview your survey on your phone and computer, at least, to make sure it'll look good for all of your users.

If you have the budget, you can also purchase survey services from a larger research agency. 

Step 3: Run a test survey

Before you run your full survey, conduct a smaller test on 5%-10% of your target respondent pool size. This will allow you to work out any confusing wording or questions that result in unhelpful responses without spending the full cost of the survey. Look out for:

Survey rejection from the platform for prohibited topics

Joke or nonsense textbox answers that indicate the respondent didn't answer the survey in earnest

Multiple choice questions with an outsized percentage of "none of the above" or "N/A" responses

Step 4: Launch your survey

If your test survey comes back looking good, you're ready to launch the full thing! Make sure that you leave ample time for the survey to run—you'd be surprised at how long it takes to get a few thousand respondents. 

Even if you've run similar surveys in the past, leave more time than you need. Some surveys take longer than others for no clear reason, and you also want to build in time to conduct a comprehensive data analysis.

Step 5: Organize and interpret the data

Unless you're a trained data analyst, you should avoid crunching all but the simplest survey data by hand. Most survey platforms include some form of reporting dashboard that will handle things like population weighting for you, but you can also connect your survey platform to other apps that make it easy to keep track of your results and turn them into actionable insights.

You know the basics of how to conduct a market research survey, but here are some tips to enhance the quality of your data and the reliability of your findings.

Find the right audience: You could have meticulously crafted survey questions, but if you don't target the appropriate demographic or customer segment, it doesn't really matter. You need to collect responses from the people you're trying to understand. Targeted audiences you can send surveys to include your existing customers, current social media followers, newsletter subscribers, attendees at relevant industry events, and community members from online forums, discussion boards, or other online communities that cater to your target audience. 

Take advantage of existing resources: No need to reinvent the wheel. You may be able to use common templates and online survey platforms like SurveyMonkey for both survey creation and distribution. You can also use AI tools to create better surveys. For example, generative AI tools like ChatGPT can help you generate questions, while analytical AI tools can scan survey responses to help sort, tag, and report on them. Some survey apps have AI built into them already too.

Focus questions on a desired data type: As you conceptualize your survey, consider whether a qualitative or quantitative approach will better suit your research goals. Qualitative methods are best for exploring in-depth insights and underlying motivations, while quantitative methods are better for obtaining statistical data and measurable trends. For an outcome like "optimize our ice cream shop's menu offerings," you may want to find out which flavors of ice cream are most popular with teens. This would require a quantitative approach, for which you would use categorical questions that can help you rank potential flavors numerically.

Establish a timeline: Set a realistic timeline for your survey, from creation to distribution to data collection and analysis. You'll want to balance having your survey out long enough to generate a significant amount of responses but not so long that it loses relevance. That length can vary widely based on factors like type of survey, number of questions, audience size, time sensitivity, question format, and question length.

Define a margin of error: Your margin of error shows how much the survey results might differ from the real opinions of the entire group being studied. Since you can't possibly survey every single person in your desired population, you'll have to settle on an acceptable percentage of error upfront, a percentage figure that varies by sample size, sample proportion, and confidence interval. According to University of Wisconsin-Madison's Pamela Hunter , 95% is the industry standard confidence level (though small sample sizes may get by with 90%). At the 95% level, for example, an acceptable margin of error for a survey of 500 respondents would be 3%. That means that if 80% of respondents give a positive response to a question, the data shows that between 77-83% respond positively 95 out of 100 times.

Market research survey campaign example

Let's say you own a market research company, and you want to use a survey to gain critical insights into your market. You prompt users to fill out your survey before they can access gated premium content.

Survey questions: 

1. What size is your business? 

<10 employees

11-50 employees

51-100 employees

101-200 employees

>200 employees

2. What industry type best describes your role?

3. On a scale of 1-4, how important would you say access to market data is?

1 - Not important

2 - Somewhat important

3 - Very important

4 - Critically important

4. On a scale of 1 (least important) to 5 (most important), rank how important these market data access factors are.

Accuracy of data

Attractive presentation of data

Cost of data access

Range of data presentation formats

Timeliness of data

5. True or false: your job relies on access to accurate, up-to-date market data.

Survey findings: 

63% of respondents represent businesses with over 100 employees, while only 8% represent businesses with under 10.

71% of respondents work in sales, marketing, or operations.

80% of respondents consider access to market data to be either very important or critically important.

"Timeliness of data" (38%) and "Accuracy of data" (32%) were most commonly ranked as the most important market data access factor.

86% of respondents claimed that their jobs rely on accessing accurate, up-to-date market data.

Insights and recommendations: Independent analysis of the survey indicates that a large percentage of users work in the sales, marketing, or operations fields of large companies, and these customers value timeliness and accuracy most. These findings can help you position future report offerings more effectively by highlighting key benefits that are important to customers that fit into related customer profiles. 

Market research survey example questions

Your individual questions will vary by your industry, market, and research goals, so don't expect a cut-and-paste survey to suit your needs. To help you get started, here are market research survey example questions to give you a sense of the format.

Yes/No: Have you purchased our product before?

Multiple choice: How many employees work at your company?

<10 / 10-20 / 21-50 / 51-100 / 101-250 / 250+

Checkbox: Which of the following features do you use in our app?

Push notifications / Dashboard / Profile customization / In-app chat

Dropdown: What's your household income? 

$0-$10K / $11-$35K / $36-$60K / $61K+

Ranking: Which social media platforms do you use the most? Rank in order, from most to least.

Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / LinkedIn / Reddit

Ranking scale: On a scale of 1-5, how would you rate our customer service? 

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Textbox: How many apps are installed on your phone? Enter a number: 

Market research survey question types

Good survey apps typically offer pre-designed templates as a starting point. But to give you a more visual sense of what these questions might look like, we've put together a document showcasing common market research survey question types.

You're going to get a lot of responses back from your survey—why dig through them all manually if you don't have to? Automate your survey to aggregate information for you, so it's that much easier to uncover findings. 

Related reading:

Poll vs. survey: What is a survey and what are polls?

The best online survey apps

The best free form builders and survey tools

How to get people to take a survey

This article was originally published in June 2015 by Stephanie Briggs. The most recent update, with contributions from Cecilia Gillen, was in September 2023.

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Amanda Pell

Amanda is a writer and content strategist who built her career writing on campaigns for brands like Nature Valley, Disney, and the NFL. When she's not knee-deep in research, you'll likely find her hiking with her dog or with her nose in a good book.

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Surveys For Money: The Best Paid Survey Sites

R.J. Weiss, CFP®

• Updated April 12, 2024

Taking online surveys is a good way to make extra money in your spare time, but it can be hard to figure out which sites and apps are legit and worth your while.

For this article, we researched dozens of companies that offer surveys for money to find the best options.

At the end of the article, you’ll also find some tips for maximizing your survey earnings and avoiding scams, as well as answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about paid surveys.

Table of Contents

The Best Survey Websites

The best survey sites offer a good balance of four different factors.

• They pay you a reasonable rate for your time.
• They have a low minimum withdrawal amount.
• They have a large inventory of surveys available to take.
• They have good pre-screening and a low disqualification rate.

These are the factors we took into account (along with user ratings) when compiling our list of the best overall options. 

#1. Swagbucks

The premier online rewards sites. Swagbucks has paid out over $600 million and offers multiple ways to make money, along with some of the best-paying surveys in the industry.

Our quick review : Swagbucks has a huge inventory of surveys, and they can be sorted by payout and time required to complete. This sorting feature lets you focus on the most valuable surveys and skip the ones that aren’t worth your time.

It’s also a versatile site. You can make money by completing offers, watching videos and playing games. In fact, we found over 20 different ways to make money on the platform .

There’s no minimum withdrawal amount, but most of the cashout options start at $3. The site also offers a wide range of payment options, including PayPal transfers and dozens of major retailer gift cards.

To learn more about the site, check out our in-depth Swagbucks review and sign-up here .

Put cash back in your wallet

Get paid to shop online, watch videos, take surveys and play games with this all-in-one rewards site. Redeem your points for gift cards and PayPal cash starting at just $3.

#2. Survey Junkie

Survey Junkie is one of the oldest and most well-known online survey sites. It has an easy-to-use interface and consistently earns positive reviews from users. The site offers case studies, focus groups, phone interviews (if you opt in) and product testing opportunities .

Our quick review : With over 5 million members, Survey Junkie is one of the largest survey sites. After you sign up, make sure to complete as many of the demographic surveys as you can. These are important for pre-screening, as Survey Junkie uses the data you provide to match you with surveys you’re qualified for.

Learn more about how the site works in our Survey Junkie review and sign up here .

Survey Junkie

One of the most well-known and highest-rated online survey sites, Survey Junkie lets you redeem your points for gift cards or PayPal cash starting at just $5.

#3. User Interviews

A platform for one-on-one market research interviews and online focus groups. Based on our testing, User Interviews is the best-paying platform on this list by a wide margin. However, it requires significantly greater time commitment than traditional survey sites like Swagbucks and Survey Junkie.

Our quick review : Instead of answering survey questions, you’ll provide feedback on products, apps, websites and more, usually via video chat. When we tested the platform, we complete eight studies and earned $360 for 4 hours and 51 minutes of work. Including the time it took us to search for and apply to studies, our final pay-per-hour was $55.

Despite this strong earning potential, we’ve ranked User Interviews at #3 on this list because most studies take between 30 and 60 minutes, and they have to be conducted during normal business hours. This means the platform isn’t a great fit for people with limited scheduling flexibility.

Learn more about how the site works in our User Interviews review and sign up here .

#4. Rakuten Insight

Operated by the same company that runs the popular Rakuten cash-back shopping portal , Rakuten Insight offers quick surveys with very high pay rates. The only downside is the low number of surveys available, which limits your overall earning potential.

Our quick review : We tested Rakuten Insight for a month, earning an average pay-per-hour of $9.62. That makes the platform one of the best-paying survey sites we’ve tested by a fairly wide margin. Plus, the site offers quick and easy surveys that are usually five to 10 questions about your habits and preferences and take just one or two minutes to complete.

However, we found the number of surveys available to be quite small compared to other platforms. In 30 days of testing, we were invited to just 18 surveys and completed only 13 of them.

So while the pay rate is great, you’ll need to use the site consistently over time to earn enough money to make it worth your while.

To learn more about the site, check out our in-depth Rakuten Insight review and sign-up here .

#5. InboxDollars

Offers some of the highest paying surveys you can find, with many worth $1 to $3 upon completion.

Our quick review : InboxDollars pays you for completing simple tasks like filling out surveys, watching videos, playing games and reading emails. The site has paid out over $60 million in rewards and the per-survey pay rate is high compared to other platforms.

But there are a couple of notable drawbacks to the site.

First, the inventory of surveys is limited. You’re only shown 10 surveys at a time, and there’s no way to dismiss them or search for others if you don’t like their payout for the estimated time required. And second, InboxDollars has an unusually high minimum withdrawal amount of $15.

Still, as we discuss in our in-depth InboxDollars review , we think the high payout rates make this a good choice for dedicated survey takers who don’t need to withdraw their earnings immediately.

Sign up for InboxDollars here .

#6. Prolific

Offers long-form surveys and focus groups submitted by academics and other researchers that pay a minimum of $6.50 per hour.

Our quick review : Prolific is a relatively new, UK-based research firm that primarily works with researchers at academic institutions (although it does also work with many for-profit brands). As a result, the company’s surveys tend to be substantive and interesting.

Participants earn a minimum of $6.50 per hour for their work, although some research opportunities may pay more. Earnings are accumulated in cash and payments are issued via PayPal.

Click here to sign up for Prolific .

#7. SurveyMonkey Rewards

A mobile app from the company behind one of the world’s most well-known market research platforms.

Our quick review : During the testing period for our  SurveyMonkey Rewards review , we earned $13.56 per hour — one of the best pay rates out of all the survey sites we’ve tested. The app features short surveys (typically five minutes or less), an easy-to-use interface and a low minimum cash-out amount of $5.

The only factor preventing SurveyMonkey Rewards from ranking higher on this list is the relatively low number of surveys available. You can only take the surveys you’re invited to — unlike some sites, there’s no dashboard with surveys to choose from — and we only received a couple of invitations (sent via push notification) per week.

As a result, hitting the $5 minimum for withdrawal still took a few weeks of use, despite the high per-hour pay rate. Once we did cross that threshold, the payout process was fast and easy — though you should be aware that you’re required to give the company your phone number for identity verification purposes.

Download SurveyMonkey Rewards .

#8. Ipsos I-Say

Has a top-notch mobile app for both iOS and Android devices and offers over 93,000 cash-out options.

Our quick review : I-Say’s pay-per-survey runs about average, but its outstanding mobile app — which boasts a clean, intuitive and glitch-free user interface — helps you find and complete surveys quickly.

The platform also has a huge inventory of surveys (although some users note a relatively high disqualification rate). Plus, there’s a loyalty program that rewards you with extra points for consistent usage. 

Aside from surveys, I-Say is most well-known for its product testing program. If you quality, they’ll ship you free products so that you can complete targeted surveys about whether or not you liked what you received. 

In addition to the usual cash-out options, I-Say has a massive points redemption store with over 93,000 items, where you’ll find everything from gift cards to leather couches. 

The shop is largely for show. Many of the items cost so many points (e.g., 867,000 points for a pair of diamond stud earrings) that no one will ever be able to cash-out for them.

But at the lower end of the price spectrum, it does give you an unusually wide range of redemption options, such as phone cases and charging cables in the 1,000 to 2,000 point range. These items are often offered at a discount to their retail price.

Sign up for Ipsos i-Say .

#9. Branded Surveys

Paid survey site with a modern interface that instantly credits earnings to your account.

Our quick review : Branded Surveys is an aggregator that pulls in surveys from third-party research firms. As a result, the platform has a huge inventory of surveys, which means there’s almost always surveys available — something that’s not always the case on other sites. 

You’ll see how much each survey is worth, along with the estimated time to complete, before choosing to start a survey. Upon completion, the credit is instantly applied to your account balance. You can cash-out as soon as you hit the $5 minimum, which we reached after 2 hours and 18 minutes of testing.

Learn more about our test in our Branded Surveys review .

At the same time, there are three potential downsides to keep in mind about the site: 

• The disqualification rate is very high. We had two testers attempt more than 100 surveys combined, and both had disqualification rates of over 80%.
• Branded Surveys sends about one survey notification via email every 45 minutes, and each one we tried to complete had already reached its participant cap — even when we clicked the link the second it appeared in our inbox. 
• Because the site is an aggregator, you take the surveys on third-party sites that are not always optimized for mobile devices.

Despite these facts, we still hit the minimum for cash-out faster than on many other platforms. And our gift cards were delivered just two days after requesting withdrawal.

Sign up for Branded Surveys .

#10. MyPoints

MyPoints always has a long list of surveys to choose from, and the pay (which averages about $3 per hour based on estimated time to completion) is above average.

Our quick review : MyPoints is an online rewards site that lets you make money by taking surveys, completing offers, playing games, printing/using coupons and more. It’s a long-running and well-known platform, and the combination of multiple ways to earn plus no minimum withdrawal amount means it’s easy to get paid within a few days of signing up. 

But not every earning opportunity on the site is worth your time. While MyPoints’ surveys are some of the best-paying around, other activities — like watching videos and searching — pay pennies per hour. So if you sign up, be strategic about which tasks you choose to complete. 

You can learn more about how to get the most out of the site in our MyPoints review , and you can sign up here .

#11. Survey Savvy

A well-known market research company with a low minimum cash-out and high-paying surveys, but a long payment window.

Our quick review : Survey Savvy offers some of the highest-paying market research opportunities of the options on this list — if you qualify, and if you’re willing to install SavvyConnect, their data collection app.

Installing SavvyConnect will earn you $5 per month, per device (with a maximum of three devices per household). This is passive income; you just have to allow the app to collect your browsing and internet usage data. 

SavvyConnect sends that data back to the company, where it’s anonymized and turned into market research. However, the company also uses that data to match you up with surveys and “projects” (multi-stage surveys and focus groups), which are much more lucrative than the regular surveys you’ll find on the site. 

SavvyConnect users report that “Partner Surveys” typically pay $1 to $3 each, and “Projects” can pay as much as $250 for participation (although the average is lower). 

You’re not required to install SavvyConnect to use Survey Savvy, but it’s the best way to leverage this platform.

Sign up for Survey Savvy and SavvyConnect .

#12. LifePoints

Owned by Kantar, one of the world’s largest market research and consumer data analytics firms. Offers paid surveys, consumer diaries and product testing.

Our quick review : LifePoints has a best-in-class website that works well on both computers and smartphones. Finding surveys is easy, and completing them is a smooth and mostly glitch-free process.

How much money you can make on the site depends on your demographic profile. LifePoints doesn’t have as big an inventory of surveys as some other platforms, and the lack of available surveys was a serious downside in our testing. 

At the same time, it’s one of the few platforms that offer product testing and consumer diaries in addition to traditional surveys. If you happen to qualify for these opportunities, they can be very lucrative. 

Learn more about the pros and cons in our LifePoints review , and sign up here .

#13. Pinecone Research

Pinecone Research pays a flat rate of $3 per survey, which typically take 10 to 20 minutes to complete.

Our quick review : Pinecone’s flat rate of $3 per survey is one of the best in the business on a per-hour basis. Their surveys have an estimated time-to-complete of 10 to 20 minutes, which equates to between $9 and $18 per hour. Plus, they have one of the widest selections of payment options, including physical items ranging from electronics to sports equipment. When we reviewed the site for this article, there were more than 12,000 reward options available. 

Unfortunately, Pinecone has relatively strict demographic requirements. That means you may not qualify for many surveys, depending on your age, education, race or other personal profile factors. Most users receive no more than one or two survey opportunities per week, while others only receive them every once in a while. 

But if you happen to be in one of the company’s target demographics, it’s hard to find a better option.

Sign up for Pinecone Research .

#14. YouGov

A public opinion and data company with more than 6 million members worldwide.

Our quick review : Like most survey sites, YouGov conducts consumer market research on things like people’s shopping habits and product preferences. But the company is unique among the options on this list in that it also conducts research and polling for government agencies and political campaigns.

That means that as a YouGov member, you’ll have the chance to share your opinion about politics and current events, knowing that those opinions may actually make a difference in the direction of public policy.

The big downside to YouGov is that its supply of surveys is inconsistent. That fact, combined with the site’s relatively high minimum cash-out threshold of $15, means you’ll need to be a dedicated user to earn enough to actually make a withdrawal. Fortunately, your YouGov points never expire.

Most surveys take between five and 10 minutes, and earn you 1,000 points. Learn more in our in-depth YouGov review and sign up here .

#15. Paid Viewpoint

Has short surveys and fast payouts, but you have to use the site for an extended period to qualify for the best offers.

Our quick review : There are two keys to making money with Paid Viewpoint : consistent usage and a willingness to provide extensive demographic data, both of which contribute to your “TraitScore” — a numeric figure that’s used to match members with surveys. Members with higher TraitScores get more survey invitations, and the surveys they’re offered tend to pay better. 

Unfortunately, it can take a long time to build up your TraitScore. Many members report that they don’t start seeing consistent survey offers until at least a year of site usage. During that time, you may only receive one or two surveys per week — which will be nowhere near enough to cash out. 

But if you’re able to reach the point where you’re getting a regular stream of offers, they’re worth your while: PaidViewpoint’s surveys are quick (usually no more than 10 to 20 short questions) and pay above average. Plus, there are no disqualifications: you’re only offered surveys that you definitely qualify for.

Join Paid Viewpoint .

#16. Survey Club

A research recruitment and survey platform that connects users with both quick surveys and more rigorous research studies (like clinical trials). 

Our quick review : SurveyClub has two aspects. First, they provide users with their own market research surveys. The money you earn for taking these surveys is redeemable for Amazon gift cards.  

Second, the site uses the demographic profile data you provide to connect with you with third-party research studies, including focus groups, academic studies and clinical trials. These research opportunities are not coordinated by SurveyClub, and you’ll get paid according to the third party’s terms and conditions. 

These types of studies tend to pay more than regular surveys, but they also take more time. Plus, the lack of a central payment dashboard makes it harder to track your activity (and thus to make sure you get paid). 

At the same time, this represents some of the strongest earning opportunity on this list.

Sign up for Survey Club .

#17. Toluna

Toluna offers slightly better-than-average pay rates, a large inventory of surveys and a low ($10) minimum cash-out. 

Our quick review : We tested Toluna for five hours , attempting 50 surveys and completing 20. Our earnings came out to $3.43 per hour, which is slightly above average among survey sites that primarily offer short-form questionnaires (10 minutes or less to complete).

One of the big downsides we encountered was a 64% disqualification rate. Additionally, Toluna is a survey aggregator, which means you’ll take surveys in many different formats — not all of which are equally user-friendly or optimized for a mobile screen.

Still, the large inventory of surveys and relatively good pay make the site worth looking into.

Sign up for Toluna .

#18. Google Opinion Rewards

A dedicated, surveys-only app with a super clean user interface. Offers short surveys that always pay between 10 cents and $1, and has a hassle-free cash-out policy.

Our quick review : Google Opinion Rewards is an ideal option if you want to take surveys on your mobile device. The app is simple and easy to use, and sends you push notifications whenever new surveys are available. (You can opt out of these notifications).

The surveys tend to be very short — Google says they usually take 20 seconds or less to complete — which makes this a great choice if you’re looking for a way to make a little bit of money in your random moments of spare time. 

The big downside to Google Opinion Rewards — and the reason why it ranks last on this list — is that surveys are few and far between. In the two months we tested the app, we were only offered two surveys worth a total of 24 cents.

At the same time, completing those two surveys took less than a minute.

Download the app for iPhone or Android , or learn more in our Google Opinion Rewards review .

How t o Maximize Your Survey Earnings

The following tips will help you earn as much as you can in as little time (and with as little effort) as possible.

Tip #1: Use a Separate Email Address

The first thing you should do before signing up for any survey website is create a separate email address specifically for the purpose of taking surveys. Simply put, you don’t want your regular inbox bombarded by the offers you’ll receive, as some sites send surveys every few minutes. 

Tip #2: Complete Every Profile/Demographic Survey You’re Offered

The highest paying online surveys are those that target specific demographic niches, so it’s important to answer every profile questionnaire you’re offered.

This is usually the first thing you’ll be prompted to do when you join a survey platform, and most users know they need to provide basic details like their household size, age and income level. 

However, most survey sites will continue prompting you to provide additional demographic information over time. And while these may not be the surveys that pay the most (often, they pay very little), they can help you unlock those more lucrative niche studies.

Plus, a survey company may use this information for pre-screening purposes — which means you’ll have a lower disqualification rate and waste less time trying to complete surveys you’re not qualified for.

Tip #3: Go Fast But Answer Correctly

To maximize your time when taking paid online surveys, you obviously have to work quickly. But you also have to answer your surveys honestly and in a way that makes sense.

Market research companies are smart, and they have a vested interest in making sure they’re getting real data to share with their customers (i.e., the brands that pay them for insights into consumer behavior and preferences). 

So they build quality control checks into their surveys to ensure that you’re paying attention and answering honestly. Examples of this are asking the same question in two different ways to see if you contradict yourself, and asking questions that require you to select a specific option or “none of the above.” 

If you don’t take the time to actually read the survey instructions and the question details, you might disqualify yourself from not only that particular survey, but from the platform as a whole. And on top of that, many survey sites use these QC checks to grade your performance, doling out the best surveys to the users with the highest scores.

How Survey Companies Make Money And Why They Pay You For Your Opinions

Brands are constantly looking for ways to improve their products. The better those products are, the more demand there will be for them. And the more they sell, the more money they make. So they’re willing to go to great lengths to create a product people love.

Surveys have long been a great way to get information from people. Companies use surveys to gauge all sorts of data, from how frequently products are used to how a consumer was first introduced to a product.

The data you provide in your survey is a great way for companies to get an ordinary shopper’s take on their product. And you’re providing an important service; the information you’re giving may ultimately lead to a better product for consumers.

To get this data, brands turn to websites like these survey sites. And the survey sites know that not many, if any, of their visitors will want to fill out surveys out of the goodness of their hearts. We’re all too busy for that!

So to entice you into sharing your opinion, they know they have to pony up some incentives. So they split a share of the money they’re receiving from these brands.

It’s a good deal for everyone involved. The company gets the much-needed information about their brand. The survey website makes money, and you do too.

How to Stay Away From Survey Site Scams

To avoid survey site scams, stick with companies that have good user ratings. But equally important is looking for companies with a lot of ratings. Don’t be fooled by a site that might have a few misleading reviews.

Beyond that, here are some tips: 

• Never pay to join a site. Legit survey sites are always 100% free to use.
• Ask yourself whether there’s evidence of people getting paid for their time — such as thousands of positive App Store reviews. There are many survey sites that aren’t scams per se, but which make it next to impossible to earn enough money to cash out. These sites benefit from collecting your data with no intention of ever paying you.
• Avoid spending the points you earn on sweepstakes entries. Your chances of winning are astronomically low, so in most cases you end up working for free. 

Common Questions About Getting Paid To Take Surveys

There are two ways to think about this question: the sites that pay the most on a per-hour basis, and the sites that have the most overall earning potential. And it’s important to understand that these sites don’t always overlap. For example, many of the best paying survey sites on a per-hour basis have a high minimum payout. So even if the average payout per survey is high, it’ll take you longer (and require more work) to get cash into your bank account. On the other hand, many sites with a lower average payout also have lower minimum withdrawals. So while you may be making less on a per-hour basis, you’ll get that cash faster. And depending on how dedicated you are as a survey taker, that may mean the difference between getting paid and giving up before you’re able to cash out.  With that in mind, here are our picks for the highest paying survey sites:  Best per-hour rate : Pinecone Research ($9-$18) and Prolific ($6.50+). Unfortunately, these two platforms offer a relatively limited supply of surveys. Best overall earning potential : Swagbucks and Survey Junkie . These two sites pay slightly less per survey, but offer a combination of decent rates, a low minimum withdrawal and a large supply of surveys.

There are three factors that determine how fast you can get paid from an online survey site:  1. The minimum payment threshold, which ranges from $0 to $50 for the sites on this list.  2. How quickly earnings are credited to your account balance after completing a survey, which ranges from instantly to 12 weeks for the sites on this list. 3. How long it takes for the survey company to process your withdrawal request and actually deliver your gift card or deposit the funds into your bank account.  The only online survey site we’ve found that has no minimum, and offers both instant crediting and instant processing is SurveyTime . However, while this site does pay cash instantly, it didn’t make our list of the best survey sites because of its very low average payout and lack of consistent survey invitations. Swagbucks does not pay instantly, because it takes about three days to receive your rewards after submitting a redemption request. But it’s our pick for the fastest paying survey site, because we think it’s the one that gives users the best chance of completing enough good-paying surveys to quickly earn a gift card or some extra cash.  Most of Swagbucks’ redemption options start at $3 and there’s plenty of surveys to choose from, so you can easily earn enough points to request a gift card the same day you sign up.

There’s no easy answer to this question. It varies based on your demographics and what the survey companies want. With some surveys, you can earn a fair hourly wage. But with others, you can’t. To help you figure out how much you can expect to earn with any particular survey, most sites give you an estimated “time to complete.”  Let’s say the survey you’re about to fill out will give you 1,000 points and those points are worth $10. If the time listed says the survey should take 45 minutes, the survey is worth $13.33 an hour. Taking a minute to do this simple math can help you avoid surveys that aren’t worth spending time on.

The two dedicated survey apps that rank highest on this list are Survey Junkie and Ipsos I-Say, which both offer quick surveys and an easy-to-use mobile interface. You can see more options in our dedicated article about the best survey apps . One thing to note is that data collection is a two-way street when it comes to survey apps. On one hand, iPhone users benefit from Apple’s relatively strict privacy safeguards, and can see exactly what data an app monitors and/or harvests right from the app’s download screen.  On the other hand, many of these apps (such as Foursquare’s Panel App) collect a much wider range of data than they’d be able to collect if you stuck to web surveys only — and specifically, location data based on your GPS positioning throughout the day. 

The best paid survey sites will never charge you a fee to join. They’re making money from the companies you’re providing feedback for, so there isn’t a need for them to charge you too. If you’re asked to pay to join, it’s 100% a scam. Stick to the free, legitimate survey companies recommended by reputable publications. 

We’ve carefully researched and vetted the survey sites on this list to make sure there are no scams and no time-wasters. In general, taking online surveys for money is a safe way to generate some extra cash, although you do need to be aware that you’re providing data on things like your internet usage, shopping habits and consumer preferences.  Most of the time, the data you provide is anonymized — meaning that it can’t be traced back to your real name or identity. However, sometimes market research companies sell your data to third-party advertising agencies, which use it to target ads to you based on the information you provide.

Yes, when you make money online — whether from surveys or any other activity — that money is taxable income. As a general rule, survey sites do not report your earnings to the IRS, but you’re still legally required to report your earnings. 

Get Paid to Take Surveys: Closing Thoughts

In our view, the best paid survey sites are those that offer a combination of (1) multiple ways to earn, (2) a reasonable (or preferably, low) minimum payout threshold, and (3) a decent reward for your time on a per-hour basis.

While there are dozens upon dozens of online survey platforms — many of which are totally legit and even worth checking out — the options listed above are the ones that best fit that criteria.

Finally, as we’ve said countless times on this site, it bears repeating: answering surveys, and using money making apps in general, will never make you rich or serve as a meaningful source of income.

If you need to make money to pay your bills, save for your financial goals or get out of debt, you’re better off opting for a part-time online job or a side hustle .

But if you enjoy answering surveys and go into it with realistic expectations about the potential reward — perhaps a free Amazon gift card or a little bit of extra cash every month — they can be a great way to monetize your bits and pieces of downtime.

What to read next : How to get a free gift card fast .

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The Best Survey Sites To Make The Most Money In 2022

By: Stacy Garrels & Matthew Woodward

Updated: March 8, 2022

Start Earning

The best survey sites to make the most money.

There are lots of ways that you can make money while still in your PJ's. No need to shuffle out the door. With a smartphone, you can make money from your couch, a coffee shop, or anywhere you can connect to the Internet.

You can get paid to give your opinions. You have them; companies want them. There are plenty of great paid survey sites like InboxDollars , MyPoints , and Swagbucks where you can get paid to give your solicited opinions. (And you can even "gently" suggest your opinionated family members join too.)

In your free time, while binge-watching TV from your couch or hanging out with your friends, you can make a little bit of extra money by sharing what you think about products, services, sports, and other current events. Different market research companies will have varying reward payouts. Still, generally, you can earn cash or Paypal rewards , gift cards to Amazon , Target , iTunes , Walmart , and other retailers, prepaid Visa cards , and other prizes and sweepstakes rewards.

Let's take a look at some of the best survey sites where you can get paid for having opinions. If you've ever shared your mind with friends and family or on social sharing apps, you're already great at it. The best survey sites allow you to make money online through questionnaires and focus groups.

With online survey sites , you're also helping companies create better products and services. By product testing, answering short surveys, and taking polls, you can shape the brands you care about.

Not every survey club is legit. If a survey site promises you thousands of dollars or that you can quit your day job, run away. Legit paid surveys are a great side hustle to make extra cash, not a regular income source. But they are still a great side hustle for survey takers to get free Amazon gift cards , cash, and other rewards.

There truly is a market where your voice can be heard. This article is a definitive survey taking guide. It lays out everything that you need to know about taking surveys and when and how you can get expect to get paid.

Here's a look at the best legit survey sites of 2021 so you.

Information This Article Covers:

Which Are The Best Survey Sites?

• In-Depth Overview of Top 12 Legit Survey Sites
• Why Should I Take Online Surveys?
• Are Paid Surveys Worth My Time?
• What Sort of Topics Do Paid Surveys Cover?
• How Much Money Can I Make By Doing Online Surveys?
• How Can I Make $50 in An Hour Online?
• How Can I Make Cash Right Now?
• What Are Some Advanced Survey Taking Strategies to Earn More Money?
• How Can I Avoid Survey Scams?
• Other Ways to Make Money Online

There are genuinely many legitimate survey sites out there. Swagbucks , MyPoints , InboxDollars , OneOpinion, Prize Rebel, LifePoints, Ipsos, i-Say, Toluna, MySurvey, Vindale Research, Survey Junkie, and more.

For this article, I'm focusing on the survey sites that I have most tried, tested, and proven out. The best paid surveys are the ones that pay. I'll share with you paid online survey sites where I have earned actual rewards. I've cashed out Google gift cards , Apple gift cards , Safeway gift cards , and checks (in the mail). I'll share how you earn on these survey websites and how you cash out. We'll look at some legitimate survey sites and evaluate how much you can make and how long it takes to earn, and whether or not they offer a signup bonus.

We'll take an in-depth look at these 12 survey sites:

InboxDollars

Pinecone research, surveysavvy, survey junkie.

• Branded Surveys (MintVine)

Vindale Research

Opinion outpost.

All of these survey sites and market research companies are legitimate money-earning opportunities. You can voice your opinions in online surveys, make money, and get your reward cashout.

With surveys for money, Amazon gift cards and PayPal cash are the most popular reward options. But you can also opt to complete paid surveys for a check in the mail, prepaid Visa or Mastercard, or other free gift cards to popular stores.

And if you want to max your earnings, you can sign up for all of them. After reading the overview of these survey companies, read the next section to read up on making money right away by taking surveys.

You cannot get rich taking surveys, but you can absolutely make an extra $500 to $2,500 with fairly minimal effort.

Disclosure: I have spent a lot of time playing with various online survey panels, phone surveys, rewards sites, and shopping apps over the last 10 years. That's what eventually led to my current job at Prodege, where I work in digital media. If there's a hack for making money online, I want to try it. From flipping thrift store finds to extreme couponing to online surveys, I love a great side hustle. I've banked a few thousand dollars doing surveys. I've shared these sites and apps with my friends and family who either a) say it doesn't work or b) don't understand how they work.

And that's why I've written this piece. To break down the in's and out's of how to earn. We want to help consumers and members earn money taking surveys. Market research firms make money when authentic surveys are taken and completed. We want survey-takers to have a good experience and to understand the process. When consumers don't complete a survey or bail on a survey site, everyone loses out. And as a professional part-time hustler (I hope), it kills me when survey takers leave money on the table by missing out on little things like clicking a button or checking off a box on a list.

My rundowns on Swagbucks and InboxDollars are more through because I'm the most familiar with those survey companies. But from a survey insider to you, here's the scoop on how to earn money on the best survey sites.

Swagbucks is the best survey site , in my opinion. I have had positive experiences as a survey taker over the past couple of years and made around $800. Swagbucks typically pays within 24-48 hours. The first payment can take longer because Swagbucks will need to verify your account details. Cash funds get directly deposited into your Paypal account . Gift cards are delivered to you as electronic vouchers over email. You can enter the voucher codes online to redeem or store the voucher in your preferred digital wallet.

• Average Payment (Payout) per Survey: 50 to 500 SB (or $0.50 to $5.00)
• Time Investment: 5-25 minutes per survey (most surveys)
• Minimum Earnings to Cashout: $3
• Signup Requirements: Age 13+ in the US, available in many other countries including Canada, Australia, UK, France, Germany
• Devices Supported: Desktop/laptop, Tablet/iPad, Mobile (Mobile Web, iPhone App, Android App)
• Signup Bonus: $10.00 (Must complete $20+ shop activity)
• Trustpilot Review Score: 4.3 of 5 Stars (18,500+ Reviews)

100 SB equals one dollar. On Swagbucks , as with any legitimate survey site, you need to qualify for and complete the survey to get the associated payout reward.

What Sets Swagbucks Apart from Other Survey Sites

• Earn SB Even When You Don't Qualify. You earn SB even if you disqualify from a survey as a thank you for at least trying the survey and a nod of encouragement to keep going.
• Low Cashout Needed. Some survey companies require that you've earned $20, $30, or $50 to redeem your rewards. At Swagbucks, you can cash out if you've banked at least $3 or 300 SB. At $3, you can cash out with an Amazon gift card . Swagbucks sets the lowest cashout amount required among all survey companies.
• Variety of Payment Options. You can cash out with PayPal, a prepaid Visa card , or choose from gift cards to over 500 popular merchants.
• Earn free cryptocurrency for taking surveys. As of early 2022, Swagbucks has offered survey takers the ability to earn free Bitcoin for taking online surveys. Redeem your earnings for a gift card to buy Bitcoin on a cryptocurrency exchange. Or, you can cash out your earnings for completing surveys as PayPal or a prepaid Visa and use those funds to buy crypto on your performed platform.
• Discounted Gift Cards! When you cash out your rewards, you can get a $25 gift card to Target or to Amazon for 12% off. That's like spending $22 cash to get $25 in cash. (Since you can buy just about anything at Target or Amazon, a gift card to either merchant is basically cash in hand.) Other gift cards will have discounts throughout the year. For example, right now, you can get an Apple Gift Card for 10% off, or a Visa $25 card for 13% off (for $21.75, get a $25 Visa card).
• Loads of Other Fun Ways to Earn. Swagbucks offers lots of other ways to earn, like playing online games, web search, trivia, uploading receipts, and watching videos. Recently, Swagbucks has added new features for shopping and savings. You can earn cash back from shopping at over 2,000 different retailers (including Kohl's , Macy's , Hobby Lobby , and buybuyBABY ) when visiting their website from the Swagbucks shop page . You'll also find loads of online coupon codes and promo codes, printable grocery coupons , and dining deals that you can redeem in-store to save money and earn cash back.

How to Get Started Earning On Swagbucks:

• Sign up. You can download the Swagbucks app , or register on their website with a phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop. Just provide your email and create a password.
• Confirm your email address. It can take anywhere from 10 seconds to 2 minutes for the confirmation email to arrive in your inbox. Make sure to check your spam folders just in case.
• Complete the new member checklist. It'll walk you through how to earn and how to find surveys.
• Every time you visit Swagbucks, complete the daily to-do list.

Swagbucks is very user friendly because there are lots of little ways to earn. 1 SB here, a few SB there. It all adds up. I recommend Swagbucks as a first stop.

And I know a few people who use Swagbucks to top up their bank account for the holidays or tackle a bit of debt. Not bad for answering a few questions from the sidelines at your kid's soccer game, right?

» You can sign up for Swagbucks here «

• Average Payout per Survey: $0.50 - $5.00
• Minimum Earnings to Cashout: $10
• Signup Requirements: Age 18+ in U.S., 18+ in Canada, 18+ in UK
• Devices Supported: Desktop/Laptop, Tablet/iPad, Mobile (Mobile Web, iPhone App, Android App)
• Signup Bonus: $5.00
• Trustpilot Review Score: 4.3 of 5 Stars (12,000+ Reviews)

InboxDollars is one of the largest online survey sites out there. For over 20 years, it's connected consumer with relevant paid surveys.

InboxDollars has a good blend of surveys available, lots of other ways to earn (like watching videos or reading emails) and full earning transparency. You earn dollars and cents for each completed survey, not points or virtual currency.

As with Swagbucks (and all other survey websites), you do need to qualify for the surveys, and there is a survey pre-screener you need to complete to make you are part of the target audience. I've made over $2,500 taking surveys on InboxDollars.

What Sets InboxDollars Apart from Other Online Survey Sites:

• Generous Signup Bonus. New members get $5 free just for signing up to try InboxDollars. (You have to reach a certain threshold in earnings before you can cash out the $5 bonus.)
• Generous Referral Program. You earn $1 for each qualified referral (when a friend joins), and then 30% of their qualified earnings for life. Many other survey referral programs only give you 10% to 20% of your referrals' earnings. Sometimes nothing at all.
• Follow Social Media for Fun Extra Ways to Earn. You can earn a couple of cents to $50 or more for different social contests. The smaller prize contests (where you have a greater chance of winning a cash prize) run a few times a week or more.
• Transparency. You earn money in dollars and cents, not in points or other virtual currency.
• Other Fun Ways to Earn. InboxDollars has rolled out a lot of additional ways to earn over the years, including their daily trivia poll, printing free grocery coupons (earn 1-cent for each coupon you print, up to $0.50 a day or $183 a year), and scanning featured product barcodes in-stores.

How to Get Started Earning On InboxDollars:

• Sign up. You can download the InboxDollars app or sign up on their website with a mobile, tablet, laptop, or desktop. Just provide your email and create a password.
• Confirm your email address. It can take anywhere from 10 seconds to 2 minutes for the confirmation email to be delivered to your inbox. Make sure to check your spam folders just in case. The email confirmation is how you activate your account and get the $5 cash bonus.
• Complete the new member checklist. It'll walk you through how to find surveys and other ways to earn on the site.
• Every time you visit InboxDollars, try to complete the Daily List of ways to earn. In addition to surveys, it will feature other tasks and activities like visiting current coupon promotions or visiting a retailer's website.

I've earned the most from InboxDollars over the years. Surveys and market research are the backbones of the site. Consistency is key. At first, my goal was to attempt X number of surveys per day, just attempt. Then it was to complete 2 per day. And now, my goal is to earn $1.00 per day.

» You can sign up for InboxDollars here «

Best known for its shopping offers (earn points when you shop your favorite stores), MyPoints offers a ton of survey earning opportunities. Most surveys pay 30 to 500 points, but you will find surveys that pay even more. Redeem your points for free gift cards to Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and other popular merchants. They also offer prepaid Visa gift cards as a payment option. The point to dollar ratio can fluctuate, but generally, it's 175 points = $1.

• Average Payout per Survey: 50 points to 500 points (roughly $0.25 to $3)
• Time Investment: 5-30 minutes per survey
• Signup Requirements: Age 13+, except where local laws state you must be older. Additional rules apply for international issuers in terms of site usage, but non-U.S. members may join MyPoints.
• Devices Supported: Laptop/Desktop, Tablet/iPad, Mobile (Mobile Web, iTunes App, Android App)
• Signup Bonus: $10 (Must complete $20+ shop activity)
• Trustpilot Review Score: 4.4 of 5 Stars (5,500+ Reviews)

MyPoints has its roots as a shopping deals website. So it has a fantastic selection of ways to earn points through shopping deals: cashback (or point back) shopping to thousands of merchants, promo codes, discount codes, printable coupons, visiting featured sites, booking discounted travel, and more.

If you've ever purchased anything online or will ever purchase anything online in the future, it's worth joining MyPoints. You'll get a free $10 signup bonus for joining. To get the bonus, you just need to spend $20 or more at any featured retailer on MyPoints (there are over 2,000), and your account will get credited 1,750 points that you can redeem for a free $10 gift card to the retailer of your choice.

» You can sign up for MyPoints here «

Pinecone is one of the higher paying survey sites. Most surveys pay 300 points ($3). Pinecone is more selective about its membership base, and there can be fewer surveys available. Additionally, Pinecone Research offers only survey-earning opportunities.

• Average Payout per Survey: $3
• Time Investment per Survey: 20-30 minutes per survey
• Devices Supported: Laptop/Desktop, Tablet/iPad, Mobile Web
• Signup Bonus: None
• Trustpilot Review Score: 2.4 of 5 Stars (Fewer than 100 Reviews)

It takes longer to complete Pinecone Research surveys, but they're often for more well-known brands and companies, and you get a relatively high payout ($3) for each survey you complete. Typically you can join Pinecone Research by invite-only, but we have an affiliate invite link we can share with you to join.

If you do not get accepted right away, do not try to join again immediately (same day) or lie about your profile. This can get you blacklisted. It's better to wait a couple of weeks and try back again. Market research opportunities and demographic needs are always changing. And once you're in, you're in.

• Average Payout per Survey: $0.15 to $0.50
• Time Investment per Survey: 10-30 minutes
• Signup Requirements: Age 13+, except where older age required by local laws. Members outside of the US may join, but they will have limited earning opportunities. Additionally, payment is sent via a check made out in USD and sent to the residence on file.
• Devices supported: LaptopDesktop, iPad/Tablet, Mobile (Mobile Web, App)
• Trustpilot Review Score: 2.6 of 5 Stars (Fewer than 100 Reviews)

The appeal with SurveySavvy is you only need to be 13 to join, and you can cash out after you've earned at least $1. But, none of the surveys pay $1. They all pay a lot less than the other sites.

There are other ways to earn, though; by connecting your smartphone, desktop or laptop, and tablet device, you can make $5 per device each month. (You need to remain an active member though and interact with SurveySavvy site or SurveySavvy Connect.)

Payment is made by check in USD, so it takes a little longer to cashout and gets your rewards. There is no option to receive funds electronically via PayPal, gift card, or other vouchers.

Although surveys don't pay as much as with other sites, you can get $10 a month just by connecting 2 Internet devices. $15 a month if you connect 3 devices. You are giving up some privacy (Survey Savvy is doing to research to better understand consumer behavior online), but it's not really that different from using Chrome or Bing to search the Internet.

• Average Payout per Survey: $0.20 to $5.00
• Time Investment per Survey: 10-30+ minutes
• Signup Requirements: Age 18+ for residents of the USA, Canada, UK, Australia, and EU.
• Devices supported: LaptopDesktop, iPad/Tablet, Mobile (Mobile Web, iTunes App, Android App)
• Signup Bonus: $0.25
• Trustpilot Review Score: 4.5 of 5 Stars (21,000+ Reviews)

On Survey Junkie, members can earn points for taking surveys or for having their digital activity monitored online in a program called SJ Pulse.

When you participate in SJ Pulse, Survey Junkie will track the ads you see, websites you visit, online shopping, and other digital behaviors. The data is anonymized. Survey Junkie is doing market research and building a broader picture of online consumer behaviors. You earn points as you search the web and go about your daily digital activities, but exact payouts are unclear.

You can cash out once you've reached $10 or more in earnings via PayPal or a gift card to a retailer of your choice.

• Average Payout per Survey: 40-400 Points ($0.20 to $2.00)
• Time Investment per Survey: 20-30+ Minutes
• Signup Requirements: Age 16+ for residents of the USA, UK, and some other countries with limited earning opportunities.
• Devices Supported: LaptopDesktop, iPad/Tablet, Mobile (Mobile Web, iTunes App, Android App)
• Signup Bonus: $1.00
• Trustpilot Review Score: 4.3 of 5 Stars (1,100+ Reviews)

YouGov is a British based market research company. Survey taking opportunities are open to residents of the US or UK who are 14 and older. You get a $1.00 signup bonus. You earn points for taking surveys, and 1 point = 1/2 a cent. You can cash out once you've reached 5,000 points ($25). Points can be redeemed for cash deposits to PayPal, gift cards to your favorite retailers and restaurants, or mobile credits.

Branded Surveys (formerly known as MintVine)

• Average Payout per Survey: 25-300 points ($0.25 to $3.00)
• Time Investment per Survey: 15-30 minutes
• Signup Requirements: Age 18+ for residents of the US, or minors age 16+ with the consent of parents or guardians
• Devices supported: Desktop/Laptop, Mobile Web
• Signup Bonus: 100 points (or $1.00)
• Trustpilot Review Score: 4.3 of 5 Stars (28,500+ Reviews)

Earn points you can redeem for Amazon gift cards, Visa cards, or Paypal rewards. Reach 1,000 points minimum (or $10.00) to cash out. Branded Surveys typically process payments within 15 days after the end of the month.

• Average Payout per Survey: 50 points to 2,500 points ($0.05 to $2.50)
• Signup Requirements: Age 18+ for residents of the USA and UK, or minors 13+ with the consent of parents or guardians
• Devices Supported: Desktop/Laptop, iPad/Tablet, Mobile (Mobile Web or App)
• Trustpilot Review Score: 2.0 of 5 Stars (Fewer than 200 Reviews)

The signup process is a little bit different. Instead of filling out fields or a short form like other survey sites, a virtual chatbot named Emily will get your info. She'll ask you for your first name, last name, agreement to terms and conditions and privacy policy, agreement to use cookies, agreement to how your data is used and shared, your birthdate, your street address, gender, and that you create a password. And at every step, you'll be asked to confirm "YES", you agree that. The info you've provided is inaccurate.

While it feels a tad annoying, OneOpinion is a legit company. I think it's a lot of personal information to give out to see what's behind the curtain.

After you've given that info to Chatbot Emily, you receive a message stating they will review your details and email you if you are accepted. The notification says it takes 3-5 days, but it can take less time in my experience. It can even come through the same day. This is just a security control measure.

Once accepted, invitations to take surveys are emailed to you. Or you can log onto OneOpinion and check out the available surveys in your dashboard. Earn points for completing surveys. Every 1,000 points = $1.00. After you reach at least 25,000 points (or $25), you can redeem your points for rewards like an Amazon gift card, Paypal, prepaid Visa card, or gift card to another popular retailer. OneOpinion does not pay cash.

• Average Payout per Survey: $0.50 - $2.00
• Time Investment per Survey: 5-25 minutes
• Signup Requirements: Age 18+ in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia
• Devices Supported: Desktop/Laptop, Tablet/iPad, Mobile Web
• Signup Bonus: $1
• Trustpilot Rating: 3.8 of 5 Stars Based on 4,300+ Reviews

Similar to InboxDollars, Vindale Research is transparent with how much money you earn for each survey. Survey takers are paid in dollars and cents, not points. Once you reach at least $50 in earnings, you can cash out via Paypal.

Fifty dollars can seem like a high figure to hit, but Vindale Research does occasionally offer longer, more complex surveys that can pay up to $75. These will generally require more time commitment (over multiple days) and require more in-depth knowledge or expertise.

• Average Payout per Survey: 5-15 points ($0.50 to $1.50)
• Signup Requirements: Age 17+
• Trustpilot Review Score: 4.3 of 5 Stars (2,500+ Reviews)

Earn points for taking surveys. Redeem your points for Amazon gift cards, prepaid Visa cards, or Paypal. 100 points = $10. You can also earn points for testing products, watching adverts, and completing "real-world missions" in your neighborhood, like checking into stores or scanning products.

• Average Payout per Survey: 60-85 points ($0.60 to $0.85)
• Time Investment per Survey: 10-20 minutes
• Signup Requirements: Residents of US, UK, Canada, or Australia. Must be 18+ or 16+ with • parental consent.
• Trustpilot Review Score: 3.3 of 5 Stars (Fewer than 200 Reviews)

Earn points for taking surveys. You can redeem them for payment via PayPal, Amazon, Bitcoin, game codes, or gift cards to popular retailers. 100 points = $1.00 on PrizeRebel.

• Average Payout per Survey: 1,000 - 2,000 points ($0.33 to $0.66)
• Time Investment per Survey: 15-20 minutes
• Signup Requirements: Age 16+, US and Worldwide
• Devices supported:
• Signup Bonus: $5
• Trustpilot Review Score: 3.9 of 5 Stars (3,500+ Reviews)

Toluna is a market research company based in France. Earn points for taking surveys. Once you're reached 30,000 in points ($10), you can cash out for prizes that include sweepstakes tickets, getaway vacations, electronics, and other merchandise, gift cards and vouchers, or cash.

You can also earn for participating in Topics, Polls, Thumbs it, and Battles. These are ways of participating in the Toluna community and creating discussion, and sharing feedback around products and ideas.

Toluna is intriguing because it offers more unique ways to earn rewards and some actual physical prizes. For points to dollars conversion on Toluna, it's 3,000 points = $1.00.

Other Legitimate Survey Sites to Check Out:

• RewardSurvey
• Harris Poll
• Valued Opinions
• LifePoints (Global Test Market)
• American Consumer Opinion
• Focus Forward

Why Should I Take Online Survey Sites?

Because the legit online survey sites really pay. If you ever waste time online or on your smartphone, why not get paid for it?

If you've ever through news headlines, Bored Panda or Reddit, or social media feeds, you're probably a good fit for it. Answer questions, make money.

You won't get rich. In fact, you might only make $0.55 while doing a survey from your phone, while watching the game on TV, or waiting for your friend to show up at the restaurant. But $0.55 every time you do that, it adds up.

You get paid $0 for scrolling through Instagram or Pinterest, or answering social quizzes about which Disney villain you are. Why not answer those same types of questions and make actual money. And at the same time, you're helping brands you care about create better products and services for you and your family.

I have friends who are "always broke" who do online surveys and find it a godsend for extra money to fill up the gas tank or buy groceries. And I have friends who don't need the extra money. They do online surveys as a way to make extra cash when they've got spare time to fill.

I am always fiddling around on my phone. Especially when I spend hours at a time sitting on the couch with a new baby. In the 3 months since his birth, I've banked $ 450 (about $5 a day). Instead of playing Candy Crush (old-school, but I am still so addicted), I just decided to spend that time on survey sites instead. I've used that survey money on a Dyson cordless vacuum (dream vacuum), and Christmas presents for the kids.

If you ever waste time, ever watch online videos, ever play games, or shop online, then there's no reason not to make money on an online survey site. You just need an internet connection and a smartphone, tablet, or laptop.

What Kind of Topics Do Online Surveys Cover?

Paid online surveys cover a number of topics. The sky is the limit. Common topics often include:

• Baby Products
• Beauty & Cosmetics
• Electronics & Technology
• Entertainment
• Food / Grocery
• Food / Food & Beverage / Restaurants & Dining Out
• Home Improvement
• Sports & Leisure
• Video Games

How Much Money Can You Make Taking Surveys?

You can easily make an extra $50-$150 per month if you use these survey sites and strategies in this article. Wall Street Journal , Forbes , Mashable , Fox News , The Los Angeles Times , and The New York Times have all written articles covering survey taking as a legit way to make extra cash.

I've made over $5,000 over the past 6 years by doing survey sites and a couple of other shopping rewards apps.

It's not about adopting new habits in 2021. Instead, it's about making money for the things you're already doing. If you search the web, use a different search engine that will pay you instead of, or in addition to, Google. If you play games on your phone, play games in the InboxDollars app. If you shop online, visit a website through a Swagbucks shop page link to earn cashback. It's about just getting paid for things you're already doing, and you can try out other site making activities too.

Another way to look at it: you already waste time on your phone. Get paid to waste time on your phone. And if you join multiple survey sites, you can build your earnings even quicker.

Imagine what you might do with an extra $1,500 (or more) this year. Things on my family's list:

• Car repairs
• Pay Down Debt
• Next Year's Christmas and Holiday Season
• Just Have Extra Cash in Your Wallet

While you can't get rich from doing survey websites, online survey opportunities provide you with a steady way to add extra cash to your monthly budget. If the idea of earning a little extra money when you have spare time sounds appealing, find some more tips below on how to give it a go.

How To Make $50 In the Next 60 Minutes

In your first 60 minutes on the paid survey site InboxDollars, you can earn $50. (Or easily a little bit more.)

• Signup for InboxDollars and create a free account.
• Confirm your email — total earnings at $5.00.
• Complete the welcome activities on the "My List" to get started for an extra $0.50. Total earnings at $5.50.
• Complete the profile survey (under "My List") to earn $0.50. Total earnings at $6.00.
• Watch your first video (link under "My List") to earn $0.02. Total earnings at $6.02.
• Play a game and confirm your first paid email (under "My List"). Total earnings at $6.02.
• Print 50 coupons on InboxDollars coupons page for $0.50 (50-cents per coupon). Total earnings $6.52.
• Complete your first survey listed as "Best Survey" on InboxDollars surveys page for $0.50. Total earnings $7.02.
• Complete 1 other survey for $0.75. Total earnings $7.77
• Complete InboxDollars top 17 free offers. They change frequently and may have specific eligibility requirements, but as of the article's publication's date, if you complete the top 17 free offers, you can earn over $45.00 cash. Offers include signing up for Betty Crocker recipes and newsletter, signing up for a free sample of Dove deodorant, getting insurance quotes (for free), Total earnings $52.77

There are plenty of other ways to earn: more surveys, more free offers, and free samples to sign up for, games, videos, and so on.

Keep in mind that it may take a couple of hours or a couple of days for the funds to post to your account for some of the activities. Even though you may be able to bank your first $50 quickly, it can take time for some of the earnings to credit to your account.

The $5 signup bonus and survey earnings do post right away, though. These funds post to your earnings dashboard within seconds.

So while you can quickly bank your first $50 (or more), it may take a couple of weeks before you can request payout and get your Paypal, check, Visa, or gift card reward.

And while you can legitimately earn $50+ going through this list, you will not be able to earn $50+ an hour consistently. For some items - the signup bonus, initial profile survey, and offers - you can only do them once. New surveys are continually added, and new offers too.

Remember to be honest when you sign up for free samples, freebies, and free offers, and when you take surveys too. This helps build an accurate member profile, so you can get matched with the best and most relevant surveys and earning opportunities. When you inconsistently answer questions repeatedly, you will see fewer surveys. (The system won't know who you are and how to match you up.) And your account can get flagged or even blacklisted.

Honesty pays.

Sit down and spend the next 60 minutes working through this list, and you can easily earn $50. If you're using your smartphone, it may take an additional 10-20 minutes. Thumb-typing can slow things down.

And if you need a spot of cash right now (or within a couple of days), check out Swagbucks.

How To Earn $10 Right Now on Swagbucks

You can earn $10 right now on Swagbucks. 100 SB is one dollar.

• Create your free Swagbucks account.
• Take the initial profile survey - 5 SB
• Add the SwagButton to your browser extension - 25 SB
• Verify your first email from Swagbucks - 5 SB
• Complete your Daily Goal (to-do list of activities) - 30 SB
• Discover and play 3 Free Games - 30 SB
• Add select items to your virtual grocery list - 25 SB
• Upload a grocery receipt - 2 SB
• Print 50 free grocery coupons - 50 SB
• Join the Swagbucks Recognition Program - 3 SB
• Install & login to the Swagbucks app - 1 SB
• Watch & earn - watch your first video - 3 SB
• Discover and complete the featured offers (deals) that credit immediately. (After you click or tap the offer, it will tell you if the offer credits right away, in a few days, a week, or longer. Complete the free ones that credit right away. Please note that offers and offer availability change daily.) - 275 SB
• Complete 4 surveys with an average payout of 94 SB

Completing all of these items on your list, you can earn $10 right now on Swagbucks. If you're a new member, it will take a couple of days longer to get your first payout. (Your account details and personal information need to be vetted.) But otherwise, after you cash out, you can usually receive your payment within a couple of days.

Depending on how many surveys you try out, getting to your first $10 right now on Swagbucks could take away from 20 minutes to a few hours.

How to Spot Fake Survey Sites & Avoid Survey Scams

There are lots of legit survey sites, and we've discussed many of them in detail and we've listed dozens more. But there may be news ones you come across. Hopefully, most are legit, but there are plenty of scam survey sites out there too. Let's talk about what to look out for so you don't fall victim to a survey con job.

When sizing up a survey site, here are 8 things to watch out for:

• You're promised enough extra income to quit your job or retire. This should spike your BS meter. Survey sites are a good side hustle but not a regular income stream.
• You are promised free gift cards and free products for doing absolutely nothing. You can earn gift cards for answering surveys. Or evaluate free products (free samples) on legit survey sites. But you can't get paid for doing nothing.
• If the survey site asking for your bank account info, run. Huge red flag. A legit survey site doesn't need it. Not even to pay you. A legit survey site will send you payment as a check, Paypal, or gift card.
• The survey website charges you a fee to sign up. Another sure sign that the site shouldn't be trusted. It should be free to sign up and take surveys. You should never pay to take surveys; they should be paying you. (Survey sites may have other site activities that do cost money, like shopping or buying discounted gift cards. But taking surveys is free.)
• The reviews posted on the website look too good to be true. Fraud survey sites and legit survey sites often post reviews. But take a look at what the reviews are saying. Is it a man gushing about how he now has financial freedom? Scam. Is it a woman saying how happy she is to make $200 an hour or $7,000 a month? Total scam. If you read member reviews on legit survey sites, like Survey Junkie, LifePoints, or InboxDollars, you'll see that members write about being happy to earn some extra money to pay for back-to-school or Christmas. They will talk about lifetime earning amounts of $50 to $1,500 total, not thousands of dollars every month.

• Over 99% of the reviews are positive on third-party sites like BBB or TrustPilot. Huge red flag. Most people only take the time to leave a review when they're steamed. A clerk was surly to them, the item was damaged, or they couldn't get a refund. They've had an off experience. The same is true, with paid survey sites. Even the best-paid survey sites will have critical reviews from unhappy people. With reputable sites, good reviews should far outnumber the bad reviews. But if you only see glowing reviews with perfect scores, that survey site is somehow "rigging" the game. Run.
• The survey site does not have functional customer support. Fake survey sites will often advertise they have excellent customer support (and may show stock photos of smiling agents wearing phone headsets). Fake sites will display chat support icons or list a toll-free number. What happens when you try calling the toll free number? Or when you try to chat with an agent? This is where a fake website will fall apart. On an authentic survey site, there is legit customer support you can use to reach a human being.

These are 8 major red flags you should be looking out for when scoping out a survey site. You should be looking for signs that a survey site is legit.

Here are 6 signs of a legit survey site:

• Longevity. The survey company has been in the game for a while. They're not just claiming that they've been around for 10 years. You've looked at their Facebook page and review sites and see that they've been up and posting and responding to content for a long time. Fraud sites don't last as long.
• You've heard of it before - from people you trust. You have family, friends, coworkers, or people you know in real life who earn money on the survey site.
• The survey site has positive news and media coverage. When you search the Google site, you see results pop up for the survey website in Google's News results. The site has been featured in legit media outlets.

• The survey site has terms and conditions, disclaimers, and a privacy policy for its members. Typically you can find links to this data in the footer of a webpage on the survey site. Click on these links. Do they bring you to working pages? Now skim through the info. It should feature real physical addresses, real names, and actual dates. For fake sites, it will often have nonsense information listed (if anything at all). Like Company XYZ, or they'll put down an address that doesn't exist if you google it.
• The survey company has an active social media presence. The best survey sites are active on Facebook and Instagram, often Twitter, Pinterest, or TikTok too. This signifies that the survey company stands by its brand and wants to engage and interact with you. Look at the kind of content they post and check the timestamps of these posts, too. While some survey companies might be too small to do social media, an active presence with regular posts and updates is a very positive sign.

Advanced Survey Earning Tips

Below are some more advanced tips so you can make the most of your time on survey sites. You want to go for the juiciest bits on survey sites to make the most money. That's why I, for example, don't play games featured on survey sites. If it's a game I like, sure, I'm all in. But otherwise, games can take a lot longer than surveys to earn money.

I recommend waiting until you get to a hefty amount, like $50, $100, or more, before you cash out. The reward will feel that much more satisfying, and you can do something significant with your payout. Getting a $3 reward right away might feel good, but it can't buy you anything super special.

And if you sign up for the best-paid survey sites, you can earn the most gift cards and cash for your time.

Sign Up To 2-3 of the Best Paid Survey Sites

A nickel here, a dollar there, it all adds up. Earning $2.00 a day on a survey site isn't much. But over an entire year, that's $730. And now imagine you're doing two survey sites. That's $1,460 a year. And if you're doing three survey sites, that's $2,190 a year.

While you could do dozens of paid survey sites, I think that it becomes harder to manage. I think 2-3 is a good number, and if you have extra time, you could even go up to 4 or 5.

Belonging to multiple survey sites will increase your earnings and keep this side hustle fun. You could hit a lull with one survey site, where you are finding the surveys boring and tedious. Instead of giving up on that survey website altogether, you can just focus more energy on other sites (s) until the rut has passed. Also, different survey sites will offer different extra ways to earn. Swagbucks has a lot of coupons, promo codes, and cashback shopping offers. InboxDollars has a lot of social promos, daily trivia polls, videos, and games.

In addition to the money, you need variety. If you get bored, you'll burn out.

If MyPoints doesn't appeal to you today, check out YouGov or Pinecone Research. Also, there are times when survey sites are down for maintenance or technical issues. You'll want backups.

And if you decide to quit a paid survey site, don't leave money on the table. Figure out what the minimum is to cash out, get to that amount, cash-out, and then go. Don't walk away with $8 or $18 on the table.

Try to Answer As Many Surveys As You Can

Virtually all surveys on paid survey sites will have a screening process in place. Be patient. It's not a big deal and doesn't take that much time.

Brands are paying survey sites big bucks to get accurate market research data. They need to reach the right audience.

While a paid survey company like Toluna or Survey Junkie will have basic profile information about you that you've provided in a survey, they don't know everything about you.

If a market research company is looking for women age 25-44 (survey website knows this) who are interested in buying a new pair of boots for $50-$99 in the next 30 days, they'll need to ask some qualifying questions.

You'll answer a survey pre-screener to see if you're a good fit. The survey website will show this survey opportunity to its members' broad group: women age 25-44. But the survey website will have no idea if you're in the market for new boots soon, especially if you joined the survey site and completed your profile survey months ago.

Most pre-screeners take a couple of minutes to complete. Some can take a lot longer. It can be frustrating if you answer many pre-screener questions only not to qualify, but with most survey sites, you'll earn rewards just for applying. Swagbucks will give you SB, and on InboxDollars you will make progress towards a virtual ScratchCard (to win a cash prize worth up to $100).

In my experience, the longer the pre-screener, the juicier the reward.

The most important thing is, to be honest, and be consistent. If you answer surveys dishonestly, trying to qualify for as many as possible, that's a red flag. The survey matching algorithm will have no idea who you are or how to match you. If you say you're a young Hispanic mother in one survey, and in another, you say you're a 64-year-old male white retiree, this is a glaring discrepancy. These red flags add up. Over time, you'll be shown fewer survey opportunities (ones open to everyone because they don't know how to profile you). And eventually, you could be blacklisted from a survey website.

If you disqualify from a survey, it's not because you're not the right age, gender, occupation, or education level for that survey website. It's because you're not the demographic that one particular survey is looking for. That's all. Keep trying. The more survey opportunities you attempt, the more you'll complete, and the more you'll earn.

Go for the Low-Paying Surveys

It probably sounds crazy. Everyone doing surveys wants to earn lots of money. The juicy $3.00 surveys look way better than the $0.40 surveys. Everyone knows that. And that's the problem: everyone knows that.

When "everyone" goes for the same survey, these surveys fill up quickly. This can be another reason you don't qualify. A survey may only have the budget for 500 respondents. If the survey gets 500 valid completions while you're registering for the survey, you're not going to be able to take it. And you'll be frustrated at the time you put in on the pre-screener.

Lower-paying surveys are low-hanging fruit.

These surveys are way less crowded or competitive to get into, and usually shorter in length and easier to qualify for. They are often looking for a broader audience segment (i.e. people who like music).

Surveys Change All the Time, Check In Often

Surveys change all of the time. Some change by the minute. It's possible to see a dozen survey opportunities available at noon, and then only 1-2 just an hour later.

• The refresh button is your key. Reload the page. (Put mouse or cursor in the URL bar that has the web address and hit ENTER.) On many sites, you'll see a different assortment of surveys.
• Check back throughout the day on survey sites.
• Many survey sites, like Swagbucks or InboxDollars, will have a browser extension. While you're online, it will notify you when a new survey opportunity becomes available. Not only are these extensions free, but there's also generally a cash or point award for installing it on your toolbar.
• You can receive email notifications about good survey opportunities, too.
• Make sure to read the beginning and ending survey instructions carefully. It can include information about other related survey and focus group opportunities.

You just need to be consistent. Some days, you'll hit the jackpot. Other days you'll come up short. But keep checking back and keep trying.

Do Surveys On Your Phone and Laptop

Generally, I do surveys on my laptop. When I have a 10-minute lull at work or over my lunch break, I'll try to crank through a couple of surveys. But by sticking with just one device type, I'm missing out on a lot of surveys.

• While many (most) surveys are available on desktop and mobile web, some surveys are desktop web only or mobile-only. Try both ways.
• The best survey sites have a mobile app version. Make sure to install it on your phone. It'll make the mobile experience much better, and there's probably an incentive (cash or points) for you to install it.

Set Small Daily Goals

If your goal is "I need $100", a survey site can be a confusing and overwhelming place. When I log onto Swagbucks or InboxDollars, my goal is usually to make at least $1 to $2 during my time on-site.

Or when I was a much more active survey taker, I made a set list of things every day.

• Answer daily trivia poll -- $3.65 a year
• Complete 2 surveys -- $1.50 a day or $547.50 a year
• Watch available video content (I watch-listen while doing spreadsheets at my desk) -- $0.15 a day or $54.75 a year
• Print 50 coupons a day -- $0.50 a day or $182.50 a year
• Complete the latest free offers -- $0.80 day (average) or $292 a year
• Complete 20 web searches -- $29.20 a year
• Redeem prize codes -- $1.86 a year
• Shop through shopping pages to earn cash back a few times per month. (If there is something you need to buy at Best Buy or Old Navy or Home Depot, make sure to visit the site through a special link in the shopping portal so you can earn cash back. Thousands of stores a featured.) -- $120 a year

I don't regularly do games or other earning features, but those are other ways to earn too.

Completing a small list of activities everyday is manageable, easy, and fun. And when you do it daily, it becomes a habit. Some sites have additional bonuses for coming back every day. Doing all these things does add up. Pennies turn into dollars. And day after day, the figure is $1,231 for a year. My pace is closer to $730 a year (or $2 a day) right now, but the point is these daily tasks I was doing were easy and stress-free. And often, they were a nice 5-minute mental break.

Everyday at my office, I listen to all the available videos while loading reports, doing spreadsheets, and looking at email. I have earbuds in. I can't say I'm 100% focused, but I am listening and occasionally glancing over at the screen. I like the cooking and current event videos, and celebrity gossip is just a guilty pleasure. I mean, where else can you get paid to find out what Justin Bieber and Harry Styles are up to?

And the great thing is you can complete these tasks on other survey sites too. You can do this same set of activities on Swagbucks, Branded Surveys (formerly MintVine), MyPoints, InboxDollars, and Tada.

Make Money Buying Products You're Already Buying (or Planning to Buy)

Survey sites Swagbucks, Branded Surveys, InboxDollars, MyPoints, and Tada all have shopping portals. This means survey sites partner with retailers who want more online web traffic. Survey companies send shoppers (you), and when you make a purchase the survey companies get a commission. And they share part of that commission with you in the form of cash back rebates.

You can make money from cash back rebates in the form of cash (like InboxDollars) or points or other virtual currency. Amounts vary, but typically cash back amounts range from 2% to 10%.

On Swagbucks, for example, there are over 2,000 different merchants in their shopping portal. Meaning you can earn cash back from shopping at any or all of those retailers. Some of the more popular cash back shopping stores include:

I made all of my holiday purchases online this year, and I'll admit it. And it only takes a second to see whether or not the survey site offers cash back for the retailer's website. And there are some items I bought online and then picked up in-store.

For example last month, I purchased a vacuum online at Best Buy and then picked it up in-store earned 800 SB (or $8.00) for visiting Best Buy from a survey site link.

I also employed this tactic when buying a baby shower gift at buybuyBABY just a few days ago. I'm getting 158 SB (or $1.58) for purchasing a registry gift that I would have bought anyway.

It only takes a second to check out the featured cash back stores. If you're going to make a purchase anyway, make some cash for doing it.

Summary (Or Cliff Notes on Making Money from the Best Survey Sites)

Here's a quick run-through or low-down.

There are many legit survey sites. You can join them and earn extra money, but it's not a full-time job. You'll need to qualify for and complete the surveys, and reach the minimum cashout amount.

Most survey sites pay you in points or virtual currency that you can redeem for cash, Paypal, or gift cards.

How to make the most money and have the best survey-taking experience:

• Sign up for multiple survey sites. The best survey sites to try are Swagbucks, InboxDollars, and Pinecone Research.
• Look for signs that the survey site is legit.
• Take as many surveys as possible or at least register for them. You won't be eligible for all of them. Be persistent.
• Be consistent and honest in how you answer questions. Inconsistent answers are a red flag and can lead to you getting blocked.
• Go for the low-hanging fruit. Take the lower or lowest paying surveys. They are less competitive to get into and are often shorter.
• Make sure to check out the survey site from your desktop or laptop machine and your smartphone. There are different surveys and different earning opportunities on different device types.
• Check out the extra, non-survey ways to earn, like cashback shopping, redeeming offers, trying free trials and free samples, playing games, watching videos, and using coupons.
• Bite-size goals! Try to earn a small, achievable amount every day like $1 or $2. Have a plan to reach this amount by doing a set of easy, achievable tasks.

And if you're like me, you'll become a survey addict after you get your first payment. It's a total rush. And it feels like *free money* or *prize money*. And it's not just surveys that you'll get hooked on. It's all the other fun ways you can earn on survey sites.

If you're consistent, you can make a tidy sum each year. Survey taking sites are a great side hustle for when you want to kill time or fidget on your phone while watching TV.

What Are Other Ways to Make Money Online

In addition to taking paid online surveys, there are lots of other ways to make money online. There are lots of great gigs and apps that pay cash. Check out these other great reads to get you started.

• Test websites for money - Find the best online web tester jobs .
• Get paid to be a medical test subject .
• Make money off your hobbies.
• Drive for Lyft or Uber . There's always a generous sign up bonus. And to find out what you'll be getting to, see a review of what it's like to work as a rideshare driver .
• Work for Instacart , Shipt , Postmates, DoorDash , or similar food delivery service. Read an insider review of what it's like doing food delivery .
• Make money searching (and cleaning up) the web. How to get paid to evaluate search engine results .
• Flip thrift store finds to make money .
• Upload receipts on shopping apps like ibotta , SavingStar , Checkout 51 , Dosh , Fetch Rewards , Shopkick , and Magic Receipts .
• Earn cash back for your online shopping. Many survey sites in this article have this feature. You can also check out Paribus , Rakuten (Ebates), and Tada. Just like survey sites, it's a good idea to join multiple cash back shopping apps. Different apps will feature different stores and different payout amounts.

Start putting cash back in your wallet!

We have paid our members over, how people have used swagbucks to earn free gift cards..

"This site has been my backbone for about a year now with no money to pay bills. Every $5 I earn in gift cards is another $5 that I can spend on groceries at Walmart. Without Swagbucks I wouldn't be able to survive living off of one income! Thank you swagbucks for everything that you offer." - ltbst4

"I use Swagbucks to get free gift cards because my hours at work and bonuses got cut because of the economy. Swagbucks has helped my family buy homeschooling supplies, Christmas and birthday gifts and loads of food." - swaggerdadthomas

"I work fulltime to support my family. My wife is a stay at home mom for two of our children. I make just enough to pay bills, buy food and keep a roof over our heads. With Swagbucks, I can finally make a little extra to provide my family, whether its extra cash on Paypal to pay for a special dinner or Amazon gift cards to pay for "Amazon Mom" subscriptions for diapers and supplies for my kids." - FWeatherwax

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Market Research Survey: The Complete Guide

This process involves gathering primary (self-conducted) and secondary (information already researched and made available) sources, to fully assess how a business will fare within a particular market and audience.

A market research survey is typically a source of primary information that businesses can use as part of their market research campaigns. It can also exist as a secondary source, in which case, its studies and results are published online or in a print publication.

This article will take a close look at the market research survey, so that you can use it to the optimum benefit for your business.

What Can you Achieve with Market Research?

A market research survey, as its name entails, is used for research purposes. Before we dive into all the aspects of this survey, it is apt to learn how you can use market research to your full advantage.

Market research is critical for a variety of purposes, including marketing , advertising , and branding campaigns. 

Aside from providing data-based support for these macro purposes, market research gains you invaluable insight into particular markets. For example, you may consider running a research campaign for the retail market . Market research will help you gather all the relevant information pertaining to this specific market.

Aside from retail, you can conduct market research in a number of verticals, including ecommerce , technology, real estate and many others.

There are plenty of other applications for market research. Here are some of the ways to use market research to your advantage:

• Observe data to prepare for challenges in advance
• Gauge the demand for your product or service
• Learn key market trends and staples
• Discover how your competitors are winning or losing
• Uncover your target market’s desires, preferences, aversions and thoughts

The final point is remarkably crucial for market research and for generally keeping your business afloat. And so, we’ll now dig deep into the market research survey, as this tool is especially useful for this purpose.

Defining a Market Research Survey

This tool is the most commonly used market research method — and for good reason. A market research survey allows you to gather data on your target market. Moreover, it allows businesses to do so by accessing any insights they need, as long as they form corresponding questions to their investigation.

Surveys have a far-reaching history, as they date back to ancient civilizations such as Greece and Rome. There was a surge in survey use in 1930s America, in which the government sought to understand the economic and social state of the nation.

Surveys have taken up a variety of forms, including analog forms, such as paper and mail-in formats . 

Telephone surveys were the medium of choice for survey research during the 1960s-90s. But, as technological advancements would have it, those have declined in usefulness as well.

In the present day, surveys are conducted online, particularly through the use of designated software platforms. This type of software has paved the way for easy access to primary research. 

Businesses can use online survey software and tools and to carry out all their survey research (save for creating the screener and questions). Many such tools available both allow you to build surveys along with deploying them. 

To reiterate, market research surveys are powerful tools, in that they empower businesses to ask any question they choose to better understand their market and consumer base. They also can offer key insights into competitors. 

The Components of a Market Research Survey

This tool contains two major components: the screener and the questionnaire . These form the bulk of the insights your primary research will gather.

There are also two auxiliary components to incorporate to make your survey research successful. These include the call-out (introduction) and the thank you message (conclusion).

Unlike the essential components, the need to use these will vary based on your survey deployment method and campaign. For example, an emailed survey won’t require a call-out, as the email itself serves this purpose.

A web or mobile survey, on the other hand, will need a call-out to get the attention of your respondents. 

Here is a break-down of each component, beginning with the essential elements:

• These conditions often deal with demographics, which is incredibly important, as you would need to first and foremost, survey your target market. The screener will ensure it is only your target market that takes part in the survey.
• The screener is often comprised of 2-3 questions.
• The questionnaire should ask all the necessary questions you need for a particular campaign or sub-campaign. Or, if used in a preliminary stage of your market research, they can deal with questions particularly designed to segment your target market.
• If respondents are contacted via email, the call-out is in the email’s body, inviting participants to take it, listing why it’s important, its length and what it’s used for.
• If the survey exists within a website (either as a banner, or button), the call-out is the clickable element itself (the button/banner to the survey). It too should explain the survey to respondents.
• If the survey is on a website/app, the call-out has to be visible and attractive enough for users to notice it and click on it.
• The survey often routes users to another page with a thank you message. 
• It’s important, as it lets participants know that their survey has in fact been submitted.

How to Create a Market Research Survey

Here are a few steps to take into consideration when starting on a market research survey project.

Step 1: Find a topic your business needs to learn more about.

This is particularly important if it is a topic that has little to no secondary sources. In this case, opting for a survey is the best way to learn more about it firsthand, from the people who matter most: your target market. Pay attention to any problems your business may experience, as surveys should help resolve them. 

Step 2: Consider the topic in regards to your target market

When you’ve narrowed down a problem or two, think about your target market. Do you know who constitutes it? If yes, tailor your survey topic into a subtopic that they’ll be most likely to respond to. For example, if your target market is middle-aged men who watch sports, consider whether your problem/topic will be relevant to them.

If you don’t know your target market, you should conduct some secondary research about it first, then perform market segmentation (surveys can help on this front too).

Step 3: Find the larger application of the survey campaign

Now that you’ve settled on a topic/problem and decided on whether it’s fitting for your target market, consider what the parent campaign of the survey would be. Let’s hypothetically say your topic is related to a product. Would a survey on that topic benefit a branding campaign like finding your next slogan? Would it be better suited to settle on a theme for an advertising campaign? 

Once you find the most appropriate application or macro campaign to house the survey, your market research will be organized and your survey will be better set up for success.

Step 4: Calculate your margin of error

A margin of error , in simple terms, is a measurement of how effective your survey will be. Expressed as a percentage, it measures the difference between survey results and the population value.

You need to measure this unit, as surveys represent a large group of people, but are made up of a much smaller group. Therefore, the larger the margin of error, the less accurate the opinions of the survey represent an entire population. 

Step 5: Create your survey(s)

Now that you’ve calculated the margin of error, start creating your campaign. Decide on how many surveys you would need, in regard to your margin of error and your market research needs. 

Start with a broader topic and get more specific in each question. Or, create multiple surveys focused on different but closely related subtopics to your main topic.

Send out your surveys through a trusted survey platform. 

Questions to Ask for Various Campaigns

The steps laid out above are part of a simple procedure in developing a market research survey. However, there is much more to these steps, especially that of creating the survey. 

Namely, you would need the correct set of questions, as they are the lifeblood of a survey. With so many different survey research campaigns and purposes, brainstorming questions can seem almost counterintuitive. 

To avoid information overload and any confusion that creating a survey may incite, review the below question examples. They are organized per campaign type, so you can discern which questions are most suitable for which corresponding research purpose.

Questions for Branding

Branding campaigns include efforts that build the identity of your business; this includes gathering data-backed ideas on logos, imagery, messaging and core themes surrounding your brand. You can use these when embarking on a new campaign, revamping an existing one or when you’re looking to change your brand’s reputation and style.

• Which of these brands do you know?
• What do you like most/least about this brand?
• Which idea is more important? (Use an idea behind setting up your brand’s image/style)
• Which images do you find the most inspiring? (To compare images you’ll use in your marketing/ definitive to your brand)
• What do you like about [brand]? (Can be open-ended)

Questions for Advertising

Using market research for advertising will help you obtain ideas for new advertising campaigns, testing already established campaign ideas and predicting the success of new ones.

• How would you rate the motivating power of this ad?
• Which of the following ads resonate the most with you?
• Do you remember this ad? (Name and image/video of a popular ad within your industry)
• How do you feel after watching this ad?
• What kind of use do you think this product/service produces?

Questions for Comparing Yourself with Competitors 

Studying your competitors is often associated with secondary research, but you can gain intelligence on this topic through your own survey research. The great thing about surveys is that you don’t have to focus on one competitor when managing these surveys.

• How often do you use this product/service?
• Which brand do you use for this product/service? (Include one open-ended answer).
• Which of the following products (same kind, different brand) do you find the most useful?
• What about [competitor product] would you like to see change?
• Which brand has improved your life? (Include one open-ended question).

Questions for Market Segmentation

This application is possibly the most challenging, as it involves understanding who your target market already is, then further segmenting it. We understand coming to terms with your target market first, before narrowing it any further down.

Here is how to segment your target market; you’ll notice that the questions are much more granular than the typical questions associated with each topic. (Ex: demographics typically ask for race, age, gender, income, etc).

• Demographic segmentation: Which of the following groups do you identify with most closely? (It can involve anything from music, to shopping habits, to lifestyle choices)
• Geographic segmentation: Which of the following areas do you typically spend time in to make physical purchases?
• Psychographic segmentation: How do you feel about retailers who test their products on animals?
• Behavioral segmentation: How often do you buy this kind of product?
• Sentimental segmentation: How do the following [practices, images, actions] make you feel?

Securing the Most Benefits Out of Your Market Research Survey

As we can deduce from this guide, the market research survey is a critical tool for market research . There is so much to discover about your industry, competitors and chiefly, your customers. But before making any hasty decisions, it is vital to peruse all your research documents, not just the primary research ones, such as surveys.

When you combine primary and secondary research sources, you’re setting up any business move for greater success. 

That’s because market research involves studying more than one source. It may appear daunting, but with the right tools, you can design better products, innovate on existing products, appeal to a wider audience and gain more revenue from your marketing efforts. 

Thus, pair your market research survey with other research means for a lucrative market research campaign. Knowledge truly is power. 

Frequently asked questions

What is a market research survey.

A market research survey is a survey used for conducting primary market research and is the most commonly used market research method. Market research surveys help you understand your target market, gathering data necessary to make informed decisions on content creation, product development, and more.

What are the components of a market research survey?

There are 4 major components in a market research survey. First, we have the callout to get digital visitors to participate in a survey. Next is the screener which determines who is eligible to take the survey based on their demographics information and answers to screening questions. Then, there is the questionnaire—-- this is the heart of the survey, containing a set of open-ended or closed-ended questions. Lastly, there’s the callout. This introduces the survey to respondents. Next, there’s the thank you message. This acts as the conclusion to the survey.

How can you create a market research survey?

Creating a market research survey starts with identifying the topics your business needs to learn more about. Next, you consider topics within the context of your target market and find the larger application of the survey campaign. Calculate your margin of error and then create your survey using online software.

What types of questions should you ask on your market research survey?

You can ask branding related questions to gather information on how your identity of your business is perceived. You can also ask questions that spark ideas for new advertising campaigns. To supplement your secondary research on competitors, ask questions about your business’s place in the industry. Questions can also be used for market segmentation. These are questions on demographic, geographic, psychographic, behavioral and sentimental topics.

How can you get the most benefits out of your market research survey?

You can get the most out of your market research survey by using the correct online survey platform-- one with specific audience targeting for real consumers, radius targeting and quality screening questions-- you’ll get relevant answers from the right audience.

Do you want to distribute your survey? Pollfish offers you access to millions of targeted consumers to get survey responses from $0.95 per complete. Launch your survey today.

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18 Ways to Use Market Research Surveys

A market research survey is a tried and tested tool to help you uncover vital intel about consumer sentiment, something any business can benefit from.  In a perfect world, we’d know exactly what people want, think, and feel about our products and company all the time. Sadly, it’s neither feasible nor realistic. And that’s ok.

With the best products, messaging, and delivery, there’s always room for improvement. And even when you get it just right, market and consumer behaviors can shift at a moment’s notice.

Enter market research surveys – the most favored and widely used qualitative research tool there is right now.

What is a market research survey?

A market research survey is a qualitative research method used to gather feedback from a person or group. It provides vital insights that support strategic decisions , allowing organizations to analyze and understand consumer behavior or motivations in more detail. Responses are collected in various forms, such as paper, in-person, mailings, or online.

What information can a market research survey tell you?

Market research surveys collect feedback from individuals by using a range of questions to find out about things like:

• Experiences
• Characteristics
• Preferences
• Motivations
• Needs & Demands

What are the benefits of market research surveys?

Here’s the top five advantages of using online market research surveys:

• Quick to set-up
• Easy to create
• Immediate feedback
• Extensive reach

“As a business that provides market research survey tools, our mission is to help companies collect crucial information so they can understand the people’s opinions, behaviors, and knowledge of specific industries, products, and services. Data collected through market research surveys are essential for making decisions about product development, marketing strategies, and business operations.”

Market research survey uses and types in action

Market research surveys are both valuable and versatile . But many organizations fail to realize their true potential; and don’t always extract the maximum ROI. Here, I’m sharing 18 different ways to use online surveys.

1. Measure customer satisfaction

Market research surveys are an ideal way to measure and obtain feedback about customer satisfaction ; they’re often referred of CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) surveys, indicating what consumers like and dislike. They also allow organizations to keep track of their Net Promotor Score (NPS). Typically, these surveys ask questions to uncover insights about a service, product, or experience. Sending timely feedback surveys to help resolve issues before they become a problem , giving you the chance to transform a poor experience into a good one.

Here’s three examples of typical questions asked in customer service surveys:

• Please rate the service you received when you visited our store today – Availability of staff (1-5) – Staff knowledge (1-5) – Friendly and helpful attitude (1-5)
• Were you recommended any additional products or services? (yes/no)
• If we could improve one thing about your experience at our store today, what would it be? (open text)

2. Do opinion polling

A great way to gather mass consensus from a large group of people. Typically, they’re short and sweet, asking just 2-3 questions. It’s one of the fastest ways to establish public opinion on a chosen topic. There are three types of opinion poll surveys you can use. They are:

• Rating – Usually a sliding scale between 0-10.
• Multiple choice – This offers three to five- options to choose from (always include ‘other’ as one of these with a free text field to uncover insights you might not have considered).
• Free text – Useful, but a little prohibitive if used too much. It’s important to balance the use of this option with quick and easy ratings and checkbox formats.

Here are three examples of opinion polling survey questions:

• What is the main reason you are attending the event?
• Do you like the changes to the lunch menu?
• What would be your ideal work setup? Office, WFH, or Hybrid?

3. Conduct audience research

Also known as buyer persona surveys, use them to better understand who your customers are, their motivations, and demographics . The results allow you to develop better value propositions and create more informed marketing campaigns that convert better and drive revenue.

Here are a few examples of audience research survey questions:

• Which social sites do you look at most?
• How often do you check your emails?
• How much research would you do before making a buying decision?
• Which search engine do you use most?
• What information formats do you most engage with?
• What tools do you use most in your daily work?

4. Automate testimonials & reviews

Testimonials can build a boatload of authority and buyer confidence. 85% of people trust reviews from strangers as much as peers, making them one of the most valuable forms of content. Automate the process, sit back, and watch the feedback roll in. During set-up, use a mix of rating-based questions and open-text fields. Once collected, they’ll support brand awareness , boost credibility, and assist with other marketing-related activities.

5. Measure employee satisfaction

It’s no secret that happy employees are more engaged and productive . According to research, happiness makes us about 12% more productive . On the flip side, low morale or job dissatisfaction can harm an organization’s reputation, culture, and bottom line. Surveys are a low-cost, effective, and easy way to measure employee satisfaction . You can also use them as exit interview surveys, a must for any business of any size.

Pro Tip: To surface any drivers of employee dissatisfaction, people need to know they can be brutally honest and open with their responses; anonymity in the survey is the only way to achieve this.

6. Validate product development ideas

Online surveys are a great way to validate whether or not a new product idea is worthy of investment. It can help you quantify demand by asking direct questions about specific features or concepts you are considering. Within our own business, we review new products or feature ideas internally and then validate their impact and potential with customers in the same way. Simply put, a quick research survey can uncover vital intel that shapes the what, how, and when to enhance your offering.

7. Measure lead generation effectiveness

Research surveys can help determine the efficiency of your lead qualification process . In short, they can measure and track how well a sales team is doing and assess things like timeliness, follow-up activities, and more. The information helps organizations find new ways to improve the management of lead generation activities and take actions that directly impact conversions in the future.

8. Improve market segmentation

Market surveys for better understand customers can help you better understand customers and prospects. With this, you can separate customers into smaller groups based on interest, demographics , geography , usage, or brand preferences. This gives you the ability to do more targeted marketing and a clearer view of why people in a specific group have or haven’t done business with you.

Segmentation survey example: A spa owner could use segmentation to group clients based on their treatment type or specific brands or products they prefer. They’re then able to offer specific promotions that involve the cross-pollination of products and services. This is just a single example; the possibilities are endless.

9. Qualification of pricing models

Surveys help you qualify any initial work on pricing new products or services. They can provide a clear indication of price ranges to consider and in some cases, give insights that shape pricing models and strategies that better serve the needs of different groups in a market. For demand analysis, these surveys are designed to determine if prices are set too high or too low.

10. Choose the right create assets

Establishing what types of creative assets most appeal to a target audience saves time and money while increasing the potential for success . For example, suppose you’re considering a few different titles for a major email campaign or trying to decide between a physical billboard campaign vs. digital marketing. In that case, a targeted survey can give you a general inclination of what will or won’t work.

Even with a sample network to target, you can get valuable insights to help you prioritize resources.

11. User experience

User experience (UX) surveys are one of the most important things you can do when designing or improving a product or service. The key to success is crafting an unbiased UX survey that enables people to freely open up about their preferences and attitudes. The questions you ask will be largely determined by what you want to achieve. User experience surveys can take place live from within an app or on a website, but can be confused with usability testing; a method that evaluates how easy a product is to use by testing it with actual users.

Here’s a few tips to get you started:

• Ask the right questions:
• Avoid using closed questions (yes/no) as they’ll often not provide usable intel about a customer’s mindset
• Use task-driven questions like ‘can you tell me more about your experience using our mobile app to make your booking?’
• Ranking questions, like ‘how would you rate the ease of booking via our app?’
• Avoid leading questions to avoid bias, like ‘if you enjoyed this product, should we create more like it?’
• Keep your survey short, clear, and simple – no more than eight questions is ideal.

12. Conduct a competitive analysis

You can use market surveys to get a quick taste of consumer appetites for a rival’s product, marketing efforts, and pricing. Here, I’ve highlighted three areas, along with specific questions to gather telling feedback about your competitors.

Where a market survey delivers value is by asking focused questions about sentiment and perception. Questions like:

• Do you perceive company x’s products to be high-quality or low-cost vs. our own?
• Do you find x feature valuable or not?
• Would you be prepared to pay more for a new feature that does x, y, or z?

Here’s a few questions you can ask:

• Which channels do you prefer to interact through, phone, app, live chat, etc.?
• What made you decide to purchase with us vs. a competitor?
• Do competitors offer promotions that would compel you to buy from them over us?
• What would deter you from buying x product from a competitor?

Enables you to clearly see which assets people respond to most positively. Aside from using a rival’s website to see their latest marketing campaigns, look at social media too. Do your competitors have a mobile app?

• If so, then you need to download it and experience things from your customer’s perspective.
• If not, do a survey to find out whether there’s an appetite for this or not?

Pro Tip: Use market research surveys to show your target demographic a selection of marketing materials from different competitors; ask them which they prefer and why, but make sure you remove their branding to avoid bias.

Here’s a few good questions to ask:

• How does this ad make you feel?
• Would you be more or less likely to buy if you saw this?
• What perception of the company or product do you have after seeing this ad?

Using surveys for competitive market research is just one of the many methods of gaining market intelligence to stay informed and gain market share . Surveys take time, and you need to consider how you tap into audiences that are aware of your rival’s offering and your own. Here’s a link to an article with some competitive analysis examples to help you find other ways to do this.

13. Monitor and track brand perception

Good brand perception can do wonders for your business. If people believe in your brand, it can open doors to new partnerships, boost buyer confidence, and make launching products easier. Brand tracking surveys give you a low-cost, effective way to monitor and benchmark brand perception regularly. Run them quarterly to get trackable results, and use a sliding scale, allowing people to indicate whether they’re more or less interested in specific products, features, or services.

Pro Tip: Brand tracking surveys aren’t just for customers and prospects, but employees, partners, and other stakeholders. Make sure your distribution accounts for this.

14. Analyze purchase or intent analysis

The consumer decision-making process typically consists of five stages, sometimes more.

Taking time to understand purchase intent allows you to capitalize upon and generate future demand for products, uncovering key drivers behind consumer intent. As a result, you can build more effective campaigns based on genuine consumer patterns; and discover what drives consumers to move from interest to purchase.

Different types of questions can be used to measure purchase intent. Always consider the objectives of your survey first before selecting the questions you’re going to ask; the format of the question will directly determine the type of information you yield.

Scale survey questions

These are used to determine feelings and opinions. For instance, to determine the likelihood of a future purchase from a specific set of customers, you can present respondents with a statement like this.

Q. I will probably purchase a new walk-in shower in the next 12 months

• Strongly agree
• Neither agree, nor disagree
• Strongly disagree

Ranking questions

Enable you to understand a service or product’s popularity. These are used more so in the early stages of a purchasing journey and can tell you how you compare with competitors, and which products most appeal to certain groups of people.

Q. Rank the following walk-in shower brands in order of preference

Rating scale questions

Use a numerical scale (usually 0-10) that allows respondents to rate the likelihood they’ll choose your offering over a rival.

Multiple-choice questions

These are the most widely used survey question type because they’re quick and easy for people to answer. They can help you establish purchase timeframes, which ties into demand and sales projections. An example of this could be:

Q. When do you expect to buy a new walk-in shower?

• Within 3 months
• Within 6 months
• Within 12 months
• I have no plans to buy a walk-in shower in the near future

Feedback from a survey question like this means your sales division can turn its attention to prospects who indicate they’re likely to purchase in the near future.

15. Discover factors that impact customer loyalty

Customer loyalty surveys tell you ‘why’ people love you or leave you, providing a valued measurement for your NPS. Using surveys for loyalty purposes lets you translate raw data into actionable insights that shape future strategies, campaigns, and messaging.

Here are a few examples of questions to ask in a customer loyalty survey:

• How likely are you to continue using our services?
• On a scale of 0-5, how satisfied are you with our company?
• Do you deal with any other companies for a similar product or service?
• How do you rate the value we offer for the money you pay?

16. Do B2B market research

The global B2B eCommerce market is growing , so much so that it’s expected to reach over 25 trillion by 2028. Needless to say, having effective tools to help with B2B market research is key. Market research surveys are a quick and easy way to target a large group of people at a low cost.

Here are a few ways to use B2B market research surveys, with sample questions included:

• Demographical information – Who are your target customers? – What is your line of business? – How many employees does your company employ? – What is your position at the company?
• Need vs. demand data – Does your business ever buy x products? – Do you use any apps or tools to boost productivity? – Who is the person responsible for buying x products? – Where do you go if you’re looking to buy x?
• Buying pattern insights – What’s the most important feature when buying promo products for your customers? – What motivates you to spend more money buying from a new vendor? – What business issues motivate you to invest in new products or marketing campaigns?

17. Measure advertising effectiveness

Conversion and click-through rates are widely regarded as the best way to measure advertising effectiveness. The often-forgotten about survey tool is another way to test how strong or relevant your ads or messaging is. The results can give you deeper insights that help you shape future marketing efforts for better results.

Here, you’re looking to find out:

• How much an advert motivates people to purchase?
• Are they memorable?
• Did customers understand them?
• What do customers think or feel about a specific slogan or tagline?

Pro Tip: You can also use this type of survey to uncover how people think about your ads vs. those of your rivals.

18. Improve content marketing strategy

Online surveys are a lesser-known but highly valuable tool to enhance your content marketing strategy . Instead of simply crunching the regular performance metrics, develop a quick online survey to gauge feedback from your content VIPs (your audience). It gives you the chance to connect with your readers, show them you care , and ensure your content efforts exceed expectations.

The questions asked should address experiences, likes, dislikes, and preferences. Ask about their preferred content formats, and find out if they’d like to hear more or less about a theme or topic. Another easy way to do this is by adding a rating score at the bottom of an article that asked people if they found it useful, or not.

Read more: this article outlines 99 market research questions you should be asking, some are for you, others for your customers.

Best Online Market Research Survey Tools for 2022

We’ve all likely heard of names like SurveyMonkey, Typeform, and Qualaroo, either from personal experience or through marketing. One thing that surprised me was the sheer volume of tools for online surveys; far too many to list here (48 and still counting).

For now, here are nine of the best.

• SurveyMonkey
• Branded surveys
• Google forms

Wrapping Up

There’s no doubt that a well-constructed market research survey can be golden for your business. But, there are now more efficient ways to gain insights into most of the same things I’ve covered in this post. Similarweb Research Intelligence is a great example of this in action.

Features like website demographics, search keyword analysis , market analysis , audience interests, industry analysis , segment analysis, and competitive analysis are just a few relevant places where you can uncover instant insights to help you shape strategic decisions around marketing, growth, and product development.

Enjoy 360 Visibility 24/7

Get the data you need to adapt to market changes and industry trends in an instant.

Further Reading:

• Market Research Tips Straight From the Experts
• Get Growing with Small Business Market Research
• 7 Highly Successful Market Research Examples
• The Complete Guide to Desk Research
• Market Research Trends to Conquer 2022
• 64 Market Research Questions You Should Be Asking

How do you choose which type of market research survey to use? Answer these questions to determine the best type of survey to use:

• Size of the survey base – how many people are you likely to survey? (monthly/yearly)
• How many times will you conduct surveys? (monthly/yearly)
• What format will you use? (Online, telephone, in-person, paper)

What are the things to consider before doing a market research survey? Note down what you want to achieve, and consider the type of structure you will use to collect responses. For instance, surveys can be based on ratings, rankings, open text, or a mixture of all three. Another consideration is anonymity and whether you will offer an incentive to participants who take the survey.

Should you incentivize market research survey participants? If you’re surveying a niche market or audience, and their input is of high value, or you have a survey that’s more than 5-minutes to complete, you might want to offer an incentive to encourage a response. It’s now considered common practice to offer incentives via promotional codes, PayPal credits, or charitable donations to entice participation.

Can you automate market research surveys? Automating market research surveys is the best way to ensure relevant questions are asked at the right time. Specifically for surveys about customer satisfaction, testimonials, and reviews, these are very easy to automate and quick to set up.

Is a market research survey the same as market research? Market research surveys are a type of qualitative research, which is one type of market research method.

Related Posts

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How to conduct a market survey that works

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Knowing your audience is the backbone of success whether you’re a small business or a household name. And to know your audience, you need to do some all-important market research. But what’s the best way to go about doing that? Well, the easy answer is to use our market research platform to get on-demand insights into your existing audience and your potential customers.

But, if you want to take the long route, you could conduct a good old fashioned market research survey yourself.

What is a market research survey?

We’re glad you asked. A market research survey is a way of gaining information, insights, and attributes about your target consumers, so you can better understand them and what makes them tick. These surveys are typically conducted by market research companies . More information means more knowledge, which leads to more understanding – helping drive more successful campaigns.

But market research surveys don’t just help you improve your targeting and create campaigns that have impact. They provide valuable insight into the feelings, attitudes, and preferences of your audience – guiding everything from concept testing and launching new products, to brand positioning and customer satisfaction.

But what does it really take to conduct a market survey that works? Let’s get into it.

1. Set a clear goal 2. Know who to survey 3. Get help from survey-savvy people 4. Figure out the best way to get answers 5. Focus on the execution 6. Understand analysis is the answer 7. Uncover the bigger picture

1. Set a clear goal

Start by setting a clear objective of what you want from your market research. This will be determined by your marketing goals. If you’re launching a new product, for example, you’ll want to know what the demand is, how aware people are of your existing products/brand, if they currently use a competitor, and how frequently they buy.

Be precise about the outcome you’re looking for so you can get the answers you need to nail your future marketing campaigns .

• Why are you doing the survey?
• What do you want to find out from your research?
• Is it for product improvements with an existing audience?
• Are you looking to launch a new product into the marketplace and therefore need to know if there’s sufficient demand?
• Are you looking to improve your customer experience?

Knowing what you want to find out will help you identify what information you need. And it’ll help you determine whether a qualitative or quantitative approach works best.

The aim is to find out what your customers are looking for and improve satisfaction with your brand. 

Uncovering consumer attitudes could reveal some invaluable insights that will guide your strategy with the customer at the heart.

2. Know who to survey

Market research starts with identifying which market you’re targeting. Who’s your audience? Are you looking at existing customers? Or are you looking to find out more about potential customers? 

Think back to your goal here. Keeping in mind what you’re looking to achieve from your market research can help guide who you survey. For example, if you want to build on your customer offering by introducing a priority service, you may just want to gather information from people living in a certain area or earning over a certain amount.

Use regional data to attain precise information about the target customer whose data you need, and narrow it down to support your ultimate goal. 

Determine key demographics of your target audience like where they live, their age, gender, or income bracket. You’ll also need to establish the market size of your target market in order to calculate your sample size.

3. Get help from some survey-savvy people

Who knows about surveys? We do. 

We teased this at the start, but turning to an existing, ongoing survey (or multiple) could save you a helluva lot of time – and money. So if you need a faster way to understand digital consumers, we give you an on-demand window into their worlds. All in a few quick clicks, in one reliable audience insights platform.

GWI data spans 53 markets and represents over 2 billion internet users, making it the world’s leading market survey on digital consumers. 

We provide a level of detail you can’t find elsewhere. Survey research is tricky. So why not leave it to the market research experts? And if you want something super bespoke for your business needs, our Custom research offering might be just the thing. 

4. Figure out the best way to get answers

Cast your mind back to steps 1 and 2. Thinking about who you’re looking to survey and what you’re looking to gain will help determine how you get those answers from the right target market. 

Knowing the difference between primary research and secondary research, as well as qualitative and quantitative, can go a long way to helping you figure out the best approach. 

For example, primary market research is where you gather data that hasn’t been collected before – it’s new, essentially. You can gather primary research via surveys or observations. On the other hand, secondary market research is where you gather data that’s already been collected or conducted before by other people. You can find secondary research in published reports or studies. 

Surveys can be carried out in a number of ways, no longer exclusive to telephone surveys and focus groups. The online survey is another option that allows you to take a step away from the time-consuming paper survey. You can also conduct market research in groups or on an individual basis. 

Once again, the optimum approach for your brand will depend on your goals and the information you’re trying to capture, as well as your target audience, market share potential, and overall preferences.

If you want to gather in-depth information from Gen Z , for example, you might want to head over to Instagram. With 28% of Gen Zs saying that Instagram is their favorite social media platform, you’re most likely to find them scrolling here where you can try out polls to get answers, and  ask follow-up questions that dig a little deeper.

Using quantitative panel data to back this up, market researchers can come away with powerful insights and market analysis they can trust.

 5. Focus on the execution

Once you’re clear about your goals, the data you want, the people you need to talk to, and the best way to gather your survey data, it’s important to maximize the sample size. 

This means reaching people at the right time, checking out where they’re likely to be, and setting a realistic timeframe for them to share their thoughts.

You’ve got to really keep your target audience in mind here. If you’re physically interacting with people, think about the places they’re likely to visit, and at what times they’ll be there. There’s no use setting up camp at the mall on a weekday if you’re looking to talk to corporate big fish.

If it’s an online survey, understanding which social media platforms or websites they are likely to hang out on, and at what times they tend to be online is vital to getting those survey form completion numbers to hit the high notes. 

Conducting some data analysis ahead of the survey can go a long way in helping make the survey easier to reach the right audiences. Take the guesswork out of your marketing research.

6. Analysis is the answer

Once you’ve gathered your market survey responses, they need to be analyzed thoroughly to pull out key trends and findings to allow you to gain some tasty, actionable insights from the data. So, what do you need to be looking at?

• Examine qualitative answers for stand-out quotes and detailed feedback about attitudes and behaviors
• Calculate averages from your quantitative answers
• Compare your results against global and local secondary market research

There are plenty of ways to cross-examine and analyze your market research data based on the type of data you’ve collected and what you’re looking for.

7. Uncover the bigger picture

Conducting a single market research survey is invaluable to brands, but when carried out in isolation, market research can lack real-world relevance.  

To get more from your analysis, large-scale market survey data allows you to compare your findings across multiple data points. You can cross-reference it with local subgroups and compare against global averages to clearly see where the value truly lies.

Use case: Identifying affluent consumer behaviors on social media

Here’s a hypothetical example. Let’s say you sell a luxury product. You’ve identified from your own survey results and analytics that social media is prominent in your customers’ lives. 

But you need more detail to target high-earners on the channels where they’re most active.

By using a deep data set to dig down into their activity on social media, you can uncover exactly where they spend their time:

Combining this with questions designed to reveal their motivations for using social media takes your understanding to the next level:

Here, 30% of affluent consumers follow/subscribe to companies and brands they purchase from, so we’re more inclined to say they can be targeted with a good social media strategy from brands to be enticed into buying from them. 

Uncovering insights like this is key to delivering a well-positioned message that sticks. 

Now, you can create a campaign specifically targeted to hit your ideal target market, where they hang out and in a way that speaks to their interests.

Market research surveys are pivotal to success

Market surveys can be used in a variety of ways to help a brand focus more on its target audience and take a more people-based approach.

You can use it to get a better understanding of the perceptions around your brand, test the appetite for a new product, and find customer demographics to accurately pitch an ad campaign. A marketing research survey enables you to gather information about your audience and help to build a buyer persona for each sector of your target audience for more personalized, effective marketing strategies.

Data holds the answers you need to achieve almost every business goal.

But data is powerless without effective analysis. And without effective analysis, no insights can be drawn. So it pays to have third-party survey data sets at your disposal to contextualize your findings. A skillfully-planned market survey that catches customer feedback and experience will deliver findings that could spell the difference between success and failure in a marketing strategy. Leveraging GWI’s data platform means getting clued up on your audience fast, and making decisions you can stand behind.

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Why use surveys?

Survey research methods.

• Conducting market research surveys
• Common mistakes with market research surveys?

The different types of survey methods

Survey tools for your survey method, what can businesses do with these types of surveys, how to write a research survey (free example templates), try qualtrics for free, types of market research surveys.

20 min read There are different types of survey research you can run, but the majority of research is conducted with just a handful of research survey methods. We explore what they are and how to use them.

What is a market research survey?

A market research survey is a way of getting feedback directly from the people who have the ultimate say in your organization’s success: your customers.

Unlike focus groups or interviews, market research surveys allow you to get detailed feedback at scale — from behaviors to overall experiences — and in a standardized format. Also, as the data is easy to process, you can quickly turn it into actionable insights .

Surveys are used to collect primary research, which means market research data that you collect yourself. The other type is secondary data, which is obtained from other sources, for example census data.

Surveys are among the most popular methods of primary market research, since they can be used to gather qualitative and quantitative research on market trends, and they can cover a huge range of respondents across your customer base. They’re also a format familiar to many people.

Get started with our free survey software

Surveys are ultimately about understanding your target audience, but they can go beyond your customer base. They can be taken by anyone — employees, potential future customers, and even those who don’t want to engage with your business (helping you to identify the ones that do).

However, a survey isn’t a stand-alone solution. It can work alongside other survey methods, such as focus groups, field studies, observation, and market analysis, to help you get a clear picture of your market and decide what direction to take.

But with all these different types of survey methods, and some being better than others in specific areas (e.g. data quality, collecting feedback), where should you start?

To get the best out of each survey research type, consider what you can invest in terms of:

• Time: How quickly do you need the survey research? Do you have time to conduct research?
• Money: Do you have the budget to invest in research overheads?
• Knowledge of analytics: Are you trained to interpret the collected data? If not, do you have a partner you can work with to get the insights you need?
• Research expertise: Do you have clearly defined problems or challenges that you want to explore or understand through surveys?
• Technology capability: Is your survey software up to the task of analyzing the data?
• Your audience’s response: Is it likely that your audience will respond? What survey types (online surveys, etc.) would they be most receptive to?
• Slow responses: Do you have a strategy in place to avoid low response rates?

Conducting market research surveys: best practices

Today’s market research industry is advancing rapidly, thanks in part to new technologies which make it easier to conduct market research, and offer more power and sophistication when it comes to analyzing your data.

Data-driven research is the standard across market research and other disciplines, and within the sector competition between brands is driving progress towards better and better market research tools. Beyond customer satisfaction, demographic questions and competitive analysis, today’s tools can dive deeper into your data, unearthing key drivers behind trends and even providing aggregated data on emotions and attitudes in customer feedback.

However, none of these technological advances can replace humans. To conduct market research successfully, you need to be able to combine tech with insight, intelligence and intuition, especially when you’re dealing directly with target customers, for example during a phone interview or when you’re approaching existing customers whose relationship to your brand needs to be maintained.

As we’ll see in this guide, market research can be used in a huge range of contexts, including brand tracking, customer experience research, employee experience programs, and of course product development. Whichever application you’re looking at, it’s essential to prepare thoroughly before sending out your surveys.

• Make sure your research question has been formulated and agreed by everyone involved in the project
• Develop a communications plan to maximize the chances of people engaging with your survey, including introductions, publicity, reminders and follow-up
• Consider using pre-testing before you fully launch your survey to thoroughly road-test it and iron out any issues
• Close the loop – after the study is complete and actions have been taken, let participations know how their contribution helped
• Consider a research panel for future surveys, either one you’ve built yourself or one managed by a third party provider

What are some common mistakes with market research surveys?

With the right survey tools and appropriate support from your survey platform provider, everything should go smoothly, even if you’re not an expert at doing your own market research. However, there are a few things to watch out for.

Choosing the wrong people to survey

Figuring out who you’re going to survey in the first place may seem like an obvious first step and not one you need to spend much time on. But in fact it’s possible to get it wrong, survey the wrong people and end up running a market research study with unreliable data. This is sometimes called ‘sample framing error’

Getting your sample size wrong

If your sample is too small, you run the risk of getting a sample group that doesn’t adequately reflect your target population. This can throw your entire market research survey off course. But if the sample is too large, you spend time and money on research that doesn’t add significant value. Have a look at our sample size calculator to help determine the right sample size for your market research surveys.

Using the wrong kinds of analysis

Do you know your conjoint analysis from your T-test? Understanding the basic types of statistical tests you can use to analyze market research survey data is essential if you’re not using a survey tool with built-in analytics. You’ll need to match the kind of data you’re collecting to the analysis method you choose in order to get accurate insights from your market research surveys.

Writing confusing survey questions

Survey questions aren’t like the questions we use in everyday speech, or even like the ones we ask in formal writing. They need to be highly specific, include appropriate context, and be free of any kind of descriptive or persuasive element that might introduce bias. For a primer on writing great market research survey questions, see our guide to great survey questions

You should choose your survey method based on your target audience, distribution capabilities, and the questions you want answered. For example, interviews are far more personal and explorative by nature, but they’re difficult and costly to scale. Online surveys, on the other hand, have far greater reach and much more affordable — but you lose the opportunity to connect with respondents. Let’s go through the different types and how you can use them.

Online surveys

Online surveys are accessible to any participant across the globe, providing they have an internet connection. You can create online surveys using survey platforms and distribute them via email using a link, or respondents can go directly to the online survey and complete it.

Paper surveys

Paper surveys (or written surveys) are printed surveys filled in by hand. This method works well if respondents have enough time (and incentive) to complete the survey, and the researcher is happy to manually collect the data before collating and interpreting the answers.

Mail surveys

Mail surveys provide exceptional geographical coverage as they can be printed off and sent via the post. However, as recipients need to return the surveys for counting, it’s recommended that you include a pre-paid returns envelope in the original envelope, otherwise you’ll have lower response rates.

Telephone surveys

Telephone surveys involve asking respondents a series of questions over the phone. It’s a popular survey method as it’s convenient for researchers and doesn’t require a lot of capital to do. However, researchers may need to invest time to set up interviews with participants and take notes during the process.

In-person interviews / face-to-face surveys

In-person interviews and face-to-face surveys are great opportunities to get more insightful and valuable responses from participants. You can quickly find out why they think and feel the way that they do, providing an unbiased view of a subject or issue. However, like telephone surveys, they require a lot of time to set up and gather data.

Panel surveys

Panel surveys use a pre-selected group of people as the sample, so that the research can be carried out quickly. It presents a happy medium between the speed and quality of research data.

Based on the type of survey method you choose, here are the types of tools you need and can use for each:

A good internet connection is required for participants to access online surveys, though mobile devices data plans mean that most people can connect to the internet easily.

A good survey software platform is needed to give you full functionality and flexibility, so your online surveys can be customized and optimized. However, businesses can get more for their money with a survey software system that does more for the company.

For example, the Qualtrics XM Platform™ is a best-of-breed experience operating system for experience management. It brings all your operational and experience data together from across the organization to help create and improve experiences for employees, customers, prospects and more. It automatically updates records, has an in-built analytics engine and can handle research projects, from start to finish, in a few clicks.

All you need are paper, ink, pens and clipboards — but due to environmental and sustainability concerns, particularly paper waste and ink pollution, you may want to opt for a more digitized solution.

For mail surveys, the resources and concerns are the same as with paper surveys — but the main difference is distribution.

Ultimately, you need a reliable postal service that can deliver to your target audience. It also becomes costly if you want to include international respondents.

As long as you have good connectivity and network coverage, telephone surveys are straightforward. That said, survey calls can last a long time, so if you plan to include international audiences, ensure you can afford the calling costs.

The only requirement for in-person interviews and face-to-face surveys is a venue to hold them in.

These require participants to be available at the time of the research. Traditionally, third-party generated research panels are available as a service to companies that don’t have access to the audiences they need.

The surveys we explored can be used for four purposes in any business:

1. Market surveys

These help you understand who’s out there, what they want, and how you can best meet their needs.

Market description surveys

Purpose: to determine the size and relative market share of the market. Such studies provide key information about market growth, competitive positioning, and tracking share of the market .

Market profiling / segmentation surveys

Purpose: to identify who the customers are , who they are not, and why they are or are not your customers. This is often a descriptive market segmentation and market share analysis.

Stage in the purchase process / tracking surveys

Where is the customer in the adoption process? This information shows Market Awareness – Knowledge – Intention – Trial – Purchase – Repurchase of the product.

2.   Customer experience surveys

This kind of survey helps you put yourself in the customer’s shoes and look at your business from their perspective.

Customer intention – purchase analysis surveys

Purpose: Directed at understanding the current customer. What motivates the customer to move from interest in the product to actual purchase? This is key to understanding customer conversion, commitment, and loyalty .

Customer attitudes and expectations surveys

Purpose: Used to direct advertising and improve customer conversion, commitment, and loyalty. Does the product meet customer expectations ? What attitudes have customers formed about the product and/or company?

Learn how you can set up and run customer attitudes and use surveys

Sales lead generation surveys

Purpose: Sales lead generation surveys are for

• assuring timely use and follow-up of sales leads
• qualifying sales leads (thereby saving valuable sales force time)
• providing more effective tracking of sales leads

Customer trust / loyalty / retention analysis surveys

Purpose: Especially helpful for high-priced consumer goods with a long decision and purchase processes (time from need recognition to purchase), this type of study explores the depth of consumer attitudes formed about the product and/or company.

Salesforce effectiveness surveys

Purpose: A combination of measures that focus on the sales activities, performance, and effectiveness in producing the desired and measurable effect or goal. Often measured as a 360-degree survey completed by the salesperson, the client (evaluating the sales call), and the supervisor responsible for evaluating the salesperson.

Customer service surveys

Purpose: Akin to customer satisfaction surveys, customer service surveys instead focus in detail on the actual customer service that was received, the process involved in receiving that service, and the evaluation of the participants in the service process.

Customer service representative (CSR) surveys

Purpose: CSRs often exhibit frustration, burnout, and high turnover . Surveys focus on CSR retention, reducing costs, and increasing the quality of customer relationships.

Attitudes, burnout, turnover, and retention: CSRs hold attitudes that reflect on their job-related activities including:

• the allocation of time
• solutions to customer needs
• how to improve their job
• best practices
• how well internal departments help customers

3. Product surveys

As part of product development, surveys help you find out what features, benefits and attributes appeal most to your customers, and how best to package your product, experience or service.

New product, service or experience concept analysis surveys

Purpose: Concept test studies are appropriate in the initial screening of new product concepts . Likes and dislikes about the concept and evaluation of acceptability and likelihood of purchase are especially useful measures.

Concept optimization, demand estimation, and cost analysis surveys (conjoint analysis)

Purpose: Determines an optimal bundle of features and benefits, and estimates associated demand. This kind of survey develops market share estimates of market potential for the alternative potential products.

Habits and practices, or attitude and usage surveys

Purpose: Directed at understanding usage situations, including how, when, and where the product is used. Habits and practices studies sometimes include a real or virtual pantry audit. Attitude and usage studies are used to understand consumer attitudes towards the product category and to life in general. They also look at product and brand usage, including how, when and where the product is used.

Product satisfaction surveys (attribute, features, promised benefits)

Purpose: Evaluation of the product’s promised bundle of benefits (both tangible and image). Are expectations created for the product by advertising, packaging , and the product appearance fulfilled by the product?

Competitive benchmarking surveys

Purpose: A “best practices” study of “how does the market view us relative to the competition?” Competitive positioning analyses often compare the attributes and benefits that make up the product using multidimensional scaling. These analyses also include an evaluation of key competitors, looking at the same KPIs and attributes as product satisfaction surveys.

Sales forecasting and market tracking surveys

Purpose: Sales forecasting and market tracking studies can include expert opinion (experts estimate the market), judgmental bootstrapping (expert-based rules describing how to use available secondary market information), conjoint analysis (estimation of consumer intentions based on product attributes that are important in the decision), and intentions evaluations (consumer self-reported intentions of future purchases).

Price setting surveys and elasticity of demand analysis

Purpose: Price surveys estimate the elasticity of demand and show optimal price points, including prices too low or too high. Price surveys may estimate the demand for different product or service segments, or different usage situations.

4. Brand surveys

A survey can help you understand how consumers perceive your brand and what values and ideas they associate with it. You can explore what value your brand has and whether people would choose you over competitors in your market niche.

Brand equity analysis surveys

Purpose: What is the psychological value that a brand holds in the marketplace? Brand equity is a composite of brand awareness , brand quality, brand associations, and brand loyalty measures.

Advertising value identification and analysis surveys

Purpose: Advertising value analysis focuses on mapping the hierarchical attributes, benefits, and values that are associated with and portrayed by an advertisement. Means-end analysis is often part of this type of study.

Advertising message effectiveness surveys (media and message)

Purpose: Message effectiveness testing identifies the impressions, feelings, and effectiveness in moving the respondent to a desired goal (increased awareness, more product information, trial, repeat purchase).

Once you know the right type of survey to run, the next step is to write a survey that your respondents will love to take!

Survey methods can be used to help collect data on real business issues and help you answer questions. Qualtrics supports customer surveys on every channel, at every journey stage to get you answers for more informed decisions.

We’ve put together a range of survey example templates that you can use for free to help you get started:

• Employee satisfaction survey template
• Employee exit survey template
• Customer satisfaction (CSAT) survey template
• Ad testing survey template
• Brand awareness survey template
• Product pricing survey template
• Product research survey template
• Employee engagement survey template
• Customer service survey template
• NPS survey template
• Product package testing survey template
• Product features prioritization survey template

In addition, for large-scale research studies, Qualtrics offers market research services to help with everything from questionnaire design and survey methods, to implementation and analysis.

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Post event survey questions 10 min read, best survey software 16 min read, close-ended questions 7 min read, survey vs questionnaire 12 min read, response bias 13 min read, double barreled question 11 min read, likert scales 14 min read, request demo.

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Market Research: A How-To Guide and Template

Discover the different types of market research, how to conduct your own market research, and use a free template to help you along the way.

MARKET RESEARCH KIT

5 Research and Planning Templates + a Free Guide on How to Use Them in Your Market Research

Updated: 02/21/24

Published: 02/21/24

Today's consumers have a lot of power. As a business, you must have a deep understanding of who your buyers are and what influences their purchase decisions.

Enter: Market Research.

Whether you're new to market research or not, I created this guide to help you conduct a thorough study of your market, target audience, competition, and more. Let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

What is market research?

Primary vs. secondary research, types of market research, how to do market research, market research report template, market research examples.

Market research is the process of gathering information about your target market and customers to verify the success of a new product, help your team iterate on an existing product, or understand brand perception to ensure your team is effectively communicating your company's value effectively.

Market research can answer various questions about the state of an industry. But if you ask me, it's hardly a crystal ball that marketers can rely on for insights on their customers.

Market researchers investigate several areas of the market, and it can take weeks or even months to paint an accurate picture of the business landscape.

However, researching just one of those areas can make you more intuitive to who your buyers are and how to deliver value that no other business is offering them right now.

How? Consider these two things:

• Your competitors also have experienced individuals in the industry and a customer base. It‘s very possible that your immediate resources are, in many ways, equal to those of your competition’s immediate resources. Seeking a larger sample size for answers can provide a better edge.
• Your customers don't represent the attitudes of an entire market. They represent the attitudes of the part of the market that is already drawn to your brand.

The market research services market is growing rapidly, which signifies a strong interest in market research as we enter 2024. The market is expected to grow from roughly $75 billion in 2021 to $90.79 billion in 2025 .

Free Market Research Kit

• SWOT Analysis Template
• Survey Template
• Focus Group Template

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

Why do market research?

Market research allows you to meet your buyer where they are.

As our world becomes louder and demands more of our attention, this proves invaluable.

By understanding your buyer's problems, pain points, and desired solutions, you can aptly craft your product or service to naturally appeal to them.

Market research also provides insight into the following:

• Where your target audience and current customers conduct their product or service research
• Which of your competitors your target audience looks to for information, options, or purchases
• What's trending in your industry and in the eyes of your buyer
• Who makes up your market and what their challenges are
• What influences purchases and conversions among your target audience
• Consumer attitudes about a particular topic, pain, product, or brand
• Whether there‘s demand for the business initiatives you’re investing in
• Unaddressed or underserved customer needs that can be flipped into selling opportunity
• Attitudes about pricing for a particular product or service

Ultimately, market research allows you to get information from a larger sample size of your target audience, eliminating bias and assumptions so that you can get to the heart of consumer attitudes.

As a result, you can make better business decisions.

To give you an idea of how extensive market research can get , consider that it can either be qualitative or quantitative in nature — depending on the studies you conduct and what you're trying to learn about your industry.

Qualitative research is concerned with public opinion, and explores how the market feels about the products currently available in that market.

Quantitative research is concerned with data, and looks for relevant trends in the information that's gathered from public records.

That said, there are two main types of market research that your business can conduct to collect actionable information on your products: primary research and secondary research.

Primary Research

Primary research is the pursuit of first-hand information about your market and the customers within your market.

It's useful when segmenting your market and establishing your buyer personas.

Primary market research tends to fall into one of two buckets:

• Exploratory Primary Research: This kind of primary market research normally takes place as a first step — before any specific research has been performed — and may involve open-ended interviews or surveys with small numbers of people.
• Specific Primary Research: This type of research often follows exploratory research. In specific research, you take a smaller or more precise segment of your audience and ask questions aimed at solving a suspected problem.

Secondary Research

Secondary research is all the data and public records you have at your disposal to draw conclusions from (e.g. trend reports, market statistics, industry content, and sales data you already have on your business).

Secondary research is particularly useful for analyzing your competitors . The main buckets your secondary market research will fall into include:

• Public Sources: These sources are your first and most-accessible layer of material when conducting secondary market research. They're often free to find and review — like government statistics (e.g., from the U.S. Census Bureau ).
• Commercial Sources: These sources often come in the form of pay-to-access market reports, consisting of industry insight compiled by a research agency like Pew , Gartner , or Forrester .
• Internal Sources: This is the market data your organization already has like average revenue per sale, customer retention rates, and other historical data that can help you draw conclusions on buyer needs.
• Focus Groups
• Product/ Service Use Research
• Observation-Based Research
• Buyer Persona Research
• Market Segmentation Research
• Pricing Research
• Competitive Analysis Research
• Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Research
• Brand Awareness Research
• Campaign Research

1. Interviews

Interviews allow for face-to-face discussions so you can allow for a natural flow of conversation. Your interviewees can answer questions about themselves to help you design your buyer personas and shape your entire marketing strategy.

2. Focus Groups

Focus groups provide you with a handful of carefully-selected people that can test out your product and provide feedback. This type of market research can give you ideas for product differentiation.

3. Product/Service Use Research

Product or service use research offers insight into how and why your audience uses your product or service. This type of market research also gives you an idea of the product or service's usability for your target audience.

4. Observation-Based Research

Observation-based research allows you to sit back and watch the ways in which your target audience members go about using your product or service, what works well in terms of UX , and which aspects of it could be improved.

5. Buyer Persona Research

Buyer persona research gives you a realistic look at who makes up your target audience, what their challenges are, why they want your product or service, and what they need from your business or brand.

6. Market Segmentation Research

Market segmentation research allows you to categorize your target audience into different groups (or segments) based on specific and defining characteristics. This way, you can determine effective ways to meet their needs.

7. Pricing Research

Pricing research helps you define your pricing strategy . It gives you an idea of what similar products or services in your market sell for and what your target audience is willing to pay.

8. Competitive Analysis

Competitive analyses give you a deep understanding of the competition in your market and industry. You can learn about what's doing well in your industry and how you can separate yourself from the competition .

9. Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Research

Customer satisfaction and loyalty research gives you a look into how you can get current customers to return for more business and what will motivate them to do so (e.g., loyalty programs , rewards, remarkable customer service).

10. Brand Awareness Research

Brand awareness research tells you what your target audience knows about and recognizes from your brand. It tells you about the associations people make when they think about your business.

11. Campaign Research

Campaign research entails looking into your past campaigns and analyzing their success among your target audience and current customers. The goal is to use these learnings to inform future campaigns.

• Define your buyer persona.
• Identify a persona group to engage.
• Prepare research questions for your market research participants.
• List your primary competitors.
• Summarize your findings.

1. Define your buyer persona.

You have to understand who your customers are and how customers in your industry make buying decisions.

This is where your buyer personas come in handy. Buyer personas — sometimes referred to as marketing personas — are fictional, generalized representations of your ideal customers.

Use a free tool to create a buyer persona that your entire company can use to market, sell, and serve better.

Don't forget to share this post!

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Top 10 Free Market Research Tools to Boost Your Business

Understanding your market is crucial for success. However, the market research process can be expensive, impacting small businesses and entrepreneurs. Thankfully, there’s good news – you don’t need a big budget to gather valuable insights about your customers and industry trends. Businesses of all sizes can now use free market research tools to make informed decisions and remain ahead of the competition.

From survey platforms to trend analysis tools, these resources offer a wealth of information at no cost. So, these tools can be your secret weapon for success, whether you’re just starting out or looking to expand your existing business.

In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at the top 10 free market research tools that can help you supercharge your business growth.

What are Free Market Research Tools?

Free market research tools are helpful resources that anyone can use without spending money to learn about markets, customers, and competitors. These tools give insights that can be used to make smart business decisions.

Some of these tools let you ask people questions through surveys or check what topics are popular online. Others show you how many people are visiting your website or your competitors’ sites. There are even tools that help you see what people are saying about your business on social media.

These tools are great because they’re usually available online and don’t cost anything to use. They give businesses important insights without needing to spend a lot of money on fancy research. By using these tools smartly, businesses can make better decisions and sell more successfully.

Benefits of having Free Market Research Tools

These tools provide valuable insights into consumer behavior, industry trends, and competitor strategies without breaking the bank. Here, we’ll explore the benefits of leveraging free market research software and how they can help businesses thrive.

• It Save Your Money: With free market research tools, you can unlock valuable insights without spending a single penny. That means even if you’re running on a tight budget, you can still gather important market research data to fuel your business decisions.
• Making Smarter Moves: Forget relying on guesswork. Free market research tools arm you with real data so you can make informed decisions. Say goodbye to blind leaps and hello to calculated steps toward success.
• Staying One Step Ahead: Keeping an eye on your competitors is key to staying ahead of the game. Free market research tools let you peek into what your competitors are up to, helping you fine-tune your marketing strategies and stand out from the crowd.
• Understanding Customer’s Language : Have you ever wished you could read your customers’ minds? Market research tools won’t give you psychic powers, but they’ll come pretty close. By understanding your customers’ preferences and behaviors, you can tailor your products and messages to speak directly to their hearts.
• Building Better Products : Who doesn’t love a product that’s a perfect fit? With market research tools, you can gather feedback from your target audience and tweak your products until they’re just right. It’s like having a focus group at your fingertips without the hefty price tag.
• Putting Smiles on Your Customers Faces: Happy customers are the lifeblood of any business. Market research tools help you understand what makes your customers tick, so you can delight them with products and experiences that leave them coming back for more.

10 Free Market Research Tools You Should Know

From survey platforms to analytics tools, these tools offer valuable insights into consumer behavior, industry trends, and competitive analysis. Here, we’ll explore 10 free and best market research tools that every business owner should know about.

1. QuestionPro

QuestionPro offers a wide range of free survey features, including customizable question types, Google Sheets integration, and robust analytics. With its user-friendly interface and comprehensive features, QuestionPro is a great choice for conducting market research and surveys to gather insights from its target audience.

How it Works: Users can create customized market research surveys using a wide range of question types and templates. A market research survey can be distributed through email, social media, websites, or embedded into mobile apps. The platform provides robust analytics and reporting features to analyze survey responses in real-time.

Features You Can Avail:

• Create unlimited surveys with up to 200 responses per survey.
• Access to basic survey templates and question types.
• Branching skip logic based on responses to a question.
• Trend analysis and geocoding survey responses.
• Basic reporting and analytics features
• data visualization.
• Easy-to-use interface for creating surveys.
• Up to 30 different question types.
• Integration with popular third-party tools like Salesforce and Google Sheets.
• Customizable branding options for surveys.
• Responsive customer support team.
• Email support may have slower response times compared to premium plans.

2. Google Trends

Google Trends allows you to explore the popularity of search queries over time and across different regions. By analyzing search trends, you can identify emerging topics, monitor consumer interest in your industry, and track the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns.

How it Works: Users can enter keywords or topics into the search bar to view trends in search volume over time. The tool provides data on regional interest, related queries, and trending topics. Users can also compare the popularity of multiple search terms or topics.

• Access to search trends data for free.
• Explore historical search trends and regional interest.
• View related queries and trending topics.
• User-friendly interface for exploring trends.
• Ability to compare multiple search terms or topics.
• Useful for identifying trending topics and keywords.
• Integration with Google Analytics for deeper analysis.
• Limited to search data from Google’s search engine.
• Data may not always be representative of overall market trends.

3. SurveyMonkey

SurveyMonkey offers a free plan that allows you to create surveys, collect responses, and analyze data. With its intuitive survey builder and customizable templates, SurveyMonkey makes it easy to gather feedback from customers, employees, and other stakeholders.

How it Works: Users can create surveys using customizable templates and a variety of question types. Surveys can be distributed through email, social media, websites, or embedded into mobile apps. The platform offers advanced analytics and reporting features to gain insights from survey responses.

• Create unlimited surveys with up to 10 questions per survey.
• Basic survey templates and question types.
• Collect up to 100 responses per survey.
• Basic reporting and analytics features.
• Email support.
• A wide range of question types and templates are available.
• Multiple distribution options, including email and social media.
• Real-time analytics for quick insights.
• A limited number of responses and questions in the free plan.
• Advanced features like skip logic and A/B testing are available only in paid plans.

4. Statista

Statista provides access to a vast database of statistics and market research reports across various industries. While some premium content requires a subscription, Statista offers a significant amount of free data that can help you understand market trends, consumer behavior, and industry benchmarks.

How it Works: Users can search for statistics and reports on specific industries, countries, or topics of interest. The platform provides access to data from thousands of sources, including government agencies, industry associations, and market research firms.

• Access to limited statistics and infographics for free.
• Basic search and browsing capabilities.
• Limited access to reports and studies.
• Access to data from reputable sources.
• Customizable charts and infographics for presentations.
• Ability to download data in multiple formats.
• Limited access to data and reports in the free plan.
• Some statistics may require a premium subscription for access.
• Full access to reports and advanced features is available only in paid plans.

5. Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a powerful web analytics tool that allows you to track website traffic, user behavior, and conversion metrics. By analyzing website data, you can gain insights into your audience demographics, engagement metrics, and the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

How it Works: Users can install a tracking code on their website to collect data about visitor interactions, page views, conversion rates, and more. The platform offers customizable reports and dashboards to analyze website performance and audience demographics.

• Access to basic web analytics features for free.
• Track website traffic, user behavior, and conversion metrics.
• Customizable reports and dashboards.
• Integration with other Google products like Google Ads and Search Console.
• Comprehensive insights into website performance and user behavior.
• Customizable reports and dashboards for analyzing data.
• Real-time data tracking for up-to-date insights.
• Audience segmentation for targeting specific user groups.
• Limited support for tracking offline interactions.
• Requires technical setup and implementation of tracking code.

6. Google Alerts

Google Alerts notifies you when new content related to specific keywords or topics is published online. By monitoring mentions of your brand, industry trends, and competitor activity, you can stay informed and identify opportunities to engage with your audience.

How it Works: Users can create alerts for keywords, phrases, or topics of interest. Google Alerts will then send email notifications whenever new content matching the alert criteria is published on the web.

• Create unlimited alerts for free.
• Monitor keywords, topics, or phrases.
• Receive email notifications for new content.
• Adjust frequency and sources for alerts.
• Free and easy-to-use monitoring tool.
• Set up alerts for specific keywords or topics.
• Receive email notifications for new mentions or content.
• Monitor brand mentions, industry trends, or competitor activity.
• Adjust alert settings for frequency and sources.
• Limited to monitoring online content indexed by Google.
• May receive irrelevant or duplicate alerts.
• No advanced filtering options for alerts.
• Email notifications may not always be timely.

7. Pew Research Center

The Pew Research Center conducts public opinion polling and demographic research on a wide range of topics. By accessing free reports and datasets, you can gain valuable insights into social and political trends, consumer attitudes, and demographic shifts.

How it Works: The Pew Research Center publishes reports and studies based on surveys conducted among the general public, specific demographics, or expert panels. These reports provide insights into public opinion, attitudes, and trends on various issues.

• Access to reports, studies, and datasets for free.
• Explore research topics by category or keyword.
• Download reports and datasets in various formats.
• Email subscription for updates and notifications.
• A trusted source of data and analysis on social and political issues.
• A wide range of research topics and reports are available.
• Access to raw data and datasets for further analysis.
• Regularly updated with new research findings.
• Suitable for academic research and policy analysis.
• Some reports and datasets may be restricted to paid subscribers.
• Limited to research topics covered by the Pew Research Center.
• Reports may have a lag time between data collection and publication.
• Limited customization options for data analysis.

8. Make My persona

Make My Persona is a free tool by HubSpot that helps you create detailed buyer personas based on customer demographics, behaviors, and goals. By understanding your target audience better, you can tailor your marketing messages and product offerings to meet their needs effectively.

How it Works: Users answer a series of questions about their ideal customers’ demographics, behaviors, goals, and challenges. Based on the responses, Make My Persona generates a customized buyer persona template that can be used for marketing and sales strategies.

• Create one buyer persona for free.
• Answer questions to define your ideal customer profile.
• Generate a customized buyer persona template.
• Download the persona template in PDF format.
• Easy-to-use tool for creating buyer personas.
• A guided questionnaire helps define the ideal customer profile.
• Customized persona template includes key details and insights.
• Suitable for businesses of all sizes and industries.
• Integration with other HubSpot tools for seamless workflow.
• Free and accessible for businesses with limited budgets.
• Limited to creating one persona for free.
• Basic customization options for persona templates.

9. Qualtrics

Qualtrics offers a free plan that allows you to create surveys, collect feedback, and analyze data in real-time. With its advanced features and customizable reporting options, Qualtrics is a valuable tool for businesses looking to gain insights into customer satisfaction, product usability, and market trends.

How it Works: Users can create surveys using a drag-and-drop editor or choose from pre-built templates. Surveys can be distributed through email, social media, websites, or embedded into mobile apps. The platform offers advanced analytics and reporting features to gain insights from survey responses.

• Access to basic survey creation and distribution features for free.
• Create unlimited surveys with up to 100 responses per survey.
• Drag-and-drop editor and pre-built templates for quick survey creation.
• Integration with popular third-party tools like Salesforce and Slack.
• Limited number of responses in the free plan.
• Advanced features like skip logic and branching are available only in paid plans.

10. Qualaroo

Qualaroo is a user feedback tool that helps businesses collect insights from website visitors through targeted surveys and feedback forms. With its customizable survey options and real-time feedback collection, Qualaroo enables you to gather actionable insights and improve the user experience on your website.

How it Works: Users can create customizable surveys and feedback forms that target specific segments of website visitors based on behavior, demographics, or other criteria. Qualaroo offers advanced analytics and reporting features to analyze feedback and identify actionable insights.

• Access to basic survey creation and targeting features for free.
• Integration with popular analytics and CRM platforms.
• Collaboration features for team-based research projects.
• Integration with third-party tools may require additional fees.

Why Choose QuestionPro as The Best Free Market Research Tool

Understanding your market is crucial for business success in today’s competitive landscape. This is where market research tools like QuestionPro come into play. Here’s why you should choose QuestionPro as your go-to free market research tool:

• Comprehensive Features: QuestionPro offers a comprehensive suite of features designed to meet all your market research needs. From survey creation to data analysis, you’ll find everything you need to gather insights and make informed decisions.
• Free Forever: Unlike many other market research tools that offer limited free trials, QuestionPro is free forever. You can access essential features without any time restrictions, allowing you to conduct market research without worrying about costs.
• Wide Range of Question Types: With over 50 question types available, QuestionPro allows you to design surveys that meet your specific requirements. Whether you need multiple-choice questions, rating scales, or open-ended responses, you’ll find the right tools at your disposal.
• Google Sheets Integration: QuestionPro is the only survey platform that offers free seamless integration with Google Sheets. This feature allows you to easily export and analyze survey data using familiar tools, streamlining your research process.
• Multiple Distribution Channels: Reach your target audience wherever they are with QuestionPro’s multiple distribution channels. Whether you prefer email surveys, social media polls, or website embeds, you can engage with your audience effectively.
• Customization Options: Use QuestionPro’s customization options to personalize your surveys to align with your brand identity. From branding elements to question formatting, you have the flexibility to create surveys that resonate with your audience.
• Seamless Collaboration: Collaborate with your team members seamlessly on research projects using QuestionPro’s collaboration features. Share surveys, analyze data together, and brainstorm strategies in real-time, enhancing productivity and efficiency.

These free market research tools provide valuable resources for businesses looking to understand their target audience, monitor industry trends, and make data-driven decisions. By leveraging these tools effectively, you can gain consumer insights that will help you boost your business and stay ahead of the competition in today’s dynamic market environment.

QuestionPro offers a powerful and user-friendly platform for conducting free market research. With its comprehensive features, intuitive interface, and dedicated support, QuestionPro is the right choice for businesses looking to gain valuable insights and stay ahead of the competition.

So why wait? Start using QuestionPro as your market research tool today and take your business to new heights with QuestionPro!

LEARN MORE         FREE TRIAL

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After the RFI closes, a Market Research Report is designed specifically to see how the GSA market can meet technical requirements and mission needs provided. Market Research Reports are designed to facilitate completing Small Business Office review forms, developing Acquisition Plans, and assisting in formulating an overall acquisition strategy.

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The total estimated time is one day to two weeks, depending on the requirement.

MRAS provides each customer with a unique, comprehensive, and easy-to-understand report. The report analyzes industry partner data related to the customers' needs, which gives an understanding of the results expected under the markets researched. The Market Research Report includes socio-economic, technical, capabilities, and comprehensive business information so agencies can complete their Acquisition Planning and Small Business strategies and requirements and estimate documents.

Training and events

Mras customer training on effective market research (for federal, military, state, and local).

Attention all public sector employees in the contracting and acquisition career field! In GSA's Market Research As a Service Customer Training: Effective Market Research (Fed/Military), you'll learn the importance of market research, how and when to conduct it, and how to get the best results by making your data collection methods more efficient.

You'll also delve into the regulatory nature of FAR Part 10 and how it ties into other decisions such as acquisition planning, small business set-asides, commercial items, and contract type selection.

This course includes real-life scenarios, expert instructors, and tools from GSA's market research as a service. Take this opportunity to enhance your market research skills and advance your career. This is a one-CLP credit course.

Register Today

MRAS industry training

As an industry partner, you can provide valuable market research data to inform the purchasing decisions of GSA customers. Participating in our research allows you to showcase your products and services to potential buyers and play a key role in helping government agencies make informed and efficient purchasing decisions.

But why choose our MRAS over traditional market research methods? Our research is 100 times easier and efficient, making it a great business development activity for your company. Plus, by participating in MRAS, you can reach a wider audience of government buyers and increase your visibility in the market.

We offer monthly industry training seminars to help you get started and make the most of your participation in MRAS. CLPs are not issued for these webinars.

MRAS in the news

• Listen to the FAS Focus: Deep Dive podcast episode as we discuss GSA’s Market Research As a Service with Kevan Kivlan, Director, Customer & Stakeholder Engagements New England & FAS MRAS Program Office: https://twitter.com/i/status/150-165-6591321518081
• January 2022: MRAS Pushes Billions in Business to the GSA Schedule
• June 2021: MRAS Webinars Show Industry How To Work Smarter Not Harder

What our customers say

“Utilizing this resource is a great way to leverage the hard work put into establishing these contracts and provide a great benefit to the Government as a whole by simplifying the already complex process of federal acquisition. The benefit of conducting this market research gives a PCO the ability to see if there's a more expedient or cost-effective way to support their mission partner's needs. Often contracting is known as a slow and drawn-out process, and while it can be, this free tool is fast and gives a great snapshot as to what alternatives are available. MRAS is a great tool in a PCO's toolkit to have and one that should not be overlooked.”

— Capt. Jeremy A. Deorsey, Massachusetts Army National Guard

MRAS background

What MRAS is: MRAS helps customers by collecting and providing industry partner information specific to Agency needs. MRAS conducts Requests for Information, Sources Sought, and advanced product searches to help Agencies compile business, socio-economic, and technical data. Additionally, MRAS helps provide feedback from industry about Agency requirements documents, industry trends, best practices, and the best GSA contract and NAICs for their acquisition.

Cost: MRAS is a market research service GSA provides to all federal, state, and local agencies at no cost.

How to submit your market research request: Please reach out to your agency POC  so they can walk you through the MRAS process and determine the best MRAS service for your requirement. You can then fill out the MRAS Service Request Form .

For industry partners that need help with a survey

Please fill out the Industry Help Request Form .

Still have questions?

Contact your agency POC or email the MRAS team at [email protected] .

PER DIEM LOOK-UP

1 choose a location.

Error, The Per Diem API is not responding. Please try again later.

No results could be found for the location you've entered.

Rates for Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. Territories and Possessions are set by the Department of Defense .

Rates for foreign countries are set by the State Department .

2 Choose a date

Rates are available between 10/1/2021 and 09/30/2024.

The End Date of your trip can not occur before the Start Date.

Traveler reimbursement is based on the location of the work activities and not the accommodations, unless lodging is not available at the work activity, then the agency may authorize the rate where lodging is obtained.

Unless otherwise specified, the per diem locality is defined as "all locations within, or entirely surrounded by, the corporate limits of the key city, including independent entities located within those boundaries."

Per diem localities with county definitions shall include "all locations within, or entirely surrounded by, the corporate limits of the key city as well as the boundaries of the listed counties, including independent entities located within the boundaries of the key city and the listed counties (unless otherwise listed separately)."

When a military installation or Government - related facility(whether or not specifically named) is located partially within more than one city or county boundary, the applicable per diem rate for the entire installation or facility is the higher of the rates which apply to the cities and / or counties, even though part(s) of such activities may be located outside the defined per diem locality.

UK Housing Market Recovery Gains More Ground, RICS Survey Shows

FILE PHOTO: Property estate agent sales and letting signs are seen outside an apartment building in Lichfield, Britain, May 3, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Boyers/File photo

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's housing market last month saw the strongest levels of interest among buyers in more than two years and a gauge of house prices also touched its highest since 2022 as a recovery gathered more momentum, a survey showed on Thursday.

The figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors added to recent signs of stabilisation in Britain's housing market, driven by cooling inflation and falling mortgage costs after their rise hit demand in 2022 and much of 2023.

RICS' gauge of buyer enquiries showed a net balance of +8 in March, the strongest reading since February 2022 and up from +4 in February.

Its measure of house prices, while still showing more expectations of price falls than rises, hit its highest since October 2022 at -4, up from -10 in February and a low of 67 in September last year.

A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to a reading of -6.

"Demand continues to recover gradually across the UK housing market," said Tarrant Parsons, senior economist at RICS. "This should continue to support the market to a certain degree going forward."

The survey showed a growing share of surveyors expect house prices will rise in the next 12 months, across all parts of the United Kingdom.

Bank of England data published last week showed the highest number of mortgage approvals in February since September 2022.

House prices, as measured by official statistics, are around 20% above their level before the COVID-19 pandemic - mirroring big rises seen in many other advanced economies - although they have moved in a narrow range since the spring of 2022.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce; Editing by William Schomberg)

Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters .

Tags: United Kingdom , Europe

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