How to Reduce Panel Incentive Payouts Without Sacrificing Engagement

Over the years the incentive payout to market research panelists has typically been in the form of checks or PayPal cash. When a client’s survey project budget is tight, which is the case, the incentive budget is the first to get squeezed. While it may seem the easiest and most cost effective solution maximize dollars, but is that the case?

More and more it is apparent to panel managers and market research professionals that to actively engage panelists they need to employ incentive payout technology and marketing tactics their panelists are comfortable using.  Panel managers are now able to leverage technology and to take advantage of the concept of “Reverse Preference”.  Reverse Preference is where the panelist can self-select the reward of their choice, while the panel still makes available the check as a primary option, along with offering VISA Prepaid Cards, Gift Cards, Digital Rewards, and Gamification (all of which are at a lower cost). By panelists now self-selecting other incentives by even small percentages over checks – panel incentive costs are reduced and in the case of points based programs, a reduction of liability off the balance sheet for their company.  With more and more panels beginning to offer a variety of incentives, those panels that don’t offer them become less desirable, resulting in a decreased lifetime value of the panelist and a loss of panelist engagement. Market research is left wondering how they can afford the technology to offer a more rounded reward offering, but how can they afford not to.  In reality, by providing a blended incentive option and still including the check as an option the can REDUCE their Panel Incentive Costs by 18-28%! Checks and Paypal can add up and can be more expensive versus offering a variety of reward options.

Taking a step to embrace the reverse preference concept by offering a slew of rewards at a panelist’s fingertips is simple, as long as the right incentive and payout technology provider are selected. Anyone can say that they offer these rewards, but are they sourcing them at the right price to fit a panel’s budget?  Are the incentives conveniently integrated via APIs into a reward management solution?  Is there seamless incentive event processing for the panel management team?  Do they make it easy on the panelist to navigate on the platform? Can they improve engagement? Can you measure it?  Conducting research on the right company to run an Incentive Payout Program for Market Research Panel is crucial.

All Digital Rewards offers excellent and budget friendly solutions for Panel Incentive Payouts. When clients implement our SaaS with STACK reward management technology and use our agile API for single sign-on integration to an existing system, they are instantly connected to ADR’s 200,000+ incentives; everything is all in one place, easy to manage, proven to boost engagement and within budget!

For more insights on important considerations when planning or implementing a successful incentive payout program we recommend reading our case study Cash vs. Blended Incentive Model: What Performs Better? to get a better understanding who to lower incentive costs without sacrificing panel engagement.

For more information on reducing panel incentive payouts without sacrificing engagement call us now at 866-415-7703