Choosing the right methodology

The social media revolution has opened up a new frontier for marketing studies, reshaping how we target respondents and administer questionnaires. This innovative methodology adds to an array of proven research methods, most notably the two traditional mainstays: phone surveys and online panels.

Today, we break it all down: when to use each method, for which objectives, and based on which study parameters.

1. Social media studies: reaching every type of target audience

• Nat. Rep. : A nationally representative sample reflects the exact demographic makeup of a country's population. This approach is frequently used for standard tracking or opinion polls based on national demographic quotas. Whether via telephone, online panels, or social media, all three methods have proven their worth for this type of research.
• Niche targets: These are low-incidence populations that are incredibly difficult to reach via phone or traditional panels making them either impossible to find or highly expensive to recruit. Social networks, by contrast, offer granular targeting precision, making it easy and cost-effective to survey niche audiences.
• Young audiences: It is true that social media research offers an unparalleled opportunity to survey gen Z and millennials. These young people are rarely enrolled in traditional panels and are highly unlikely to respond to phone surveys. However, assuming that social media research only reaches young audiences is entirely false.
• Local targets: As the name suggests, a local target is restricted to a tight geographical area. Due to a lack of database depth in small areas, reaching these consumers through traditional panels is nearly impossible. While possible via telephone, it requires significant time and money a challenge amplified by the massive decline in landline usage. Thanks to the precise geo-targeting capabilities of social networks, reaching local audiences is fast, simple, and budget-friendly.
• International targets: While multi-country studies are complex to deploy via telephone surveys (due to language barriers, high costs, and long timelines), they are manageable through panels. However, you will gain significant speed and simplicity by leveraging social media, allowing you to work with a single provider and consolidate all international results on a single platform.

2. Fast-track fieldwork: ultra-fast data collection

Because every questionnaire in a phone survey must be administered individually by an interviewer, rapid data collection is difficult to achieve. Online panels improve on this timeline since questionnaires are self-administered, thereby reducing data collection duration.

However, social media studies deliver record-breaking turnaround times. The high daily frequency of social media usage facilitates the rapid recruitment of respondents. At Episto, our average fieldwork duration is just 3 days.

3. Gathering higher-quality, actionable responses

Authentic responses: Our experience shows that social media research possesses unique advantages for gathering honest, authentic feedback. This is driven by three key factors:

• Fresh respondents: Participants are not professionalized panellists and are not financially incentivized.
• The smartphone factor: Surveys are taken on a familiar device where respondents are already used to expressing their opinions, allowing them to participate whenever they are naturally available.
• Engaging interfaces: Questionnaires feature a familiar app-like look and feel, incorporating emojis and dynamic question types to mirror a natural, live conversation.

Rich verbatims: Our data shows that open-ended verbatims collected through social media are 50% longer than those gathered via online panels. Compared to telephone surveys, respondents type their own answers rather than having an interviewer interpret them, guaranteeing both neutrality and raw authenticity.

4. Designing engaging and tailored questionnaires

Multimedia capabilities: Much like standard online research, social media studies allow you to embed multimedia content (videos, images, audio) directly into the questionnaire—something traditional CATI (computer-assisted telephone interviewing) methods cannot support. Better yet, social media platforms allow you to collect multimedia responses, enabling you to ask respondents to film themselves, take photos, or record voice notes.

The 60-question limit: While phone surveys and online panels can handle lengthy forms, we strongly advise against exceeding 60 questions in a social media study. Because conversational questionnaires rely on active engagement, keeping them concise is essential. While longer surveys are technically possible, they are highly discouraged due to the risk of high drop-out rates.

Complex technical frameworks: We also advise against using social media methodologies if your study requires a complex technical setup, such as webcam-based eye-tracking.

What to remember...

Social media research is an optimal, highly adapted methodology for surveys targeting hard-to-reach audiences, delivering insightful responses within very tight deadlines. From a design perspective, it is perfectly suited for integrating or collecting rich multimedia elements.

However, because this method relies entirely on a conversational and engaging user experience, it introduces certain constraints regarding survey length (keep it under 60 questions) and technical complexity.

Discover all the advantages of social media research in our White Paper.