Recruiting participants

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Key Concepts Explained

Fully integrated Panels: These are external recruitment providers (such as Respondent) that Conveo partners with and that are fully integrated into the Conveo platform. Instead of sourcing participants yourself, you simply define your recruitment criteria, and the panel handles the entire recruitment process. As these panels are integrated into Conveo, you benefit from instant pricing, a seamless setup, and dedicated project management support, with no need for separate coordination with the panel provider over email Partner panels: These are external recruitment providers (such as Norstat) that are not directly integrated into the Conveo platform but with whom Conveo maintains partner agreements based on strong historical performance in coverage and participant quality. These panels often specialize in specific geographies or demographics that may not be available through fully integrated panels. Because they are not integrated into the platform, you will need to engage with the panel directly to request quotes and align on recruitment details. However, to reduce operational complexity, final payment is still coordinated through the Conveo platform, eliminating the need for additional vendor onboarding. Self-Recruited Panel: This is where you get a shareable link from Conveo that you can send directly to potential participants or share with third-party recruitment services. Conveo supports multiple ways to manage self-recruitment, including a single shareable link, unique participant links generated from a CSV upload, and custom URLs that can connect external panels to your study. Platform integrations: This allows Conveo to connect with external tools (like Forsta) to support more complex research setups. You can use these tools for segmentation logic, while Conveo uses the resulting metadata (such as responses or segment assignments) to manage participant flow into your study. Recruitment Specifications: This is where you define exactly who you want to interview - demographics like age, location, and gender.

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Pro Tips

• Start with realistic limits: If you set a participant limit (like 30 responses), the link becomes invalid once you hit that number. Set this slightly higher than your target to account for no-shows or incomplete interviews.
• Use CSV uploads strategically: When you need to track individual participants or send personalized invitations, upload a CSV file. This creates unique links for each person, making it easier to follow up and manage your participant list.
• Consider panel provider timing: Integrated panel recruitment typically takes longer to set up but can provide higher-quality, pre-screened participants. Self-recruitment is faster but requires more work on your end.

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Quick Reference

• Recruitment Tab: Main area for setting up participant recruitment
• Add Panel Button: Access integrated third-party panel providers
• Self-Recruited Panel: Bring your own participants. Perfect when you have an existing audience or specific contacts you want to invite to your study
• Screener Questions: Use Conveo’s built-in screener questions to automatically qualify or disqualify participants before the interview

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Complete Written Guide

If you prefer to read or want a reference, here’s the complete step-by-step process:

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Step 1: Access Recruitment Settings

After setting up your topic guide, navigate to the Recruitment tab in your Conveo study dashboard. This is your central hub for managing how participants join your study.

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Step 2: Choose Your Recruitment Method

Select a panel by clicking the Add Panel button, a different step-by-step process should be followed depending on what recruitment method you choose

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Step 3: set-up your Recruitment Method

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Option A: Integrated Panel Providers (recommended)

1. Choose from the available integrated providers based on their coverage (leverage the panel book and characteristics for more information)
2. Click the Add panel button on the top right of the panel
3. Complete the required recruitment specifications (including the incentives) - see dedicated section below
4. Click Launch Panel to send specifications to your chosen recruitment partner, this will automatically correct your balance

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Option B: Partner panel

1. Choose from the available partner panels based on their coverage (leverage the panel book for more information)
2. Leverage the Contact panel button to reach out to the panel to align on panel recruitment specifications and a corresponding quote
3. [Optional] Limit the panel to a specific number of participants (by default, we will allow over-recruitment by 10% to compensate for a small number of unsatisfactory interviews)
4. Share the invite link with the partner (note that you must provide a unique participant_id for each participant) when aligned on panel set-up and quote
5. Click Launch panel: this action is required to activate the study for this panel

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Option C: Partner integrations

1. Choose from the available partner integrations based on your study needs
2. [Optional] Limit the panel to a specific number of participants (by default, we will allow over-recruitment by 10% to compensate for a small number of unsatisfactory interviews)
3. Follow the instruction on the page to integrate with the Conveo study
4. Click Launch panel: this action is required to activate the study for this panel

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Option D: Self-Recruited Panels

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Option D.1: shareable link

1. Set a participant limit (optional) - the link becomes invalid after reaching this number (by default, we will allow over-recruitment by 10% to compensate for a small number of unsatisfactory interviews)
2. Configure participant email collection if you want to capture contact information
3. Share your generated link through your preferred channels
4. Click Launch panel: this action is required to activate the study for this panel

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Option D.2: upload a CSV

1. Upload a CSV file (must include the participant email, optionally other demographics) to generate a unique link for each participant
2. Click Launch panel: this action is required to activate the study for this panel

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Option D.3: Add a custom panel

1. Set a participant limit (optional) - the link becomes invalid after reaching this number (by default, we will allow over-recruitment by 10% to compensate for a small number of unsatisfactory interviews)
2. Share the invitation link with the panel provider; note this contains placeholders for “participant ID” and “completion URL” (the latter is the page to which the participant is redirected after completing the Conveo study) that need to be updated by your panel provider
3. Click Launch panel: this action is required to activate the study for this panel

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Step 4: Monitor Recruitment Progress

Track participant sign-ups and completions through your Conveo dashboard. For panel providers, you’ll receive notifications as interviews are completed.

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Recruitment Specifications (Panel Providers)

These are either shared through the platform for Integrated panels or over email to partner panels

1. Specify your target number of participants (e.g., 40 people)
2. [only for integrated panels] set the incentive per participant
3. Set geographic requirements (e.g., Belgium)
4. Define demographic criteria:
   • Age ranges (e.g., 30-55+)
   • Gender preferences
   • Interest categories
5. Share any required project information (name, description for participants etc.)

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Best Practices

Before You Start:

• Clearly define your ideal participant profile before setting up recruitment

While Working:

• Test your recruitment link before sharing widely to ensure it works correctly
• Monitor your participant limit if you’ve set one - you might need to adjust based on response rates
• Review screener question responses in the Interview Grid to ensure you’re getting quality participants

Quality Control:

• Review your screener question criteria to balance specificity with realistic availability
• Track response rates and adjust your approach if needed

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Anything missing? Let us know at [email protected] and we’ll help you out!