How To Do Market Research As A Side Hustle

Gone are the days when market research was carried out on the high street by people with clipboards or corporate analysts with spreadsheets. Technology and strategies have now changed, and companies are turning to the general public for their input in exchange for payment.

By doing online feedback, you can help businesses better understand what their customers think and what entices them to buy goods. Market research could be just your thing if you want a flexible way to earn a bit of extra income as a side hustle.

Whether it’s 30 minutes whilst you wait for the washing or a chilled out Sunday morning with a cup of tea, you can fit market research around your free time while earning a few quid.

This article will explain what market research entails, how to get started, and which agencies might suit you.

What Is Market Research?

Market research is the activity undertaken by companies to gather information about what consumers need and what they prefer. Companies use different ways to carry out market research which can include:

• Product testing: testing products and providing feedback.

• Surveys: answering questions using online questionnaires.

• Interviews: one-to-one conversation about your views (not frequently available).

• Focus groups: small groups of carefully selected people sharing views on everything from topics to products and services, under the supervision of a moderator.

• User testing: mostly involves testing apps and websites and providing feedback.

You don’t need to have expertise in anything to take part in market research, although occasional projects might be looking for people with specific knowledge. Companies are more interested in the opinions of the general public.

Why Market Research Is A Good Side Hustle

Flexibility

• You can fit the tasks in when it suits, and you can do it from the comfort of your own home with an internet connection. There are occasional face-to-face surveys, but you can choose which ones you want to apply for.

No qualifications needed

• You don’t need any experience or certificates to take part. You just need to be able to communicate your views clearly.

Quick payments

• Most market research agencies make payment instantly or within a few days. Payments are normally via bank transfer, PayPal or vouchers.

Small time commitment

• Some surveys can take as little as 10 minutes. Focus groups can take a bit longer and run for up to an hour but will pay better. It’s best to try each type of market research to see which one suits you, and always read the research brief before signing up.

How To Get Started With Market Research

Get Signed Up

There are plenty of reputable market research platforms available to UK participants. Here are some of the better ones:

Survey Platforms

• YouGov - consumer and political surveys that pay in points that can be redeemed for cash. You need to hit a minimum of 5,000 points for £50 in rewards.

• Toluna - mostly surveys with occasional product tests. A minimum payment threshold of £5.

• Prolific - surveys based on academic studies that can pay up to £10 per survey for 35 to 45 minutes of your time.

• Swagbucks - a very popular platform that offers daily polls. Also offers payment for playing games and watching videos. Rewards are vouchers and quite low.

Focus Groups

• Saros - share views on products and services. Projects can pay very handsomely at £40 to £100 for 2 hours of your time. However, the offers to take part are infrequent.

• Angelfish Opinions - with great feedback, Angelfish focuses on the fun side of focus groups. They’ve been known to run groups for Nando’s tasting and pay £75 for a focus group on soft drinks.

• iPoint Research - offers lots of projects that pay well at £50 to £250. The latest projects appear on their website and most of the research projects are online.

Testing Platforms

• Research-i - specialises in testing new video games and rewards very well at rates of £50 to £200 per project. It’s been known to have paid out £600 before.

• UserTesting - great if you enjoy testing apps and websites. The average pay is £10+ per 20 minutes.

Complete A Full Profile

The majority of research platforms use your profile to match you with surveys and send you the latest projects. Therefore, it’s imperative that you complete every aspect of your profile and be totally honest when doing so. This will result in you getting better quality invites.

For those of you thinking about lying on your profile to get more or better gigs, don’t! The market research platforms will soon smell a rat from your responses to other surveys.

Find The Best Market Research Gigs

Whilst surveys can be quicker, they pay less. The best way to make money from a market research side hustle is to keep a look out for interviews and focus groups which can pay anything between £30 and £200 per hour.

When choosing your market research projects:

• Have a dedicated email account so you can focus on every invite that you receive.

• Be quick to respond. The best gigs disappear very quickly.

• When doing screener surveys, provide full details.

• Join focus group Facebook pages, as you might see new projects ahead of other prospective participants.

Keep Tabs On Your Effort And Income

Try to focus on the better paying market research projects that make your efforts worthwhile.

Keep an eye on:

• How much you’re getting paid

• The time you’re spending for each task

• Which platforms offer the best rates

It would be well worth creating a system to record all of these details. Think about recording details such as date, platform, the task, how long you spent on it, how much it paid and how much it works out per hour.

This will help you to identify the better paying platforms and the ones to avoid going forward.

Stay On Top Of Things

Remember, this is a side hustle and not something that can replace a full-time job. However, by checking your emails and platform offers on a daily basis, you can easily create a steady side income from market research.

It’s not unheard of for people to spend between 30 and 60 minutes a day completing tasks to earn anything between £200 and £500 per month.

Market Research Tips

Let’s have a look at ways to maximise your income from doing market research as a side hustle:

Sign up to multiple platforms

• Don’t restrict yourself to one platform. Some platforms offer tasks more often than others, so it’s worth signing up to a few to keep the invites rolling in consistently.

Referrals

• There are a few platforms that will offer incentives if you refer people you know. This can come in the form of one off payments or an ongoing passive income that pays you each time they complete a task.

Be on the ball

• It pays to pick up any new invites as soon as possible, as the quotas can fill very quickly.

Avoid These Mistakes

• Incomplete profiles - if you don’t provide a fully complete user profile, platforms will overlook you for invites to projects.

• Paying to sign up - at all costs, never pay to sign up to a market research platform.

• Don’t expect to make a fortune - this is a side hustle, so it’s not something you can do to replace a full-time income.

• Low paying gigs - if it works out at less than £5 per hour, give it a miss.

• Unscrupulous surveys - some surveys will use your responses before screening you out with no payment. Avoid.

• Platforms trying to sell - avoid any surveys or tasks that say you need to click on something or buy something to qualify for the rewards.

Is Market Research A Good Side Hustle?

All things considered, yes it can be.

You don’t need any special skills to take part, and you can fit it in around any other commitments. The beauty of it is it doesn’t cost you anything but a little bit of time. You don’t have the hassles of equipment, marketing or stock involved.

Just remember, this isn’t a side hustle that’s going to make you rich, but it’s a great way of making a bit of extra income that can help anybody’s budget.