The 2008 Market– When I entered the world of market research in 2008, the panel landscape vastly differed from what we have today. There were only a handful of panels, such as Research Now, SSI, Norstat, Ciao and Toluna. Many researchers perceived online data collection as a cheap and dirty alternative to CATI, so it was to be avoided where possible.

However, the recession came, and many agencies were put in a position where they had to shift from CATI to online in favour of cheaper costs, to coincide with a reduced budget and quicker timings. Despite the challenging economic climate during the 2007-2008 financial crisis, this paved the way for an online data collection boom. During this period, those buying sample from online data collection agencies were exposed to the benefits online offered, and the data quality was considerably better than many expected. Response rates are a strong indicator of panel quality, and many panels were yielding response rates of 20%+. Even open-ended responses looked sensible.

The Market Now – Fast forward to 2024, and the online data collection world is barely recognisable from 2008. It has become a minefield of questionable data sources that must be carefully navigated via multiple tools and using the value of human experience. Data sources have increased from a handful of suppliers to hundreds. Response rates have decreased from over 20% to sub 1% on most panels, with the level of bots or fraudulent respondents exponentially increasing. To make matters worse, the level of bot sophistication has increased, allowing them to access survey links and produce almost human responses via open ends. According to CHEQ, in 2023, as many as 38% of web traffic clicks were automated or bots.

Gap in the Market – With the chaos surrounding online data collection today, some may ask why we set up Potentia in November 2022. Well, the short answer is that we believed we could create a team and build an infrastructure enabling us to provide better servicing and data quality than anyone else in the industry. Our team is smaller than the big global suppliers, but every person on our team has been hand-picked via a connection of past colleagues, suppliers or industry friends. We’re highly agile and not bogged down by extensive processes and red tape.

Equally, we’ve focussed on building a strong team culture and integrating everyone into Potentia’s vision.  We operate via a flat team structure and encourage all staff, from directors to juniors, to use their voice. Online data collection agencies may have a stigma of being boring, but we’re set on changing that perception. Everyone within the Potentia family wants to build a company known as the best in the industry. Therefore, anyone working at Potentia will passionately strive to ensure clients receive exceptional service.

Our team is UK-based, so we all understand the expectations of UK clients. We recognise not only the need for speed and general servicing but also a need to ensure clients can trust our data.

So, what do we do differently to ensure we provide better data quality than others in this highly saturated space? Firstly, we have built two panels which are about 20-30 times more engaged than regular panels:

Opinion Harvester – Our panel of farmers operates at a 40% response rate. Respondents are validated via telephone and are used for qualitative research.

Opinion Pulse – Our rapidly growing nationally representative panel operates at a 45% response rate. Respondents receive industry-high incentives, which are paid on a per-minute basis without compromise. The panel is cleaned daily, and we have stringent validation checks.

Collaboration – On large domestic or international projects, despite owning two panels, we strictly approach each project as a panel-agnostic agency. Within the hundreds of panels that have popped up in recent years, some data sources provide strong coverage across certain demographics but are perhaps weaker in others. We use an algorithm that effectively utilises the power of collaboration to provide robust data. We also have an excellent working relationship with all the large global suppliers, and blend multiple on a per-project basis. This effectively enables us to provide higher levels of feasibility than anyone else in the industry, as many global suppliers do not partner on projects due to a conflict of interest. This is a huge selling point for us regarding B2B or niche consumer audiences, as we can provide more sample in these challenging groups.

Data Quality – We acquired data analytics company SigDiff to help us address the systematic data quality issues we all face today. Having a team of data scientists who understand data on a granular level provides tremendous benefits to ensuring the data makes sense. Equally, our experienced project managers adopt a panel-agnostic position to ensure there is no bias when looking at the data captured across multiple panels.

The Result – With the economy and market research industry going through challenging times, our approach to the market is making an impact. Today, we have 80+ clients, with 95% of our clients reporting via c-sats that they are ‘very satisfied’. Unlike other suppliers, clients suggest our data quality is better than what they get elsewhere. This has enabled us to grow from a start-up to a team of 33, with no signs of the growth trajectory slowing down. There is a huge amount of passion within Potentia, with the ultimate goal to be known as the supplier that has a reputation for delivering exceptional data quality.

Ready to turn your data into a powerful asset? Contact Colin today to get started.