Audience research
Part of Seven steps to digital PR audience research that earns coverage
How do I compare digital PR survey tools before buying?
A comparison of digital PR survey tools and data sources against a scoring rubric, covering panel quality, weighting, compliance and cost for buyers.
What to take away
- Digital PR survey tools include self-serve panels (Prolific, Pollfish), agencies (YouGov, OnePoll) and public datasets (ONS, GOV.UK business population estimates).
- Score each on sample control, weighting transparency, compliance and price per usable response, not interface polish.
- A tool that cannot show its weighting will struggle in a journalist's scrutiny or a client's legal review.
- Budget for analysis time as well as fieldwork. The story sits in cross-tabs, not the headline percentage.
Three routes to survey data
Self-serve panel platforms
You write the questionnaire, set quotas and buy responses directly. Speed and predictable pricing are the appeal.
Self-serve vs commissioned research
Self-serve panel
- Speed
- Fast
- Cost
- Predictable
- Methodology
- You own it
- Best for
- Routine data
- Risk
- Weak panel controls
Commissioned agency
- Speed
- Slower
- Cost
- Higher
- Methodology
- Agency provides cover
- Best for
- Publicly challenged findings
- Risk
- Reused omnibus questions
You own the methodology. Document recruitment and weighting, because a journalist may ask. The audience research guide for England covers pre-fieldwork work.
Prolific: academic-style panel, minimum £9 per hour plus about 33% fees. Pollfish: in-app mobile completes, UK general population typically £1 to £3 each. Dynata: first-party panel, quote-based, consumer completes typically £2 to £6.
Ask each provider for panellist source, incentive model and removal rates. A cheap panel with weak controls produces numbers that collapse under questioning.
Commissioned research agencies
An agency takes the brief, writes the instrument, fields it and delivers weighted tables. You pay more, but you buy methodological cover.
This route suits campaigns where the finding will be challenged publicly. Ask for the questionnaire, sample frame, weighting scheme and raw tables.
YouGov: omnibus and panel, single UK omnibus question typically from around £500 to £1,500. OnePoll: PR surveys, 1,000 UK adults typically from around £2,000 to £4,000.
Watch for agencies that reuse omnibus questions across clients. Reused data can appear in a competitor's coverage weeks later, weakening exclusivity.
Data sources beyond the panel
Public datasets
Government statistics are free, citable and defensible. The business population estimates for the UK count registered businesses, a basis for estimating potential buyers of outreach support.
Public datasets vs bought lists
Public datasets
- Cost
- Free
- Defensibility
- High
- Timeliness
- Lag present
- Best use
- Context, market sizing
- Key duty
- Cite source
Bought lists
- Cost
- Paid
- Defensibility
- Depends on compliance
- Timeliness
- Current
- Best use
- Outreach contacts
- Key duty
- Document lawful basis
ONS releases, regulator reports and local authority data work the same way. Published datasets lag, so they suit context rather than news pegs.
Bought lists and enrichment data
Buying contact or enrichment data for outreach carries legal duties. The ICO guidance on using data brokers' marketing services explains what to check before relying on a broker's list.
Treat sourced lists as a compliance question, not a volume question. Document lawful basis, source and consent.
Scoring the options
Use the rubric below to compare three or four candidates side by side. Score each criterion from one to five, then weight it.
What to check
- Sample control
- Quotas, screening, attention checks
- Weighting transparency
- Published scheme, targets, raw tables
- Compliance
- Lawful basis, broker checks, consent
- Cost per usable response
- Fee divided by clean responses
- Turnaround
- Days from sign-off to tables
- Data reuse
- Questions shared with clients
- Export and analysis
- Cross-tabs, significance, format
Weight
- Sample control
- 20%
- Weighting transparency
- 20%
- Compliance
- 20%
- Cost per usable response
- 15%
- Turnaround
- 10%
- Data reuse
- 10%
- Export and analysis
- 5%
A tool that scores well on price but poorly on weighting costs more over time. Rebuilding a story after a challenge takes longer than paying for a defensible sample.
Once the data is in hand, the question becomes which outlets will care. The comparison of target audience data and sources covers matching a finding to the people most likely to publish it.
Distribution and link discovery
Survey data earns links when publishers can cite it cleanly: a clear methodology note, a stable URL and a date on every figure.
Search engines discover those citations through crawling and indexing, which Google explains in its crawling and indexing guidance. If your data page is blocked or buried behind scripts, earned links may take longer to count.
Keep the methodology page crawlable and link to it from the campaign page. Do not hide the sample size behind a download form.
Common questions
Can I run a credible survey without an agency?
Yes, if you control the sample, document the weighting and publish the questionnaire. The risk is scrutiny, not capability.
How much should a campaign survey cost?
Costs vary. Buying 1,000 responses at £2 each pays £2,000 for fieldwork before analysis.
Do I need to tell respondents who funded the research?
Transparency about the commissioner is good practice and reduces complaints. Check the wording of any privacy notice you issue.
Are public datasets enough on their own?
They work for context and market sizing, but rarely produce a fresh news line. Pair them with your own fieldwork for a stronger story.
