As more Americans rely on cell phones, pollsters are adjusting their methods to keep projections accurate. You legally can’t put cell phone numbers on an automatic dialer – you have to dial them manually, which is very expensive for polling outfits. But there’s a new method for reaching young, cell-only people for a fraction of the cost of hand-dialing.
Now, polling firms are looking to manual texting to reach young folks and recruit them to participate in web surveys. This way they can balance out the sample without needing to overweight certain groups. Plus, it allows the freedom to target based on demographics since manual texting does not require an opt-in.
When texting people under 30 to direct them to a short web survey, pollsters have seen up to 1.8% of recipients complete the survey. After sending a reminder to those who have started but not finished the questionnaire, the completion rate can exceed 2%.
So what does it cost? It works out to approximately $10 to $15 per completed survey. Not only is this affordable, it allows access to those hard-to-reach young folks that are key to a high-quality poll.
Texting for polling works best with brief, to-the-point web surveys that are easily filled out on a smartphone. We’re always honing our scripting and experimenting with new messaging to increase response rates and make the most of 160 characters.
Interested in trying manual texting to round out your poll? Let us know.
