8 tips for conducting research on a budget

Editor’s note: Eliza Jacobs is director of consumer insights and analysis at PBS, Virginia.

In my short Q&A with Quirk’s in early 2020, I mentioned that our research budget at PBS is not large.  That is a somewhat vague statement and I suspect the size of research budgets depends largely on company size, revenue and other organizational aspects. 

When I talk about conducting research on a budget, I want to be clear that I am not suggesting a limited budget is the equivalent to no budgeted money. 

Research at PBS

By way of a brief background, PBS is a private, nonprofit, membership organization (made up of 330 non-commercial television licensees across all 50 U.S states and territories), and a television content distributor. On some days, one aspect of our business takes priority over the others, but often we must balance all three. Serving our member stations and the American public are our guiding principles. PBS is a true variety service, offering television content across many different genres and on multiple platforms. In addition, public broadcasting is a federated system in which our local PBS stations have unique identities. These stations tailor themselves to the needs and preferences of their communities. 

The role research and insights plays – and how it fits within an organization – varies across our industry. At PBS, the consumer insights and analysis team (myself and my manager) is part of a larger team – business intelligence. The business intelligence group focuses on increasing understanding of audience behaviors across platforms in support of decision-making. My manager and I view our roles as central to understanding the why behind consumer behavior and consumer decision-making. What do (or don’t) PBS consumers like about an ongoing or new series? How does scheduling impact what they watch? What do they think of a particular series host? What aspects of print and video promotional assets will motivate them the most to engage with content?  

Ultimately, our primary research focuses on how we can impact decisions made at PBS headquarters, not at the local station level. But macro-level decisions about creative assets – about who hosts a new series, and small or big changes to a series as it enters a second season – will trickle down to the local stations. For example, when we test creative assets (both print and video) for our multiplatform marketing team, the finished product is ultimately shared out to local stations for use on their TV air and digital platforms. 

Given that PBS is America’s public broadcasting system, we try to spend money with an eye toward fiscal responsibility. We do our best to maximize our resources, both in terms of dollars spent and personnel devoted to a project. We also plan far in advance of the budget season to request extra funds for large initiatives.

Quality research on a budget

Below I outline several options to consider when trying to conduct high-quality research on a limited budget. This is not a one-size-fits-all approach, but instead suggestions for other organizations to bear in mind.

1. Consider investing in an insights community – ROI is several hundred thousand dollars. In the interest of full disclosure, at PBS we have our own proprietary research panel/insights community,  known as our Viewer Panel. We use the Viewer Panel to conduct most of our survey work and we also do our own questionnaire design and survey programming. We save money by not paying for a full-service model. Within the tool, we are able to perform all data analysis and do some of our reporting. We are fairly nimble and try not to reinvent the wheel by repurposing previously used questionnaires when new projects arise. Our panel provider creates an annual ROI slide to illustrate the amount of money we save by having an insights community versus paying for every study one by one. The savings are significant and while it is a big lift to set up the community and recruit members, the return on investment is clear. An insights community gives us, the researchers, flexibility and control to conduct studies on our own timelines. When we do need to gather insights from outside of our PBS audience, we have a few options that enable us to collect data from the U.S. general population while staying cost effective.

2. Turn to DIY options to manage the cost of sample. As we all know, there has been rapid growth in the area of DIY survey options and sampling in the last few years. At long last the democratization of sampling has arrived! If your research team can manage the questionnaire design and survey programming on its own, consider looking at DIY providers to help save some money by paying for sample only. These services allow for customized criteria in terms of completes, demographics, etc. Sample quality is a paramount concern so be sure to ask questions regarding the sample before committing. 

3. Ask for a nonprofit discount. Obviously this does not apply to every organization, but most of our research partners do provide a nonprofit discount to help offset costs. Aa cost savings of a few thousand dollars is beneficial as it allows us to earmark the extra money budgeted for a project toward something else.

4. Try social first! If paying for sample is an issue, consider partnering internally with your organization’s social media account managers. Ask if deploying a study through those channels is possible. We have had success posting links to surveys through the PBS Facebook accounts. Given the fleeting nature of social media posts, this may require reposting the survey link and a brief description of the study a few times over the course of several days to get some traction. 

5. Look for free data. There are a lot of reports, data and presentations that are shared publicly, especially during the COVID-19 crisis. I’m amazed at the work being done by my colleagues and peers, but I also know that I am craving data that offers information into how consumer habits are changing during this time. While I try not to overwhelm myself with too many e-mail newsletter subscriptions, I do find great information available that helps to inform my work through these newsletters. For example, in the media and entertainment space, Cynopsis delivers a daily newsletter with topline information from across the media industry. Take advantage of these resources! Check the source and the data quality, where possible. Finally, if your organization subscribes to a syndicated data service, the amount of data available via those databases is significant.  

6. Ask departments to cost share for projects. At PBS, most of the budget for external research (meaning studies done outside of our Viewer Panel) is held by our internal client. When we are faced with reluctance about paying for research, we find that proposing splitting or sharing the cost across multiple departments gives us a greater likelihood of successfully funding a project. 

7. Be strategic and thoughtful. Sometimes best intentions become our worst enemy. I believe one of the main reasons why research projects are ultimately impactful (or not) is directly related to decisions made at the start of a project. Devote time to thinking carefully about the problem(s) you are trying to solve as this enables you to only ask the questions that need answers. There are always nice to haves, but scope creep can be a significant barrier to the success of a project and may also extend the time needed for analysis and reporting. If a question or a series of questions are not directly tied to the project needs or desired outcomes, consider pushing those to the side for another time.  

8. Find partners you trust. I’m often asked if we always use the same external research partners for new projects, and the answer is no. The key to our successful relationships has been finding partners who take the time to understand PBS as a business and a culture; listen to our project needs and concerns; and respond to our feedback. Once that trusted and valued relationship is developed, it sets the stage for repeat business. 

Getting the work done

I hope these tips offer some fresh perspective especially during this unstable and ever-evolving time. Sometimes our process at PBS takes a creative patchwork approach, but we always get the work done! One of the best things about our industry is our flexibility and ability to adapt to rapid change. Please feel free to reach out to me if you would like to discuss any of my thoughts. I wish all of my colleagues continued good health in the coming months.