Third-party sample, customer communities or both?
Editor’s note: Kimberly Bastoni is chief revenue officer at Alida.
For years, researchers have relied heavily on third-party general population samples, a great starting point for exploring new audiences, testing assumptions or gauging broad market sentiment. But today’s research leaders are rethinking this approach. As speed, cost and consistency become more critical, and data plays a bigger role in business decisions, it’s clear that general population research alone can’t deliver the full picture. That’s where a dedicated community of real customers changes the game.
While third-party samples are useful for quick pulse checks or reaching new audiences, they often lack the context and continuity needed to build a complete customer journey. A dedicated community of real customers fills in those gaps. With always-on access to engaged users, researchers can validate ideas quickly, test continuously and stay close to the customer across the entire research life cycle, from early discovery/innovation to messaging, product refinement and product placement to post-launch feedback.
The smartest research programs aren’t choosing between communities and general population, they’re blending both. When used strategically, third-party panels become an extension of a community-led framework. By blending third-party participants into your community approach, you can flex your reach to explore new segments, pressure-test messaging across broader audiences or supplement low-incidence targets. Done right, this hybrid approach delivers the depth of a community with the scale of a research panel, allowing you to move fast without compromising quality, context or continuity. Here are five reasons organizations are opting for flexible research programs that prioritize community, and what they’re gaining in return.
1. Insights at the speed of business
One-off research is slow, expensive, disconnected and it is difficult to prove its value. A customer community enables continuous and on-demand access to customer feedback. If you don’t get it right the first time, you can go back to your same pool of respondents, uncover the disconnect, try again and validate, all at no additional cost.
2. Using real customers shows real behavior over time
Researchers are constantly testing hypotheses about their customers, seeking truth through data. But ad hoc research initiatives often fall short as they lack context, making it harder to draw meaningful insights. A dedicated research community changes that. By engaging with the same group over time, researchers can observe what people say and what they do, uncovering patterns and maybe even contradictions. This ongoing access leads to a deeper, more holistic understanding of customer behavior, enabling smarter decision-making.
3. Co-creation builds better products (and loyalty)
Engaged customers don’t just want to answer surveys, they want to help shape the future of the brands they care about. When you tap into a community of invested customers, especially over time, their feedback becomes richer, more thoughtful and more actionable. This long-term involvement fosters stronger engagement, deeper trust and ultimately leads to better products and more loyal customers.
4. Storytelling that drives executive buy-in
Data is important, but data from your actual customers is powerful. One of the biggest challenges researchers face is proving the impact of their work to stakeholders. A survey with “interesting” findings rarely makes an impact. What resonates is a compelling story, based on data from the people who truly matter. Your customers. A dedicated community helps you surface those richer, more nuanced insights. And when you bring that data to life with the voices of real customers, it builds empathy in the boardroom and drives smarter, more human-centered decisions.
5. From reactive to strategic research
One-off studies might solve short-term questions, but they can’t be scaled easily. Research communities support a structured, long-term roadmap, aligning internal and external teams around a continuous cycle of customer insights. Instead of chasing answers, researchers can proactively plan studies, revisit feedback and deepen their understanding over time.
Build it right, not just fast
Speed in research matters, but speed without thoughtful direction leads nowhere fast. When deciding between a general population sample and customer community, always start with understanding your research goals. Are you exploring something new? Or are you refining, improving or validating?
Sometimes the answer is clear but often it isn't either-or, it's both. The most effective research programs prioritize the use of real customer communities to gather richer and deeper insights about their audiences without ignoring the potential opportunity for a general sample. So, choose the right method for the right moment and if possible, choose a platform that can help you bring both together in one place.
When used strategically together, general population sampling and customer communities don’t compete, they complement. And when brought into one platform, they unlock insights that are both wide-reaching and deeply rooted in the reality of your customers' needs.