Introduction

A business-to-business (B2B) research project that is being conducted by a market research company requires the assistance of participants who work in the oil and gas industry. Historically, the Oil and Gas industry has been one of the slowest ones to respond to changes in technology. However, digitalisation has disrupted every industry imaginable and oil and gas is no exception. In line with this digitalisation, oil and gas marketing strategies have also changed, shifting more towards SEO, email marketing, and social media. Read more on this shift in Oil and Gas marketing for beginners and find out how Energy Dais (an Indian Oil and Natural Gas company) revamped its marketing strategy in this industry. With these changes in marketing, it's safe to say that market research in this space has not remained the same.

No longer, bystanders, B2B companies have embraced the digital revolution. Research conducted by McKinsey and Company suggests that B2B companies can take advantage of digital approaches and capabilities to maximise their ROI by far more than a few percentage points. What do these capabilities look like in the context of market research? For instance, how do these companies find the correct set of respondents for marketing research? Find out answers to this question and more in this blog post. 

How do you find B2B participants for an Oil and Gas B2B research survey

Finding the right participants is the most important part of a research survey, and it can be the most difficult. In order to get a representative sample of your target audience, you need to reach out in such a way that your B2B respondents will be willing to participate. 

Your first step is to define your target audience. Who are these people? What do they look like? In addition, you may also want to think about what their interests are. What types of companies do they work for? The answers to these questions will help narrow down where you should focus your efforts when it comes time to recruit participants for an Oil and Gas B2B research survey.

Once you have a clear picture of who you’re looking for, it’s time to reach out. You can do so via direct mail, email, or phone call; whatever method works best for your audience. Give them information on why they would benefit from participating in this study. Additionally, be specific about what they stand to gain by helping you understand what needs exist within your industry. If there’s an incentive involved in the Oil and Gas b2b research survey, make sure that it is customised to the respondent's needs. Create a target audience persona to tap into your participant's behaviours and preferences. Map out their journeys to know the correct amount as well as the kind of incentive offered. 

A paid advertisement

Paid advertisements can also be effective when recruiting B2B participants for an Oil and Gas research survey. You can target your audience by demographics, location, interests and keywords, job title, and industry and device type.

They’re also useful for targeting the right people based on the time of day. This is because many businesses conduct their operations during the day and thus are most active during this time. By selecting this option in your advertisement settings you are more likely to find those people that are online when you need them most.

1. You can sponsor an email with a database of your target audience

This is the most basic way to reach out to an audience that you know will be interested in participating in your research. A sponsored email will look like any other email that goes out to the list. However, it's important that you have permission before sending these kinds of messages. This means either asking them when they sign up or giving them an unsubscribe option so they can opt out if they change their mind.

2. You can create and email a survey invitation to your database of contacts to share with their network

You can create and email a survey invitation to your database of contacts to share with their network. This can be done internally, or you can use an external email service like MailChimp or Constant Contact to send out your survey invitations.

The recipient will then receive an email with a link to take the survey. The email will also include instructions on how they can share it with others in their network. Additionally, you can also launch referral programs that encourage users to get rewarded if they refer a friend or colleague.

3. You can send out a press release directly related to the Oil and Gas b2b research survey

You can also place banners on your website to promote the b2b research survey. Or have banner ads displayed on relevant websites that will drive traffic back to you for participation in the survey. This type of advertising is called "banner advertising."

Banner ads are placed on web pages by an ad network and are generally used as a form of marketing or promotion for new products or services, events, and other opportunities. The aim of this type of digital marketing is to attract potential customers (the ones who visit those pages) into participating with you by clicking on one of those banners.

You could also use social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter as well as email marketing campaigns with links to surveys. 

4. You can promote the Oil and Gas B2B research survey on social media sites 

This can be done by posting links in relevant groups that have direct access to your target market. An Oil and Gas B2B research survey can be promoted through various channels such as professional associations, and industry organisations. Social media is one of the best ways to reach your target audience, and we recommend using this platform as you try to recruit participants for your research. You will have multiple channels at your disposal, including:

• Facebook Groups
• Twitter hashtags
• LinkedIn Groups

5. You can create original content that features one or more survey questions and include a link to the full survey at the end

The survey link should be clearly visible and easy to find so that readers will be able to easily access it. Once you have created your original content, you will need to ensure that your survey is easy for respondents to complete on mobile devices. This can be done by making sure it isn’t too long (most people won’t spend more than 5 minutes on any one page), uses simple language, and includes multiple choice questions whenever possible.

There are multiple approaches for recruiting B2B research participants for an Oil and Gas B2B research survey

There are multiple approaches for recruiting B2B research participants. Some of the most common are:

• Paid advertisements on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Google. They may also be found on other social platforms such as Twitter and XING. Paid advertisements can be used to target specific audiences (e.g., individuals working for an oil and gas company).
• Email invitations to your database of contacts letting them know about the survey and asking them to share it with their network via email, for example using MailChimp or Constant Contact. It is important to remind recipients that their responses will remain confidential and anonymous at all times.
• Press releases detailing new research findings from an oil and gas company or related industry association announcing a new report published on a topic related to your survey topic; include links that back up to your landing page(s) where interested parties can find out more information about participating in any future surveys.

Conclusion

We know that recruiting B2B participants can be time-consuming, so we make sure to make your job as easy as possible. Our robust network of survey respondents allows us to reach out to thousands of decision-makers using proprietary AI and Geolocation technology.  Find out more by dropping a line to sales@grape-data.com.