Insight Community & Online Panel Market Research Solutions

Engage your audiences with ongoing, interactive market research through custom insight communities and online panels. Touchstone Research designs, builds, and manages flexible, high-quality communities that deliver continuous qualitative and quantitative insights. Whether short-term or long-term, our full-service approach enables brands to make faster, smarter decisions powered by real-time feedback.

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Insight Community & Online Panel Market Research Services

Insight Community & Online Panel Solutions & Expertise

As a trusted insight communities company, Touchstone Research designs and manages both short-term and long-term market research online communities and custom online panels built around your goals. Our flexible approach empowers brands to capture continuous feedback and stay connected to their audiences in real time.

Cutting-Edge Insight Community Platform: Mobile-friendly, multimedia tools for surveys, video uploads, heatmaps, and concept testing.
Rapid, Ongoing Insights: Real-time feedback from engaged members for faster, data-driven decisions.
Integrated Qual & Quant Research: Combine discussions, diaries, and focus groups with surveys and polls in one platform.
Expert Community Management: Dedicated moderators plan activities, boost engagement, and maintain high-quality participation.
Flexible Service Models: Full-service management or targeted support for short-term and long-term projects.
Global Reach: Build market research online communities across markets with multilingual, in-market expertise.

Our Community-Based Research Solutions

We offer a range of community research models to fit your objectives, timelines, and budget. Each approach is powered by advanced insight community platform technology and backed by expert management.

Insight Communities

Primarily qualitative, our custom online Insight Communities are designed for ongoing engagement and rapid insights generation. These communities use discussion boards, diaries, polls, media uploads, and remote interviews to capture rich, real-time feedback from your audience.

Rapid Insights: Quickly gather and analyze qualitative data for fast decision-making.
Deep Exploration: Uncover motivations, attitudes, and behaviors over time.
Continuous Learning: Track changes and trends through ongoing discussions.
Stronger Connections: Build meaningful relationships with a core group of engaged members.
Strategic Development: Use interactive feedback to shape strategies and innovations.

Community Panels

Our community panels integrate high-frequency qualitative and quantitative research, combining depth and scale for comprehensive understanding.

Mixed Methodologies: Combine qualitative discussions with quantitative data for richer insights.
Ongoing Iterative Research: Continuously address evolving business needs and goals.
Enhanced Engagement: Encourage consistent member participation across research activities.
Integrated Insights: Merge qualitative context with measurable trends for a complete view.
Product Development: Support agile concept testing and rapid product optimization.

Online Panels

Our custom online panels support large-scale, ongoing quantitative survey research, ideal for weekly, biweekly, or monthly programs.

Fast Turnaround: Launch surveys quickly to capture timely insights.
Large Sample Sizes: Collect statistically significant data for confidence and accuracy.
Longitudinal Tracking: Monitor sentiment, behavior, and KPIs over time.
Audience Segmentation: Analyze subgroups to understand your audience in depth.
Advanced Analytics: Use tools such as conjoint analysis, MaxDiff, and TURF for robust modeling.

Pop-Up Communities

Short-term pop-up communities are perfect for focused, time-sensitive feedback on concepts, content, or experiences.

Flexible Duration: Run for days or weeks, depending on your research goals..
Targeted Recruitment: Reach specific demographics or behaviors that align with your needs.
Scalable Solutions: Adjust size and scope as objectives evolve.
Rapid Feedback: Capture quick reactions to products, ads, or prototypes.
Actionable Insights: Generate clear findings that drive immediate action.

Touchstone researchers conducting community research activities to gather consumer insights

Engaging Community Research Activities That Drive Results

Touchstone Research designs and manages community-based research programs that bring participants and brands together for ongoing, meaningful engagement. Our team plans, moderates, and analyzes every activity, providing full-service or flexible support based on your project needs. Each activity is designed to strengthen participation, capture authentic feedback, and deliver actionable insights that help brands move faster and smarter.

Common Activities Include:

Discussion Boards: Capture open dialogue and explore key topics in depth.
Surveys and Polls: Gather quantitative feedback quickly and efficiently.
Diaries and Journals: Track behaviors, experiences, and attitudes over time.
Video Uploads: Collect visual reactions and real-world demonstrations.
Concept Testing: Evaluate ideas, products, and creative content before launch.
UX and Usability Studies: Understand user behavior and optimize digital experiences.
Heatmaps and Visual Markups: Identify attention patterns and test creative layouts.
Live Chats and IDIs: Conduct moderated discussions in real time for qualitative depth.

Our community research activities combine advanced tools, proven methods, and expert management to deliver high-quality insights that drive confident decisions.

Insight Community & Online Panel Services

Our insight community and market research online panel services cover every stage of your community research program, from participant recruitment and management to activity design, moderation, and reporting. Touchstone’s team provides both full-service and flex-service support to ensure your communities and panels deliver reliable, high-quality insights.

Design & Build

We design and build custom market research online communities and panels that align with your brand and engage your audience. Whether adapting your existing brand style or developing new creative, we focus on consumer-centric design to create modern, intuitive experiences. Every panel and community we manage reflects your brand voice, fostering participation and lasting engagement.

Participant Recruitment

Our market research recruitment agency uses a rigorous multi-step process to source top-quality participants for both small and large-scale programs. Each participant completes an online screening and consent process before joining your community. For panels with specific targeting needs, we apply additional validation and verification to ensure the right participants deliver accurate, dependable insights.

Market Research
Insight Communities & Online
Panels Recruitment

Community & Panel Management

Our dedicated community management team operates as an extension of your organization, combining market research expertise with hands-on collaboration. We oversee day-to-day member engagement, handle customer service, manage incentives, and deliver consistent updates that align with your research goals. Our full-service support ensures every project runs smoothly from setup to reporting.

Market Research
Insight Communities & Online
Panel Management

Qualitative Research Services

Activity Ideation
Activity / Discussion Guide Development
Project Setup and Management
Moderation
Transcription
Reporting and Analysis
Video Highlight Reels

Quantitative Research Services

Questionnaire Design and Pre-Testing
Online Survey Programming
Sample and Field Management
Data Processing and Tabulation
Weighting
Open-End Coding
Normative Databases
Reporting and Analysis

Additional Market Research Services

Supplemental Recruitment and Outside Sample Support
Global Market Research Services, including translation and localization
Custom Question Type and Tool Development
Third-Party Technology Integrations (e.g., eye tracking, facial coding, AI-based tools)

Market Research
Insight Communities & Online
Panels - Other Market Research Services

Insight Community & Online Panel FAQs

As a leading full-service market research company, Touchstone Research designs and manages custom insight communities and online panels across industries and audiences. Below are answers to common questions about our community and panel services.

What is an insight community?

An insight community is a dedicated online space where brands engage with participants over time to gather ongoing feedback, opinions, and ideas. These communities support both qualitative and quantitative research, offering continuous insights for smarter decision-making.

What is the difference between an insight community and an online panel?

An insight community focuses on long-term engagement with the same group of participants for deeper qualitative feedback. An online panel typically involves a larger group used for ongoing or repeated quantitative surveys and studies. Touchstone manages both approaches to provide complete, actionable insights.

What are the benefits of using an insight community or panel?

Insight communities and online panels offer faster turnaround times, richer insights, and greater cost efficiency compared to traditional research. They allow brands to stay connected with their audiences, test new ideas quickly, and track changes in sentiment or behavior over tim

How long does it take to launch an online community or panel?

Launch timelines vary based on the scope and complexity of the project. Smaller pop-up communities can launch within days to 1-2 weeks, while larger, ongoing insight communities may take several weeks to recruit, onboard, and prepare.

Can Touchstone manage our existing community or panel?

Yes. Our team can take over management of existing online communities or panels, ensuring consistent moderation, participant engagement, and data quality while maintaining your brand’s look, feel, and tone.

Do you offer both full-service and flexible support?

Yes. We offer both full-service management and flexible support options. Whether you need end-to-end execution or help with a specific stage such as recruitment, moderation, or reporting, Touchstone provides the level of partnership that fits your team.

Do you conduct global research through your communities and panels?

Absolutely. Touchstone manages market research online communities in over 60 international markets, using multilingual moderators and culturally adapted materials to ensure global consistency and local relevance.

Want to dive deeper into how brands use online communities to capture real-time insights? Read our article on why brands rely on Market Research Online Communities (MROCs) for smarter insights.

Audiences We Engage in Insight Communities & Online Panels

Touchstone Research connects brands with audiences of all ages, backgrounds, and interests through our insight communities and online research panels. Our expertise extends across both consumer and professional markets, helping clients uncover the motivations, attitudes, and behaviors that drive meaningful decisions. Learn more about our Youth and Family Market Research expertise

Kids / Gen Alpha

Teens

Young Adults /
Gen Z

Adults & Parents

Educators

Creators & Influencers

Generative AI

VR / AR

Multicultural

And More!

Industries We Serve with Insight Communities & Online Panels

Touchstone Research brings decades of experience in developing and managing market research online communities and custom online panels across a wide range of industries. Our team understands the unique goals, audiences, and challenges that define each sector, allowing us to design research that delivers clear, actionable results.

Technology
Media & Entertainment
Youth & Family
Education
Consumer Packaged Goods

Toys & Gaming
Sports, Wellness, & Fitness
Food, Beverage, & Restaurant
Retail & Apparel
Healthcare

Trusted by Leading Global Brands and Organizations

What Clients Say About Our Insight Community & Online Panel Services

The team at Touchstone is wonderful to work with. They have been instrumental ongoing partners for us in many of our research initiatives, ranging from quick-turn projects with our online communities to more complex and larger scale studies utilizing in-depth-interviews, online diaries and more. They are highly communicative, responsive to our needs, and offer great client support. We have gained so many invaluable insights through our various research studies with Touchstone and feel very fortunate to partner with this consistent, hard-working team.

Vice President, Streaming Research & Insights
Media & Entertainment Company
For anyone who is unsure about doing online research, you don’t have anything to think about with Touchstone. They will take care of you and your project will go smoothly every time from start to finish.

Educational Consultant
Media & Entertainment Company
We have done quite a few Quant and Qual research projects with Touchstone. They are always extremely responsive, flexible, and provide great recommendations on how to get the most out of our research.

Director, Product Marketing & eComm
Food & Beverage Company