Bzz Agent - In my opinion the best and most rewarding consumer panel. They often test high value items: smartphones, electric shavers, epilators, food, other electronic products. You always get to keep the item you are testing.
"Connecting people and their favorite brands since 2001, BzzAgent is the leading social marketing company. What's that mean to you? We put products in the hands of hundreds of thousands of real consumers and help them share their opinions about them with friends and family via reviews, Facebook posts, photos and videos, blog posts and more. We wouldn't call ourselves heroes, but it's okay if you want to."
Swaggable - You get an invite to test something almost instantly, and looks like it's usually small but nice things: fancy cashews, chocolate spread, organic tea, shampoos, nail polish removers...
"We’re passionate about bringing people and products together in new and fun ways. When people try products they fall in love with, they want to share those experiences. Swaggable is here to help users discover great new products together."
Smiley 360 - Another great and very popular panel. They test everything from cat litters to electronics and cosmetics. You earn "smileys" when you perform certain actions on the site, like giving feedback or completing your profile, the amount of smileys you have increases the chances of you getting early invites to their testing campaigns. If you decided to register,
please use my referral link here.
"Do you love to try new things? Haven't you ever tried a new product and thought, "This would be so much better if…" Well, as a smiley360.com member, you can provide that kind of feedback directly to the source. Your opinion matters. And as a fringe benefit, you'll earn status in the smiley360.com community, which has its own perks, rewards, and opportunities. It's a win-win situation, really."
CrowdTap - I've only discovered this one a couple days ago. It has a very unusual interface that makes the site look like a browser game. You level up by completing tasks, and you choose which testing campaigns you want to take part in. In addition to getting to keep everything you test, you will get points which can be exchanged for gift cards or a charity donation. When I wrote this article the most popular campaign was Old Navy - they were testing T-shirts, everyone who was chosen to participate got a coupon for a free T-shirt plus one more to give to a friend. If you decide to register,
please use my referral link here.
"Crowdtap is the Influencer Marketing platform, enabling leading brands to easily identify, activate and manage their influential consumers for real-time insights and powerful online and offline peer-to-peer marketing."
Vocalpoint - It is a sampling site created by Proctor & Gamble to promote word-of-mouth advertising by sending out samples and coupons, and it's free to sign up! You might also get chosen to host a party for a specific product - those are always great.
"Vocalpoint is a community of moms who...
- Love talking to other people
- Get energized when they are asked for their opinions
- Like searching for new knowledge and sharing it with others
- Enjoy making a difference in people's lives"
Influenster - This panel awards active members with VoxBoxes. They're basically packages filled with full-size products from various brands. You can increase your chances of getting one by leaving product reviews on their site.
"Registered members "play the game" by unlocking badges that reflect their lifestyle, expertise and power to influence. By earning badges that tell us more about you, Influensters can qualify for VoxBoxes (complimentary packages of products to test & review), rewards (bonus giveaways/discounts) and other special promotions targeted toward our most active and influential members!"
L'Oreal USA - to join this fairly secretive panel you have to complete this survey. They will mail you your login and password within the next 24 hours with further instructions. Make sure to check frequently to not miss out on freebies - they send full sized high-end products AND pay you for testing them, sometimes with cash, other times with more full sized products!
SheSpeaks - This is a consumer panel aimed specifically for women. They send you products for testing, but you can also take part in the social activities on the site. They have a big variety of blogs, forum discussions and recipes to choose from.
"Since 2007 SheSpeaks has provided members with ways to discover products. With each program members give feedback, influence the products, and share exclusive details and special offers about the brands we work with.
You have excellent taste and you adopt great products the cool, the practical, the neat, the new and at great value. We want to help you discover cool products in different ways and create a better retail experience. Based on all your feedback we have updated our service to accommodate that demand. Our new promise to you our members will help us to deliver the same great service and more opportunities to discover, try and share products."
McCormick - This is McCormick's consumer panel where they test various edibles, such as beverages, snacks, spices etc. They will send you invites frequently but you can only participate in 4 per year.
"McCormick & Company regularly recruits flavor enthusiasts to be panelists for the McCormick Consumer Testing program. Panelists may sample a range of food, snacks and beverages. Being a panelist may include attending sessions during the day or evening hours in Hunt Valley, Maryland, preparing and tasting products at home, or simply completing Internet surveys. We compensate our panelists; the amount is based on test type and duration. Panelists may participate up to four times per year."
Nielsen Consumer Panel - Join Nielsen Home Scan Consumer Panel - Earn valuable points, which are redeemable for electronics, household items, jewelry, toys, gift cards, and more.
"If they are accepting panelists in your area, you'll receive a price gun that you scan your groceries and coupons with to earn points redeemable for various prizes. This is a fun activity for kids to do while you're putting groceries away and the longer you're a panelist, the better the prizes you will get!"
Klout - Klout awards people with perks based on their influence. Increase your influence by connecting all of your social networks to receive awesome rewards - cosmetics, makeup, movie and concert tickets, pet food coupons, books and more!
"The Klout Score measures influence based on your ability to drive action. Every time you create content or engage you influence others.
The Klout Score uses data from social networks in order to measure:
- True Reach: How many people you influence
- Amplification: How much you influence them
- Network Impact: The influence of your network"
Kraft - Kraft First Taste releases new high value coupons every month, in March we got coupons for a free bag of Fresh Take cheese & breadcrumb mix. They don't even ask for your feedback, so if you are passive about consumer testing but want free goodies anyway, this is your kind of panel. Just make sure to check back once a month to see if there is a new offer for you.
"As a member of the Kraft First Taste community, take advantage of the opportunity to:
- Be among the first to know about the latest featured products from Kraft Foods.
- Share great products with friends and family by spreading the word and voicing your opinions.
- Connect to the community to meet others with a zest for trying new things.
- Keep informed with the latest activities and buzz that's happening at Kraft Foods."
==========================================================
I hope you found this article helpful, and if I discover more great panels I will make sure to add them to the list. For now all of these are more than enough to keep me occupied during the slow freebie days.
Have a great weekend!
Check out this fun new panel that pays you when you shop and eat out.
Fresh Ideas panel is now accepting new members. By enrolling in it you will be eligible for the monthly giveaways even if you don't participate much.
There is a new perk up on Klout for qualifying influencers. If your score is above 50, influential about Kim Kardashian, Television or Entertainment topics; head over and claim your free perk. Hurry, limited quantities available!
This new product testing panel officially launches this summer, but they are already giving out freebies for us to try. Right now you can test Almay eye pencil and Cough remedy for kids.
Get your free Radiance collection sample kit from Tampax and Always.
I received my free sample from Swaggable a few days ago but got to finally try it only today. They sent me 2 Pu-erh tea bags, one of them was Mint flavored, another one was flavored with Magnolia petals. I have heard of Numi before, they're known for making high quality delicious organic tea blends; so I was very curious how they will manage to transform the traditional taste of pu-erh tea.
