EPC and EPC/M
What are EPC and EPC/M?
EPC, or earnings per click, is a metric that shows the gross dollar amount a supplier can expect to receive for each respondent they send into the survey, based on the survey CPI and that respondent’s likelihood to complete the survey. The value of the metric answers the question “Is my survey priced appropriately”?
EPC/M, or earnings per click per minute, incorporates LOI into the equation, which gives the supplier insight into how much they can expect to earn per study entrant per minute.
Where can I find the EPC and EPC/M for my survey?
The EPC for each survey is displayed on the details page on the in-field data table. EPC/M is not currently displayed on the details page, but it can be calculated by dividing EPC by LOI.
How is it calculated?
EPC = (CPI * completes) / system entrants
EPC/M = {(CPI * completes) / study entrants} / LOI
If your survey CPI is $1 and conversion is 30% and LOI is 10 minutes, EPC = $0.30 and EPC/M=$0.03. If your survey CPI is $3 and conversion is 5% and LOI is 10 minutes, your EPC is $0.15 and EPC/M is $0.015.
What is healthy EPC and EPC/M?
Suppliers use EPC and EPC/M to compare survey opportunities, determining which surveys are optimal to send their respondents to
EPCs of $0.20 - $0.30 are considered healthy, whereas EPCs below $0.15 will struggle to attract supplier traffic.
See this guide for more information on EPC benchmarks for different types of surveys.
For EPC/M suggestions, we recommend reaching out to your CSM.
Why does it matter?
The Lucid Marketplace is just that—a marketplace of thousands of surveys and millions of available survey takers. Researchers release their surveys on the Marketplace, and suppliers choose which surveys to send respondents to based on how attractive survey statistics are, relative to other live surveys at that time. It’s very important to optimize your survey setup so that your surveys are seen as good opportunities by suppliers, and EPC and EPC/M are the primary metrics that suppliers use to weigh surveys. Low EPC and EPC/M indicate suppliers will deprioritize your survey and may be a poor opportunity for respondents as well.
If account-level EPCs fall below acceptable thresholds, your account may go through.
What can I, as a sample buyer, do to improve EPC and EPC/M?
EPC has two components: CPI and conversion.
Conversion
Are there any term points or quotas within the survey that can be built using standard qualifications in Marketplace? When term points and quotas are built into the Lucid screener, suppliers can proactively read the audience requirements and send in only respondents who are likely to qualify, thus reducing total entrants and increasing conversion.
Are there technical errors in the survey that are causing high drop rates, or are otherwise making it difficult for respondents to complete the survey?
Are you using custom qualifications that could be standard qualifications instead? Example: `custom qualifications` becomes `custom qualifications` ? **Custom qualifications** reduce conversion, so only use them when required.
Is your survey mobile optimized? If not, are you blocking mobile traffic?
Can your LOI be shortened to reduce drop-off?
CPI
If you have made all possible improvements to improve conversion, try to increase the CPI to a value that will allow for a .20 EPC, at minimum.
LOI
Consider whether your LOI can be shortened by removing unnecessary questions.
Ask your CSM for more tips that may impact your specific survey setup.