---
title: "Recruit your first participants"
url: "https://help.getdecode.io/en/article/recruit-your-first-participants"
language: "en"
last_updated: "2026-08-19T08:05:56.842Z"
---

# Recruit your first participants

Once your study is ready, choose how you want to collect responses. You can invite your own participants using a share link or recruit participants through the Decode Panel. You can also use both options for the same study.

### **Option 1: Share a link with your own participants**

Use a share link when you already have access to the people you want to participate, such as customers, employees, or community members.

-   Open your study and go to Share → Share Link.
-   Copy the Share Survey Link.
-   You can also use the QR code icon to generate a scannable code for in-person or in-store recruitment.
-   Under Share via, you can share the study directly to Facebook, X, or LinkedIn, or send it by email.
-   Edit the Heading and Description if you want to change the preview text participants see.
-   Under Link Settings, you can enable Short URL to create a shorter link.

![](https://cdn-assets.productfruits.com/7afb43c7-cb15-434b-8044-0df79bc7ae19)

### **Option 2: Recruit from the Decode Panel**

Use the Decode Panel when you need participants who match specific criteria and don't already have access to the audience you need.

1\. Go to Share → Share With Audience.  
2\. Click Add Audience.  
3\. Under Panel Information, enter a Panel Title for your audience.  
4\. Set your participant Criteria:

-   Country - Select the country for your audience.
-   Age - Set the required age range.
-   Gender - Select Male, Female, or Others.

5\. Set your Study Settings:

-   Completes Required - The number of completed responses you need.
-   Length of Interview (in mins) - Enter the estimated length of the study. 
-   No. of Days in Field - Set how long you want the study to remain open to the panel.
-   Device Type - Select desktop, mobile, or both, based on how participants will access your study.

6\. Review the details shown in the right-hand panel:

-   Order Summary shows your selected criteria and study settings.
-   Price Breakdown shows the cost per response and total cost in credits.
-   Available Credits shows the credits available in your workspace.
-   Available Participants shows whether enough participants are available for your selected criteria.

7\. Click Continue to save the audience.

### **Launch your panel audience**

After you save the audience, it appears as a card under Recruit From Panel. The card shows the Total Participants and Total Response counts and includes a Launch button.

### **Recruit multiple audiences**

You can create multiple audiences if you want to run separate participant groups.

For example, you can create separate audiences for different:

-   Countries
-   Age groups
-   Other participant criteria

Click Add Audience to create another audience.

The Total Participants and Total Response figures at the top show the combined counts across your audiences.

Tip: If this is your first study, start with a smaller number of completes. Review the responses, identify anything that needs improvement, and then scale up.

[Next: Launch a study](https://help.getdecode.io/en/article/launch-a-study)