The tool will allow researchers to build panels and focus groups from users of social media platforms.

Panels can be created either by uploading a custom list of respondents from a range of content sources or by conducting a panel search to combine various demographic filters.

Researchers can also use the tool to benchmark panels against each other and analyse historical conversations within a panel, according to Brandwatch.

Rebecca Carson, chief product officer at Brandwatch, said the company built the social panels tool to “provide robust, representative unprompted insight from social data” and “challenge the notion of traditional demographics”.