The shopper voice has all the time been essential, however with the rising affect of on-line critiques as a trusted useful resource for patrons, it issues extra right this moment than ever earlier than. Surveys are a confirmed and cost-effective technique of producing publicity primarily based on that voice, but many public relations professionals and entrepreneurs wrestle with creating and maximizing protection when doing survey work.
Survey-research consultancy Researchscape Worldwide, which helps organizations draft, discipline and supply statistically projectable newsmaker surveys, has crafted a listing of 10 ideas to enhance the effectiveness of your survey initiatives.
The agency analyzed survey pattern sizes for each B2C and B2B survey press releases. The findings counsel client surveys ought to have not less than 1,000 respondents; and B2B surveys a pattern dimension of not less than 500. Many businesses have begun bundling their B2B surveys with B2C work utilizing the B2C findings to hook a broader vary of journalists.
1) Set a objective in your undertaking
A objective focuses your efforts and saves money and time that may have gone to extraneous particulars. Pattern long-term targets embrace constructing model consciousness, demonstrating thought management and creating content material to assist lead era. Frequent short-term targets embrace offering assist for a product launch, for coming into a brand new geographic area or for selling an occasion.
2) Write your dream headline
Along with your targets in thoughts, brainstorm the attainable headlines or key findings you’d like to see. Let your creativeness go wild in envisioning the outcomes that can greatest drive protection.
3) Draft the survey questionnaire
Rein in that creativeness now by drafting questions which might be simple to know and free from bias. As soon as achieved, be certain that an expert market researcher critiques them for errors or biases and rewrites them, the place needed.
4) Decide your pattern dimension
B2B and B2C surveys have their very own DNA and totally different pattern sizes needs to be thought of for every. For instance, in conducting an evaluation of three,106 newsmaker press releases issued between 2013 and 2023, Researchscape discovered a variety of client survey pattern sizes however 80 p.c of them had not less than 1,000 responses. For B2B surveys, the variety of responses is usually decrease because of the increased value of reaching specialist audiences. In the identical evaluation, Researchscape discovered that 56 p.c of B2B surveys had 500 or extra respondents.
“As a result of increased value of implementing B2B surveys, many businesses have begun bundling their B2B surveys with B2C work, utilizing the B2C pattern dimension to hook a broader vary of journalists,” stated Jeffrey Henning, chief analysis officer at Researchscape, in a information launch. “For example, a press launch may state that, ‘we surveyed 1,000 customers and 250 advertising and marketing professionals on their attitudes in the direction of x and we in contrast and contrasted the findings.’”
5) Embody info that journalists require
Credible survey releases and content material advertising and marketing materials ought to include the data reporters are skilled to ask for, together with how many individuals have been surveyed, from which nations, how they have been interviewed and if and the way the information have been weighted.
6) Optimize your launch for bloggers
Bloggers, typically, are much more pressed for time than journalists. Offering an infographic will improve your possibilities of pick-up.
7) Think about optimizing your launch for prospects too
For practitioners utilizing surveys as lead era instruments, contemplate linking your launch to a companion doc (e-book, white paper, full survey report) in an effort to seize reader contact info. In response to the information, solely 22 p.c of survey releases have been linked to a lead era kind from 2018 to 2020. This jumped to 30 p.c in 2021 and 41 p.c in 2023—indicating the rising significance of producing ROI from PR investments by immediately creating leads.
8) Publish your launch in a well timed trend
Survey knowledge can develop stale shortly; it’s essential to publish your launch as shortly as attainable. In response to the findings, solely 4 p.c of survey releases have been revealed inside per week of closing the fielding of the survey whereas a few quarter (26 p.c) have been revealed inside 30 days. The median size of time was 62 days.
9) Hyperlink to extra sources
You don’t have to over-inform by together with every thing out of your survey ends in your press launch. Embody the important thing findings with out overhyping the outcomes and be sure to should not lacking the general level. Then, make it simple for journalists and end-users to seek out extra info by linking to exterior sources.
10) Adapt and reuse
Surveys are way more versatile than simply supporting a press launch. After you’ve pitched the survey, gotten protection within the press, constructed model consciousness and generated leads, contemplate squeezing additional mileage out of your content material by utilizing findings for social media, commerce present literature and display screen shows, making a byline article, together with ends in a speech or presentation and together with the findings on-line within the firm web site. Your means to additional leverage the findings is just restricted by your creativity and resourcefulness—newsmaker surveys ship nice worth for a comparatively small funding.
For extra ideas and recommendation about constructing highly effective surveys into your PR program, obtain the agency’s Finest Practices for Newsmaker Surveys.
