Using Research

Why First-Party Data is so Important

Why Research Matters

Research is one of the best ways to create content. It guarantees that your content will be unique: no competitor has access to the same data. Your audience will love research-driven content too: they will learn something that they couldn't get elsewhere.

Generally research-driven content looks at attitudes and opinions of people who are similar to or the same as the target audience. This research is relatively easy to generate and resonates well as we all want to know what people in roles similar to our own think and do.

Surveys are simple to create, and if you have the resources to run them every year enable evergreen pieces - “The State of XXXX”.

Running Great Surveys

Creating a great survey will endow your content with credibility. But just asking questions is not the way to create a great survey. You need to understand the psychology behind survey creation and the statistics needed to analyse them.

There are a few good books about surveys: try Surveys that Work if you really want to understand surveys. You can avoid most of the pitfalls with these helpful tips:

Respondent numbers matter, although 100 is often considered enough to establish credibility in smaller industries
Small differences could be down to randomness, particularly if you have a small survey. So don't be too quick to draw conclusions
Interview a few people in your target audience first to find out what options should be available when respondents select answers
Try to provide answers that users can select ("Other" as one of them is fine). You'll thank us when you analyse the data!
Always use an odd number of options if people have to answer on a scale (e.g. how much do you like X - have an odd number of options to allow people to relate their choice to the middle)
Keep the survey short - there is no point adding lots of questions if respondents don't answer them
Use a good survey tool