All you need is one survey to fuel a year’s worth of content—but that doesn’t mean that any research survey or topic will drive the intended results.
In this #ContentChat recap, Michele Linn (@MicheleLinn), co-founder and chief strategy officer of Mantis Research, and the community discuss why brands should invest in original research and how to craft a study that will yield valuable insights that your community will love. Read the full recap below to learn:
- How to dispel the common myths about conducting original research
- Ways to get survey responses if you don’t have a list
- Recommendations on how to invest your time during a research study
Erika and Michele discussed each of these questions on a LinkedIn Live audio conversation—listen to the recording here.
Q1: What are the different kinds of original research that content marketing teams can pursue?
Surveys are most commonly associated with research, but research can also include qualitative interviews, observational research, user data analysis, and public data analysis. Michele explains each of these below:
A1a. There are many types of original research you can publish, but here are five common ideas:
⭐ Survey-based research
⭐ Qualitative interviews
⭐ Observational research
⭐ Analysis of user data
⭐ Analysis of public data #contentchat— Michele Linn (@michelelinn) February 13, 2023
A1b. Survey-based research gets turned into things like “State of” reports. You survey your audience to understand their perceptions and attitudes.
Here’s an example from @cmmicontent: https://t.co/5mkyXKjMvX #contentchat
— Michele Linn (@michelelinn) February 13, 2023
A1c. Qualitative interviews are ideal if you want to ask nuanced, “inside baseball” questions. Conduct interviews and share the high-level insights.
This works great if you don’t have a large audience to survey.
Here’s an example: https://t.co/km7Ix2Vkee #contentchat
— Michele Linn (@michelelinn) February 13, 2023
A1d. Observational research explores a topic by choosing something you want to understand and collecting data to learn how others do this.
Love this example from @crestodina: https://t.co/PuJayEBd4E #contentchat
— Michele Linn (@michelelinn) February 13, 2023
A1e. @semrush does a great job at looking at their user data and reporting on what they learned: https://t.co/TO8pde47eH) #contentchat
— Michele Linn (@michelelinn) February 13, 2023