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Original research gives your content marketing program a unique selling point, but not everyone and not every AI tool can do this successfully.
Before you even ask a question, you need to know why you're creating it (i.e. how it will help your audience and your brand), what formats you'll use to package the results (i.e. blog articles, ebooks, webinars, videos), and how you'll distribute the content you create from the results. You also need to make sure it fits within organizational constraints, including budget, staff, and expertise.
But that is not enough.
Conducting high-quality research requires an understanding of the following:
- Research methods and objectives
- Sampling procedure
- Questionnaire draft
- Project management
- Data analysis
- reporting
But before you launch a survey, answer these eight questions to put the project on a solid foundation.
1. What is your goal?
When conducting research, think about your audience first. The research should provide them with valuable insights. Research that is done purely for personal gain may turn people off.
Be clear about what you want to study – and why.
For example, Aha Media and Mantis Research conducted a study to help healthcare marketers understand the impact of plain language in B2B healthcare marketing materials. Do readers prefer plain language? Are they more likely to act on the information? (Spoiler alert: clarity is actually a competitive advantage.)
They shared the study results in webinars, social media posts, blog posts, and more. (Read this article on CMI: New study reveals clear writing tips for B2B marketers.)
2. Is the data already available?
Once you know your goal, look for secondary research – published information – on your topic.
Limit the time spent on this phase so it doesn't get expensive. Depending on the topic and objectives, the amount of potential resources can be large. A simple internet search or prompts in a generative AI tool can lead to data from industry associations, libraries, government reports, etc. Also look at your brand's internal information, such as marketing statistics, sales data, etc.
If you come across good existing research, it may be enough to use and properly cite for your content marketing goal without having to do new research. On the other hand, your discoveries may reveal gaps that your research could fill.
If you are conducting an original research project, your goal will determine the methodology. Qualitative research (e.g., face-to-face interviews, focus groups) or perhaps a quantitative study (e.g., surveys)—or a combination of both—might best suit your goal.
To get credible results, you can't improvise. A high-quality, original content marketing research project requires time, expertise, and budget.
“I have been leading original research projects for the past 15 years. The most common problem I see with people just starting out in research is that their survey design doesn't uncover interesting themes or stories,” says Clare McDermott, founder of Ravn Research.
“The best research uncovers friction points – findings that are surprising or uncomfortable, or reveal some kind of weakness/failure. Designing surveys for storytelling takes experience. That's not to say you shouldn't experiment with research, but it helps to bring in experts who can advise on survey design.”
The questions to be answered include:
- Who will take over project management? Do you have a qualified employee with the time available or does the management need to be outsourced?
- Who develops the instruments for the qualitative survey (e.g. moderator guide, screening questionnaire, question/discussion guide), recruits the participants and conducts the interviews?
- Who designs the quantitative questionnaire, programs and conducts the survey, and collects, tabulates and analyzes the data?
- Which survey tools are needed?
- Who will write and design the report? Will this be done internally or will it be outsourced?
- Who develops the strategy for creating content around the findings and for disseminating the results?
- How much will it cost?
- What are your ROI goals? Are they financial, metrics-based, or something else? For example, do you want to attract X number of new visitors who view the results on your website and convert to email subscribers at a rate of Y%? Or do you want to generate X number of qualified leads from the research-focused content that convert to sales at a rate of Y%?
If your team doesn't have the expertise to answer these questions, you should invest time (and money) to acquire the expertise or find someone who does.
4. Do you have a quality list?
How do you find the people who can provide you with the insights you want? You could use your subscriber list, partner with another company, rent a third-party list, use a list-on-demand feature in survey software, or pay for access to a panel of pre-selected participants.
You can distribute the survey in a number of ways. At CMI, we typically send survey invitations via email to a known, interested audience (e.g. B2B marketers using content marketing). Other options include embedding a survey link on your website, including a link in blog posts and newsletters, running banner ads that point to your survey, or distributing a link on your social media channels.
Your choice depends on your goals.
Rather than go into all the pros and cons of list options and survey distribution methods here, I want to stress the importance of understanding sampling and methodology and having the expertise to address these issues. If you don't, seek outside help.
5. How will you interpret the data?
After the data has been collected, processed, cleaned and coded, you move on to the analysis and writing phase.
The research methodology impacts the analysis. For example, an in-depth analysis of qualitative data requires different skills than analyzing quantitative data. Do you have these talents on staff? If not, who will analyze the results for you?
It is beneficial to have multiple people view the data. One person might notice something that someone else missed. This analysis might also reveal insights that require further research.
A word of caution: The text and visual presentation of your report – as well as its written methodology – will influence the market's perception of your study. Make sure the author and designer have sufficient knowledge to communicate research findings effectively, such as not drawing conclusions that are not supported by the data and visualizing them in an easy-to-understand way.
6. What type of content will you create?
Your goals will dictate your choice of content formats. Consider developing these types based on the original research findings:
When choosing a format, also evaluate the resources required to create, distribute and manage that content.
7. Will you restrict research?
Based on the goals of your research project—and before publishing the content (e.g., primary report, e-book)—decide whether you will require recipients to provide contact details or other information to receive the results (i.e., whether you will lock them down).
Since CMI's first research report in 2010, we've never held back on our annual marketing trends report. The goal of the study is to attract and build audiences, not collect leads, by providing helpful information for content marketers. The study helps us build relationships with website visitors, many of whom become newsletter subscribers.
If collecting leads is more important to you than the possibility of scaring away your potential audience, make sure your results are valuable enough that people will be happy to give you their contact information. If you're not sure, run some A/B tests or lock down the research for a limited time to see how it performs.
8. Are you prepared for the attention?
Be prepared for the questions your findings will raise. Prepare for the following:
- Explain the methodology and interpretation.
- Respond to outreach requests. Contact your outreach contact when you plan the study to find out how they can help increase the reach of the results. Check out these tips from my colleague Amanda Subler: A step-by-step guide to getting more attention for your research.
- Answer questions and comments on social media.
- Respond to interview requests. By talking about your research, you generate interest in it.
- Be open to new ideas and questions from people who read the research. Feedback can be helpful when planning your next research project.
- Keep your sales team informed. Determine what you want your team to do with prospects who learn about your products/services through research-related content. How will your team guide these people to the next step in their relationship with your company?
TIP: Stay up to date with similar studies from your competitors. Review their methodology and results so you can intelligently discuss the overall research in your industry with your audience and team.
Ready for research
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to original research in content marketing programs. Go through these eight steps to assess your brand's situation and think through different scenarios. Then you'll know if it's possible to do parts in-house and/or outsource, and how it fits into the overall content marketing strategy.
View all of CMI's original research reports in its central hub.
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Cover photo by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
Create your very own Auto Publish News/Blog Site and Earn Passive Income in Just 4 Easy Steps
