As a marketer, you want original, game-changing insights for your content. But where exactly do you find those?
Far too many B2B content pieces are filled with stats that are pulled from the first page of Google results. They may be safe shares from reputable sources, but they’re hardly inspiring to the people you need to reach most – the B2B buyers who you want to impress with your thought leadership and products.
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But there is a path to finding data no one else has while also creating buzz with your target audience: a carefully constructed, content-fueling survey.
“Surveys provide content marketers and brands a way to create their own destiny when it comes to sharing engaging insights,” said Kate Light, senior content director at studioID, an Informa company. “The talking points these surveys uncover can fuel a brand’s marketing campaigns for months, allowing them to lead industry conversations while many of their competitors lean on stale statistics or product-focused information to fuel their content.”
How surveys can fuel your content marketing
Here are five ways designing surveys to generate insights for your content marketing efforts can engage both your audience and internal stakeholders – from the start of the process all the way through the final piece of collateral.
Bring your key targets into the process
Depending on the scope of your survey, you may be able to start engaging your target audience before you gather any data. Many marketers find it appropriate to invite their key targets to take their surveys, especially when the results will measure compelling industry sentiments or trends. This also sets up easy reengagement opportunities to share insights once the survey is complete and your content starts rolling out.
Atomize your survey content
All your great survey insights should start out in one piece of content. And then you should spread them everywhere. An overarching report is an ideal way to show off your findings and potentially make news if pitched to the right publishers and content creators. However, not everyone is going to take time to download your report, study your methodology and pour over your key takeaways. Marketers who plan to be prolific in post-survey content creation – including blog posts, infographics, video content, social posts, short videos, etc. – will get the most out of their content marketing investment by creating the maximum number of opportunities for potential partners to see their insights.
Use the results as a PR opportunity
Surveys can fuel more than your marketing team’s content. Big stats and clear narratives that can be packaged into a press release that can be syndicated across the web and shared directly with journalists and other industry analysts to create earned media.
From content to conversations
Another area marketers shouldn’t take for granted – especially if you’re seeking organizational buy-in to spend on scoping and creating a survey – is the value of mentioning the results during events or sales and partnership conversations. Word of mouth remains a highly successful marketing tactic, and hearing original insights from thought leaders on your team or guest industry analysts can be compelling. Also, consider how you’ll prepare everyone on your sales and marketing team to share your top survey insights with key external stakeholders.
Great content will lead to strong intent data
Finally, make sure your marketing team is set up to monitor the intent data your content will create, as subsequent engagements and downloads of your work can be tracked to trigger timely follow-up engagements.
What to think about as you get started with surveys
Now that you know the value surveys and the resulting content can bring to your marketing efforts, here are three tips to get you started:
Isolating your topic is key
Exploring a specific niche in your market – as opposed to the wider market itself – will provide more meaningful and actionable insights your audience cares about.
Find the right partner with industry experience
Finding an all-in-one partner that can reach the exact audience you need to hear from while also helping you create questions that will lead to significant insights can save you several headaches.
Plan your content rollout
As the data starts to roll in, take time to consider all the different content executions you can create with it and what the optimal schedule and engagement plan look like.
For more ways to build company brand awareness – or to talk to someone about how to create marketing surveys and content – visit Informa Tech’s Solutions portal at informatech.com/solutions.
