Thinking about collecting data for an industry study? Great idea. We've talked a lot on our blog about content being the most underutilized outcome of market research. Collecting proprietary data for your organization and then sharing it pins your organization as a thought-leader in the space. You can re-use the data for content such as marketing materials, sales collateral, e-books, infographics, blogs, and press releases.
Agencies often partner with Drive Research to conduct these content-driven studies. Here is an example of a survey we completed with Brandpoint in Minneapolis, MN. The organization wanted to survey marketers in the financial services industry across the U.S. This included banks, credit unions, and wealth management organizations.
The survey examined trends, challenges, and topics around content marketing for financial services firms. We learned what works, what doesn't, and what is expected next year as far as budgets. The survey results created a wealth of information for Brandpoint to re-use as part of it's own internal publications.
Read more below.
Conducting industry surveys to learn more about an audience and then sharing the results is an excellent way to pin your brand as a thought-leader in your space. As a company, we can all learn a thing or two about the approach of Brandpoint here.
Objectives
The objectives of the market research included understanding marketing and content strategy trends among those working in marketing departments within the financial services industry. The market research sought to provide Brandpoint with definitive and compelling insights to feature in its marketing, lead generation, public relations, and strategic operations to pin the organization as a thought leader in the industry.
Approach
To address the objectives at hand, Drive Research recommended using an online survey to collect feedback. Online surveys are cost-effective, offer a quick turnaround, are measurable, and gather quality data. The combination of these 4 benefits created a strong ROI for Brandpoint. The survey was targeted to specific jobs and roles through paid social media advertisements on LinkedIn and using a pre-recruited national online research panel of participants who matched the necessary profiles.
Drive Research follows an exclusive in-house approach our team has built for survey projects. Our method uses a step-by-step and task-oriented approach to project management from kickoff through completion.
Fieldwork began on Monday, February 19 and lasted until Saturday, March 10, 2018 (3 weeks). The survey consisted of 14 questions and took respondents 3 minutes to complete. A total of 410 responses were collected. Respondents were screened to ensure they have a marketing related job function within the financial services industry.
Findings
Here is a highlight of some of the key findings from the State of Content Marketing for Financial Services study below.
- 95% of financial marketers are familiar with content to some degree.
- 46% of respondents say they are not an "expert" but know a thing or two.
- Nearly 3 in 4 of respondents state their marketing budget will increase next year.
- An average of 47% of respondents' website budgets are dedicated to SEO.
- The top 3 marketing activities are social media, digital display, and video content.
- Traditional media (TV, radio, and mail) saw the largest decrease in importance.
- Biggest benefits of content? Awareness, reaching targeted audience, and traffic.
- Challenges in marketing? Reaching audiences, new customers, competition.
- Lack of resources to generate quality content was the largest marketing challenge.
- Inability to measure effectiveness and lack of budget closely followed.
To read more or download the full e-book, visit the Brandpoint blog here.
Infographic created based on the Drive Research survey results.
Contact Us
Drive Research is a market research company who works with content marketing and advertising agencies across the country to collect industry data for studies like these. The survey results can be repurposed in many formats to maximize the value of the research and position your agency as a thought-leader in the space. They also develop leads for your company.
Interested in conducting a similar study? Contact us 1 of 4 ways below:
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Email us at [email protected]
Call us at 888-725-DATA
Text us at 315-303-2040