A common struggle for marketers is thinking of new and creative ways to promote their brand, product, or services with content.
Content marketers are tasked with writing appealing sales material, SEO-focused website content, thought leadership blog posts, actionable emails – the list goes on and on.
The challenge with creating so much valuable content is eventually, marketers run out of things to say, or how to position their material in a way that has not been done before.
Enter every content marketer's worst nightmare: writer’s block. Cue the Jaw’s theme.
Defeating writer’s block doesn’t have to be intimidating. Keep reading to find out why.
Defeating Writer’s block: How to Actually Do It
We have your answer–with a simple content survey!
One of the best writer’s block strategies, content marketing research, or creating content driven by data, is a unique strategy for brands to write fresh content with customer or non-customer feedback.
Through a simple content survey, marketers are presented with an arsenal of data nuggets to be reformatted.
Common ways data can be used for content creation:
- Website copy
- Blog posts
- Press releases
- Sales material
- Infographics
- Competitor compare cards
Drive Research, our content marketing research company, recently completed a content survey with Irwin Naturals and LaraPR. This case study will walk you through the process of conducting original research and its deliverables.
💡 The Key Takeaway: With the help of a third-party research company, you can beat writer’s block. Data collection through surveying provides a number of different topics to cover.
Objectives of the Content Survey
Irwin Naturals and LaraPR partnered with Drive Research on a content marketing research project. Irwin Naturals delivers formulated “best-in-class” supplements to address a wide spectrum of health needs in a highly competitive space.
Irwin Naturals promises customers the best quality supplements, affordable prices, and a healthier mind and body.
While this mission statement may be true, Irwin Naturals understands many of their competitors are advertising with similar messaging and guarantees.
For this content marketing research project, Drive Research wanted to emphasize how cost-effective Irwin Naturals products were in comparison to competitors who promise, “the best price.”
For reference, a bottle of 15 mg. CBD soft-gels (60-count) from Irwin Naturals costs $32.99, or 3.7 cents per mg.
If a customer takes 1200mg of CBD per month, they could save over $1,000 per year by purchasing Irwin Naturals soft-gels instead of buying the same bottle from a leading CBD competitor (Source: Business Wire).
This nugget of information is a great marketing message to attract new customers – but how many ways can they reword this? What other ways can Irwin Naturals present this information to the masses?
Cue: content marketing research.
Why use original research?
You're not alone in thinking "How can we stand out against our competitors who promise the same quality of products and services?"
There are many market research studies organizations can use to beat out competitors – one of these methods being original research.
Just as it sounds, original research is all the reliable data gathered from any kind of market research–AKA, the answer to defeating writer’s block. With quality feedback, you’ll be able to create a number of content outlets.
To name a few, you can:
- Create a blog post per survey question
- Host a company webinar on survey findings
- Put together a whitepaper with your new information
Businesses may feel overwhelmed with the idea of coming up with their own original research system. However, with the help of a third-party research company, there’s nothing overwhelming about the process.
Not only will you receive quality feedback to help your company, hiring an outside research team will provide additional benefits.
Some of them include:
- Major theme executive summary
- Next steps and recommendations
- Helpful infographic on marketing strategy
- Detailed appendix for each question
Watch our video to learn more benefits of original research with a market research firm.
💡 The Key Takeaway: Writer’s block causes have to do with lack of resources. Original research refers to the collection of quality feedback to combat that issue. With this information, companies can create blog content, webinars, and more to promote their brand.
Content Marketing Research Process
Irwin Naturals and LaraPR sought out our third-party original research company to field a content survey.
The survey was used to help aid a press release being sent in December that spoke to New Year’s resolutions – in particular, saving money. The press release also promoted a free 10mg bottle of CBD oil from Irwin Naturals.
The content survey asked one simple question: “If you had an extra $1,000, how would you spend it?”
The content marketing research study was executed through an online survey with our national in-house panel. The content survey collected 1,000 responses.
Responses were statistically reliable +/- 3% and representative of the general adult population in the U.S.
After fieldwork closed, Drive Research performed data and quality checks to verify all responses were valid and there were no duplicate responses.
Market research companies specializing in content surveys understand how big these checks are. Whether there’s one, teeny-tiny error in data or a massive glitch, mistakes are mistakes that negatively impact data.
Taking these few simple steps can prevent extra work and faulty data.
💡 The Key Takeaway: Data-scrubbing ensures no mistakes sneak through the cracks of your research. It is a key step in the collection process.
Results of the Content Marketing Research Study
Our content marketing research agency delivered statistically reliable results for Irwin Naturals to include in their press release, which was to be shared with various media outlets.
As referenced above, Irwin Naturals utilized the results from a content survey in a press release.
However, the opportunity to share these results does not have to end here. One content survey does not equal one blog post.
Results from each survey question can and should be created into a series of blog posts.
That's huge when 57% of marketing professionals claim that blogging has brought them new business.
Get creative and think about how you can use this data to position your company as a thought leader in your industry.
Note: A content survey can deliver more than just blog content
The length of a content survey depends on a number of factors such as the objective and goals of the research.
For example, a hospital needs updated copy for their new website. A content marketing research company, like Drive Research, will write and field a survey asking their target audience questions.
Here are some examples:
- What factors influence your decision for choosing a healthcare provider?
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied are you with your current healthcare provider?
- Why or why are you not satisfied with your current healthcare provider?
- What would cause you to switch to a new healthcare provider?
The answers from this content survey can feed into the hospital’s website content.
Say a large majority of respondents say "the level of care" is the most influential factor when choosing a hospital.
The homepage of the hospital’s website should speak to its high-quality level of care in big, bold text. It would also be smart to include patient testimonials on the homepage.
The hospital can now rely on data and evidence to determine major marketing decisions. No more guesswork or assuming this is what patients are attracted to.
💡 The Key Takeaway: The results of a content survey can be repurposed in press releases, blog content, website copy, data visualization pieces, and more.
Example of an Infographic with Original Research
Our content marketing research company used the results from our study with Irwin Naturals to create an infographic of our own.
Check it out below!
It’s understandable that businesses may be intimidated by pages and pages of survey results.
Infographics are massively helpful–they present quality data in an engaging, approachable manner.
In fact, according to HubSpot, infographics come in at #4 for top-used marketing tools.
A third-party team like Drive Research takes infographic creation just as seriously as data collection.
A lot can be included in an infographic, as you can see above.
Here are some popular findings to include in infographics:
- Type of research
- Research goals
- Key findings
- Response rate
- Fieldwork date
Putting all of this information together in an infographic makes it an accessible, fun visual feedback tool for you, your employees, and your customers.
💡 The Key Takeaway: Never underestimate the power of infographics. Creating a visual representation of data in an appealing manner allows for a clear understanding of feedback.
Contact Our Content Marketing Research Firm
Drive Research is a market research company that specializes in research-based content and research-driven content insights. We work closely with organizations that are looking to use market research to drive content strategies.
Questions about how we can help? Want to talk about a project? Reach out through any of the four ways below.
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040
Emily Carroll
A SUNY Cortland graduate, Emily has taken her passion for social and content marketing to Drive Research as the Marketing Manager. She has earned certificates for both Google Analytics and Google AdWords.
Learn more about Emily, here.
