COVID-19 has created ever-evolving challenges for all industries, but particularly those with in-person business models that cannot deliver their services to consumers 100% online.
Think business operations such as gasoline stations, hair salons, gyms, and dry cleaners.
While there is so much data on how Coronavirus has impacted the U.S. economy, there is very little on the effect the pandemic has had on in-person business model brands such as dry cleaners.
As a PR survey firm, we saw this as an opportunity to change that.
Project Overview
Our PR survey company partnered with an organization that provides cleaning products for dry cleaners and laundromats.
The organization wanted to conduct market research to understand the effects COVID-19 has made on the dry cleaning industry, including changes in consumer habits and preferences.
Instead of executing a study where the results and data would remain private with the sponsor of the study, our client chose to utilize PR polling.
This market research methodology is built and designed with the idea of gathering data to be shared. The results from this PR survey will be used to write press releases and other forms of content with attention-grabbing headlines.
As a result, the dry cleaning product supplier is able to grow brand awareness and position itself as a thought leader among its industry.
Learn more about how to use PR surveys using our ultimate guide!
What were the objectives of the PR survey?
Drive Research was hired to conduct a PR survey with a general population of consumers living in the United States.
The objectives of the study include:
- Collecting feedback on dry cleaning services and behaviors
- Leveraging the findings for content marketing in trade journals, PR, presentations, etc.
The multi-purposing of the market research helped the brand maximize the return on investment (ROI) of the research.
As a bonus, the results also helped fuel the client’s next steps in marketing, content, and strategy as we enter a new world of conducting business.
What was the approach to PR polling?
The PR survey was administered using vetted email panel databases to respondents fitting the screening criteria in the United States. Additionally, sub-quotas based on the U.S. census population and demographics were created.
Screening criteria included ensuring respondents were:
- 18 or older
- Located in the United States
- Used dry cleaning services within the last 12 months
Number of Responses
- 1,000
Date of Fieldwork
- Fieldwork began on May 28, 2020.
- Fieldwork ended on May 31, 2020.
Length of Survey
- The survey included 25 questions.
- The survey took an average of 4 minutes to complete.
What was the margin of error for the PR survey?
With a probabilistic sample, a total of 1,000 responses at the 95% confidence level offers a 3.1% margin of error.
If the survey were conducted with another random pool of 1,000 consumers across the U.S., results would yield within +3.1% or -3.1% of the stated totals in the reports.
The margin of error can be used as a guideline to understand the high reliability of these results. This is especially helpful when the data is being distributed publicly with media and trade publications.
Learn more about the margin of error and how to calculate it.
What were the results of the dry cleaning survey?
The results of the PR survey were easily accessible to the client as soon as fieldwork began. Drive Research provided an online report link that gave live breakdowns of the question by question results as fieldwork was conducted.
Once fieldwork was closed, the results of the PR survey were delivered to the client within 24 hours.
The report included a topline summary of the findings, PDF reports, online report links, and the raw data file. The goal of the topline summary was to provide an overview of the key findings derived from the PDF reports of question tabulations.
More specifically, our PR survey company is able to format and write this section in a way to easily craft headlines and create content using the research data.
The results were broken down into the following sections:
- Pre-COVID 19 usage and expectations for dry cleaners
- Awareness and interest in additional services offered by dry cleaners
- How usage of dry cleaning services changed due to COVID-19
- New expectations for dry cleaners post-COVID-19
How can the research results be used?
In addition to gathering the data, the results of the data can be leveraged for content marketing, press releases, seminars, presentations, and other public relations uses.
Another creative way to use PR polling results is with an infographic. This helps showcase the data in a graphically appealing way.
Here is an example of an infographic our team created from a survey conducted on the gym re-opening process amidst COVID-19.
Drive Research is a PR polling company located in New York. Our services extend across the U.S. and the world. Our market research firm has worked with Fortune 500 brands, helping deliver insights, action items, and ROI on their survey efforts.
Questions about how to make surveys work for PR? Need a quote? Contact us today!
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040
Emily Taylor
As a Senior Research Analyst, Emily is approaching a decade of experience in the market research industry and loves to challenge the status quo. She is a certified VoC professional with a passion for storytelling.
Learn more about Emily, here.
