Why?
- For successful B2B marketing, you need real thought leadership content
- Such content must be novel and authoritative
- In order to have novel and authoritative content, you must conduct original research
Go beyond surveys
Doesn't original research just mean some kind of survey? No, for marketing purposes surveys are not enough even if they remain popular since they bring interesting data, as well as being quite easy and cheap to use. Moreover, surveys nowadays can be done via free tools.
Original research can be secondary and primary. Secondary research involves the review and analysis of data or research published by:
- governmental entities
- academia
- consulting firms
- research firms
- professional associations
Primary research is conducted by you yourself. The most common methods of primary research are the following:
Interviews and focus groups
The advantage of an interview is that it enables the use of open-ended questions, which lead to more nuanced answers. You can also use interviews as a preliminary step in your research project, on the basis of which you can identify important topics.
Analysis of proprietary data
If your company has some data, you can leverage it. For example, if you provide an SaaS software application, you can compile and analyse data regarding how customers are using your product.
Experiments and tests
This is useful especially in social sciences. During an experiment, you expose participants to alternative versions of a hypothetical situation. Then you ask them about their experience. You aim to measure in what the alternatives differ. A field test is an experiment that takes place in a real-world setting (e.g. A/B testing in marketing).
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