When talking about media work, we’re constantly ensuring that what we talk about is newsworthy... breaking that down - means ‘new.’ But, what happens if you don’t have anything ‘new’ to talk about? That’s when we - as an agency - get creative. One of our go-to tactics is to talk to our client’s target market and get their feedback - what they think, what motivates them, and what their desires are.

One of the most effective tactics a company can use is to conduct research via primary survey methods to understand the target population. Yes, this is just as relevant for B2B as for B2C products and services.

BUT… you can’t poll a couple of friends and call it research!

Since 2007, the American Association of Public Opinion Researchers and the Poynter Institute have trained reporters to ask key questions about survey research results. And the National Council of Public Polls (NCPP) has published its own list of questions for journalists to ask about surveys, now on its third edition: 20 Questions A Journalist Should Ask About Poll Results.

Comparing the two documents shows the most common questions journalists are advised to ask about surveys:

Who paid for the poll and why was it done?
Who ran the poll?
How many people were interviewed?
How were those people chosen? (Probability or nonprobability sample?)
What area or what group were people chosen from? (Adults, online consumers, marketing staff?)
Are the results based on the answers of all the people interviewed?
When were the interviews conducted?
How were the interviews conducted?
How was the poll conducted? (Online, by telephone, face-to-face?)
What’s the margin of sampling error, if applicable?
What questions were asked?
What order were the questions asked in?

In short - if you’re going to do it, do it right.

If you’re considering using research in the media, please contact us today so we can walk you through what a successful project looks like. Contact us today.