Research surveys and survey reports* have become important marketing tools for many B2B companies. A growing number of companies are conducting or sponsoring surveys and featuring survey results prominently in their marketing programs.
The proliferation of surveys and survey reports has been driven by the growing importance of thought leadership in the B2B marketing mix. Real thought leadership content must provide novel insights that are supported by authoritative evidence. As a practical matter, therefore, real thought leadership content requires primary research, and surveys are one of the most widely-used forms of primary research.
B2B marketers obviously want potential buyers to view their survey results and survey reports as credible and reliable. The reliability of survey results depends primarily on the quality of the methodology used to design and execute the survey. But whether potential customers perceive your survey results as credible also depends on how well you describe the research methodology.
I frequently work with clients to prepare survey reports, and I review many survey reports published by others. Over the years, I've developed a mental checklist of items relating to survey methodology that I look for whenever I review a survey report. I use the same checklist when I'm preparing a survey report.
Marketers can benefit from using a similar checklist both as producers and consumers of survey-based content. Marketers are increasingly using survey results to support important decisions, and it's important to make sure those results are reliable. It's always a good idea to approach survey results with a critical eye because, as Mark Twain wrote: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."
Describe Your Methodology Thoroughly
A survey report should include a thorough description of the methodology used in the research. This enables knowledgeable readers to assess the quality of the methodology and have confidence in the reliability of the survey results.
For a survey of business professionals about a business subject, the description of the survey methodology should include the following:
- Sample size (the number of responses the survey received)
- When the survey responses were obtained
- How the survey responses were collected (e.g. online, telephone)
- How potential survey participants were selected
- If appropriate, how survey respondents were qualified
- Respondent demographics/firmographics (more about this below)
- Job title/job function of respondents
- Industry verticals/types of companies represented
- Company sizes represented
- Geographic location of respondents
Illustration courtesy of epictop10.com via Flickr (CC).
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