Journalists are more likely to open press releases if they contain research, as YouGov research cited by PRmoment shows. Teresa Horscroft, owner of PR consultancy Eureka Communications, has research firm clients and appreciates how research is great for getting you noticed: “There is no doubt that research can give marketing and PR content an edge that is appreciated by media looking for a news hook or something relevant to validate a key point in their article.”

However, research isn’t just a tool for getting coverage, it is vital for proving the value of PR. Nigel Middlemiss, knowledge director at research firm Echo. says that as such large budgets are invested in PR campaigns, there is pressure to produce research evidence showing their effectiveness. But, Middlemiss says, the research used must be reliable: “Our experience shows only one thing poses nearly as great a risk as doing no research at all; the client does their own or gets their PR agency to do it. Bias then often distorts the results.”

Horscroft adds that the research must also be planned and targeted well: “Research has most value when it has a business objective – perhaps to inform business or marketing strategy, product development or customer relations, or to validate a business idea.“

As well as polling large groups of people using quantitative research, Lawrence Bailey, senior lecturer at Leeds Business School and former chairman of Catalyst Research, says it is worth investing in smaller qualitative research projects: “A skilled qualitative researcher can find out why people buy what they buy, do what they do, and believe what they believe. You can imagine how useful such data can be in helping to get the language, and communication style right, for whoever you’re addressing. IT and consumer electronics companies are notorious for speaking a language that is almost foreign to the consumer. In the early days of digital broadcasting, a radio manufacturer wanted me to ask consumers whether they would like a teeter switch, a dongle, or more RAM. Not a good idea … only the techno-receptive types know what those terms mean.”

Apart from getting insight for journalists, researching potential audiences before a campaign and proving the value the campaign afterwards, research is also useful tor PROs to provide information about markets when pitching for business. It is also a tool for finding out what employees are thinking when working on internal communications. But research is only useful if it is fit for your needs.

How to get the best research

Bailey, Horscroft and Middlemiss offer these ten tips when commissioning research:

1. Before you commission new work, check what data you already have from other research, perhaps even done by other departments. For example, by HR on staff opinions. This data can be used by a professional researcher so that it is comparable with new research.

2. Make sure you are clear on an objective. What are you trying to find out for the business? Research that is framed around a business or market issue is more relevant to prospective customers and therefore of interest to their target media.

3. Brief the research company so it is clear on what questions you want the research to answer. What decisions will be influenced by the results; and who the internal clients are for the results.

4. Decide the audience/sample. Who are you speaking to, when, how many? Generally speaking, for consumer research a sample of more than 1,000 people is essential, but if the audience is niche, for example IT directors, then less is acceptable.

5. Think about whether the research could prove or disprove a myth. And therefore create some controversy for your story.

6. Make sure you’re asking the right questions. It’s useful to start with the story that you’d like to see published (the story you’re trying to prove or disprove). The questions will help you frame the story so spend enough time thinking about this in advance as it’s costly to ask additional questions once the research is already in field.

7. Be clear in how you will use the insight found post research. Will it be circulated to relevant business departments and other stakeholders who can use it to improve their strategies. Will recommendations be provided and acted upon?

8. Don’t rely on a little bit of vox pop. Are the people expressing these views really relevant? or representative of the publics that matter to you?

9. You might not be happy with what the research finds. But it is better to accept what turns out to be true: things go better with reality.

10. Don’t buy research if you already know the answer. There have been some odd reasons for doing market research. If you’d like to find out about some rational and irrational reasons, dig out an old article from Management Decision journal (Bailey and Scott-Jones, 1988) – still cited today!

More information:

Lawrence Bailey delivered a guest lecture called Market Segmentation, Qualitative Research and Conversations Across the Garden Wall,.which can be seen here.