How to run the perfect PR research campaign

Written by: Paul Stallard


PR Research can be big investment for businesses but highly rewarding if done well. It can be tempting to go for the most economical option. When doing this you must ask yourself if your campaign will stand up to scrutiny from the media, competitors and the industry at large? There is nothing worse than investing your marketing budget on a piece of PR research only to see the findings ridiculed and your integrity called into question publicly.

If you can’t say all of the following statements about your research project you could have made the project much easier for yourself.

  • My sample is nationally representative
  • I’m crystal clear about how many respondents of a specific job title I need to understand their opinions
  • I know how many people I need to interview, in each country, for an international survey to be relevant
  • I know when it is more appropriate to run a telephone (cati) survey rather than an online methodology
  • I am confident in writing a questionnaire that will meet the research objectives and be clear to respondents
  • I am clear about how to cross analyse my research results
  • I am able to write up the research results in a systematic and unbiased

Below are our six top tips designed to help you prepare your campaign and ensure that you can say all of the above statements and maximise your investment in your next research project.

  1. Always have clear smart research objectives
  2. Always ensure that your sample is representative of the population
  3. Get the questionnaire right if you want to generate insights that will answer all your research objectives
  4. Predict what the pitfalls of the research are likely to be
  5. Ensure you have someone with a research background to analyse the results
  6. Make the reporting insightful, easy to read and easy to understand

 

If you would like to learn more about these six top tips, read our free research guide.

 

Arlington Research is an award-winning full-service market research company. Get in touch with us for a friendly chat about your next project.

There is nothing worse than investing a large chunk of your marketing budget on a piece of PR research only to see the findings ridiculed and your integrity called into question publicly

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