5 Ways to Extend the Life of Survey Data

Surveys are tried and true assets in most content arsenals. The reasons why are pretty clear: surveys can give brands a lot of amplification power, using key takeaways and unexpected trends to fuel social sharing and even PR/media outreach. When designed well, surveys also empower brands with a lot of insights about their target buyers. 

Perhaps the greatest benefit of surveys, though, is that B2B buyers want them. Demand Gen Report’s 2017 Content Preferences Survey indicates that 76% of buyers want more data and research to support content, and 62% want more benchmarking data. 

Because buyers are looking for more in-depth intelligence on their peers, it’s up to your brand to provide it! But that doesn’t mean you just need to develop a survey and follow-up report. Impactful survey campaigns take a modular, multi-touch approach that lasts for several months.

Here are some quick and easy ways to reuse and repurpose survey data so you can drive ongoing engagement. 

  1. Develop a press release based on key trends and challenges: If you want to get media coverage for your latest survey, you need to think beyond a standard recap release. As you mine survey data, look for results that challenge current trends, highlight new pain points or are may be the opposite of what you expected. Media outlets are attracted to things that are timely and present some sort of conflict. Publishing a press release that highlights these takeaways and offers supporting commentary is a great way to capture media attention. 
  2. Design a themed infographic: Infographics can help your data stand out in noisy channels like social media. Resist the temptation to share as much data as you can, though. It’s more impactful to be selective, and use data that revolves around a central theme or story. This approach will allow you to create a more focused and organized piece that potentially ties to a visual theme or concept. Add a linked call-to-action so visitors can easily click to download the complete report. 
  3. Break down data into more topical assets: All survey campaigns should have a foundational report that highlights all questions and results. However, creating more focused shorter derivative assets can help you further engage target audiences. For example, imagine a retail solution provider develops a survey of retail CMOs to better understand their key challenges in a disruptive era. The resulting survey report touches on a variety of different subtopics, such as social media, mobile, brick-and-mortar stores, and experiential retail. The company can easily aggregate data and insights that focus on these individual topics to create mini E-books, briefs or checklists that dive deeper into the data but also incorporate some best practices and real-life examples. Total downloads, social shares and other content engagement data can help the company understand which topics resonate most with the audience.
  4. Hold a webinar recap: Similar to point three, holding a webinar is a great way to generate additional leads and get more marketing impact from your survey. But don’t just regurgitate the data and takeaways from your survey; dive deep into the survey’s goals, your process and the takeaways you believe are most fascinating. Onboard one or two team members who had a hand in designing and analyzing the survey so you can have a lively conversation. 
  5. Pump up amplification efforts with social images: With so many updates flooding social networks, brands need to do more to stand out and, most of all, get people to engage. Images can help. On LinkedIn, updates with images generally lead to a 98% comment rate. Extract five or more data points that you believe are most captivating and create images for all social networks you frequent. And don’t forget to make sure you’re creating them using the right dimensions

We’re only scratching the surface on all of the different amplification and repurposing opportunities surveys provide. You can use the data to develop account-based marketing (ABM) outreach and campaigns, craft a complementary quiz or assessment, develop a motion graphic video or snackable social videos, derivative podcasts and blogs, and so much more. After you get the data in your hands, release your creative inhibitions and brainstorm all the different ways you can break down, reuse and reversion your content. Depending on your campaign goals, target audience and timelines, you’ll have plenty of ideas to work with so you can gain a consistent flow of leads. 

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