Public relations and market research seem to be completely different at first. Public relations deals with maintaining a favorable company image, while market research involves gathering data to gain insights for better marketing.
But, what if I told you that public relations and market research actually go hand-in-hand?
That’s right! Market research is crucial to public relations, just as it is to some of the greatest marketing out there. Like market research for agencies, those working in PR must understand their audience and their viewpoints, not just on the company of focus, but that company’s market segment and competitors. Without the proper public relations research, it would be nearly impossible to understand your audience and therefore, impossible to help your company maintain a positive image.
Thus, market research is essential for a successful PR team, and here are 4 reasons why!
No. 1: Market research helps you understand the audience’s current attitudes and perceptions
As someone on a PR team, you must understand how your audience currently perceives your brand. The first reason as to why people in PR need market research is because it helps extract the opinions of customers and other audiences to see how the brand image is shaped.
One way to do this is by conducting a netnography. What's a netnography, you ask? Well it’s a deep engagement in an online social media community that is analyzed to obtain knowledge about customer attitudes and perceptions online. These online communities are normally centered around a certain topic of interest (i.e. your brand industry).
What are people talking about in your industry?
What companies do they like and why?
If your company is big, what do they currently think about your company?
These are some questions you should think about when diving into a netnography study. There are multiple approaches to this, but what I like doing is going on to Reddit or Twitter, and simply searching up keywords regarding the industry. From there, you’ll see live posts and obtain authentic insights coming straight from your target audience.
By knowing what your audience likes and doesn’t like, you’ll be pointed in the right direction, and will be more likely to attract them in your strategy.
No. 2: Market research helps you better understand what influences your brand perception.
The second reason market research is crucial to your PR team is because it helps you assess what currently sways the opinion of your audience. When you’re in PR, there’s only so much you can do to control the image of your company. The world is constantly changing, and there may be factors that unintentionally (or intentionally) sway your image in the eyes of your target audience. Maybe a new environmental issue has raised awareness and your company may be associated with that issue. It is also possible that new regulations, or overall changes in societal mindset can impact people’s opinions. A competitor may have even conducted an experiment that depicted your product as inferior (This actually happened to Coke with the Pepsi Challenge, more on that in The Creative Catalyst blog).
With market research, you’ll be able to better identify what exactly influences your audience and tailor your message around those influences. This way, you can adapt your story to mindset changes and other factors that can deter your image. There are several things you can examine when determining your audience’s influence:
Where they get their information: Are they primarily on social media? Do they watch the local news channel frequently?
How they’ll respond: Will they spread the word about new information to their friends and family? Will they post their thoughts on social media?
Other competitors they have interest in: Your audience is likely to have interest in your competitors, so it’s important to understand their processes and what they do to sway your audience away from you.
By considering these questions, you can begin altering your image through strategic public relations messaging to attract more of your audience and get them to act!
No. 3: Market research helps your PR team and brand achieve thought leadership in your industry.
You’ve learned about your audience’s attitudes and influences, which will help you figure out the best way to tell your story. But what if you don’t know the right story to tell?
The third reason why people in PR need market research is because you can easily create a story through market research by becoming a thought-leadership organization! This is achieved by gathering data that no one else has, and reveals jaw-dropping insights to your audience.
One way to do this is by conducting market research surveys involving your target audience. In this survey, you can ask quantitative questions that give birth to eye-catching statistics. For example, you can ask about appealing features related to your product or service, and discover that the majority prefers a feature that is totally unexpected. Using statistics like these can strengthen the message in your story.
When the pandemic impacted us last year, we had an agency reach out to us about wanting to be thought-leaders in their niche industries. They wanted data on how their specialized audience was impacted before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and as a result of the project, they gained insights on the industry that no one else had. This significantly improved their branding, yielding them more clients, along with a boost of website traffic.
Want to see an example of research like this in action? Check this out!
Focus group market research interviews also help with obtaining the data you need for the best story. Asking thought-provoking qualitative questions to your focus group is crucial, as it reveals hidden motives and behaviors in your target audience. The focus group is also pulled from the audience, so quotes pulled from the survey can further attract the attention of the audience, as they may relate to the focus group member’s opinions.
With just surveys and focus groups, you can easily find out some mind-blowing things from your audience, which can be integrated into your story.
No 4. Market research helps you tell a better story to improve your image.
Lastly, people in PR need market research because all of the data obtained helps them shape a better story that is likely to attract a larger audience!
Finding out what your audience currently thinks of you shows you where you’re positioned. When implementing your PR strategy or campaign, you can use this position as a starting point. When you find out about how they get their information and who influences them, you can craft your storytelling to tailor to the audience, so they can listen and connect with the story easier. And when you have stunning statistics that are exclusive, you can create a story that will substantially boost your image.
Can we help?
At the end of the day, market research is crucial to improving your public relations strategy for any brand, as it ultimately helps you plan and write your story that everyone will talk about. If done correctly, you can create a stunning story and campaign that will make your brand stand out from the crowd!
Do you need a market research partner for PR? S2 Research is here to assist you! Schedule a free consultation with us today!
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