Using Surveys to Generate Publicity

Surveys can be used to gather information for many purposes. The government uses statistical surveys to collect quantitative information about the population. Market researchers use opinion polls to collect data for marketing purposes. Surveys can also be a useful tool for generating publicity. The best approach for creating a successful publicity survey is to create questions that generate responses about consumer behavior. The results of the survey can provide consumer insights that can be leveraged to generate press. Press releases containing statistical information may receive more coverage than simply pitching a story.

STEPS TO A SUCCESSFUL SURVEY

• Identify the Website to Host Your Survey
• Create Consumer Behavior Response Questions
• Analyze the Information and Create a Press Release

Identify the Website to Host Your Survey

I recommend hosting the survey on your website if it receives a lot of traffic, or on a popular blog that is similar in personality to the product that you are creating publicity for. Ideally, the site hosting the survey should receive a sufficient amount of traffic in order to obtain statistically relevant results (the more respondents the better, but I typically have a goal of at least 100). Whether you host your survey on your website or on a third party site, I recommend using an online survey software tool, such as SurveyMonkey.com or Zoomerang. These online survey sites allow you to create the survey and provide you with a link to the survey. You can then place the link on the site where the survey is to be hosted. The tool can also provide you with real-time results. (Note: there is usually a minimal service charge for each survey.)

Let’s take our fictitious product that we’ve used in prior blog posts, Votre Vie Water, a zero-calorie, antioxidant, calcium, vitamin and electrolyte enhanced bottle of flavored and non-flavored water whose portion of proceeds benefit the Clean Water Association and Recycle This! (both fictitious organizations). We already identified the target consumer for this product as an individual who is active, healthy or fitness inclined, and may be image conscious, hip and trendy (see SWOT Analysis post The website that will host the survey should have visitors that fall into this target group. For example, “Healthy Bites” blog on Self.com, HungryGirl.com, and Splendora.com might be good candidates. C

Create Consumer Behavior Response Questions

It’s important to create survey questions that will elicit responses that will generate media interest and press coverage. The questions should be about consumer behavior (how they eat, think, shop, etc). Some important things to consider:

• Keep the questions brief and the number of questions to a minimum (no more than 15).
• Surveys should not take longer than 5 minutes to complete.
• Assume that respondents are busy and have short attention spans.
• If budget permits, incentivize the participants with a prize.
• Question types can include true or false, multiple choice, or open ended (more difficult to evaluate).
• Avoid answer choices that include ambiguous words such as “sometimes”, “occasionally”, and “regularly”.
• Two questions you should almost always ask: gender and age range.
  

Using the example above, we might consider the following questions:

How much water do you drink per day?
A. 1 to 2 cups
B. 3 to 5 cups
C. 6 to 7 cups
D. 8 cups or more

Do you prefer flavored or non-flavored water?
A. Flavored
B. Non-flavored

If you purchase nutrient-enhanced water, how many bottles do you purchase per week?
A. 1 to 2 bottles
B. 3 to 5 bottles
C. 6 to 8 bottles
D. 9 or more

What is the most important ingredient you look for when purchasing nutrient-enhanced water?
A. Antioxidants
B. Calcium
C. Fiber
D. Vitamins
E. Electrolytes

What do you think is the most important benefit of antioxidants?
A. Stronger immune resistance to flues, viruses and infections
B. Reduced risk of cancer
C. Prevention of glaucoma and macular degeneration
D. Reduced risk of cholesterol-oxidation and heart disease
E. Anti-aging of cells and overall body
F. I’m really not sure, I would just be guessing

In this tight economy, how has your spending habit changed on purchasing water?
A. I purchase cheaper bottles
B. I purchase fewer bottles
C. I purchase cheaper and fewer bottles
D. I still purchase the same amount
E. I don’t purchase bottled water
F. I only purchase nutrient-enhanced bottles of water

Of course, there are more questions you could consider (e.g., questions on recycling or knowledge of benefits of nutrients, etc.).

Analyze the Information and Create a Press Release

After you have gathered a sufficient number of survey responses, you can begin analyzing the results including statistics, trends or patterns in the data, and responses from the open-ended questions. Sample results you might consider for the press release:

• More than 60% of woman surveyed indicated that antioxidants are the most important nutrient they look for when purchasing enhanced water.

• More than half of survey respondents indicated that they only purchase nutrient-enhanced water due to the current state of the economy.

It is your job to determine what is most important and most relevant to include in your press release. And of course, you have to make it pertinent to your product.

Understanding a Media Perception Audit

Perceptions consumers have of a company and brand are often shaped by the media. To better understand how your company is perceived, consider performing a media perception audit. A media perception audit is a tool that a company can use to determine how its image, message or product is being perceived by the media, the gatekeepers of consumer information. Information is obtained by conducting one-on-one interviews with editors that a company can then use to better understand how it can improve, shape or refine its image, message and/or products.

The media perception audit consists of two reports:

• The first describes how a company is perceived versus its competitors. This report helps confirm, or disconfirm, that its marketing programs are working efficiently.
  

• The second defines how a company perceives itself versus how it is perceived by the media. A company’s self-perception drives many internal factors, thus a media perception audit can help a company adjust its operations to maximize profitability.

STEPS TO CONDUCTING A MEDIA PERCEPTION AUDIT

1. Identify key media to be included in the audit
2. Create survey questions and conduct phone interviews with the media
3. Develop summary of findings (your reports)
4. Incorporate your findings into your PR plan

SAMPLE MEDIA PERCEPTION AUDIT

1. Identifying Key Media

The first step is to identify key media who cover the brand or would potentially cover the brand. Let’s take our fictitious company from the last post, Votre Vie Water, a zero-calorie, antioxidant, calcium, vitamin and electrolyte enhanced bottle of flavored and non-flavored water. A portion of proceeds benefit the Clean Water Association and Recycle This! (both fictitious charities). Let’s pretend it’s a year later and distribution has gone national. Potential media might include editors from Women’s General Interest, Health and Fitness, Major Dailies, Blogs/Online, and Green Publications.

2. Creating Survey Questions/Conducting Media Interviews

Now that we have our list, we need to create sample questions. We don’t want the questions to be leading, but we want to ask questions that will deliver us with answers we want. It’s great to start out with generic questions about the brand that other similar brands might contain as well. Toward the end, it’s OK to ask about your brand. Sample questions for Votre View MPA might include:

• Are you familiar with vitamin enhanced waters? If so, what brands come to mind?
• Have you ever reporter on vitamin enhanced waters? If so, what brands?
• Have you ever written or reporter about the benefits of flavored waters?
• What do you think are the most important added vitamins or minerals a beverage should contain?
• Are you familiar with Votre Vie? Have you ever purchased Votre Vie?
• Are you familiar with Votre Vie’s charity initiatives?

3. Preparing Your Findings

After you’ve contacted each reporter and asked them the questions, it’s time to prepare a summary of your findings. What I like to do first is create a graph of each question that includes percentages from each question making it easy to view those findings. Additionally, it’s important to list feedback, including actual quotes, that might be of use. Sample feedback might include:

• Almost all reporters were not familiar with either of the charity initiatives, but were open to learning more about it.
  

• One reporter noted that she would be very interested in a taste test of Votre Vie versus other brands.

4. Incorporating Your Findings

Once you’ve compiled your media feedback, you’re ready to address any factors that may require change. If you discover that the media are not understanding the benefits of your brand, then consumers probably aren’t either. Perhaps it’s time to go back to the drawing board and conduct another SWOT Analysis (see previous post). Additionally, you may have uncovered reporters who mentioned they might be interested in covering a particular angle.