How to Maximise Surveys: 5 Reasons to include them in your PR Strategy

Crafting the best survey is an art form in itself. Some may look down on surveys and might not see value in conducting them, but we know it’s because they’re probably not doing them right. At Eskenzi PR, we know that surveys do have merit in creating fascinating headlines, leading to press coverage and supporting a client’s content creation strategy—it’s just knowing how to develop them, hone in on target demographics and tell meaningful stories.  Surveys are crucial in PR because they provide valuable insights that inform PR strategies. Best of all, they can be fun, exciting, and creative- whether they’re conducted in person at trade events or through market research companies. It’s worth noting that market research companies give you more control over the demographics to survey.  Surveys are particularly valuable because: 

1. You Can Educate the Market: Cybersecurity can be complex and fast-changing. Surveys help vendors educate their audiences by highlighting emerging threats, common vulnerabilities, and best practices for protection, demonstrating the importance of their solutions. They provide vendors with a great opportunity to speak and gauge the opinions of a variety of cybersecurity professionals. 
2. They Build Credibility and Trust: By presenting key stats about cyber risks, vendors can substantiate their expertise. This can enhance credibility with prospective clients who may be sceptical or need reassurance about the effectiveness of cybersecurity products. 
3. They Highlight Product Relevance: Survey results can underscore the relevance of a vendor’s offerings. For example, if a survey shows that a large percentage of companies struggle with phishing attacks, the vendor can emphasise how their solutions specifically address this threat. 
4. They Drive Customer Insights: Surveys allow vendors to understand customer concerns, challenges and needs better. This feedback can inform product development and messaging to ensure solutions align with what customers genuinely need. 
5. They Generate Media Interest: Journalists and publications are often interested in data-backed stories. Cybersecurity surveys with fresh statistics or unique perspectives can gain media coverage, boosting the vendor’s visibility and expanding reach. 

From a PR standpoint, the last point is crucial and the success of a survey is largely determined by the story being told from the information gathered. This is where PR professionals can stand out in moulding a killer press release that will stand out and catch the eyes of a journalist.  Therefore asking respondents the right survey questions is vital. Use closed-ended questions as these questions will provide the results you need and avoid questions that put pressure on or steer respondents to answer in a certain way. These could be around the big issues and trends in the current news cycle or about a topic that is not being covered.   You will have full creative control over this but ultimately, ask yourself “Will this be of interest to the media?” Because of this, we would definitely advise against doing surveys which are products focused.   This article is part of our ‘How To’ series. To read more, click here.