Develop User Generated Content Via Surveys

Here are some quick tips on how to develop more content to support campaign automation and segmentation:

(1) Review your current content for applicability, identifying when and how to use and who to target. Exploit what you have. Identify content ‘gaps’ by audience, marketing/sales lead level, etc. and what you need to fill these gaps.

(2) Develop an Annual Thought Leadership Plan to include Public Relations, Media Relations, Social Marketing, etc. Ramp up thought leadership content to publish white papers, article, blogs and press releases. Look internally to your product management and product marketing teams to develop. Look externally to engage analysts, authors, consultants and other thought leaders to develop or co-develop. Choose topics that are ‘top of mind’ to these audiences but are also relevant to your product or service. Turn yourself into a ‘thought leader’: the ‘go-to-organization’ to obtain information, knowledge and ‘solutions’.

(3) Survey….survey….survey….Take every opportunity to survey your constituents. Again, choose survey topics about industry issues/challenges that are of strategic (preferred) or tactical interest to your audience (and again apply in some way to what you market.) Use survey results as content for research or point of view white papers, articles, press releases and even another campaign to share analysis of the survey results. Encourage survey participation by ensuring every participant is emailed an early copy of the research results. This provides opportunities to get email addresses, demonstrate your understanding of your prospect/customer’s business problems and become a ‘consultant’.

a. Develop an Annual Survey Campaign Plan based on audience, topic, business issue, etc. Be sure to integrate this with the rest of marketing (remember…integrated marketing is what we want to achieve!).

b. Post on-going surveys on your website (home page) or blog and drive participation.

c. Use every customer/prospect touch point as a survey opportunity. During a webinar, break up the PowerPoint presentation and pause to poll the audience on relevant issues. At the end of a Webinar, include relevant ‘industry questions’ with any survey you may provide that evaluates the event itself.

d. At trade shows, conferences and seminars, advertise and provide opportunity in the booth or at the event for individuals to participate in surveys. You can use this as an additional draw to encourage dialogue with the ‘walk-abouts’ on the conference floor.

e. Build out your contact database by using telemarketers to phone survey. Consider hiring industry analysts to perform these surveys if targeting senior level management. Segment your current database and develop survey questionnaires and execute methodically targeting x number of segments per quarter, etc.

f. Provide quick surveys to your internal telemarketing and telesales organizations and encourage them to use these as a way to initiate dialogue when cold calling. Prospects are more willing to talk to someone who can provide knowledge than someone who wants to strictly sell.

g. Build out your database so you know the survey history of every contact.

h. Over time, develop a ‘trending analysis’ where it makes sense on survey topics and publish.

These are some examples of what I have done in the past and I welcome other ideas on this topic. Here is a link to a recent blog that goes into more depth on how to gather feedback from social media.