According to Content Marketing Institute’s B2B Content Marketing: 2018 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America, only 37% of B2B businesses are using research reports as part of their content marketing strategy, well below the type of content in the standard content marketing toolkit social media, white papers, and case studies.
What the rest are missing is that research works. It’s a great way to get attention, as Michelle Linn notes in her article The Most Underused (But Effective) Content Marketing Tactic. It gives your brand something of value that no one else has, to share with your audience.
It’s work to conduct research. And it’s worth it. Original research makes your company a primary source, increases click-through rates, and grows your network. Here are: 5 Examples of Original Research in Content Marketing: How to Be the Primary Source
Before you jump straight into doing research to position your brand, it’s important to think about why you are doing it and what stories you’re hoping to uncover. It is also critical to understand what research has already been done and how yours will add to the story. Check out: How to Design a Survey that Works for Content Marketing Research.