Research

In order to receive coverage, you need to give the media something newsworthy. If you don’t have any unique news or a new product to announce, you can conduct research to create a story. You can research issues in your industry in order to present interesting, newsworthy information to the media. The more intriguing your story, the better your coverage.

Surveys

A well-crafted survey gives the journalist a nearly complete story. If it’s interesting, educational and well-written, it can be a powerful tool for getting coverage. First, you need to decide the subject of your survey. It needs to be interesting, and perhaps even controversial, in order to catch the reader’s attention. But it also needs to lead to a conversation that you want to have.

Those two guiding principles lead you to your topic. For example, the media may not be interested in a story directly discussing your virtualization products, but they might be receptive to a survey showing that businesses realize significant cost savings by implementing virtualization.

Then you are ready to create the survey. Be very specific about who you select as respondents, and don’t be afraid to ask enough questions to thoroughly explore the topic. Once you field the survey, carefully analyze the results and prepare a variety of materials to discuss your findings. These may include written reports, PowerPoint presentations, infographics, press releases and perhaps even a microsite. These materials give the media everything they need to present their readers with an interesting story.

Focus Groups

In addition to the statistical information you gain from a survey, you need feedback from individuals. This “color commentary” puts a human face on the story, which is appealing to editors. Take the key points you identified in the survey, and discuss them in detail with a smaller focus group, selecting individuals who are closely involved with the issue in question. The resulting conversation can be used to add quotes and other interesting facts to your story, in your press release and written report. It’s the one time the media will like using a quote from a generic source, and it gives you another tool to make a more complete story.

What Connectsm Can Do for You

Connectsm has conducted more than 100 surveys, involving more than 100,000 respondents from all kinds of companies, representing CIOs, IT managers, network administrators and other technical professionals, as well as end users.

Connectsm offers comprehensive research services, including surveys, traditional focus groups and in-depth telephone interviews.

Client Experience

As Symantec worked to develop new products for information management, they needed more information regarding how companies currently manage data. Connectsm developed a survey for them to ascertain the current state of enterprise data management in companies around the world.

The survey was designed to address differences between a company’s data management goals and its practices. Respondents answered questions regarding the extent of their company’s information management infrastructure, data retention policies and anticipated future needs. The survey yielded detailed information which allowed Symantec to develop solutions to meet their clients’ needs.