Applied research strategies

Photo via ResearchGate

You cannot have a successful public relations campaign without in-depth applied research. Applied research can also be described as market research or administrative research according to Strategic Planning for Public Relations by Ronald Smith. What this does is investigate different problems and scenarios an organization might face during the launch of their campaign. Data gathered from this type of research can help an organization adjust goals and tactics while tweaking the campaign to account for any potential bumps along the way. Essentially, it helps raise awareness that otherwise may have been overlooked. Applied research can come in one of three forms:

1. Focus groups

2. Surveys

3. Content analysis

Today, I want to analyze how these strategies can help your organization while developing their campaign.

Focus groups: Real, unfiltered conversations

The beauty of a focus group is the fast dialogue that can occur giving you the insight you need for your research purposes. However, careful planning must take place first. There needs to be a moderator, select willing participants and then find where/how the focus group will take place. A good moderator can make or break the entire session. The Society of Sensory Professionals gives 10 key skills and qualities to an effective moderator. The point that this article highlighted was to be flexible- read the room and adapt to the participants requests during the session.

Once you have the logistics, you should develop some ice breaker questions for the group and then get in to the nitty gritty. The men of the popular comedy show, Impractical Jokers, gave their viewers perfect examples of what not to do in a focus group. You don’t have to watch the entire video to see that professionalism is key in a focus group.

Impractical Jokers' stars James Murray,

Joe Gatto, Sal Vulcano and Brian Quinn (Getty Images)

Focus groups can give researchers insight to the thought processes that key publics have regarding their behavior and attitudes and how these might influence other similar publics. What makes this research method stand out among others is the collaboration between the participants that takes place.

Surveys: A dying but important technique

One of the last things that consumers publics want to do after making a purchase or engage in at all is taking a survey. They can be long, in some cases insulting and don’t ask about what the consumer really cares about. From a public relations perspective, surveys can be very telling. Make the survey anonymous and some people may decide to unleash their opinions. A questionnaire survey can be used when you have already gotten a lot of secondary and qualitative research. Surveys are useful in place of focus groups for people who may not feel comfortable with sharing their opinions out loud. It gives publics room to disclose their thoughts and opinions on the attitudes and behaviors surrounding your client’s product or idea. In turn, the data can provide direction for the campaign you’re working on and bring to light different issues that could arise as a result of the project.

Content Analysis: What are your followers trying to tell you?

A term that I find to be very interesting and helpful when analyzing your following on social media is a ghost follower. These are followers that don’t interact with your content at all or can sometimes be robot accounts. When conducting a content analysis, these followers should be removed so you can get an accurate number of who is an actual user.

The next step is how to get those who don’t interact to do so. This research tool can help you cast a wider net of publics. Who are your most engaged followers following? How can we get the friend of a friend follow us too? A content analysis should be done first before a focus group or survey. It lays the groundwork for finding the best participants for your research. What this kind of applied research addresses is who the real target publics are and helps you design a plan that best suits those who are most interested in your brand while still tailoring toward potential new consumers.