Marketing trends for financial websites come and go, but there’s one content type that seems to stick yet still flies under the radar, and that’s original research. This is not the research you do internally for your business; instead, it’s research created and published by your company for public consumption. Original research publication can help establish your company as an industry leader, give it more attention and build your audience all at the same time.
While you may consider this option too intensive or time-consuming, in reality, it’s easier to handle than you might think and the payoff over time can be significant. Try the following tips to get the research off the ground even if you don’t have a ton of resources to invest in it.
Story plus data is essential
The best research content will combine accurate data with a compelling story that shares insights in a new way. Data-heavy reports that try to convey too much information overwhelm the reader, but content that is too thin on data will come off as pointless fluff. To get an idea of how solid your topic is, think about the supporting headlines your research could generate and how the data you present would help another person. It also helps to see if you can clearly get the main focus of your research across in just one or two sentences.
Have a hot topic
The right topic will be of interest to your audience, align with your company, and hasn’t been covered a million times before. To find a suitable topic, think about valid items you’ve told clients before but don’t have the data to back up or queries you’ve received from clients who wanted data you couldn’t provide in the answer. If your company has a niche you want associated with it, such as web design in Richmond, you can focus on topics within that segment.
After you’ve got some ideas on your general topic, do some web searching to see what topics have already been thoroughly covered. The goal is to provide information people aren’t getting somewhere else already, so you’ll want to avoid common themes.
Take the survey design seriously
Surveys are a great way to gather data for your content, but in order to have accurate findings, your surveys need to ask the right questions and in the proper way. If you’re going to design the surveys yourself, you still may want a service that handles web design in Richmond to check them over to ensure they’re functioning properly and a data scientist to review them for accuracy. When you draft questions, keep in mind that surveys shouldn’t be too complex or long because you will lose respondents, and your questions need to be clear and concise so the answers you get are usable.
Once you start creating original research, be sure to give it a good home, such as in a blog section. When you make your website a trusted source of information, you’ll find that your audience will continue to grow.
