Share Your Industry Research Online
Posted on Thu, May 19, 2011
By Erin
Emerging companies constantly seek ways to gain an edge over their competitors and stand out in the industry. Some startups are determined to earn the title of "industry thought leader". Others look for media relations coverage in their target publications and some find gold in winning the SEO battle. Is it possible to connect with customers, receive great coverage, achieve organic SEO and be considered an industry resource all in one effort?
The answer is yes.
How? Create and share industry research reports.
Industry reports provide quantitative information of market happenings and data people can use. Our client SundaySky writes a quarterly report that covers the state of video in e-commerce websites, disclosing facts about the usage of video by top U.S. online retailers. The report covers industry trends and strategies from a vendor-neutral perspective, meaning they don't talk about themselves. When journalists and potential customers want to know who is using video, how and what the results are, they can turn to SundaySky’s report for information.
Here are the top five benefits they’ve seen:
- Industry know how: Due to the vendor-neutral quality of reports, company executives can speak freely on the trends and strategies occurring in the industry. The more companies know and prove they know about their industries, the more likely they are to be considered industry resources.
- Customers: The more quantitative information you provide to prospective customers, the more likely they are to connect with you.
- Content: Creating a research report is a great way to develop original content for websites, blog posts and editorial articles.
- Coverage: Journalists (and industry analysts) embrace research reports and data to tell a story. It’s easy for them to turn aspects of reports into stories that readers find resourceful, especially when articles are accompanied by graphics.
- SEO: Industry research reports that include graphics, statistics, company references and a range of keywords tend to be one of the most organic means to gain better standing in search results.
Chances are, your company is sitting on a wealth of data that your customers might find helpful and interesting. They won't if it's all about you but they might if you share your knowledge and best practices. If you don't, your competitors will.