Custom PR Polls

Wakefield's custom research studies can reach be used to explore any topic and reach virtually any audience. Through the use of telephone, online and in-person survey methodologies, Wakefield's PR Polling unit can design and execute custom research that will drive media impressions for your brand.

On every custom study, Wakefield's Editorial Panel of former journalists and PR executives will:

Write the questionnaire for you, giving you the benefit of our knowledge of public opinion and the media .
Deliver a Pitch Guide with recommendations for how to use your survey findings to build a mediaworthy story.
Provide ongoing project support, including proofing press materials, speaking with the media, briefing staff, and more.

If you are considering a more extensive study, or a survey fielded to highly targeted audiences, then a custom survey is likely your best, most cost-effective option. Wakefield regularly fields custom surveys to audiences such as doctors, C-level executives, IT decion-makers, small business owners, teens and tweens, parents, teachers, and many other audiences.

Unlike most research consultancies, Wakefield employs the same methodological and scientific rigor to our custom PR polls as we do to our strategic research projects – ensuring that the media will never doubt the credibility your study's findings.

Below, Wakefield's Editorial Panel of former journalists, PR executives, and classically-trained researchers have answered some frequently asked questions about using custom polls for public relations outreach.

When should I use a custom poll?
There are four key factors that typically determine when a custom poll for PR is your best option.

Cost-effectiveness - If you want to field a survey of more than ten questions, then a custom poll is your most cost-effective option. At this length, the per-question price for an omnibus survey will be more than the cost of your own custom survey.
Specialized Target Audiences - Custom polls are ideal tools for interviewing targeted audiences that do not make up a substantial percentage of the population. Some audiences (such as doctors or small business owners) cannot be reached in significant numbers using an omnibus.
Building a News Bureau - One of the most effective PR polling tactics is to build multiple news angles into a survey. This gives your account team multiple angles to choose from when pitching the media – increasing your opportunities for coverage. It also allows you to take advantage of cost efficiencies by fielding a single, more extensive survey, instead of multiple small surveys. Wakefield's Editorial Panel will often recommend a combination of evergreen survey angles and more immediate news angles when using this approach.
Identifying Large or Complicated Trends - Identifying complicated trends requires a substantial study in order to be credible with the media. Many firms make the mistake of pitching "studies" that are actually only one or two questions. This rarely impresses top-tier media.

Which is better - online or telephone surveys?
Each are good options, and we field both types every day of the week. However for many projects, we recommend maximizing your budget dollars by fielding your questions online. Every media organization covers online polls so long as they are nationally representative. Unless the survey audience or the subject matter lends itself to one methodology over another (for example, we rarely interview college students by telephone and almost never interview seniors online) then we typically recommend the most cost-effective option to our PR Polling clients.

What does it mean for a survey to be "nationally representative" and why is it important?
Simply put, a nationally representative US survey is one that accurately illustrates what Americans think, as a whole. In order to assert fairly that "a major of Americans agree that X is true." your survey results must be scientific and representative of US public opinion.

Wakefield sets quotas for vital demographics such as age, gender, region, ethnicity, income and others to ensure that our survey population scientifically mirrors the demographic make-up of the country. This is absolutely crucial for having credible, scientific, and newsworthy results that the media will accept. Unfortunately, this is a step that many research firms skip in order to cut costs. Studies intended for release to the media should NEVER skip this vital step.

How many interviews do I need to conduct to have a survey that the media will find credible?
General population studies must typically be conducted among 1,000 nationally representative Americans over the age of 18. This is the sample size regularly used by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN and every other top-tier media organization. For more targeted audiences, we can often field fewer than 1,000 respondents since we are representing the opinions of a smaller universe. For example, the media will typically accept research findings about the opinions of US women that are based on a survey sample of 500.

How can I make sure the media will find my survey credible?
Credible, mediaworthy PR polling stems from how a survey is conducted – specifically the technical aspects of the poll. Many public relations executives incorrectly assume that a large sample size is all that's required to produce credible poll results. While sample size is an important factor, quality polling for PR is based on many other factors too. Top-tier editors and producers need to know that the survey questions are written in a way that does not lead respondents to one answer over another. They need to know that demographic quotas were established and that a decision-grade survey sample was used. They also need to know that the recruitment and interviewing methodology was appropriate given the survey audience. Wakefield's media and research experts will always take this into consideration when making a recommendation, and then present you with the best research options.

How can I make sure the media will find my survey compelling?
It is not enough simply to have quirky or creative survey questions. While these types of tactics can make for great newshooks, they must be combined with more substantial data-points in order to garner the message-rich media impressions that brands expect. The proper combination of these different question types is often what makes difference between a quick brand mention and a feature story. Wakefield's Editorial Panel of former journalists and PR executives are the best in the industry at crafting questionnaires that have the proper mix of creative and compelling questions.

Public opinion surveys are particularly well-suited for problem/solution scenarios in which the survey data is used to identify a problem for which the brand is one of the key solutions. Our team of research experts leverages their extensive knowledge of public opinion to identify these opportunities for your brand and builds them into your questionnaire.

Finally, just like a newsworthy pitch, the most compelling surveys are those that organically connect your brand to the news. In some cases, this means bridging through current events, or to calendar events. In other situations, it involves identifying lifestyle trends and leveraging those angles. Wakefield's Editorial Panel of former journalists and PR executives can provide actionable recommendations for how to utilize research to create a bridge between the media and your brand.