by Nycole Walsh
When it comes to original research, your audience is everything.
Who you survey – and how you design your survey around them – can make or break the value of your findings. Get it wrong, and you risk spending a lot of time and money collecting data that doesn’t say much. But get it right, and you’ll uncover insights that actually spark conversations.
At Kickstand, we’ve seen a few common missteps trip up even the most well-intentioned brands. So we’re breaking down three simple, sanity-saving tips for starting off your research right. Whether you’re running a one-off survey or building an annual study, these are the tactics that make a difference.
1. Don’t just survey the C-Suite. Seriously.
We get it. You want authoritative insights. But if your audience is only the CEO , CFO, or CIO, you’re stacking the deck against yourself for a couple of reasons.
First, C-Suite respondents are expensive and slow to reach. Want to blow your survey timeline by two weeks? Limit your sample to executives only.
Secondly, you lose a lot of nuance if you restrict responses here. Some of the most interesting findings come from comparing perspectives across every level: how do managers view a challenge compared to their direct reports? Are VPs even aware of the inefficiencies admins face on a daily basis? With only C-level responses, you get one lens – usually the big picture one – and lose the operational detail and tension.
And finally, you miss the people closest to the work. Often, mid-level leaders or even frontline employees can give sharper insights on what’s actually happening. If they’re relevant to your topic, they deserve a voice.
The better play? Cast a wider net. Include leaders at various levels who touch the issue you’re researching, then split responses by role or seniority in your analysis to find the real story.
2. Be realistic about your sample size.
We love a round number as much as the next agency, but “1,000 respondents” is not a magical benchmark. It’s just a number that sounds good. The real thing to look at is your margin of error – A.K.A. how confident you can be in your results.
At Kickstand, we usually aim for a 4% margin of error. That’s statistically solid enough for most media outlets, and it keeps things efficient in terms of budget and timeline.
When should you go bigger? If you’re doing market sizing, brand awareness tracking, or audience segmentation – basically anything that will influence significant spend. Then it might be worth tightening your margin and going for a larger base.
But if you’re gathering thought leadership insights or supporting a PR story? Don’t overdo it. Bigger isn’t always better.
3. Design your survey with analysis in mind.
Here’s the part people often overlook: even with the perfect audience and a statistically sound sample, if your questions aren’t set up for meaningful comparison then your insights will fall flat.
When we build surveys, we always ask:
- Can we break this out by role, region, or industry? (If those breakouts are particularly important, it might be worth setting a quota by any or all of these factors)
- Will this question let us find contrast or tension?
- Is there a way to show progression, like how leaders at different levels view change or urgency?
If you ask vague, one-size-fits-all questions, you’ll get vague, one-size-fits-all answers. If you ask with intention, and anticipate how the data will be sliced, you’ll get the kind of insights that power headlines.
Get your money’s worth
You don’t need the most senior respondents or the biggest possible sample to produce great research reports. You need a thoughtfully defined audience, a smart sample size, and intentional design. Do that, and you won’t just save time and money – you’ll actually learn something.
If research is in the cards for you, Kickstand has your back. Contact our team today to chat about crafting your own original report to earn attention from buyers and investors alike.
