About

At Mantis, we are huge fans of survey-based research.

People love data. And, by its very nature, original research is something different is the sea of me-too content. 

Marketers tout the many benefits of research -- and we have seen these, too:

• Backlinks from others who link to your research and cite you as an authority in your industry.
• Mentions from media and influencers in your space.
• New leads and email subscribers
• Invitations to speak on podcasts or at industry events
• Requests to guest post on other websites
• A seemingly endless stream of content that tells a story backed by data

Marketers have the best of intentions when creating research, but, for many, this is a new type of project and it's easy to unintentionally make mistakes that cost time, money, and, worst of all, credibility. 

These are some common mistakes we see:

• Creating research because you know it works  . . . but not specifically defining how you want it to impact your business  
• Writing survey questions that are unclear or leading. Not only are questions difficult to answer, but the data you get back isn’t meaningful. 
• Drafting surveys that are too long and that people abandon.
• Allowing anyone to take your survey instead of focusing on the right people and disqualifying those who don’t fit your target profile
• Forgetting to include quality checks your survey or cleaning your data so it's as valid as possible. 
• Reporting a bunch of data without a story behind it (it doesn’t mean anything) 
• Forgetting to include a solid methodology that provides credibility
• Keep your research behind a form and not sharing the results
• Launching your research without a solid plan behind it
• Leaving data and stories on the table if you only publish one report 

At Mantis, our mission is to help marketers, agency owners and freelancers create research they are proud of and that gets results.

To do this, we have a specific process we have honed over the years that focuses on the aspects that are essential if you want to create credible, story-wothy research that makes your desired impact.