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Companies looking to develop a deep understanding of their market and showcase their expertise can leverage the power of studies. By adopting a scientific approach to analyze a topic using field data, they gain a powerful tool for their Content Marketing strategy and, more broadly, their acquisition efforts.
To discuss this further, we had the pleasure of speaking with Virginie Mollet-Bauer, Account Director of Studies at Infopro Digital Média.
Virginie, what does your daily mission as Account Director of Studies at Infopro Digital Média entail?
As Account Director of Studies, I am the primary contact for any company or community with a qualitative or quantitative study project.
In other words, I support companies and communities that have questions about their customers, prospects, and market by proposing the most relevant methodology to survey their targets and provide answers to their questions
What are the main reasons why companies approach you to conduct a sector study?
Our research institute specializes in B2B studies and covers industries such as Manufacturing, Retail, Insurance, Construction, Government, and Automotive.
We handle daily topics related to current affairs and benefit from genuine expertise in these sectors. With a database of 4 million contacts, we can survey nearly any type of decision-maker.
Additionally, we leverage the strength of our 35 media brands: LSA, L’Usine Nouvelle, L’Argus de l’Assurance, Le Moniteur, La Gazette des Communes… We also offer Editorial Study formats conducted in collaboration with our editorial teams, addressing communication challenges and highlighting companies, communities, brands, expertise, and capabilities.
A company decides to integrate the “study” format into its strategy and contacts you about it. How does the collaboration unfold in practice?
Once a company or community confirms their agreement for a project, we start with a kickoff meeting. During this meeting, we introduce the project team, discuss the study methodology, and exchange ideas on the questionnaire content.
The objective is to clearly understand our client’s questions and expectations. Following this meeting, an initial draft of the questionnaire is sent to our clients. There are several rounds of feedback and revisions until the questionnaire is finalized. Simultaneously, we prepare the database to survey clients and/or prospects.
The next step involves conducting the survey, either online or by phone, depending on the chosen method. Once we reach the desired number of respondents, our research team performs statistical analysis, conducts the study’s analysis, and prepares the study report. The results are then presented to our clients.
When we involve the editorial teams from LSA, L’Usine Nouvelle, L’Usine Digitale, L’Argus de l’Assurance, Le Moniteur, or another media brand in the project, we share the study report with them. The editorial team then drafts an article based on a perspective or angle they choose.
Once the study is completed, do you ensure its promotion? If so, what strategies do you employ to make it visible?
Our goal is to bring our study results to life, and we have two main methods to achieve this.
We offer Editorial Studies where we involve the editorial teams of our media brands, depending on the theme. After presenting the study results to our clients, the chosen editorial team writes a double-page article about the study. The article is published in print in the chosen media brand and then shared digitally and through newsletters.
We also provide customized formats through Stories, our content creation agency, which assists our clients in creating articles, producing white papers that can support LeadGen efforts, developing webinars, videos, or podcasts to inform a targeted audience, and more.
What, in your opinion, are the three golden rules for conducting a good study in B2B?
- Identify and understand the challenges and expectations of our clients;
- Have a good understanding of the industries and current events;
- Possess a solid database to query the targets requested by our clients..
What criteria differentiate you in the competitive market of market research and surveys?
We have four distinguishing points compared to our competitors.
Firstly, our expertise is recognized in the sectors we cover: Retail, Industry, Construction, Insurance, and Public Entities. Our media brands are leaders in these sectors.
Secondly, we have a database containing 4 million contacts, allowing us to survey decision-makers across various sectors as well as Architects, Craftsmen, Retailers, Insurers, and more, providing answers to our clients’ questions.
Thirdly, we are the only research institute offering co-production of Studies with the Editorial teams of our media brands. These studies serve communication purposes by highlighting our clients, their companies, expertise, and know-how through publications, with our clients co-owning the content and all study-related elements.
Finally, we enhance our studies with content creation. Through our agency Stories, we offer clients the opportunity to go beyond basic studies and create articles, white papers, videos, webinars, etc.
You recently conducted a major study on packaging in retail for the German group Henkel. Can you tell us about this project?
Our editorial teams are well-versed in current affairs and regularly seek partners to co-create studies on topics related to current events.
Packaging is a broad subject, especially with the AGEC Law aiming to end the market placement of single-use plastic packaging by 2040.
We sought a partner to co-create an Editorial Study focusing on retailers to understand how they are addressing packaging challenges, and on French consumers to gauge if retailers meet their expectations. We targeted 15 companies we wished to highlight and selected the first one that contacted us. Thus, we embarked on this journey with HENKEL.
Beyond the Editorial Study framework, which includes publication in print in our LSA media, on the brand’s website, and in the newsletter, we presented the study results with the LSA Editorial Team at HENKEL and recently issued a press release to around a hundred media outlets.