Original research

Content built on proprietary data you collected and analyzed yourself, rather than on opinions you assert. It occupies a different position from opinion content: an opinion competes with other opinions, but data nobody else has sits above the argument entirely. Buyers rate original research as the most credible content type, and the results are of intense interest to the executives being studied because the findings are about them. For WPH, the “State of Philippine Automotive Digital” benchmark is original research — the standings the whole market has to reckon with, not one more take in the feed.

Source: Hinge Research Institute — Hinge’s research found that professional-services firms which conduct and publish original research grow substantially faster (up to 10x) and are more profitable than those that don’t, and that buyers rate research the most credible content type. Hinge itself became its category’s authority by running an annual research program.

First used in: 2.2 · Original research: the benchmark