And, you should choose strategically how you ask because polling something like a blog audience with the question of “would you like to see more of a, b, c, d, or e” will in many cases get you split results. This is due to the fact that your different types of content attracts different audiences.

For things like asking an audience what type of content they want more of, I like the subjective data even more because it potentially inspires new ideas and gets to the heart of what your audience really wants.

I like the hybrid approach for deeper research – because when you only ask objective questions you miss out on those who are passionate about the subject matter and are willing to fill out subjective answers.

When it comes to interacting with your audience (of whatever size), remember they’re people and want to be treated like such. Be careful how objective you treat people.