PR can be hard, there’s no doubt about it. Gaining quality coverage is a struggle, especially when your business hasn’t got the funds to invest in huge campaigns or eye-catching stunts. That said, there are still plenty of effective ways to give your brand exposure – not least making use of statistics and information that you already have to hand.
Dive deep
Every business produces data. No matter your field, you will have access to a wide variety of figures, ranging from sales, bookings, enquiries, and leads to web traffic and search terms. While it might seem hard work to sift through these to produce a story, a little time and a touch of inspiration can lead to a surprising amount of coverage.
All the best data-led PR campaigns offer some kind of new angle that was previously lacking. A great place to start is by asking questions about your business that could provide some of this insight. For example, do you offer products that are typically bought an older audience? If so, are your customers getting younger? Are your sales of eco-friendly products particularly high in one city? Do you run a site where lots of visitors log on at unusual times, such as late at night or early morning?
All of this information can be found by exploring your sales data or web analytics package. Be cautious, though. While sales figures can make for a striking story, these can obviously be very commercially sensitive. Luckily though, most publications are happy enough to report percentage increases or falls. For example, in a recent campaign for CruiseDeals.co.uk, we found that sales of river cruises – an up and coming sector of the fast-growing cruise market – had climbed by 40% over the past year. The resulting release was picked up widely, including in The Express.
Be opportunistic
Tying your data in with current trends in this way is key. The cruise industry is a continuing success story in the travel market, and journalists are constantly on the hunt for new angles. Yet there are often much broader narratives that you can piggyback too.
Here, it can pay to keep a firm eye on the news. Following the UK’s vote to leave the European Union, a number of businesses rushed to comment on the effects of the unexpected move. A great example of this approach came from gold investment firm The Pure Gold Company, which reported soaring business in the wake of increasing public uncertainty.
Your email list can also be a fantastic opportunity for gaining great data. If you have a sizeable volume, asking them to participate in a study can be extremely effective. Of course, this works best if you have an engaged audience – perhaps if you run a magazine for car enthusiasts, for example – but simple incentives for completing the survey can provide strong results too.
Of course, these are just a few instances of a data-led PR approach in action. Each business is different, and the number of angles you can pursue endless. Still, as with any PR campaign, remember that speed is crucial. There’s no worse feeling than having a great story in the pipeline only to be pipped to the post by another brand.
Useful resources
There are plenty of great dashboards out there can be plugged straight in to Google Analytics to help with your data mining efforts. One of our favourites is “70 facts about visitors”, which looks at a host of data, including location, browser, and language, in a clear and concise manner.
Looking at trending searches on Google can be a good way to narrow down angles for your story. If there’s a buzz topic in your industry, think how you can tie in your brand, or even use the figures to show interest in your products or service.
If you’d like to survey your own database, then you’ll need a tool to manage the process. There’s a host of solutions out there, but Mailchimp is a tried and tested bet.
By Sam Wright, head of content and search at Ad-Rank Media
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