Market Research Breeds Awareness: Increase Profits by Utilizing Data Visualizations Within Your PR

Thinking Beyond the Board Room: What is Public Relations Research & its Key Benefits?

We tend to think of “market research” as something top-secret and usually for the purpose of companies’ internal business strategy. But, market research has broader uses, including generating publicity for your brand. That is to say, research can be designed and fielded specifically for the purposes of sharing your findings externally. Utilizing the results of your research for public relations efforts also gives you control over your messaging: you get to choose which results to share and how they further support your campaign’s narrative.

A Data Point Is Worth A Thousand Words

Unlike paying to get yourself mentioned among media like advertising does, PR is earned. Earning press is more likely to happen when sharing something “newsworthy.” And since not all companies’ activities are newsworthy, sometimes they have to create their own news; market research can help with this.

In addition to making your company more relevant, fact-based data makes for a more compelling story, helping you cut through the clutter of the media landscape. Furthermore, journalists take their integrity seriously and likely prefer to report on content that can be backed up with data.

Tom Vogel, Senior Vice President of ICR Strategic Communications & Advisory put it best when he shared with us,“You need new, relevant and newsworthy information about your company to have any chance of getting news media to cover you. And unless you’re a company that already has a prominent news profile like Apple, Tesla or Google, you’ll also need a ‘news hook.’ This means finding a way to position your company’s news as part of a larger trend or broader news story that the media is already closely following or likely to. There’s only so much company news to share…this is where well-constructed and branded surveys come into play. Surveys that illustrate new and changing trends covering themes the media is already covering or likely to cover can be one of the most powerful ‘news hooks’ in your arsenal. Surveys that contradict conventional wisdom about a widely-covered story or trend can be particularly appealing. Branded surveys are also a very effective way to establish your company as a thought leader in your sector and the broader industry.”

How Data is Being Leveraged for Strategic Impact 

Successfully facilitating PR for your company requires you to present your research findings: but how can you share them in a format that is eye-catching and easy to understand? Prodege has perfected an intuitive solution to this common problem. Our Data Visualization solution quickly and easily injects life into your data, enabling your story to resonate when shared widely.

Real-life examples of companies & brands that have successfully used actionable insights to garner publicity and increase brand visibility include:

• For years, Larry Mellum sold his Pike Place Chowder to only a limited clientele out of a small café in West Seattle, however, he yearned for wider brand visibility. Larry decided to enter his chowder into Rhode Island’s Great Chowder Cook-off; to his excitement, his chowder won first place three years in a row-an impressive feat for a restaurant located outside of New England! Following this accolade, Yelp conducted a nationwide study, which resulted in Pike Place’s New England Clam Chowder being named the “Most Popular Dish in the U.S.” The publicity that has come from this research-driven award has boosted Larry’s brand awareness and sales (after the Yelp study, nearly 500,000 bowls were served in a year!), and the ability to expand his business.
• Ahead of announcing an enhanced earn on their Mastercard with Barclay’s bank that can be linked to a 529 Savings Plan, Upromise conducted research among parents saving for their children’s college education to learn more about what savings processes they have in place and the tips they have for parents in the same boat. This research uncovered valuable insights into how to help parents navigate this daunting task, while also demonstrating that the increased savings opportunities via this credit card would help simplify a stressful savings process. As such, these data points helped shape the narrative for the press release and media outreach.  

Looking to elevate your upcoming campaign by obtaining timely and newsworthy insights that can easily be shared and understood widely? Book a demo!