A great piece of PR, whether it be a press release, article, comment piece or blog, usually consists of an eye-catching title; an interesting topic; concise and coherent writing; perhaps a controversial sentence or two and aims to leave your reader informed and curious enough to want to learn more. Stats sell!
However, in a world where competition is constantly on the rise, it’s getting more difficult to make your content stand out in the crowd. One way to combat this is by including interesting research.
This could be done through an insight specialist – a good idea if you want to tackle a big subject and gain wide reach and diverse responses – or for a small project, platforms like survey monkey are worth considering. Research brings
Original ideas
Undertaking unique research on whatever subject you choose creates a huge pool of opportunity. You can pull out some interesting themes and in turn, attention-grabbing editorial titles. Research press releases sell well, especially if there are fun, quirky or highly newsworthy stats are used within them.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2017/mar/29/why-brits-have-48k-sandwich-habit
Pithy comments
No-one enjoys an extended essay via email, so when you have statistics in your story that you want to pitch to the media, highlighting those small nuggets of information can help to your ideas across quickly and efficiently.
Expert knowledge
Statistics can add that extra little something not only to your PR but, to you as an author as well.
When conducting research for PR, you will no doubt become quite the expert in that subject area thanks to time spent working through a lot of information to get a grasp on the key findings.
With all of that knowledge under your belt, it’s entirely possible that a journalist will consider you as a credible source on that subject and return to you in the future.
Infographics
Research also allows you to add a bit of colour to your articles. Creative, bold infographics are not only eye-catching and accessible but, they are incredibly easy to share across social media platforms. They entice readers as well as giving an informed overview of what you are discussing in your article.
https://www.meltwater.com/uk/blog/9-pr-stats-2019/
Research is a great tool for PR; it’s fast-paced and informative and also leaves plenty of space for creativity and humour. These are all important and desirable elements of editorial that stands out among the rest.
That being said, it’s vital to remember that research can’t be used as a gimmick. Research must be relevant and enhance your brand message. Every piece of research must provide value beyond a catchy headline. It’s important to keep the key message at the forefront of any piece of content. Research is merely away to support and emphasise this.