Press Office 101: Why good data creates an effective news story
You may have seen our recent blog post explaining how to create news when there’s none – data being one tool to achieve this. In our latest blog, we are sharing a press office 101 – why good data creates an effective news story. Firstly, not all data makes a good news story. One of the biggest mistakes a business can make is pulling one dimensional data that focuses too heavily on itself. It’s important to stop and ask the question: Is this something for our blog, or a story that the public will care about?
Effective data tells its audience an interesting story. Why not focus on issues like industry changes, business trends, or new and emerging customer activity. Thinking about wider issues instead of internal activity positions your company as an industry expert and a voice of authority.
Media outlets have been forced to madly diversify in order to keep audiences interested and engaged, whilst growing readership numbers. As a result, data that appeals to a wide variety of demographics is much more attractive than something very niche. Think about how your data can interest multiple audiences such as consumers, investors and industry professionals.
A great example of a data story that reached multiple audiences is the Coffee Price Index by our client, Service Partner One. The Coffee Price Index analysed the price of a cup of coffee in the office, at home and at Starbucks, in cities around the world. For example, did you know the most expensive cup of coffee is from Starbucks in Switzerland and it will set you back £5.72!
The research is a great example of an effective data story because it is universal and could be of interest to anyone who purchases coffee, both business and consumers alike. The wide appeal means there’s a broad spectrum of media that will be interested in covering the data including The Sun and The Telegraph.
So go on, dig into the numbers, but don’t forget to think about what you would be interested in reading and why? Thanks for reading our press office 101, for more information go to www.littlebearpr.com