Digital PR campaigns that utilise pieces of content are often constructed around pieces of quality data that are proprietary to the brand or business discussing it.
This quality data gives the content a unique edge and the much-needed boost in the press release journalists are looking for when sifting through their emails on a Monday morning.
However, with hundreds, if not thousands of digital PR campaigns being created and launched every week, media lists across the industry will share similar contacts. Vying for the same eyes and ears, these digital PR campaigns must have the data to back them up.
All of this may sound obvious, and every good marketing strategy and digital PR campaign should focus on securing quality data. But with the whole of the internet at our fingertips, how do we decide on where to look for the winning snippet?
The expert digital PR team at Tecmark has broken down the top five data sources for digital PR campaigns, and extra information you need to know when you next create a digital PR campaign:
- What are data sources?
- What value do data sources have for link-building purposes?
- 5 top data sources
- Google Trends
- FOI requests
- Surveys
- Internal data
- Statistics
- Launch your digital PR campaign with Tecmark now
What Are Data Sources?
Data sources are the location in which you found or generated data. These can come from a variety of platforms, however, they must be credible.
As a rule, any data you use should be traceable and credible, or else you put your business’s reputation at risk and your future link-building strategies may struggle. This is especially true when using data found from specific sources for digital PR purposes.
Digital PR campaigns that are centred around a piece of data-driven content must have a quality and credible data source behind them. Journalists are trained to find the original source of the data behind any claim or quote, and digital PR campaigns are no different.
What Value Does Data Have For Link Building Purposes?
There is plenty of value to be found in a strong data source when using it for link-building purposes.
Being able to quote unique data that your business has sourced and interpreted brings a fresh look into whatever issue, topic or discussion you’re tackling. This is an invaluable asset in an internet space that is saturated in rehashes of the same old pieces of content and ideas.
From a link-building perspective, this is also incredibly valuable. By creating fully optimised, search-led and data-driven content, searchers will be directed to your website as the source of strong data that they can then link back to. This will, in turn, boost rankings and domain authority, along with traffic and potentially conversions.
None of this is possible without a strong data source, so where can you look to find credible data?
5 Top Data Sources For Digital PR Campaigns
Google Trends
Google Trends is an incredibly popular choice for those working in the digital PR industry. A powerful tool that allows users to sift through search trends. Taken a step further, it also breaks these trends down by destination, time period, comparative changes and further insights on related topics.
As a data source, Google Trends holds a huge amount of value for digital PR campaigns, as it can provide a credible statistic that highlights the newsworthiness behind a piece of content. This is especially important in the 2022 news cycle, as it has reached a speed that feels impossible to keep up with.
Instead, being able to pull highly relevant statistics based on the searcher’s interests means you can clearly and demonstrate in an impactful way why your content should be on the publication’s front page. With all of this, and adding depth to any content that can be emphasised with search trends, Google Trends is an excellent tool to take advantage of.
FOI Requests
FOI requests are a data source that is perfect for a digital PR campaign that wants to have valuable data without the huge budget attached to it. A free data source for any member of the public to take advantage of, the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act allows anyone to request specific data from public bodies.
As a data source, this can open up a world of opportunities, that on the surface may have seemed locked away. However, there are a couple of things to take into account before diving headfirst into sending FOI requests out to anyone that will receive them.
It can take a long time to retrieve this data (up to 20 working days), so it may not be a suitable data source option for digital PR campaigns that are on a time limit. There is also the chance that you don’t receive your data, as any data requests that take too much time to find the answers will be denied.
Surveys
Surveys are one of the most reliable and useful data sources, but only when done correctly. The value they hold can be the foundation needed to build hundreds of quality links, as the data is directly linked to and belongs to whichever business or brand conducted the survey.
As a data source, this can then be interpreted and re-imagined into a variety of different press releases and pieces of content that can be outreached to the press.
For surveys to be a credible data source, however, they must have an adequate sample size. Most news publications will require a survey to have over 2,000 respondents for it to be deemed credible, and it must be from a reliable survey source, such as OnePoll or Google Surveys.
Internal Data
One of the most accessible forms of data collection is the brand or business’s own internal data. It is often overlooked and forgotten about, but can often be the basis needed for a fantastic piece of content to be created.
Whether it’s looking into patterns in responses to a contact form, or interesting figures from customers’ use of a product, internal data can be turned into a riveting press release in a matter of hours and quickly build links.
Statistics
As a rule, statistics are often a good choice for any digital PR campaign that is looking to make data the unique selling point. Regardless of what type of statistics you’re looking into though, the data source must be a credible one, or else they are useless.
The Office of National Statistics (ONS) is a fantastic tool for digital PR creatives looking for a data source that focuses on in-depth statistics about specific areas. It is a database created by the UK government that is free to use and can boost or build content.
Statista is another statistical tool that is a strong and credible data source. Used by many different industries, it delves deeper than most other sources. However, it often has paywalls behind its more valuable statistics which can cause a problem for lower-budget campaigns.
Other options you can consider are charities. They often conduct research into their specific missions and find stats that you can use to boost your content, but this is a limited option and isn’t always suitable to base your entire digital PR campaign on.
Launch Your Digital PR Campaign With Tecmark Now
Whatever you choose to do with the data you find from these top five sources, having professionals handling your digital PR campaign is highly recommended.
Anyone can gather data and write some content around them, but writing it effectively and for it to be fully optimised is another level. Couple this with creatively interpreting the data to find an angle that gives the user reason to link back to you and not the original source, and things can get complicated.
The expert team at Tecmark have spent the last 14 years perfecting the professionally and creatively led processes that allow us to develop innovative and impactful digital PR campaigns. Whether it’s through digital PR, content marketing or SEO services, get in touch with us today to find out how we can help boost your business and improve your website.
