The saying goes, “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend…” but reports may just be the equivalent for reporters.
Defining reports
What kind of reports am I talking about? No, it’s not the kind of report you used to do for homework on famous bridges or Civil War generals. We’re talking about reports revolving around data that only your company or organization has access to. For instance, if you’re a cybersecurity company, do you have access to data on the latest kinds of threats, and are you able to break it down by geography, time, etc? Or are you an online retailer who can say what the hottest selling items are during certain times of the year (potentially the winter holidays, Valentine’s Day, etc.)?
Data is king
Why the interest in data-driven reports? Because they give reporters concrete statistics to build a somewhat neutral story. And they give you a reason to talk with the media about more than just yourself. You have the opportunity to be THE authority on your industry. And believe it or not, specific media outlets have reporters who specifically cover reports like these.
Example
An example of a report that gets picked up broadly in the media. The full report can be found here https://www.otalliance.org/HonorRoll.
For instance, a recent report by Voxus client the Online Trust Alliance around its Online Trust Audit & Honor Roll. OTA found 46 percent of about a thousand leading websites failed OTA’s data security and privacy assessment. The non-profit further broke down these statistics by industry, and named the best performing companies overall and in sectors. The information resonated with reporters with coverage in outlets like the Wall Street Journal, Politico, CSO Magazine and more.
Although some clients we work with believe product coverage is the only way to good press, that independent voice via neutral reports can lead to as good if not arguably better media mentions. And when you call on that reporter to cover your product next time, they may just be inclined to write about it. Reports; they are reporters’ best friend.