Firms must use their data for online content and PR

Not enough companies make use of the data at their disposal to create PR stories and web content, says Steve Maybury 

This week, the Guardian has given us the news that Premier League footballers ran a combined total of 2489.9km at this summer’s World Cup.

I’ll wait here for a second while you run off to tell that fascinating piece of information to everyone you know. It really does seem pretty pointless, doesn’t it? Much like England’s own World Cup campaign, in that respect (yes, I know they got a point against Costa Rica, but it was a pointless point…)

The thing is, we have a national obsession with this fascinating, if pointless, information. We all have a huge thirst for knowledge, much like that girl who came from Greece and studied sculpture at St Martin’s College.

Ever since Statto on Skinner and Baddiel’s Fantasy Football League made the stat-geek socially acceptable (well, nearly: he did still exclusively wear a dressing gown, implying he didn’t get out very much…) it has been seen as ok to embrace, and show off, one’s thirst for facts, figures, stats and trends.

Despite a hint of facetiousness on my part, these bits of information are anything but useless. In fact, in many cases, where used correctly, they can provide the bedrock for outstanding PR and marketing campaigns, and newspapers and blogs absolutely thrive on them.

It is so much easier, for example, to position a client as an expert in their field if they have some data with which to qualify their views.

In addition, frequently one of the hardest challenges of any PR or content marketing campaign is convincing clients of how interesting their data and stories are.

As the ones closest to their work, it naturally, and literally, seems very ‘everyday’ to them. But in almost every case, companies boast knowledge, experience and expertise that would be of huge interest to the wider world, as long as it can be delivered in a pithy and interesting way.

This is where we can help. We know what makes a story, and where to look to get those stories off the ground.

We can help companies to use the info they have at their disposal, and turn it into fascinating content that will deliver traffic to their website, and customers to their phones.

Have a look at your company’s blog and news page. If there hasn’t been a new post worth reading at least once a week for the past three months, then chances are you’ll soon be slipping down the Google rankings, and I’d politely suggest you need to give us a call.