PR Surveys to Boost SEO

Imagine unlocking the power of data to captivate audiences and skyrocket your brand’s visibility. That’s exactly what PR surveys can do for your digital marketing strategy. In this article, we’ll dive into the art of crafting irresistible headlines from survey data, explore proven tactics for catching journalists’ attention, and reveal how some of the biggest brands have leveraged this approach to stunning effect.

Whether you’re a seasoned PR pro or a marketing newcomer, you’ll discover practical tips to transform dry statistics into compelling stories that earn coveted media coverage and boost your SEO.

Ready to harness the full potential of surveys for digital PR? Let’s dive in.

Harnessing PR Surveys Effectively

PR surveys are a valuable tool for businesses looking to boost their public relations efforts and improve their SEO performance. Here’s a brief overview of why PR surveys make sense and how to effectively execute them:

• PR surveys provide original, exclusive insights that can be used to create compelling, data-driven content that captures media attention and earns high-quality backlinks from authoritative sources. Google’s recent leak confirming the importance of link building for SEO further underscores the value of PR surveys.

• To come up with relevant ideas for your PR survey, consider topics that are timely, newsworthy, and aligned with your brand’s expertise. Look for opportunities to explore trending issues, challenge common assumptions, or uncover surprising insights that will pique the interest of journalists and your target audience.

• When executing your PR survey, partner with a reputable market research firm to ensure your survey is professionally designed and administered to a representative sample of respondents. Craft questions that are clear, unbiased, and focused on generating meaningful, headline-worthy statistics.

• Once you have your survey results, analyze the data to identify the most compelling narratives and insights. Use this information to create press releases, reports, infographics, and other linkable assets that showcase your findings in an engaging, shareable format. By leveraging PR surveys strategically, you can establish your brand as a thought leader, earn valuable media coverage, and significantly boost your SEO performance.

Creating Timely PR Survey Ideas

When brainstorming survey ideas for PR, it’s important to strike a balance between relevance to your business and broad appeal. While the topics don’t always need to be directly related to your products or services, they should still align with your brand’s expertise or target audience’s interests.

For example, a mattress company could conduct a survey about sleep habits or bedroom design trends, even though these topics aren’t specifically about mattresses. The key is to find an angle that allows you to subtly showcase your brand’s knowledge while still providing valuable, newsworthy insights.

In addition to timely, news-driven topics, you can also explore evergreen or seasonally relevant ideas that give you more time to prepare. Regularly occurring events like holidays, weather patterns, or annual industry conferences can provide a reliable framework for planning PR surveys in advance.

For instance, a travel company could conduct a survey about summer vacation trends a few months before the peak season, giving them ample time to analyze the results and pitch stories to media outlets. By leveraging these predictable patterns, you can create a steady stream of PR survey content that keeps your brand top-of-mind throughout the year.

We’ve created a custom GPT that will generate ideas for PR surveys you could create for your business. Tell it your business type and it will output a list of survey ideas, along with headlines that you can use to pitch it to journalists. Try it for free here.

Ultimately, the most effective PR survey ideas are those that balance relevance, timeliness, and broad appeal to capture the attention of both journalists and your target audience.

Brands Leveraging Surveys for PR

Here are 5 examples of brands using original survey data to create newsworthy content for their digital PR campaigns:

1. Best Western conducted a poll of over 2,000 people that revealed the top 40 New Year’s Resolutions for 2024. They found that just four in ten people plan to set resolutions, while one in three claimed setting goals adds too much pressure. The poll sparked a debate on whether we even need New Year’s resolutions.

2. SimpleTexting surveyed people on what pleasures they would sacrifice to keep their smartphone. The shocking finding that 40% would give up their dog over their smartphone made for a great conversation piece and earned coverage in People, CNET, and the Today Show.

3. E-conolight anonymously surveyed people on what they actually spend time doing while “on the clock” working from home. The results, from taking naps to online shopping to drinking alcohol, attracted the attention of Fortune, ZDNet, and The Ladders.

4. A calculator created by SimpleTexting showed exactly how much money various tech CEOs make compared to the average person’s salary. Released during antitrust hearings involving tech moguls, the campaign was covered by The Guardian, Fast Company, and LifeHacker.

5. Fery Kaszoni’s agency asked ChatGPT to take the UK’s year 6 student assessment tests (SATs). Out of 36 questions worth 40 points, the AI solved 32 correctly for 35 points. This experiment earned them a link from Huffington Post.

In each case, the brand used original survey data to uncover surprising insights that challenged assumptions, tapped into timely events, or put a new spin on evergreen topics. By crafting data-driven narratives with broad appeal, they were able to earn valuable media coverage and position themselves as thought leaders.

PR Surveys as a Link Building Strategy

PR surveys have become increasingly valuable for SEO optimization, especially in light of Google’s recent leaks confirming the importance of links and brand building. By conducting well-designed surveys, businesses can generate unique data and insights that attract high-quality backlinks from authoritative sources. These links not only improve search rankings but also enhance brand visibility and credibility. PR surveys allow companies to position themselves as thought leaders in their industry, creating shareable content that journalists and bloggers are eager to reference. This approach aligns perfectly with Google’s emphasis on brand authority, as consistently producing valuable, data-driven content helps establish a strong online presence. By leveraging PR surveys strategically, businesses can simultaneously build their brand reputation and improve their SEO performance, addressing two critical factors in Google’s ranking algorithm.

Crafting Compelling Digital PR Pitches

To effectively pitch survey-based digital PR stories to journalists, start by identifying relevant reporters using media databases or social media platforms like Twitter. When crafting your pitch, keep it concise (under 300 words) and personalized to the journalist’s beat.

We always try and make sure our subject lines are:

– Short (<50 characters ideally)
– Relevant (and timely)
– Powerful (ideally contains a headline stat)

The closer you can make the above sound like a headline at the publication you’re pitching, the more success you’ll have pic.twitter.com/JEqBZ2NjSg

— Sacha | JournoFinder.com 🔎 (@sacha_vyzz) February 19, 2024

Lead with a compelling subject line that highlights your most newsworthy finding. In the body, quickly present your key data points and explain why they’re significant or surprising. Offer the story as an exclusive to increase the likelihood of coverage. Timing is crucial – aim to send pitches on Monday mornings before noon for optimal response rates. Limit follow-ups to one email 3-7 days after the initial pitch. Remember that journalists receive numerous pitches daily, so make yours stand out by demonstrating how your survey data provides unique value to their audience.

Creating Compelling Headlines with PR Survey Data

One effective way to create compelling headlines with PR survey data is to identify surprising or counterintuitive findings that challenge common assumptions. For example, a survey might reveal that older generations are more active on social media than younger people, subverting expectations. Crafting a headline around such an unexpected insight can instantly grab the attention of journalists and readers alike.

Additionally, using specific statistics or percentages in the headline, such as “80% of Europeans are more concerned about inflation,” can make the survey results feel more concrete and impactful. Tying the survey data to timely events, seasonal trends, or awareness days can also help give the headline a sense of relevance and urgency. The key is to analyze the survey results carefully to uncover the most newsworthy angles that will spark interest and drive media coverage.

Integrating PR Surveys into Digital Storytelling

PR surveys can be seamlessly integrated into digital storytelling campaigns to create data-driven narratives that resonate with target audiences. By incorporating interactive elements like quizzes and polls, businesses can encourage active participation and gather valuable insights from their audience. This user-generated data can then be woven into compelling stories that showcase the brand’s thought leadership and industryexpertise.

For example, a company could launch a survey about emerging trends in their field, and use the findings to create an immersive, multimedia story that combines engaging visuals, audio clips, and data visualizations. This approach not only captures attention but also builds trust and credibility by backing up the narrative with real data from the target audience.

Additionally, PR surveys can help businesses personalize their digital storytelling by tailoring content to specific audience segments based on their survey responses. By leveraging data to inform their narratives, brands can craft more relevant and impactful stories that forge deeper emotional connections with their audience.

In House vs Digital PR Agency

When deciding between working with a digital PR agency or building an in-house process using an online survey platform, it’s important to consider the pros and cons of each approach:

Using an online survey platform like resonio, which boasts a participant pool of over 6 million people worldwide, can be a powerful way to conduct PR surveys in-house while saving thousands compared to hiring an agency. By leveraging Resonio’s vast audience reach and advanced targeting capabilities, you can quickly gather valuable insights and data points to fuel your PR campaigns.

Additionally, building an in-house process gives you greater control over the survey design, execution, and analysis, ensuring that the results align with your brand’s unique voice and objectives. With the right tools and resources, managing PR surveys internally can be an efficient and cost-effective approach to generating newsworthy content and earning high-quality media coverage.

Start Building PR Surveys into Your Strategy Today

resonio’s online survey tool, combined with our custom GPT-powered PR survey generator, offers businesses an efficient way to create newsworthy surveys and gain valuable media exposure. The platform provides access to over 6 million survey participants worldwide, allowing companies to quickly gather insights on a wide range of topics. Users can leverage pre-designed templates or create custom surveys, then use the AI-powered generator to craft compelling narratives and headlines based on the survey results.

This integrated approach streamlines the process of conducting PR surveys, analyzing data, and generating media-ready content, potentially saving thousands compared to traditional PR agencies. By consistently producing data-driven stories that resonate with journalists and target audiences, businesses can earn high-quality backlinks and media coverage, boosting their SEO performance and brand visibility. The key is to focus on timely, relevant topics that align with your brand’s expertise while offering broad appeal to maximize the potential for earned media and links.