How do we make research-led stories “news?”

We start with developing strong talk value, touching on timely topics, fun conversations and things people have an active interest in and opinions on. We don’t lean on topics that only serve the brand.

We use the term “talk value” a lot, but what does that mean?

“Talk value” is as it sounds — is this topic worth talking about? Think about the conversations you have with friends and family or the way that you see news anchors cover fun stories on TV. Is this a news story that you or someone you know would take notice of?

How would YOU interact with this story — just read or share? Those kinds of moments are what we’re looking to capture with our stories as opposed to stories that may be classified as hard news.

Because this is earned media, we’ll often encourage trying to keep the story broader since this usually helps keep it different from what a brand may do to promote themselves.

Occasionally, it can actually be beneficial to play into what the brand does, for example, this American Adventures Month story for Storyteller Overland, or our work with Yubico which included a Talker Research survey of 20,000 international respondents, news story and white paper for Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

We then research and brainstorm ideas with our team. Sometimes, all it takes is hearing a word or phrase from someone else to spark a new idea; brainstorms are a great opportunity to learn from one another and connect with what’s being talked about. If we end up spending a good amount of time talking about something, it’s probably a good sign!

A strong story angle is typically multi-faceted. This state-by-state study for Tabasco — conducted ahead of National Hot Sauce Day — looks at the different ways Americans eat their pizza. Not only did the data reveal interesting insights overall, it also provided us with regional comparisons of attitudes and behaviors which were illustrated in a heat map graphic.

Finally, we organize our ideas by flow, keeping in mind that we aren’t overwhelming clients with disconnected thoughts.

The survey is the skeleton of the story. Everything we write and create comes as a direct result of the survey.

It’s important the questions are designed in a fair, balanced way that can give us stats that are worth reporting on, and importantly, are compliant with the research guidelines and methodological practices that we follow. At the same time, we also have to consider why the client would care about the question. Ultimately, it’s a balance between finding a story that is rightly capable of media attention but also fits topically with the client.

Obviously, if our intent is to use what we write, we never want to use survey questions that don’t contribute to the story or to a brand’s marketing or PR campaign in some way. This is also where it is useful to have a multifaceted angle to your story idea, so you are not reliant on stats unfolding in a specific way. But it’s also always worth noting that our survey space is limited!

Surveys rely on logic and understanding the position of the respondent, and on having the right sample to take the survey in the first place. If you’re looking for a certain hypothesis, you want to consider the steps that need to be taken to get to that point. You also want to make sure that the sample matches the survey. If you’re writing a survey about pets and it’s for a sample of Gen Pop (general population), you’re going to include people who might not like animals or might be allergic or might not have pets themselves.

Having the right sample will help ensure that the data is accurate and relevant.

We will always have more context than respondents do. We know the wider context and we know what we’re asking. We assume respondents don’t know anything, and approach them in a neutral manner. We are also very careful to not lead respondents in how they answer a question.

As anyone who has worked on any collaborative project knows, feedback can sometimes be a beast, and other times be easy and straightforward. Regardless of the amount of red ink, we always think about how a client’s feedback contributes back to the story. Almost all feedback is genuinely helpful and constructive. Where we feel that a suggested edit will be detrimental to the story, or does not meet our editorial guidelines, we do politely push back and explain our reasoning. These conversations help to ensure we are all on the same page and inevitably result in a stronger story and better results.

We write in a particular way. Not only do we follow AP style, but we also write in a dry, stat-heavy style. This is primarily to the benefit of publishers. When drafting news copy, we always think about how it will present itself to someone who’s been in this business for a long, long time. We write for them, and they are the ones who decide what’s worth publishing. We always want to position the news copy in a way that can encourage them to build on what we wrote and make it their own.

Because of this, we want to stay away from the obvious branded tone and the not-as-obvious editorialized tone. We never want to make the news copy subjective or seem opinionated. It’s very facts-driven by the data, and so we want it to read just as such.

There’s a very good reason brands and agencies come to us.

Earned media is hard and it’s time-consuming. If anything, it is getting more difficult. Clients are relying on us to bring our journalistic expertise and we are always happy to provide guidance and feedback where required.

One of the best ways to write newsworthy copy is to keep an eye on what else is being discussed around the same topic that you’re covering. Does it fall in-line with a viral moment going on in the world right now? What do our monitoring tools and own data tell us about trends for the subject and industry? Good news copy is unique (no overlap), but can still be tied to something in the real world, be it through a date peg, conversational topic, or through larger current events.

At the same time, you can’t assume what you’re writing will have immediate appeal in the news landscape. If it’s a niche topic or doesn’t have a wide enough appeal, it might not be as attached to the larger news landscape as something that is more broad.

In every project, we aim to create visual elements that take some of the key takeaways from the study and put them into a medium that readers can quickly grasp.

What stats from the news copy are going to be the most interesting to visually represent? We try to choose some fun or hard-hitting stats, depending on the nature of the story. We also switch up percentages and lists, etc, to keep the format fresh — choosing stats that can stand on their own without context, but still contribute to the story.

Brands are, of course, going to be interested in stats that most relate to them; it’s okay to have one or two of these towards the end of the infographic in moderation, but ultimately, we want the visual to have the same journalistic appeal to publications as the story itself.

We also strive to keep stats short and concise, making the visuals look good and not overly wordy or crowded.

Good design keeps things simple.

While the stats should be able to stand on their own, they should also mimic the narrative flow of the same story told in the news copy for cohesion.

We always want to avoid misrepresenting the information and taking stats out of their original meaning/purpose.