Designing research for media relations: 3 steps for success

Newsrooms in Australia are under pressure from multiple angles. Downsizing and consolidation continue to cost many journalists their jobs, AI search threatens news subscriptions, and debate continues over the News Bargaining Incentive (NBI) legislation.

The takeaway is clear – with fewer journalists and more commercial pressures, the bar for what is newsworthy is higher than before.

Commissioning local research has long been a highly relevant way to generate local angles grounded in hard data. But the bar for vendor-led research has also been elevated.

So as editors become even more laser-focused on covering stories that generate clicks and engagement with their readership, how can brands and PR professionals use research to engage them with relevant angles?

Here are three ways to improve chances of research cut through:

1. Co-create the story with the journalist

Journalists are inundated with vendor-led research reports, all with varying degrees of relevance to their audiences. Therefore, one of the most effective ways to improve your chances of successfully pitching a survey is to co-create it with the journalist from day one.

Knowing the journalist’s focus areas, their audience, and how it overlaps with the vendor’s area of expertise is key. For example, a HR vendor commissioning a survey about employee burnout and pitching to a journalist who writes for a careers section, read by everyday Aussies, sounds like a good fit on paper. However, the journalist might say that, while the topic sounds right, it’s overdone or the conversation has shifted toward how employees are managing cost-of-living pressures. Either way, by co-creating the survey with the journalist, you’re much more likely to find the white space from the outset.

A quick note on the above: just like all media relations, coverage should never be expected, even if you co-create the story.  

2. Design the questions like a journalist would

So, you’ve got a good idea of what the journalist is looking for; now it’s time to design the survey questions.

The rule is simple: every question must lead to a potential headline. If you can’t picture the headline, the question is likely filler.

Taking the earlier example of a survey about employee burnout, a question could be designed two ways:

1. Have you felt stressed at work in the last six months?
2. In the last six months, how many days have you taken off work because you were overwhelmed by the stress of your job?

Both questions are relevant to the survey topic, but question B offers a much stronger chance of capturing a headlining statistic a journalist can use for a story.

3. Pair it with a case study

Statistics are all well and good, but a great story often includes a real-life case study – someone who personifies what the data shows.

For a survey on employee burnout, finding an Aussie worker who can share their story about stress and how they’re managing their workload would complement the data perfectly.

Many journalists will ask for a case study, so coming forward with someone proactively is often a deciding factor in whether research gets covered.

To summarise, commissioning local research remains an effective way to generate local data and engage journalists, but achieving cut-through is harder than ever. By co-creating the survey with the journalist, designing pointed questions and pairing the findings with a case study, you’ll have the best chance of success.