Thought Leadership Through Data

From Product Features to National Features

Why This Matters

Original data is one of the most effective ways to create news, earn authority, and position your brand as a category leader. It gives journalists something exclusive and valuable.

Founder's Point of View

You don’t need a big research budget to create newsworthy data. Even small surveys, usage insights from your platform, or quick analyses of public information can fuel thought leadership. Reporters crave fresh, credible data, and if you’re the source, your brand becomes part of the story.

Overview

Data-driven PR works because it gives journalists something exclusive, while keeping your brand at the center of the conversation. To create thought leadership through data:
- Pick a relevant topic that connects to your mission and audience
- Collect data through customer surveys, product usage analysis, or third-party datasets
- Highlight a clear finding that taps into trends, challenges, or opportunities in your industry
- Package it into a pitchable insight report, infographic, or blog post for easy consumption
- Use your executives or experts to add commentary, turning raw numbers into meaning

The best part: data doesn’t just earn media coverage—it creates reusable content for sales, marketing, and investor conversations.

Key Actions to Take

- Identify a relevant topic aligned with your product or mission
- Gather data (e.g., user surveys, product usage, third-party data)
- Craft a story around the findings (e.g., trend, challenge, opportunity)
- Build a pitchable insight report, blog post, or infographic

Metrics

Media pickup of data-driven stories
Backlinks and SEO lift from reports
Downloads or engagement on the original content
Executive quotes or interviews generated from data coverage

Examples

An HR tech startup surveys 100 hiring managers about AI in recruiting; six outlets pick up the story, and the company earns an invite to a podcast panel
A SaaS company analyzes its own user data to show a shift in customer behavior, creating thought leadership coverage in industry trades
A consumer fintech startup publishes a “state of savings” report that gets quoted in mainstream business media, strengthening its investor narrative

Tools

Survey & research tools: Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey (paid) + Google Forms (free)
Data visualization: Canva, Datawrapper, Flourish (paid/free tiers)
Coverage & backlinks tracking: Ahrefs, Semrush (paid) + Google Search Console (free)

Optional Assets

- Insight Report Template
- Survey Design Guide
- “Pitch-Ready Data” Checklist

Pro Tips

Data-Driven PR Idea: Collect anonymized, aggregated platform usage data (e.g., “transactions grew 45% in Q2 among small retailers”). Position it as an early signal of a broader trend. Reporters value exclusive insights that point to what’s coming next.

Don't Make These Mistakes

Leaving out visuals. Add graphics to help tell the story in reports, articles, social media, etc.
Forgetting to add commentary from execs or advisors — this enriches any data-driven story and boosts credibility