Managing communications in an industry with very few direct competitors might seem like a cake walk. Until you need to differentiate your brand from only a handful of others – then it gets interesting.
In the established credit reporting market, the key players are well-known brands that have been servicing this market for decades. That’s why differentiating their offerings and gaining market share is a key business objective for a data and analytics-savvy company.
To accomplish these goals, the communications team of the company needs to have an accurate view of the media landscape – which messages are resonating with influencers? How does this compare to our competitors’ coverage? Are our studies reaching the right audiences? Where are our experts quoted and how often? Thought leadership is a key component to their strategy and message pull-through is a metric that informs if they should stay on course or refocus their efforts elsewhere.
Comprehensive Brand Driver and Subtopic Analysis Drives Action
The communication team measures and compares SOV on topics like data security, credit reporting, and identity protection. They also measure the impact of their research studies, experts and spokespeople, financial performance, and industry litigation/regulations. The analysis of these topics and concepts enables the communications team to not only report on what has happened but also provides a roadmap for what needs to happen next.
Is positive SOV decreasing for data security messaging? The team can quickly uncover the reasons and assign resources to focus on the issue. If authors are not talking about them but covering their peers on this topic they can share the information with their agency and have them focus on outreach.
By consistently measuring and analyzing their key business drivers over time, the team has become more predictive about their outcomes. This allows them to react to anomalies much more quickly. For example, their PublicRelay analyst alerted the communications team when a new non-credit monitoring competitor started dominating positive coverage about data security and identity protection. The company was able to quickly assign resources to formulate a response strategy.
Leveraging Key Studies and Company Experts
Key sources of thought leadership content for the company are their research studies in the Automotive, Finance, Mortgage, and Marketing industries. PublicRelay delivers analysis of the impact their traditional coverage has created – including how often this coverage is shared on social media. This enables them to determine which industry topics drive the most engagement for their brand. They can then refocus their outreach efforts to gain traction on studies that are lagging.
Their consistent analysis of these studies also delivered an added benefit – uncovering a possible competitor. A niche property reporting center started gaining positive SOV for the quality of their studies on disaster damage in the wake of Hurricane Harvey and Irma. Their PublicRelay analyst quickly alerted them and they were able to respond accordingly.
Before the company develops reports in new industries like Healthcare, they can utilize PublicRelay data and insights to assess the media landscape and determine if there are thought leadership and whitespace opportunities. The communications team can then work with their agency to devise a tactical plan to launch the new studies.
Keeping Their Industry Leader Status
Quarter over quarter the company generally receives much more positive coverage than its mainstream competitors, particularly in the areas of its expert spokespeople and research studies. They also keep a keen eye on their brand reputation and can pivot quickly to address any issues.
Working in partnership with PublicRelay to analyze key trends and events for actionable insights, the team ensures the company is in control of its reputation and leadership initiatives. They continue their quest to be the top provider and ultimate authority in the areas of data and analytics.
