Research in PR is not only a given but a necessity! What really fuels those powerful PR moves you see all over the internet is research. You can’t just start a PR campaign without proper research. That not-so-glamorous but totally essential ingredient is what separates the pros from the amateurs. Here’s how to navigate research as a PR professional.
1. Start with the End in Mind
Before you start Googling randomly, ask: What am I trying to find out? Are you looking for audience insights? Competitor positioning? Media angles? Having a clear research goal will save you from drowning in data soup. You can create a simple research brief outlining:
- What do you want to know?
- Why do you need it?
- Where will you look?
2. Know Your Playing Field
Before you craft that perfect pitch or develop your groundbreaking campaign strategy, you need to understand the landscape you’re operating in. This isn’t just about knowing your client’s business (though please, for everyone’s sake, do that too). It’s about mapping the entire ecosystem.
Industry research forms your foundation. What are the current trends? Who are the key players? What conversations are happening? Which topics are gaining traction, and which ones are becoming yesterday’s news? Think of this as creating your PR GPS; you need to know where you are before you can figure out where you’re going.
This groundwork prevents you from making embarrassing mistakes like pitching a “revolutionary new concept” that was actually revolutionary… in 2019. Trust me, journalists remember these things, and they’re not shy about pointing them out.
3. Audience Research: Beyond Demographics and Into Psychology
Here’s where many PR professionals go wrong: they stop at demographics. Age, location, income; sure, these matter. But in today’s fragmented media landscape, psychographics are your secret weapon. What motivates your audience? You should also ask what keeps them up at night? What makes them share content with their friends?
Dive deeper into their media consumption habits. Are they podcast listeners during their morning commute? Do they scroll Instagram during lunch breaks? Are they LinkedIn thought-leadership enthusiasts or TikTok trend followers? Each platform has its own language, timing, and content preferences.
Don’t forget about the emotional drivers. People don’t just buy products or support causes; they buy feelings, solutions to problems, and alignment with their values. Your research should uncover not just what your audience thinks, but how they feel and why they care.
4. Competitive Intelligence: Learning from Friends and Foes
Competitive research in PR isn’t about copying what others are doing; it’s about understanding the competitive landscape so you can find your unique angle. What messages are your competitors pushing? Which media outlets are covering them? What’s working, and more importantly, what’s not?
Look for gaps in the conversation. If everyone in your industry is talking about innovation, maybe there’s an opportunity to own authenticity. If sustainability messaging is saturated, perhaps transparency is your differentiator. The goal is to find white space where your voice can cut through the noise.
Also, pay attention to their crises and controversies. What mistakes have others made that you can avoid? How did they handle difficult situations? Learning from others’ missteps is much less painful than learning from your own.
5. Media Landscape Mapping: Know Your Targets
Gone are the days when media research meant buying a thick directory and cold-calling everyone listed under “Business Reporter.” Today’s media landscape is complex, fragmented, and constantly evolving. Your research needs to reflect this reality.
Start by identifying the publications, podcasts, blogs, and influencers that actually reach your target audience. But don’t stop there; understand their editorial calendars, preferred story angles, and recent coverage patterns. Does this outlet love data-driven stories? Are they currently focused on sustainability angles? Do they prefer CEO interviews or customer success stories?
Research individual journalists and content creators. What topics do they cover? What’s their communication style? When do they typically publish? Have they covered your industry before, and if so, what angle did they take? This isn’t stalking, it’s professional preparation.
6. Data Collection Tools: Your Research Arsenal
Modern PR research requires modern tools. Google Alerts are just the beginning. Consider investing in:
- Media monitoring platforms for comprehensive coverage tracking
- Social listening tools for understanding sentiment and conversation trends
- Survey platforms for primary research
- Analytics tools for measuring your own performance
- Industry databases for market intelligence
But remember: tools are only as good as the person using them. The most sophisticated platform won’t help if you don’t know what questions to ask or how to interpret the answers.
7. Turning Research into Strategy: The “So What?” Factor
Here’s where many PR professionals stumble: they collect amazing research but struggle to translate it into actionable strategy. Raw data is just raw data until you answer the crucial question: “So what?”
Look for patterns, insights, and implications. If your research shows that your target audience is increasingly concerned about privacy, what does that mean for your messaging strategy? Also check, if competitors are all using similar channels, where’s the opportunity for differentiation? If media coverage of your industry is declining, what story angles might reignite interest?
The best research insights often come from connecting seemingly unrelated data points. Maybe your audience research reveals a growing interest in wellness, while your industry analysis shows increased regulation, and your competitive research identifies a gap in authentic communication. Suddenly, you have the foundation for a campaign about “transparent wellness solutions in a regulated world.”
8. Staying Current: Research as an Ongoing Process
PR research isn’t a one-and-done activity – it’s an ongoing process that should inform every aspect of your work. Set up systems to continuously monitor industry trends, audience sentiment, competitive activities, and media opportunities.
Create research routines:
- Weekly competitive scans
- Monthly industry trend reviews
- Quarterly audience research updates
- Annual comprehensive landscape assessments
The most successful PR professionals I know are voracious consumers of information. They read industry publications, follow thought leaders, attend conferences, and constantly ask questions. They’ve turned research from a task into a mindset. These are ways of how to navigate research as a PR professional.
Research in PR isn’t about gathering information for information’s sake – it’s about building the foundation for strategic, informed decision-making. Great PR research combines art and science, intuition and data, broad industry knowledge and specific audience insights. It requires curiosity, critical thinking, and the ability to see patterns where others see chaos.
Most importantly, remember that research should make you more confident, not more confused. If your research isn’t leading to clearer strategy and better results, you’re either asking the wrong questions or looking in the wrong places.
I hope you enjoyed reading this far. Join me monthly on my journey into the PR world, where I discuss challenges, tips, pointers, and wins in the PR career space. See you soon!
Warm regards,
The PR Chic
