How to Use Data You Already Have to Earn Media Coverage

Here’s the dream for folks in marketing and PR: Imagine discovering your company has a treasure chest of insights hidden in plain sight — data that could earn media coverage and build authority if you know how to use it.

Since 2010, OKCupid has been ahead of the curve. It uses proprietary data around dating trends to make headlines around preferences in partnerships, from what kinds of smartphones are a turn-off, to what times of year people are more willing to settle down into serious relationships. 

These headlines aren’t a blip in their media coverage for the year; they are a part of a systemized, near-constant stream of data analyses that drives earned media coverage. This kind of data-driven storytelling ladders up to bigger goals — positioning OKCupid as a go-to authority on modern relationships, creating more brand awareness, and even making them more attractive for acquisitions, without leaning too hard on advertising. 

Like OKCupid, many brands are sitting on a goldmine of proprietary data: they might just be unaware of it, or lack the structures to extract and turn data into content. From customer surveys to internal trends to product usage stats, this information can be repackaged into syndicated brand stories and distributed widely through content syndication for maximum reach.

The only catch is: You have to think like a journalist, not a marketer, to find nuggets of numbers that may be mined into media gold. 

What Counts as “Media-Worthy” Data?

Not all data carries the same weight with reports. Journalists want to cover stories that are based on original, proprietary, or exclusive data sources — the kind that no one else is publishing. These are more enticing and credible, and they increase the chances of your story being picked up.

First-party data adds authority to your narrative. While it’s not always accurate to say hard news is more “indispensable” than soft news, exclusive trend data often elevates your pitch from background color to headline-worthy. Examples of media-worthy data include customer behavior trends, regional comparisons, changes over time, or unusual anomalies in your industry.

For Extra Cred with Journalists: 

⭐ Note when the data is representative of the population. For example, if a fintech app analyzed transaction data from 5 million users across all 50 states, that scale adds credibility because the dataset mirrors a broad swath of the population.

⭐⭐ Package your data into a research report that links to a timely news hook. AARP’s report on “Caregiving in the U.S.”  aligned with 2026 budget cuts to Medicaid-supported caregivers. Releasing a substantive, standalone data report like this can be a significant news item on its own — far more impactful than a single press release.

⭐⭐⭐ Use easy-to-read charts, graphs, or comparisons to show shifts over time. Visual storytelling makes it simpler for journalists (and their readers) to understand and republish your findings.

Image source: AARP’s 2025 “Caregiving in the U.S.” report

🤓 Note: Even small data sets may be newsworthy if they surface surprising or relevant insights unavailable elsewhere. (Just be sure to contextualize small numbers to avoid misleading percentages).

Start With What You Already Collect

To get started on your data-driven earned media strategy, assess what you’re already aggregating. Examples include:

• CRM and sales data, such as trends by region, seasonality, or customer types
• Survey responses, including customer feedback and sentiment over time
• Product usage data, like feature adoption or user patterns
• Site analytics, including search terms, traffic trends, or top-performing content
• Customer support logs, showing patterns in questions, issues, or solutions

This raw material is the foundation to turn data into content for PR. Sometimes spotting the right story requires a data-savvy mindset — but the payoff is huge.

Data analysis can either make you feel like a genius or like you wished you paid more attention in math; some of it comes down to knowing what to look for.

Find the Story in the Numbers

With the data in hand, knowing how to find the story can be a challenge. These prompts can help:

👀 Look for spikes, drops, or patterns that connect to broader narratives*: To find the lede to your article, ask: What’s surprising here? Why now? Would my grandmother care? 

🍂 Make the data timely by linking insights to seasons, news cycles, or industry shifts: For example, AAA uses its data on driving trends every Thanksgiving season as people plan their commutes for the holiday. It works because the timely story uses hard, first-party data while giving back to the public (see what I did there?!) with “news you can use.” Plus, the data isn’t easy to source otherwise, which helps AAA dominate travel news during the season.

🔗 Combine your data to strengthen your story with other third-party, trusted public sources like the Census, BLS, or Google Trends. Getting another viewpoint that supports your thesis can add credibility to your piece.

*It’s always recommended to partner with a data expert in your company to double check your calculations and interpretation of data. 

Package It Like a Journalist Would

Content created from proprietary data is not all equal. To make your work feel like branded journalism — and not just sponsored content — follow these steps:

• Lead with a compelling insight, not your product.
• Use plain language and skip the marketing jargon.
• Include a strong headline, one or two key takeaways, and a simple chart or stat. 

For example, the story, What are the common causes of crane accidents?, by the Crane Inspection & Certification Bureau (CICB), was distributed by Stacker’s newswire and had 412 pick-ups in July 2025. The article pulls in BLS data, while setting up a service journalism angle that uses CICB analysis of the common ways crane accidents occur, to help prevent more from happening.

Infographics, charts, and other visual assets increase the chances journalists will republish your findings directly, amplifying earned reach.

Once the story is packaged up, it’s ready to be distributed across the interwebs — if you play your cards right.

Distribute It the Right Way

To optimize your story’s reach and search visibility, think of distribution as a 1-2-3 punch:

1. Earn media coverage: Pitch reporters with proprietary data and newsworthy context. Journalists will often cite your brand if they use your findings, which expands your earned media coverage.
2. Earned reach: Use platforms like Stacker to scale your editorial-quality stories with widespread distribution. Stacker’s newswire vets branded journalism before sending out fully-developed stories to thousands of media outlets across the country on its newswire — who can republish your content — and help push up your brand authority and search visibility at the same time.
3. Owned media: Publish your data stories on your brand’s website, using a clean, indexable format that’s optimized for SEO and AI discoverability. 

Keep the Engine Running

Once your bosses see how scalable data-driven stories can be to your brand authority, institutionalize your process to ensure storytelling is part of your regular workflows:

• Make data storytelling a habit with monthly dashboards, quarterly recaps, or annual reports
• Identify a person or team who owns the data narrative, or make time to review data regularly as a team. Examples of companies that hire former journalists to invest in-house in editorial include HubSpot and The Hustle, NVIDIA, Salesforce, SoFi, Lyft, and Mastercard.
  • 💡 Follow our founder, Noah, for regular updates on what companies are hiring editorial staff and how they’re amplifying their data
• Repurpose your stories across formats with blog and LinkedIn posts, infographics, and distribute periodic releases on the same data sets that highlight interesting trends.

The truth is, you don’t need a newsroom or a data science team to use data for PR. You just need to frame your internal numbers through the lens of journalism.

Journalists everywhere are looking for credible, original insights — and your company is already sitting on them. With the right process, distribution, and a steady pipeline of proprietary stories, your brand’s data can earn media coverage, boost authority, and become your most powerful PR asset.

Claudia Nagel is an international business development leader with expertise in SaaS, consultative sales, and revenue enablement. Currently an Enterprise Account Executive at Stacker, she has held senior roles across companies focused on AI transformation and innovation and tech including LinkedIn, Gartner, driving global sales strategy and enablement. Passionate about social impact, equity, and sustainability, Claudia blends commercial acumen with purpose-driven values. A UNC Chapel Hill alumna, she has lived and worked across the U.S., Europe, and Latin America, and is always planning her next adventure.

Photo Illustration by Stacker // Shutterstock // Canva