We’re modern-day PR professionals. Of course, we gonna rely on data for every strategy and every campaign we can think of.
Or should we really?
We can’t really blame PR people for thinking so. Just try for yourself and scan as much websites of PR agencies as possible, and it’s likely that they have “updated” their About Us pages with fancy phrases like “data-driven” and “data-led.”
Why not? These buzzwords are a way of telling people they they have familiarized and even bought for themselves advanced – and expensive – analytics tools, dashboards, and other solutions that allow them to harness the power of data to guide campaigns.
This embrace of data is understandable – after all, the PR industry has evolved from relying heavily on instincts and relationships to an increasingly metrics-focused approach.
The need to upgrade to tech PR has been going on for the past few years. As early as 2018, a USC Annenberg study said 78% of PR professionals worldwide feel the need to learn analytics, which they hope to use for activities like tracking media mentions, measuring campaign effectiveness, and understanding target audiences. Spending on PR data and analytics solutions is projected to reach $5.5 billion globally by 2025, per an Opendatasoft market analysis.
Here, however, is a bit of an unpopular view: Overreliance on data alone can be shortsighted and lead PR efforts astray.
I learned this lesson firsthand while working with a hospital in Manila that had set an ambitious revenue goal of 1 billion pesos.
The hospital had done everything by the data book – investing in renovations, top medical equipment, customer service enhancements, and a splashy rebranding campaign helmed by a global PR agency. This agency utilized all the latest digital tactics – social media marketing, SEO, Facebook Live videos – meticulously guided by data on demographics, search trends, and website analytics.
Yet despite checking every box in the data playbook, the hospital fell well short of its revenue target after over a year of these efforts.
When our agency, Comm&Sense, took over, we recognized the crucial missing piece – the human factor of credibility and trust-building through traditional PR. All the digital marketing reach meant little if the target audience in Manila didn’t perceive the hospital as a credible, authoritative voice on health issues.
Our approach was deceptively simple – we organized monthly press conferences putting the hospital’s medical experts front and center to discuss pressing health matters relevant to urban dwellers. From smoking and cancer to air pollution’s effects, these doctors became the voices of “urban health” advocacy for Manila.
By shifting the narrative from marketing to thought leadership, we transformed the hospital into a trusted brand prized for its expertise, not just its facilities. The doctors’ voices carried authentic resonance, cutting through the digital noise to reach consumers.
The results were staggering – not only did the hospital gain more patients and clients, but it exceeded its ambitious 1 billion peso revenue target months ahead of schedule. All by balancing data-driven strategy with the indispensable human elements of credibility, trust, and transcendent expertise.
Data undoubtedly has an integral role in modern PR. But as this case study illustrates, even the most sophisticated data analytics are inert without the human factors of creativity, experience, and emotional intelligence that truly move audiences.
As the PR industry evolves, we must resist the temptation to become data automatons, relying solely on metrics and soulless projections. The most iconic, impactful – and award-winning – PR campaigns harness best-in-class data while allowing ample space for the sparks of human ingenuity to catch fire. It is that human element that kindles indelible connections between brands and their audiences.
Data powers the engines, but human intuition and expertise must remain at the helm, charting the course toward resonance, authenticity and true influence. This, to my mind, and pardon the pun, is what intelligent PR is all about.