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Generative AI is everywhere now. You see it in content, campaigns, customer experiences, and even internal workflows. It promises speed, scale, and efficiency, but there’s a harder question sitting underneath all that progress; Do your audiences actually trust it?

Trust in the Age of AI: What Consumers Really Think About AI Generated Content

Today, PR teams aren’t just tracking media coverage and share of voice. They’re also measuring how their brand shows up in AI-generated answers, search summaries, and large language models (LLMs). This new LLM visibility layer is quickly becoming a critical part of PR performance.

15 Must-Have PR KPIs and How to Track Them

See how one platform can power every decision across PR, communications, and marketing.

The Meltwater Blog

Blog Topics: Generative Engine Optimization, Media Intelligence, Media Relations, Social Listening, Consumer Intelligence, Influencer Marketing

Find out how you can leverage Facebook to boost your brand's online presence and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

Facebook Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage Instagram to boost your brand's visual appeal and gain a competitive edge. Explore our category page today!

Instagram Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage LinkedIN to grow your professional network and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

LinkedIn Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage TikTok to elevate your brand with creative content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

TikTok Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage X / Twitter to engage your audience effectively and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

X / Twitter Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage YouTube to create engaging video content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

YouTube Blog | Meltwater

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is transforming how brands show up in AI-powered search. Explore insights, strategies, and best practices to help your content rank and resonate across conversational engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.

Explore insights and strategies for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to help your brand stay visible and discoverable in AI-powered search.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Blog Collection | Meltwater

Every day billions of conversations take place on social media: tweets, posts, comments, blogs, reviews, podcasts, and much more.
Learn how to use social listening to make sense of all of that data.

On our social listening category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around social listening and social media monitoring. Read more.

Social Listening Blogs | Category

Business Reputation Management: What does it take to add reputation management to your marketing strategy? More importantly, how do you keep your reputation sparkly and shiny? Here’s your all-access guide to online reputation management for the long term.

On our reputation management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around business reputation management. Read more.

Reputation Management Blogs | Category

From your brand's logo to your website, your social media presence to your customer support—these elements combined are what constitutes a brand in the minds of customers. But, there are thousands of other businesses that have a logo, website, social media presence, and website. So, how can you position your business on the market and make it stand out from the competition?
The key to success is branding & brand management!

On our brand management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around brand management. Build your strategy and reach your goals!

Brand Management Blogs | Category

Competitive intelligence and the act of collecting competitive data can be seen as growth drivers for a company. Our guide will help you understand the concept of competitive intelligence (CI) by answering questions such as: What is the definition of competitive intelligence? How is competitive intelligence useful to organizations? What is the goal of competitive intelligence? And more.

On our competitive intelligence category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around competitive intelligence. Learn how to stay ahead.

Competitive Intelligence Blogs | Category

Let’s dive into the customer journey framework and how to optimize the process by creating a customer journey map and using metrics that matter when analyzing the customer journey.

On our customer journey category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Customer Journey Blogs | Category

What Is Data Analytics? [Beginner’s Guide 2023]
How can I grow my business? 
How do customers interact with my newly launched product?
How do I increase the productivity of my employees?
How do I know if my marketing efforts are working?
We have just two words for you...Data analytics!

On our data analytics category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around AI and data analytics. Technical and still easy to understand.

AI & Data Analytics Blogs | Category

Public relations and media relations can add impact to any marketing strategy. It’s an opportunity for brands to grow their reach beyond traditional sales messages. PR helps to shape the image you want people to have of your brand.
So, what is PR and how do you use it? This guide shows you everything you need to know to build a strong public relations foundation.

On our public relations (PR) category page, you find all our blogs covering public relations and communications topics. Step up your PR game.

Public Relations (PR) Blogs | Category

We all know exactly what the roles of sales or accounting are in a company, right? We might even have a slight idea of what the IT guys are doing.
But there is another business discipline, that plays a crucial role in organizations, even more so during the pandemic – internal communications!
But what exactly do we mean by that, what purpose does it serve and what steps can you take to ensure you and your employees will communicate effectively?

On our internal communications category page, you find all our blogs about internal comms topics. Learn about the intranet, internal newsletters, and more.

Internal Communications Blogs | Category

As the internet has taken root in more areas of our lives — everything from entertainment to shopping to paying bills and more — traditional marketing is becoming less impactful. As any marketer knows, you need to focus on where your audience is if you want to reach them. Since the average person spends about seven hours a day online, it’s no surprise that content has maintained its hold on marketers.

Here's a closer look at what content marketing is and why it matters more than ever in our digital-first economy.

On our content marketing category page, you find blogs about content marketing topics. Learn about strategies, KPIs, tips, and more. Make your content king!

Content Marketing Blogs | Category

The rise of the influencer marketing space – today a $10 billion industry, growing 50% per year – is one of the clearest examples of how social media is transforming traditional marketing. These days having a business website, presence on social, PR coverage, and your own content isn’t enough to compete.
We'll dive into the intricacies of influencer marketing to help ensure that you're equipped with the insights needed to be successful in this space.

On our influencer marketing category page, you find blogs about influencer marketing topics. Build your strategy, find influencers, and measure results.

Influencer Marketing Blogs | Category

Have you just launched a new product or service that you want to get the word out about? Maybe you want to share with consumers why it is awesome and how it is so much better than the one your competitors offer.

Well, then, there is one thing you can't do without...Marketing!

On our marketing category page, you find blogs about marketing topics. Learn about all the different angles and types of marketing and improve your results.

Marketing Blogs | Category

In this guide, we want to give you a peek into the definition of social media management, the daily schedule of a social media manager, social media platforms to promote your business, and the do’s & don’ts of social media management.
Are you ready to begin the journey of becoming a social media superstar?

On our social media management category page, you find blogs about social media management topics. Build and manage your online community.

Social Media Management Blogs | Category

Building a following and using social media platforms to reach a wider audience requires a well-planned social media marketing strategy. In this guide, we’ll be looking at why social media marketing is so essential and how you can make it work for your business.

On our social media marketing category page, you find blogs about social media marketing topics. Learn how to get the highest paid social ROI!

Social Media Marketing Blogs | Category

In the fast-evolving realm of digital marketing and public relations, utilizing the right tools is crucial for success. Our interdisciplinary category showcases all the pertinent tools for digital marketing & PR. These tools help in enhancing your online presence and effectively reaching target groups, whether through reputation management, influencer marketing, or social media management.

On our digital marketing and PR tools category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Digital Marketing & PR Tools Blogs | Category

Is there any simpler pleasure than finding a forgotten $20 bill in the pocket of last winter’s coat? Although occasionally it may seem like there’s nothing to post, sometimes the perfect piece of social media content (like that cute sweater you packed away) is already in your collection.

Tip: We have written a full guide to repurposing content that will give you even more information on this topic.

Taking a look at your content with fresh eyes and dusting off previously produced content can help you reach new audiences while making the most of your efforts. So say, “As if!” to writer’s block and start dressing up previously produced content using these Clueless-inspired tips.

Just as students have learning styles, different platforms and users gravitate towards different mediums. Try transforming a written story into an infographic or audio story (and vice versa) until the possibilities are exhausted. Have a great how-to video? Write the instructions out and make that into an infographic, list, or deck. Have a fantastic SlideShare about a product? Use the language as a script for a Facebook Live video. Remember that great webinar you hosted? Even if registration was off the charts and the turnout successful, not all interested people will be able to attend or watch the replay. Write a quick recap that can double as a blog post. Repurpose content until it’s been optimized for every possible medium; refining language and tone as necessary.

 Think you should only post a story or blog post once on a social media? Think again. Why put so much time and energy into something you’ll only use once? Different times of day and different audiences open the door to totally different audiences. If you originally posted a story on Facebook in the morning, share it on Twitter in the evening, or LinkedIn at lunch. Be sure to distribute each post 2-3 times within the week of original publication (depending on the subject matter) to extend the lifespan of the piece. You can even use this to cross-promote your social channels by redirecting followers to the other posts (“Love our latest blog post? Head over to our Facebook page to check out the live video.”) To get it right, make sure that posts make sense and are appropriately targeting, so as to avoid alienating your audience.

Make statistics your content superstars. Did you know that more that 80% of marketers wish they could better evergreen their content? No, this is not a verified number, but it goes to show that nothing grabs a reader’s attention like a compelling statistic. Use media intelligence and social media analytics to conduct research, then comb through your results to find the most interesting numbers. Round up findings into an infographic and then break up data tidbits into individual social media posts, such as Twitter cards, Facebook images, a Pinterest board, or Instagram posts. Use the statistics as a jumping off-point or supporting data for a case study, whitepaper, or LinkedIn post.

Sometimes stories are hidden in plain sight. What is it that makes your company tick? Does your organization have a great origin story? What is your brand mission or philosophy? Are there interesting characters or even office dogs that contribute to the overall culture of your team? Take a look at the people you see every day but through a storytelling lens. Create an online archive by interviewing seasoned employees in a podcast, video, or blog post. Encourage coworkers to share photos of past events or current key moments and leverage that user-generated content for social media.

Rollin’ with the Homies (and Trending Topics)

Always be on the lookout for topical opportunities to share content. Is it #NationalBossDay? Share that old profile of your CEO. Do you have a great infographic about how to select a Halloween costume? Be sure to schedule it around the last week of October. Although social media holidays may seem silly, they are an easy way to jog your memory and reshare content relevant to a trending conversation. Capitalize on opportunities to trendjack by monitoring hashtags and conversations important to your industry. 

So next time you think you have nothing to wear (or share), don’t pull a Cher Horwitz. Try mixing, matching, and repurposing content to outfit your communications with winning posts appropriate for every—and any–occasion.

But I Have Nothing to Share: The Clueless Marketer’s Guide to Repurposing Content

Each day brands and consumers alike leave a trail of digital breadcrumbs. When traced and analysed, this litter of online activity can be used to provide organisations with business-critical information on their audience, competition, industry trends, risks and more.

Did you know that 90% of the world’s internet data was generated in the last two years alone? This equates to 2.5 quintillion bytes of data created on a daily basis. That’s billions of individual data-points containing infinite amounts of business-critical information that can be used to inform corporate decision making.

Although we’ve seen an increase in executives leveraging alternative data (data found from outside of their company’s walls), we’re still seeing many making business decisions solely based on internal data. Even more worryingly, a study by Gartner found that 95% of leaders continue to make business decisions using intuition and significantly underestimate risks as a result.

Internal data, such as sales volumes, financial numbers, CRM data etc. is, and will remain, important. There are a bunch of companies out there, such as Salesforce and Oracle, doing a fantastic job in the business intelligence space, however, internal data looks at the past. The caveat is that it’s a lagging indicator. You wouldn’t drive a car only looking in your rearview mirror. The same should go for steering your business. You need to look ahead to spot hazards and stay abreast of the competition. Alternative data, give businesses the information advantage they need to do just that.

Mining and blending both internal and external insights helps you to stay fully informed and gain a 360 view of your company. Only then can you sleep well at night knowing you’re making decisions utilising the most complete set of data available.

During this article, I’ll walk you through the types of alternative data sources that can be tracked, as well as a handful of signals that can indicate the route to take when it comes to strategic decision making.

A treasure trove of valuable alternative data sources

Publicly available internet sources are a treasure trove for executives. When analysed, they offer insights into your ecosystem and surface threats/ opportunities in tandem. Being able to assess your company against the backdrop of the wider industry and understand the context of the landscape you’re operating in is critical for success. Here are a few examples of external data sources often monitored by the c-suite for that purpose:

Predictive insights lead to proactive business decision making

The remarkable evolution of big data technologies has led to an increase in companies creating data-driven business workflow processes, however, many execs are struggling to make sense of big data. Let’s admit, we’re drowning in it – and some companies are finding it difficult to stay afloat altogether. The truth is, executives need insights as well as data.

Advanced technology such as machine learning, natural language processing and AI are increasingly used in enterprise solutions for the purpose of making sense of big data. By converting unstructured sources into structured ones that enable Search, Alerting and Analytical capabilities, businesses are better able to harness the alternative data around them.

Perhaps one of the most promising areas in which AI helps us to make better business decisions is predictive insights. Using historical and real-time data, specially trained algorithms can look for patterns and signals which indicate what could happen in the future and alert you to real-time opportunities and threats as they grow.

Using external data, you can predict potential IPOs, growth patterns, investments and more. Extracting these trends can give you the edge you need to prepare for disruptions in the market, seize opportunities as they arise, and mitigate risks by solving business problems before they hit.

Systematically connecting the dots across different data sources instead of looking at them in isolation is vital. In doing so, companies can get to grips with casualties and surface insights used to benefit all functions of the company, from marketing, sales, R&D, HR and beyond.

Here are a few examples of signals that executives from various industries are using to inform critical business decision making.

As the saying goes, “no man is an island” – the same applies to businesses.

Each day your competitors leave behind plenty of online breadcrumbs that can be used to anticipate their next move and where your industry is heading. Competitive intelligence looks beyond financial data to provide you with an unbiased and comprehensive overview of your competitors’ strategies, company’s position in the market, customer perceptions, and rising trends to enable more proactive decision making.

Common ways businesses are conducting competitive intelligence include tracking conversation development around patent filings, R&D investments, hiring trends, and fluctuations in ad-spend with the aim of:

Predicting their competitor’s future focus areas

Defending market share from existing and emerging players

Evaluating the impact of current strategies vs how customers are responding to competitors’ strategies

A look at open job listings in competitor companies will show where they’re investing in terms of human resources and the new skills they are after. Significant discussions in the media or on social can indicate critical customer feedback, while financial changes indicate gaps in the market or new opportunities to take market share. Each of these factors demonstrates the wider position of the market and can help boards predict the impact of future decisions.

A search on the hiring trends of key automotive brands found AI giant, Tesla, to be at risk from competitor Volvo. The analysis showcases that Volvo is hiring x2.5 more engineers than Tesla and we see an uptick in jobs with Artificial intelligence, Machine learning & Virtual reality skills. Tesla should use such insights to defend their tech positioning.

News and social media information is a form of alternative data that’s growing in popularity among investors across the globe. Online media is filled with what the financial industry calls signals – or events which can indicate the growth trajectory (or lack of growth) for a particular company.

Below are just a few forward-looking signals used by investors to surface opportunities and discover potential threats since they offer a good indication of how a brand might perform when it reaches public markets.

Expanding on the above, employee turnover and mass layoffs are also indicative of the performance of a company. By tracking online news around mentions of mass layoffs (and the common job titles being let go), staff turnover, changes in leadership strategy, a new direction focus, poor company culture etc, as well as financial documents, investors are using insights to confidently plan where to part ways with their cash based on the general ‘health’ of the organisation.

From crowdsourced ideas to detailed consumer feedback and sentiment, insights drawn from alternative data are enabling product developers to get a much deeper understanding of their users and changing consumer behaviours.

The healthcare space is one example of a sector making positive strides in product development using external data. According to the Google Knowledge Graph, 1 in 20 Google searches are for health-related information. As long as a Google search remains more accessible than a visit to a doctor, there’s a good chance most consumers will continue to consult their search bar leading up to a conversation with a professional. If analysed in aggregate, this search data can be extremely helpful for healthcare professionals looking to better serve this population.

Search data gives us a micro glimpse into the public’s mindset, fears, concerns, curiosities and more. The use of such data points also helps to eliminate biases, so your teams can research and develop products that solve real problems. Leading pharmaceutical companies are also leveraging insights to inform the areas that stakeholders need further educating on, for example, side effects of particular vaccines.

The value of external data and predictive analytics has also increased significantly in the agricultural sector and is changing the culture of farming.

Platforms such as the CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) and the CIAT (International Center for Tropical Agriculture) are developing models to create strategic foresight scenarios which consider the impact of climate, water resources, and technology on agriculture. Farmers can use insights to make decisions, significantly reducing risk and increasing their chances of successful yield. And the industry has seen great success from doing so. In 2014, during a dry spell in Montería (Córdoba), the CIAT recommended farmers delay planting their rice crop. This advice was followed by 170 farmers. By leveraging external insights, farmers were able to mitigate risks. It’s estimated the farmers who followed advice avoided crop losses valued at over USD 3.6 million and produced a better crop yield in comparison to the neighbouring communities who went ahead with the rice farming as per usual.

By now you hopefully have a better understanding of the dynamic use cases of alternative data and the value it brings. Want to discuss leveraging this for your organisation? Fill out the form below and we’ll be in touch!

The Meltwater Blog

But I Have Nothing to Share: The Clueless Marketer’s Guide to Repurposing Content

Using Alternative Data & External Signals for Decision Making