I've analysed more than 30,000 articles from national newspapers including the Mail Online, Telegraph and The Sun. The aim of this talk is to prove or disprove outreach ‘feels’ such when is the best day to launch a campaign and which sites or news sections give links.

1. MAKINGHEADLINESUSINGDATATOSUPERCHARGEOUTREACH
Making Headlines:
Using Data to
Supercharge Outreach
Shannon McGuirk

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Raise your hand...
@shannonmcguirk_

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Keep it raised if...
@shannonmcguirk_

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You have launched a campaign
in the last 12 months...
@shannonmcguirk_

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You selected the launch day partly
based on a ‘gut feel’...
@shannonmcguirk_

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You used instinct to tell you what
language to use when pitching…
@shannonmcguirk_

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Take a look...
@shannonmcguirk_

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Thank you, hands down!
@shannonmcguirk_

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@shannonmcguirk_

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We’re all using ‘gut feels’ in life and with
outreach because experience and instinct take
over
@shannonmcguirk_

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Instinct takes over because planning a launch
can be risky
@shannonmcguirk_

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We know better than most
@shannonmcguirk_

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Rolo, Head of Barketing
@shannonmcguirk_

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We’ve secured thousands of links per year on
‘gut feel’
@shannonmcguirk_

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@shannonmcguirk_

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But we could have secured more...
@shannonmcguirk_

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Sometimes we’re right
to follow gut instinct
@shannonmcguirk_

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Results
66
158Pieces of coverage
Links
@shannonmcguirk_

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When we ignore our gut instinct
we often live to regret it
@shannonmcguirk_

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@shannonmcguirk_

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@shannonmcguirk_

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There's nothing more gratifying than having a
really good feeling about a campaign, and
being proven right
@shannonmcguirk_

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@shannonmcguirk_

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What’s the issue then?
@shannonmcguirk_

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We all remember the instances when our gut
feel was right
@shannonmcguirk_

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But there are lots of instances
where we are wrong
@shannonmcguirk_

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Who’s launched a campaign you were certain
would be a success, but actually failed
miserably?
@shannonmcguirk_

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The truth:
Relying on ‘gut feel’ alone can make outreach
results inconsistent
@shannonmcguirk_

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Inconsistent results make
for difficult conversations
@shannonmcguirk_

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We’ve experienced it
@shannonmcguirk_

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@shannonmcguirk_

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We need to rely less on gut instinct and find a
way of making better informed outreach
decisions
@shannonmcguirk_

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Better informed outreach strategies will make
way for consistent results
@shannonmcguirk_

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The solution
@shannonmcguirk_

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The short term solution...
@shannonmcguirk_

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But, this will create
long term headaches
@shannonmcguirk_

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We can do better than that…
@shannonmcguirk_

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We use data and process when it comes to
campaign production
@shannonmcguirk_

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@shannonmcguirk_

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@shannonmcguirk_

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Why aren’t we using data
in a better way to inform
our outreach strategies?
@shannonmcguirk_

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Some of us are using outreach software
which harvests data
@shannonmcguirk_

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But who’s using data
collected from the sites
giving the links out?
@shannonmcguirk_

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@shannonmcguirk_

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1 scrape
6 national news sites
35,000 articles*
*Only a fraction of what they do publish
@shannonmcguirk_

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@shannonmcguirk_

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Data point Example
Site URL https://www.thesun.co.uk/
Site section https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/
Article URL
https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/9094543/british-
airways-first-business-premium-economy
External links in article 5
Journalist name ‘Joe Bloggs’
Publish date 14/05/2019
Headline ‘REVEALED…”
What to
scrape?
@shannonmcguirk_

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The result?
@shannonmcguirk_

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One giant spreadsheet
@shannonmcguirk_

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Data + ‘gut feels’ =
consistent outreach results
@shannonmcguirk_

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MAKINGHEADLINES
@shannonmcguirk_

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Launches Links Subject lines
@shannonmcguirk_

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Launches
@shannonmcguirk_

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When is the best day to launch your
campaign?
@shannonmcguirk_

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Gut feel says:
mid week
@shannonmcguirk_

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Best day
to launch –
Travel
@shannonmcguirk_

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Best day
to launch –
Automotive
@shannonmcguirk_

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Best day
to launch –
Science
@shannonmcguirk_

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Best day
to launch –
Tech
@shannonmcguirk_

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Best day
to launch –
Finance
@shannonmcguirk_

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Most prolific
writers – travel
Journalist name Journalist publication Article numbers
Tyrion Lannister House Lannister 610
Daenerys Targaryen House Targaryen 480
Arya Stark House Stark 342
Theon Greyjoy House Greyjoy 324
Cersi Lannister House Lannister 323
Jamie Lannister House Lannister 296
Tywin Lannister House Lannister 242
Joffrey Lannister House Lannister 242
Aegon Targaryen House Targaryen 232
Sansa Stark House Stark 228
Rhaeghar Targaryen House Targaryen 211
Robert Baratheon House Baratheon 208
@shannonmcguirk_

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Links
@shannonmcguirk_

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Which title links to
brands the most?
@shannonmcguirk_

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Highest number
of links per
article (avg.) News sites The average # of links per article
Daily Star 6
Mail Online 2
The Sun 2
Telegraph 2
Independent 1
Express 0
@shannonmcguirk_

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Gut feel:
The Daily Star?!
@shannonmcguirk_

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Average number
of links per
article,
per sector Industry New site
The average number of #
of links per article
Travel Telegraph 8
Tech Daily Star 7
Money Mail Online 6
Automotive Daily Star 5
@shannonmcguirk_

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Gut feel:
Where is The Sun?
@shannonmcguirk_

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Most linked to
brands - overall
Brand/URL # of Links
gosim.com 2959
instagram.com 1052
booking.com 929
moneysupermarket.com 272
amazon.co.uk 232
reddit.com 200
store.playstation.com 189
gov.uk 188
twitter.com 167
bloomberg.com 152
@shannonmcguirk_

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Most linked to
brands - travel
Brand # of Links
booking.com 1039
easyjet.com 148
Airbnb.com 138
@shannonmcguirk_

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Most linked to
brands - tech
Brand # of Links
gosim.com 2959
amazon.co.uk 425
store.playstation.com 203
@shannonmcguirk_

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Most linked to
brands -
automotive
Brand # of Links
confused.com 24
gocompare.com 22
Autocar.com 18
@shannonmcguirk_

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Most linked to
brands –
business &
finance Brand # of Links
moneysupermarket.com 272
Tesco.com 122
Energyhelpline.com 97
@shannonmcguirk_

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Why is this insightful?
@shannonmcguirk_

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We can learn from
these campaigns
@shannonmcguirk_

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This is better than
relying on gut feel
@shannonmcguirk_

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Subject lines
@shannonmcguirk_

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Travel
@shannonmcguirk_

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Finance
@shannonmcguirk_

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Tech
@shannonmcguirk_

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Automotive
@shannonmcguirk_

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We can look at individual journalists too...
@shannonmcguirk_

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Automotive
journalist
@shannonmcguirk_

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Best words to
use in subject
lines
REVEALED
BEST
NEW
DATA
STUDY
WORST
@shannonmcguirk_

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We use a lot of these, so this proved ‘gut
feel’ was right
@shannonmcguirk_

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@shannonmcguirk_

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In summary
@shannonmcguirk_

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We’ve just proven that we don't need to
rely 100% on gut feel
@shannonmcguirk_

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If you take one thing away...
@shannonmcguirk_

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Use this framework, set up
a scrape & get insights for your outreach
efforts
@shannonmcguirk_

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Data point Example
Site URL https://www.thesun.co.uk/
Site section https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/
Article URL
https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/9094543/british-
airways-first-business-premium-economy
External links in article 5
Journalist name ‘Joe Bloggs’
Publish date 14/05/2019
Headline ‘REVEALED…”
What to
scrape?
@shannonmcguirk_

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This will help you make more informed
decisions and get consistent results.
@shannonmcguirk_

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Thank you!
@shannonmcguirk_