Marketing and PR professionals know well that in order to be successful in our industry, staying updated is a non-negotiable. Whether it’s devouring industry news, taking an online course, or keeping in touch with your past and present clients, staying informed is key. I personally spend hours reading email newsletters from my favorite outlets, listening to podcasts on the subway, and scrolling on social media (It’s okay to doomscroll for four hours on TikTok if it’s for research… right?)
When my team at Quantious first started using Meltwater, we focused on how it could empower our clients. It wasn’t until months later that we realized the platform could transform how we kept up with industry trends, saving us countless hours of manual research. Enter the Quantious “Weekly Tech Roundup”—our curated compilation of the most important developments in AI, AR, VR, robotics, and more. This compilation has a vast audience, and is geared towards industry leaders in tech, current clients, and our internal team.
Let me take you through how you can use Meltwater to be the first to know about your industry’s breaking news.
Determine what you’re really looking for.
The first step is clarity: what’s your goal? Are you building an informative email newsletter, crafting a blog post on a specific topic, or staying updated on trends for your own personal education? Is this a daily digest to provide value for your clients by keeping them updated on the top news of the day, or a monthly deep dive for your team on a trending industry topic? The more specific you can be about your purpose, the more you can focus your research and define what “success” looks like for you.
For example, when creating our Weekly Tech Roundup, we focus on actionable insights, headlines that drive conversation, and key developments shaping the industry. Your needs may vary, so start by identifying the outcomes you’re after.
Develop a boolean search that works for you.
Meltwater’s boolean search functionality is your secret weapon. It allows you to filter the noise and get hyper-relevant content. Start by listing the keywords, topics, and phrases that align with your goal. For example, if you’re tracking trends in emerging technologies, your initial search might include terms like:
("artificial intelligence" OR "AI") AND ("virtual reality" OR "VR" OR "augmented reality" OR "AR")
While the above search is a great starting point, it generates over 15,000 weekly news mentions to dig through. We’re marketers–we don’t have time for that. Thanks to Meltwater’s AI Search Assistant, we were able to reduce that number and find the news we needed.
After a brief conversation with Meltwater’s AI Assistant, your search from earlier might now look like this:
(AI OR "Augmented Reality" OR "Virtual Reality" OR robotics OR "social media") AND (Google OR Microsoft OR Instagram OR OpenAI OR Anthropic) AND (sourceName:"Tech Crunch" OR sourceName:Engadget OR sourceName:"Interesting Engineering" OR sourceName:CNET)
Refine your search & add finishing touches.
Meltwater’s AI Assistant helped us to consider exactly how we can get more specific, and helped us to craft a great search. From here, there’s room to open the search up more or further restrict based on what your needs are. Consider what additions you can make based on additional:
- Specific, relevant categories or companies within your search (Rather than just looking for “AI”, we’ve listed out “OpenAI”, “Anthropic”, and should also add “ChatGPT”.)
- Ways of referring to the same thing (“Augmented reality” is also called “AR”)
- Types of outlets you trust (TechCrunch, Engadget, Fast Company, etc.)
- Unrelated words or contexts that should be excluded (Gaming, “Cyber Monday” deals on tech products, etc.)
After a few edits here and there, our final search ensures we capture content on AI and AR/VR, while excluding unrelated topics using “NOT operators”.
(AI OR "Augmented Reality" OR "Virtual Reality" OR robotics OR "social media" OR “social platform” OR “ChatGPT”) AND (Google OR Microsoft OR Instagram OR OpenAI OR Anthropic) AND (sourceName:"Tech Crunch" OR sourceName:Engadget OR sourceName:"Interesting Engineering" OR sourceName:CNET) AND NOT "gaming" OR “Cyber Monday”
Analyze the results.
Once your search is running, Meltwater will deliver articles, press releases, and reports from across the web. Further customize your search filters such as the language, source type, or location. For our tech roundup purposes, we filter out articles with a negative sentiment, instead focusing on positive news.
Don’t just skim the top mentions; dig deeper to understand the “why” behind them. When analyzing articles about AI, ask: Who are the major players? Why is this relevant to myself or my audience? How might this impact businesses in your niche? Use these insights to stay informed, and you may very well uncover patterns that inform your strategy.
Organize and share your findings.
Great insights are only valuable when shared effectively. Once you’ve selected your top results, you’re ready to write. Focus on creating content that is clear, engaging, and provides value. Whether it’s an email newsletter, a blog post, or a presentation, make sure you deliver insights that are timely, relevant, and easy to understand.
For our purposes, we pull and organize the articles we believe are the most interesting, relevant, and important to know for marketers, developers, and designers within our industry.
Meltwater’s Newsletters tool is a great way to automate this step and share the top links right away with your audience. Our audience prefers a condensed summary of the top stories without spending the time clicking through, so for our purposes, we create a Google Doc and draft a summary of each top story that’s easy to skim and hints at why it’s crucial to know.
Depending on your goal, you may want to start a document where you pull your top findings into categories (e.g., trends, major players, industry challenges). Then, draft a summary or quick highlight reel that aligns with your audience’s needs, whether they’re internal team members or external clients.
Pro tip: Include links to source articles or reports when appropriate to give your audience a way to dive deeper if they’re interested. This builds credibility and positions you as a trusted resource.
Staying updated with the latest news and trends in any industry is not a quick nor easy task, but it is a necessary one. It’s certainly an investment to take the time to perfect your boolean search on Meltwater or set up digest reports, but the payoff is worth your time. It’s time to work smarter, not harder, and give your teams room to focus on the work that matters most.
I hope this post helps you to stay on top of trends, save hours of manual work, and deliver valuable insights to your audience. Please comment with any questions or feedback, or share how you stay updated with your industry’s news!
If you’re interested in seeing the Quantious Weekly Tech Roundup in action, sign up for our mailing list or read our blog. Staying ahead of the curve has never been easier—or more fun!