The Topic: This workshop flips the script on social listening. Instead of using data solely to monitor the conversation, we will explore how to use it to manufacture the conversation.
This session covers the "Identify-Verify-Amplify" framework:
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Identify: Using Meltwater to spot "white space" in trending industry topics where media narratives are stagnant or missing.
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Verify: Creating proprietary data (surveys, internal user data) specifically designed to generate headlines that fill that white space.
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Amplify: Packaging that proprietary data into press releases and pitches that journalists crave because the story is already backed by numbers.
Why this matters & Key Takeaways: In a crowded media landscape, opinions get ignored, but data gets published. Attendees will walk away with a replicable blueprint for turning intangible trends into hard news stories. They will learn how to stop guessing what journalists want to write about and start engineering stories that are pre-validated by search and social volume.
About Me: I am Tyler McDonald, Head of Brand at the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). My expertise lies at the intersection of market research and brand strategy, where I use data not just to measure performance, but to dictate PR and brand strategy.
I am the right person to lead this workshop because I actively use Meltwater to engineer media coverage, a process I have successfully replicated across multiple campaigns:
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The GLP-1 Narrative: I used social listening to analyze the exploding conversation around weight-loss drugs, identified a specific gap regarding fitness guidance, and crafted a data-backed pitch that resulted in 7 feature stories including Athletech News, Box Life, and Sweaty Business.
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The Trends Survey: I leveraged listening data to identify rising consumer interests, which informed the questions for our proprietary trends survey. This strategic alignment led to high-tier coverage, including a recent feature in Men's Journal.
I want to help attendees how to move beyond "guessing" what reporters want and start using data to hand-deliver the headlines they are already looking for.