When I was a wide-eyed student in journalism school, our professors would always ask us an important question when we were pitching a story: “Why does this story matter?”
It’s an astute question. Why provide information to people if said information isn’t going to matter to them? When delivering content, it has to matter to more people than just yourself.
The question has since stuck with me and essentially drives what I do today. While I am no longer pounding the pavement as a daily beat reporter, why something matters is what inspires me as an analyst, researcher, writer, and blogger. I need to know who my audience is and what affects them.
This is also why, as a market intelligence analyst, it is important to delve in beyond the keywords and Market Intelligence Maps. I enjoy taking opportunities to truly understand the companies I work with so I know what drives them, and deliver relevant content within that context. That’s where the title “analyst” comes from after all. To analyze what is out there, decide if it is important to the client, and explain why a story matters within a precise scope.
This article was originally published on ShiftCentral, now part of LAC Group.
Mario Thériault
Latest posts by Mario Thériault (see all)
- Build v. Buy - October 21, 2019
- ShiftCentral’s Mario Thériault on the evolution of CI and MI - July 11, 2019
- The history of information overload and your law firm’s market intelligence - September 20, 2018