Survey Says

How to Turn Market Data into Market Power

If your company is struggling to generate consistent media attention or establish real authority in your market, this conversation will change how you think about research and data. Sterling makes a compelling case for why proprietary surveys are one of the most underused and highest-return tools in a communications arsenal — not just for getting press, but for fueling sales conversations, keynote pitches, podcast bookings, social content, and AI search visibility all at once. We walk through how to build a survey that actually produces newsworthy headlines, why getting buy-in from sales, product, and the C-suite before you write a single question is non-negotiable, and why running a similar survey year over year is where the real authority-building magic happens. We also get into the practical stuff — how many respondents you actually need, how to structure questions for maximum PR value, how to protect against AI-generated responses polluting your data, and why this doesn’t have to cost a fortune to be effective.

Have you inherited a survey with nothing to pitch, or wonder how to create media opportunities when you have no product news? We’re here for you.