How an Economic Forecasting Firm Increased its Share of Voice by 78% in Top-Tier Media
Client Description
ITR Economics is a small- to mid-sized economic forecasting firm with a decades-long history of accurately predicting market trends and helping businesses prepare for the swings. Proprietary forecast models and a data-driven approach have yielded an impressive 94.7% forecast accuracy rating at four quarters out, while an experienced team of economists work directly with their clients to identify risks, benchmark successes, and plan for the future.
The Challenge: Generating Excess Share of Voice to Grow Share of Market
ITR’s prestigious track record and first-class offering was not reflected by their share of voice (SOV) prior to engaging Razor Sharp PR. ITR saw virtually no coverage in the tier-one media outlets—such as Bloomberg and CNBC—that occasionally featured its competitors. With outstanding value and no voice to share it with, ITR recognized that a lack of coverage was limiting their share of market (SOM).
Since ITR had a roughly 15% SOM relative to its three biggest competitors, driving growth from media exposure would require an SOV which at least exceeded that number. This is much easier said than done; top-tier financial media—and television in particular—tends to feature an established group of chief economists from major Wall Street firms. Razor Sharp PR would need to equip and introduce economists like Lauren Saidel-Baker with little-to-no prior media experience into financial media’s most exclusive circles.
Our Solution: Topical Mapping and Proactive Pitching
Two things are indispensable for effective thought-leadership: relevant expertise and timeliness. Razor Sharp PR had to ensure that the ITR economists could share their insights at precisely the right time, every time.
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We began by mapping out the unique areas in which each economist was most knowledgeable so that we knew who could comment on what at a moment’s notice. We then monitored the news day in and day out to identify opportunities for interviews and quotes, matching trends and events to the right economist for the job.
Reactively pitching the economists would not be sufficient, however. We worked closely with ITR to prepare both forward-looking and retrospective quotes on each notable market shift, then compiled a detailed economic calendar so that we could pitch these quotes and offer interviews ahead of key economic data releases. By the time the news broke, insights from an ITR economist was already top-of-inbox.
Outcome
As always, relevant and timely pitching paid off. ITR economists were being cited in high-level outlets like Forbes, CNN, Bloomberg BNN, MarketWatch, and the Epoch Times before long. The freshly media-trained economists began climbing the ranks of financial TV in the meantime, with economist Lauren Saidel-Baker showing particular promise despite her very limited experience. Razor Sharp PR recognized this momentum and began working to capitalize on her talent. After just a few months, Saidel-Baker had appeared on both Bloomberg TV, Schwab TV, and Reuters TV—with her calendar becoming fuller by the week.
After one year of working with Razor Sharp PR, ITR Economics had placements and interviews across the most prestigious outlets in financial media, from CNN Business and Yahoo! Finance to CNBC and Bloomberg TV. Its SOV in tier-one media had risen from 0% to no less than 78% year-on-year, leaving it with a 63% excess share of voice (ESOV) relative to its 15% market share. In total, ITR reached an estimated 148 million viewers through 374 pieces of coverage in 2024.
When ITR was acquired by Crowe LLP—a major accounting firm with an in-house PR team—at the end of the year, Crowe was so pleased with these results that they retained Razor Sharp PR to continue sharing ITR’s value with the world, one pitch at a time.