{"id":96902,"date":"2015-08-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-25T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/power-free-text\/"},"modified":"2015-08-26T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-08-25T23:00:00","slug":"power-free-text","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/power-free-text\/","title":{"rendered":"The power of free text"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"the\u201cWe want a holiday idea to go out in August!\u201d, \u201cWe\u2019d like to be considered as ownership contenders of Valentine\u2019s Day!\u201d \u201cWe want to send a home improvements idea out this Bank Holiday!\u201d Sound familiar? News tends to be on a loop. There are always new angles to take but there isn\u2019t always the opportunity to explore them. This is something that every PR professional will know.<\/p>\n

Clients can sometimes be hell-bent on a specific angle and timings but it\u2019s your job to make it new and interesting.<\/p>\n

This is where the power of \u2018free text\u2019 comes in and steals the show for you and your client. A free text question, in case you’re reading this feeling somewhat perplexed, is simply a question that doesn\u2019t have any options. It\u2019s a blank box that gives respondents the chance to tell their own story or give their own opinion rather than choose one we have given to them.<\/p>\n

In the past we\u2019ve asked respondents to tell us about the\u00a0strangest interview questions they\u2019ve faced<\/a> \u2013 the result was a page lead in the Daily Mail and\u00a0a whole host of further media coverage.<\/p>\n

Asking the panel to give you their own personal experiences can be a daunting thought to those who haven\u2019t tried it. When we suggest it to clients\u00a0we often get asked if \u201cthe story will stand up if there isn\u2019t a percentage?\u201d The answer is \u2018absolutely\u2019.<\/p>\n

While we base our stories on the results of research it\u2019s not always essential to include the stats. You\u2019re telling a story not writing a report.<\/p>\n

We love stats. We’d be lost without them, so we\u2019re not saying the free text questions are the best and only option \u2013 but they are there to make sure you\u2019ve got something personal to add to your version of the tale. Something that nobody else will have.<\/p>\n

Free text works for both serious and light stories. They can bring humour or they can add a more humbling point of view. You can really add a little extra \u2018something\u2019 with a free text answer. It could take up the majority of the copy or it can just give you an edge that backs up one of the stats you\u2019ve already mentioned.<\/p>\n

The truth is, if you\u2019re willing to sift through hundreds of stories from respondents, you\u2019re certain to be paid off with a few gems. You only really need three or four to really give you a good start.<\/p>\n

Of course you\u2019ll get several \u2018don\u2019t know\u2019 answers and the odd questionable response but you just need to persist and look out for that one story that will give you your top line.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve asked for embarrassing stories, disastrous car journeys, dangerous experiences and everything in between. Our panel never disappoints. And If worst comes to the worst and you don\u2019t get anything you can use, at least you get to sit at your desk chuckling away at the situations people get themselves in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe want a holiday idea to go out in August!\u201d, \u201cWe\u2019d like to be considered as ownership contenders of Valentine\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":38484,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[269,277,278,373],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pr-insight","category-featured","category-pr","category-research"],"yoast_head":"\nThe power of free text - 72Point.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/power-free-text\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The power of free text - 72Point.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cWe want a holiday idea to go out in August!\u201d, \u201cWe\u2019d like to be considered as ownership contenders of Valentine\u2019s […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/power-free-text\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"72Point.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-08-25T23:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"72Point\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"72Point\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/power-free-text\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/power-free-text\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"72Point\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c7be9c233047e4e4b0e1950e1612a229\"},\"headline\":\"The power of free text\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-08-25T23:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/power-free-text\/\"},\"wordCount\":522,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/power-free-text\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"articleSection\":[\"PR Insight\",\"Featured\",\"PR\",\"Research\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/power-free-text\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/power-free-text\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/power-free-text\/\",\"name\":\"The power of free text - 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