Member Spotlight: Q&A with Carly Owens
Posted on Jul. 23, 2024 / Member Spotlight / Subscribe 0
This month, we're honored to spotlight industry innovator and Senior External Communications Manager at CoreLogic, Carly Owens. With over a decade of experience in PR and communications, Carly has mastered the art of data-driven storytelling. This expertise has positioned her as a thought leader in PR measurement and a sought-after speaker at industry events and webinars.
Gain insights into Carly's captivating career story below, where she discusses her strategic use of AI, how she balances creativity with data, and provides advice on how to build an acclaimed speaker profile.
Q: Please share more about your professional journey.
Before joining CoreLogic, I worked at Cal Poly Pomona and then transitioned to Experian. In both roles, I focused on identifying and simplifying complex topics.
At Cal Poly Pomona, I enjoyed crafting stories from the science and engineering colleges, which were both technical and fascinating. At Experian, I learned to leverage data to tell compelling stories and became hooked.
Alongside external PR campaigns, I used data to highlight our team's contributions and demonstrate their value to the organization. The rest, as they say, is history.
Q: How have you integrated AI into your data-driven communication strategies, and what notable improvements have you observed from this integration?
In my previous role, I used AI-powered tools, which made media monitoring and measurement much simpler. The platform, Signal AI, had pre-trained topics and unlimited search capabilities. Not having to write lengthy Boolean search strings allowed me to be more strategic and actively monitor many more topics that pertained to my organization, enabling me to build reports uncovering valuable insights for our team.
In addition to the pre-trained topics, it had capabilities to identify how salient a brand was in an article, pick up on quotes and spokespeople mentioned, and so much more. The reports I generated looked like they would have taken hours to create. But it didn’t—because of AI.
This experience reinforced my view that AI isn’t going to take people’s jobs because those reports still needed a human touch. However, people who don’t know how to leverage AI may get replaced by those who do.
Q: How do you balance creativity with data-driven approaches? Can you share a project where this balance led to a compelling and successful narrative?
Funnily enough, the first example that comes to mind occurred while attending grad school at UC Irvine. I was in a marketing class, and my team was trying to demonstrate the negative impact COVID-19 was having on sit-down restaurants but had to prove it. Using UCI's amazing databases, I identified a report that quantified that impact. But just spitting numbers at people doesn't resonate with them. So, I worked with my team to translate the data into a compelling narrative, turning it into an impactful visual presentation.
This example comes to mind because it was the first time I recognized how valuable being able to tell a story with data was, even outside the realm of PR.
Q: What are the key elements of an effective external communications strategy in a large organization like CoreLogic, and how have you used storytelling to drive these strategies and achieve successful outcomes?
I think the biggest driver of success within any organization is identifying your key audience and then being able to tell a story that resonates with them. My main focus is the insurance vertical, and my team recently launched a 2024 Hurricane Risk Report. We had two goals: trade coverage that clients read to grow awareness of our tools and capabilities and top tier coverage that grows brand awareness.
We achieved this by slightly tweaking our narrative: for trades, our focus was on what the insurance impact of an active hurricane season could be. For the top tier, we focused on how this could impact consumers and what they could do to prepare. I’m fortunate to work with a team open to suggestions and feedback, enabling us to collaborate to ensure the coverage of both angles. We were successful with more than 20 articles to date––with many of them including our key messages.
Q: How do you prepare for your speaking engagements at PRSA and OCPRSA events? What strategies have you found most effective in making your presentations resonate with audiences?
I have a bit of a formula: first practice alone; practice for a trusted stakeholder and receive feedback; practice as many times as possible after incorporating said feedback.
Finding ways to make the content resonate is comparative to what we do daily as communicators: identify what the audience needs, then deliver it in a compelling way. For example, with the first webinar I did for OCPRSA, I knew people needed to understand how to demonstrate the value of PR efforts. Not only did I walk them through metrics, but I also showed tangible examples of how you could use that data to tell a story that shows value and impact.
Q: What steps did you take to build your profile as a speaker within PRSA/OCPRSA, and what advice do you have for other members aiming to establish themselves as thought leaders?
It sounds simple, but for me, the first step was being open to opportunities. My first OCPRSA webinar came about because I had been talking about measurement with someone at a holiday event. Someone else overheard and asked if I’d be willing to present on it.
Outside of OCPRSA events, I’ve done many webinars with the companies of the tools Experian was using. Receiving positive feedback increased my confidence in realizing I was becoming a thought leader, which felt foreign to me then. It encouraged me to keep seeking opportunities.
For anyone looking to grow in this area, my advice is to find their niche. My knowledge of measurement is what’s propelled my profile, a vital aspect of PR that not many people talk about. So, I’ve focused more on that to build credibility and expertise. I’d also recommend becoming more active on LinkedIn because that’s where your professional network lives.
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