Put spending data into the conversations shaping COVID coverage.

Useful data needs to reach the people asking the questions.

Facteus provides consumer transaction data and spending insights. During COVID, its credit- and debit-card spending data could help explain changes in consumer behavior across categories such as restaurants and retail.

My role was to turn that relevance into social conversations: share spending content, track what analysts and journalists were discussing, and bring Facteus insights into those discussions through the company’s Twitter account, now known as X.

Listen, respond with context, and measure the reaction.

I built and expanded media lists and monitored keywords around consumer spending, restaurants, and other relevant topics. That made it easier to find timely opportunities to engage rather than simply publish a stream of standalone posts.

My May 2020 report noted that the most engaged tweets came from these topical interactions. I also recommended ways to connect daily consumer-spending charts with category-level explanations, use the FIRST Report around stimulus and recovery news, and turn webinar insights into thought-leadership content.

A strong early surge, with the full context in view.

August organic impressions were approximately 151% above April. These are account-level results alongside increased activity; they do not isolate the effect of individual tactics. Performance varied later in the year. December’s report noted the holidays and a pause in the FIRST Report, and both activity and engagement were lower.

The practical lesson: timely data and active participation can earn attention, but sustained results also depend on a steady supply of relevant content and a consistent publishing cadence.

Evidence: Facteus May and December 2020 reports, cross-checked against the June 2021 historical table. “Media engagements” in those reports is a Twitter metric, not a count of journalist interactions or press placements.