How to turn data thought leadership into a growth channel, according to Semrush’s marketing lead

For years, we ran data studies at Semrush the way most similar companies did: whenever someone had a good idea and whenever there was time to spare. Mostly, though, our efforts were limited to one or two major reports a year.

Then two things happened at once:

• AI started dominating organic search — and our own market got a lot more crowded and a lot less predictable.
• Organic traffic stopped being something you could plan a quarter around.

We needed a way to drive attention, attract traffic and citations, and stay top of mind.