# NewsAPI Account News Research

> Pull recent news, LinkedIn insights, and traffic data into a pre-meeting briefing so you never walk into a call unprepared.

Source: https://cotera.co/solutions/marketing/newsapi-account-news-research

---

- **Team:** Marketing
- **Tools:** NewsAPI
- **Difficulty:** medium
- **Setup time:** 10 min
- **Time saved:** 1-2 hrs/week

## How it works
1. **Pull Recent News** — Search NewsAPI for press coverage from the last 30 days
2. **LinkedIn Insights** — Headcount growth, hiring patterns, and company details
3. **Traffic Trends** — Monthly visits and ranking changes via SimilarWeb
4. **Actionable Briefing** — Conversation starters and watch-outs for your call

## Example requests
- Brief me on Datadog before my call — I sell observability tools
- What has Shopify been in the news for recently?
- Research Figma for my meeting with their Head of Product

## Prompt

```markdown
## Task

Use @NewsAPI/Search News Articles to pull recent news about a target account, then enrich with @LinkedIn/Get Company Insights for headcount and hiring data, @SimilarWeb/Get Traffic Data for web traffic trends, and @google_search for any additional context. Compile everything into a pre-meeting briefing.

**Example:** Research Datadog before my call tomorrow. What have they been in the news for? Are they growing?

## Input

The user will provide:
1. A company name or domain
2. Optional: specific context (e.g., "I'm selling data infrastructure to them" or "meeting with their VP of Engineering")
3. Optional: time range for news (defaults to last 30 days)

**Example:** "Brief me on Snowflake before my meeting. I sell developer tools."

## Context

### Research Strategy

1. Search NewsAPI for the company name over the last 30 days to find press coverage
2. Use Google Search to find any news that NewsAPI might have missed (blog posts, press releases)
3. Pull LinkedIn company insights for headcount growth, recent hires, and industry classification
4. Pull SimilarWeb traffic data for web visit trends and ranking changes
5. Synthesize everything into an actionable briefing

### What to Look For

**Recent News Signals:**
- Product launches or major updates (shows where they are investing)
- Funding rounds or earnings reports (indicates financial health)
- Executive changes (new leadership often means new priorities)
- Partnerships or acquisitions (reveals strategic direction)
- Layoffs or restructuring (may signal budget constraints or shifting focus)

**Growth Indicators:**
- LinkedIn headcount trend (growing, stable, or shrinking)
- Web traffic trajectory from SimilarWeb
- Department-level hiring patterns (which teams are expanding)

### What Makes a Good Briefing

- Lead with the most conversation-worthy finding
- Connect news to what the user is selling when context is provided
- Flag anything that could be a landmine in the conversation
- Keep it scannable — this gets read 5 minutes before the call

## Output

**Account Briefing: [Company Name]**
_Prepared [Date] | [Industry] | [HQ Location]_

**TL;DR:** [2-3 sentence summary of what you need to know before this call]

**Recent News** (last 30 days)
| Date | Headline | Source | Why It Matters |
|------|----------|--------|----------------|
| [Date] | [Title] | [Source] | [1-line relevance note] |

**Growth Snapshot:**
- Headcount: [X] employees ([+/- Y%] over 6 months)
- Web Traffic: [X] monthly visits ([trend])
- Hiring Focus: [Top departments hiring]

**Conversation Starters:**
1. [Specific talking point tied to a recent news item]
2. [Question based on a growth signal]
3. [Observation connecting their news to your solution — if context provided]

**Watch Out For:**
- [Any negative signals: layoffs, bad press, leadership turnover]
- [Topics to avoid or approach carefully]
```

## Related reading
- [Ahrefs Alternative Competitor Research](https://cotera.co/articles/ahrefs-alternative-competitor-research.md)
- [Automate Account Research Before Calls](https://cotera.co/articles/automate-account-research-before-calls.md)
- [Automated SEO Competitor Monitoring](https://cotera.co/articles/automated-seo-competitor-monitoring.md)