Utilizing PR for Media Coverage
With a strong public relations strategy that’s built around content, companies can meet their business goals more easily.
This type of strategy gives the PR team a reason to talk about the business with journalists and media outlets and can expand the reach of the piece of content to new potential audiences through earned media coverage.
It can also be useful in increasing back linking opportunities from authoritative websites which increases SEO rankings and efforts.
Additionally, all that a business needs to use is the existing resources to get more free distribution for the content that it’s already creating to generate more media coverage, which is quite cost-effective.
Outlets
When doing research, companies should be identifying both the parameters and the topical media around the content they are planning on creating.
For example, they should look into whether an outlet tends to publish content that comes from third parties, or if every staff member has a byline for the articles they create.
If it’s the latter, the company shouldn’t expect those types of outlets to be interested in accepting or publishing the content from the business.
Additionally, by using numbers and data in the content of the business creates, they help journalists present the solution and the business a lot better than simply stating facts in wordy sentences.
For example, a company that creates video content to promote its solution can also write an article that’s going to be based on the video content.
Then, that article can be pitched to relevant industry outlets and publications that already accept content from other people or businesses.
Repurposing Content
Companies can also base their public relations strategies on repurposing content that they’re already creating, such as the weekly newsletter, or even the business podcast that the company’s hosting.
With the same research, companies can create blog posts or articles that can then be published through cross-functional collaboration with other publications.
To get ahead of other competitors, companies can also reach out to various outlets and pitch several content ideas after creating the original piece of content, such as the newsletter or podcast, and wait for a response to see which content idea the outlet will be interested in publishing for the business.
This is slightly different from the regular content or email pitches that journalists receive because they will be more inclined to see the email and open it and respond to the business if they find the topic to be of interest to the audience.
Streamlining
Businesses that use a content-based public relations strategy tend to focus on two main goals, generating more awareness for the business or its solutions, and getting more backlinks that come from websites that have high domain authorities.
To do that, companies should be pitching several different outlets with similar topics, and then customizing the copy of each pitch for the submission process.
This way, companies can streamline their PR and content creation efforts and save a lot more time.
Then, the companies can create blog posts or articles that are slightly longer than the ones they regularly create and customize every submission by choosing several sections from the base large article, to create a single article that’s going to be shorter but appropriate for every outlet that’s getting pitched.
As Co-CEO at 5W Public Relations, Dara Busch oversees 5W’s Consumer Practice, which includes Travel & Entertainment, Apparel & Accessories, Non-Profits, Home & Housewares, Health & Wellness, Mom & Baby, Beauty & Grooming, and Consumer Packaged Goods.