Content Marketing and Public Relations Unite
Content marketing and PR are sometimes thought of as operating in different worlds, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Here are a few tips to get your content marketing and PR campaigns flowing cohesively.
Personas
One of the first rules in content marketing is defining your personas (an example of a real person who currently buys or may buy your product or service). In public relations, and marketing overall, defining your audiences and the media used to reach those groups is the foundation for PR success. If you are familiar with the content marketing process, once personas are identified and fleshed out, a content calendar is compiled, information is mapped out, and channels are selected to reach those personas.
Editorial calendars
In a perfect marketing world, content calendars should integrate with PR and editorial calendars. For those not familiar with editorial calendars, they are calendars pinpointing publications, social media, TV, radio, and other media you want your company to be publicized in. Timing is critical. Let’s say you own a business that’s seasonal, like an upscale landscaping/design business; you would look for press opportunities in advance of peak business times. Schedule content appropriately, so that you can be prepared when the season arrives and aren’t left scrambling at the last minute.
Content mapping
Content mapping is an idea generation technique. Start with a central concept. Then think of things that you associate with that concept and start branching off. As you go through the process, you will find that new ideas will blossom from your map. You can generate a ideas for a number of content pieces from just one initial concept.
Let’s go back to the seasonal landscaping example. Once you have the ideas ready, you can start creating and schedule to push information out to your key audiences via blogs, social media channels, etc. about when to aerate, seed or prune your garden. If you wrote a blog about your exotic tulips and when to grow them, that blog, or at least its content directed toward personas, should be pitched to the lifestyle/gardening editors in your market(s).
The PR Push
Many editors and reporters are searching for this type of qualified, pertinent content. They would much rather quote a local knowledgeable, trustworthy source versus an unknown several states away. Get your content in front of these editors and reporters using advanced PR platforms or a knowledgeable agency that can get your content noticed.
Ultimately targeting your audiences with the right content is imperative for both public relations and content marketing. Many times the messages are so similar they overlap, but overlap in a good way—consistency of your brand’s message is definitely a major point in marketing 101. So take the ideas above and bring together the content and PR worlds as you look toward getting an audience for your content.
Holly Rollins – Guest Blogger – President 10-X Group
