By Maggie Markert
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, marketing is focused on selling products or services to end-users (whether those users are consumers or businesses) and helping them understand the value of those products or services. Public relations (PR), on the other hand, is described as the art of preserving a positive public image for a company, organization, or individual.
Based on these definitions, it is not surprising these entities within a company are often kept separate, as are many of their activities. However, by siloing marketing and PR, companies and organizations are missing out on opportunities to leverage both entities to their advantage.
The Messaging
Companies that are looking to integrate their marketing and PR efforts should start with their messaging – whether they be at a corporate level or a product/service level. While messaging may be conveyed differently in a marketing piece compared to a press release or pitch to the media, the overall takeaways should be the same.
When corporate or product/service messages are not aligned, it can lead to confusion and even a lack of trust. In order to avoid this, both the marketing and PR groups should host a joint session to outline and approve the messaging in all of its forms. And, this should be repeated each time the company is set to introduce new products, services, or initiatives.
The Plan
Companies should also always be on the same page regarding planning. Marketing and PR plans should be developed in conjunction with one another either annually, bi-annually, or quarterly.
Not only should these plans align when it comes to major initiatives such as product/service launch or an acquisition, but also content and social media that falls in between. The plan should lay out all initiatives, outline how they can be leveraged by both groups, and include key messages to be conveyed.
For example, if a software company is unveiling a new feature of its solution, there should be a press release and coordinated media outreach planned. These PR initiatives should align with the exact time the marketing group’s email and social media campaigns to their target audiences or current prospects and customers are deployed.
The Content
Companies often miss the mark when it comes to leveraging content across marketing and PR. This can be attributed to the fact that PR can consider some marketing pieces to be too self-serving and overly promotional for the media. In contrast, marketing may think a PR piece is not product- or service-specific enough for their target audiences.
While that may be true, it doesn’t make it impossible for any piece of marketing or PR content to be transformed into something that can be used for either purpose. Here are some examples:
- White Papers: This type of long-form content, which takes great effort to develop, typically offers guidance from a company or organization on a particular topic – whether it be in healthcare, technology, education, and more – or a product and service related to that topic. Once developed and finalized, white papers are often gated on a company’s website and used in paid social media or email campaigns to generate leads for the sales team to pursue. For PR, a white paper can serve as the foundation for a byline that showcases the company’s thought leadership on that topic.
- Data Sheets: This type of technical content can often be seen as “too in the weeds” for PR purposes as it outlines key details surrounding a specific product, service, or piece of technology and uses a lot of industry jargon. One key benefit of this type of content is that it can clearly outline key paint points and benefits in the industry that back up why the product, service, or technology is needed. These points can then be generally outlined in a thought leadership pitch to key trade media in the company’s industry or vertical.
- Bylines: This type of content is purely about thought leadership. These pieces set the stage for a company, and describe why their product, service, or idea is important without being promotional. Once this content is published by a media outlet, the piece can often be added as a news or resource item on a company’s website that includes a link back to the publication as well as a short, high-level summary of the piece and the point of view it makes. This enables the company to drive traffic to its website first before pushing the traffic to the piece. (Please note, companies should check with the publication that originally published the piece on their specific guidelines for reposting prior to adding it to the website.)
- Earned Media Coverage: PR teams work hard to garner earned (unpaid) media coverage for a company. This coverage can include executive profiles, product or service mentions, or thought leadership pieces like bylines or op-eds, and they help to build credibility by acting as third-party validation. Given this, these pieces should be repurposed for various marketing initiatives such as social media or monthly email newsletters/round-ups to prospects and customers.
The Time (Is Now)
It is never too late for a company to integrate its marketing and PR efforts. If time is taken to review current plans in both entities within the organization, there may be items that both teams can capitalize on in the interim while more in-depth planning occurs.
Contact Zer0 to 5ive to learn more about how your company can begin to align marketing and PR.
“Because you can’t eat brand equity, and can’t pay a team with it” – Laura Hanly, Digital Marketing Expert and Author, “Content That Converts: How to Create a Profitable and Predictable B2B Content Marketing Strategy”
When done correctly, content marketing can serve as a powerful arm to your overall marketing strategy – it establishes you as an authority and has the potential to increase your revenue and profit. That’s why CMOs at the largest technology companies report that building out content marketing as an organizational competency is the second most important initiative, only behind measuring ROI.
For those still wrapping their head around the concept, according to Forrester:
“Content marketing is a strategy where brands create interest, relevance, and relationships with customers by producing, curating, and sharing content that addresses specific customer needs and delivers visible value.”
The challenge is figuring out how to do it right. As author Laura Hanly explains in her book, “Content That Converts: How to Create a Profitable and Predictable B2B Content Marketing Strategy,” content is not a magic bullet.
Content marketing will not:
- Turn you into an internet celebrity (at least not overnight)
- Make you rich beyond your wildest dreams
And when done poorly, can:
- Harm your brand
- Put off potential customers
- Never pay off (resulting in wasted time and resources)
Hanly stresses the importance of having a consistent strategy for the content that you’re producing, so that your audience is engaged, comes to know and respect you as an authority, and will buy from you when the time is right (because the ultimate goal is sales, isn’t it?) Every single piece of content needs to end with a call to action that can lead to a sale.
Some questions to ask yourself and your team before committing to a content marketing strategy include:
- What is the purpose of our content marketing?
- Who are we trying to reach?
- What types of content should we produce?
- Do we have someone who can produce the content?
- Do we have good ideas about what our content would be focused on?
- Is our market segment interested in consuming that kind of content?
- How will we measure our success?
There are two main types of content you can use: recurring content, which builds a customer base gradually over time, and content assets (such as a whitepaper, a book, a webinar series or a learning workshop) that can be used as near-term client acquisition tools. Before choosing the route that’s best for your business, there are four things to ask yourself (what Hanly calls the Conversion Quadrant):
What’s the intersection between what your customers want and/or need?
Figure out what your customers really care about. What do they look to your company for insight about? How can your expertise intersect with what your customer wants and needs?
What do you want to be known as an industry authority for?
The simplest way to become an authority on something is to say the same things about that topic over and over again. Don’t just chase the latest trend – find the one thing you can focus on becoming known for that will make it easier to develop, market and sell products that your audience will buy again and again.
What is the format in which you produce your best content?
While most people think that its best to tailor your content to audience preferences, Hanly recommends choosing the format that you most enjoy working in – because if you like it, you’ll enjoy creating it, and your audience will like it too.
What’s your quarterly plan?
Mapping out your content helps you to be strategic about your production. This should include:
- A clear statement of your “one thing” your company will be an authority on
- Four themes you want to rotate through
- Three topics per theme, including key points on each
- Headlines for each topic
- Scheduled date of publication for each topic
Whichever path you decide to take with your content, if you don’t have the resources or bandwidth to do it right – if it feels like a chore every time you go to write – STOP. This will only result in an inconsistent content cycle with content that feels forced, uninspiring and unlikely to resonate with your audience.
The powerful thing about content marketing is that your assets increase in value over time. Whether it’s a blog, a book, a podcast or a whitepaper – you can always update later to improve it, modify key messages and share it with new audiences to see greater returns on early investments of your time and resources.
Remember – every piece of content you put out under your brand needs to be the best possible representation of who you are. Most prospects will have their first interaction with your brand through your content and just like in dating, you get one chance to make a good first impression.
By: Colleen Martin
The last five years have seen a marked changed in the way content is generated online. Instead of relying on a newsroom staffed with journalists, online media platforms are trading on their infinite column length of free content from outside sources. What was first a cost-cutting measure is now a potential money maker has the views generated help bolster advertising revenues at a fraction of the cost of internal writers and editors.
This change has given individuals the ability to publish their work alongside journalists with only small cues to differentiate them to the reader (e.g. Crunch Network on TechCrunch or being labeled Contributor on Forbes instead of Forbes Staff). Becoming a contributor can build personal brands for an executive, but often times the company’s presence is reduced to a line in the author bio.
In parallel, the value of the company internal blog is diminished (setting aside the SEO and long-term thought leadership benefits). There is more reach to be had in writing content for an external platform with vastly greater views and social media presence than a company blog where it can be hard to break out beyond an existing bubble.
In addition to contributing content to online publications, the rise of Medium and LinkedIn Pulse adds another channel for companies and individuals to share their story. These platforms facilitate sharing and “following,” which makes them a stronger blend of social media and publishing than other “unconnected” platforms.
In spite of these new ways to publish content and drive reach, earned media generated by public relations holds onto its value for three key reasons:
Credibility
While Americans have flagging trust in mass media, the outlets and topics relevant to B2B companies, especially in the technology space, still hold relevancy. If a journalist or blogger who is a respected subject-matter expert writes a positive piece on a company or product, it provides outside validation that cannot be matched by a self-written or self-published article.
Visibility
Visibility can be twofold when talking about media coverage. First is the impact in the search engines. According to Google, 89% of all B2B buying researchers use the internet as part of their process. Odds are, the weight assigned to a media site by Google outranks most corporate sites, so if a media article hits a powerful keyword phrase that reaches buyers, it creates a new indirect path to a company.
Second is the audience of the publication and writer in terms of daily readers and social media followers. Anecdotally, editorial pieces often receive better placement on websites and more attention on social media. This varies from site to site, but typically when time, effort and cost have been placed into a story, the media promotes it at a higher volume.
Subject Matter
Surprisingly, when comparing editorial coverage to self-generated content, companies can see more of their message come across in the pieces they don’t write. That’s because when contributing content, pieces must remain vendor-neutral, and when self-publishing on a blog or social publishing platform, it’s poor form to drop in self-serving superlatives to thought leadership content.
Yet in media coverage, when executives are interviewed for a story, their words are often printed verbatim and can be reinforced by the writer. One company’s talking points can become anchors of a trend story or industry roundup that has broader appeal than a single company profile.
Content marketing has its place in the quiver for B2B companies looking to drive leads, engage audiences and build brands. However, to truly hit the bullseye, classic PR and media relations efforts must remain a constant and core part of the communications strategy.
By: Bob Minkus