When you think of the tactics behind perfect PR campaigns, perhaps press releases and media pitches acome to mind. But in reality, content marketing and SEO have a good deal to bring to the table when it comes to PR.
What is content marketing and what does it have to do with PR? What content marketing and SEO tactics should you use in your next PR campaign? We’re going to answer these questions and more as we continue in this post.
What is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is the creation and sharing of material through the use of online platforms. This material, or content, includes blogs, ebooks, infographics, videos, newsletters, and much, much more.
Content marketing is not self-promotional. It is not about getting the word out about products or services that you offer. The very foundation of good content marketing is to be helpful. This means producing educational content that serves the needs of your audience — not your brand.
This kind of content positions you as a resource for your audience — a place for prospects to get information and help that they can’t find elsewhere. By connecting your brand to such content, you establish yourself to be discovered by the right audience. Eventually, with the right content, you win the loyalty and trust of prospects and inch them along the route to customer.
Do Content Marketing and PR Belong Together?
To this question, we reply with a resounding and unwavering YES!
Why?
To answer this question, we have to consider the history of these two strategies.
For all of its wild success, we have to remind ourselves that the term “content marketing” has been around for only about 20 years. And previously? Even before computers and the internet made content marketing a household name — with individual companies specializing in it — content marketing was a skill perfected by PR professionals.
You heard me right. It has always been part of the agenda of PR professionals to understand prospects’ needs and create content that educated them — the definition of content marketing, as we know it today. Although press releases and media relations kits are often what people associate with PR, it is just one form of content that PR pros have used.
What about now? Does content marketing make PR obsolete? Absolutely not. If anything, these two sides, when joined, create the perfect power couple. PR pros understand how to build relationships and reach out to the right people. On the flip side, content marketers are adept at telling great stories and entertaining their audience. They each bring something special and essential into your strategy.
Bottom line? Instead of separating content marketing and PR into separate camps, we need to combine them into an unbeatable force.
With that in mind, let’s look at how you can strengthen your PR strategy with content marketing and SEO.
4 Ways That Your Content Marketing and SEO Can Boost Your PR Campaigns
1. Work with Influencers and Bloggers
When creating your PR campaigns, rid yourself of the mindset that big news outlets are the only players on the field. Sure, they’re an important piece of the puzzle, but ignoring the other major players will eventually blindside you.
Reach out to bloggers and influencers, who have become major players within your industry. Oftentimes the sincerity and authenticity of such individuals wins them the trust of their audience. Using well-chosen individuals within this sphere will enhance your campaign and help you reach your target audience.
2. Combine Your Teams
The more voices you have in a crowd, the more confusion it creates. This holds equally true when it comes to content creation. If you have two camps with very loud voices saying different things, it is more likely to baffle your audience than attract them.
It is therefore vital that you combine efforts across content marketing and public relations. This includes content creation and brand messaging. By combining these two camps to create content and messaging together, you can create a more seamless content library.
This ensures that your final products present a united front that attracts your audience with one single, clear voice.
3. Incorporate SEO Whenever Possible
Many think of SEO as a strategy restricted to a website. But the more content is distributed across the internet, the more opportunities you have to solidify SEO for your brand.
For instance, the modern press release is often published in multiple places throughout the internet. Even though it won’t have follow links, it will still succeed in ginning up your search engine visibility. Even though the press release is the industry’s punching bag, it still works. The same goes for other aspects of your PR campaign, such as your social media campaigns, paid ads, and content that is to be published on other platforms. Published content on highly respected websites with follow links will give your SEO an edge and boost your site traffic.
In the earlier stages of your campaign, plan out what keywords will most benefit your PR strategy. Sprinkle these keywords in throughout your campaign to given it a further boost.
4. Use Multiple Strategies to Amplify Content
Amplifying content is another area in which public relations and content marketing do better together. While PR pros tend to use paid and earned content to reach their audience, content marketers are more adept at owned and shared content. But there is a lot more that can be gained if these two sides work together.
If you want your PR campaign to attain its maximum reach, your strategy needs to take advantage of the full PESO model. This includes paid, earned, shared, and owned content. This can most effectively be accomplished if your public relations and content marketing teams work as one.
In review…
Content marketing and SEO are both powerful tools to use alongside your PR strategy. Take full advantage of these strategies by combining them into one, solid strategy.
