We talk a lot about content. We also do a lot of instructing on publicity. What’s really important to understand, however, is how these two branding elements work together. You can’t expect to get far with public relations without content. Conversely, content can help publicity opportunities to seemingly fall in your lap.
So let’s discuss why content is crucial to your PR plans and also how you can shape content to create a publicity magnet for your business.
Showcasing
Gone are the days when you can pitch a media outlet and be taken at face value. While a well-crafted pitch is still a good “in,” any editor/reporter/freelancer worth their salt will do some digging before they even reply to your email.
What will they find when they do?
Content… you hope! Your content is the best possible showcase for your brand. When done well, it should make it very clear who you are, what you do, and where your expertise lies. Without content to support your messaging and intent, a representative from the media is going to be hard-pressed to believe you’re worth featuring. If you can’t adequately demonstrate your own value on your own platforms, the media contact may be suspicious about how you’ll do so on theirs.
An Easier In
Sometimes you’ll find that the only way to get coverage (particularly when you are a newer business who hasn’t received much publicity before) IS BY PROVIDING FREE CONTENT!
A how-to guest post, a lesson on a podcast interview, a free ebook exclusively for the outlet’s audience, these are the ways you help yourself by helping others. Asking a media outlet to cover you is a tough sell. Offering to help the outlet by providing them content their viewers crave provides mutual benefits.
Go into PR expecting to provide content and looking for the ways you can help rather than hoping someone will pick you to be featured.
Research Bait
Sometimes, the best way to get featured in the media is by bringing them to you rather than seeking out coverage. Understand that most news outlets have story ideas and editorial calendars and interview lineups that are already shaping their content. So when you try to interject a new, unplanned topic, it’s often received like this:
“It’s a good idea, but not what we’re looking for at the moment.”
Instead of trying to jam yourself into their plans, become a beacon of knowledge that can help supplement their pre-established content direction. Do so by providing thorough coverage of niche information that could be worthy of a pull quote or a link back. Conduct a survey within your industry, interview top experts for your own content, and provide share-worthy instructions for a common issue in your niche. A reporter seeking to fill these gaps easily just might find you before you find them.
For example, perhaps the outlet you are hoping to be covered in does an annual series on “Fall Desserts.” You’d like your recipe brand to be featured in that series. So instead of pitching yourself outright to be included, you can decide to reach out to your five food blogger friends and create a video about the year’s top spices, trendy cookies, and new techniques. Then, instead of approaching a media outlet asking them to feature your Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake, you can offer your research as a means of connecting. This will not only give the media contact a roadmap for what to look for in their upcoming feature but also gives them the names of five food bloggers in the know, yourself included.
Not every attempt at PR has to be a direct pitch for coverage. You can become a resource instead. Again, adding value. It may not lead to an immediate front-page feature, but it will be something your contact remembers and builds the relationship. And worst case, all you’re left with is a great tool for your audience which is still adding to your brand.
Find the Gaps
Even the biggest media outlets have gaps in their coverage. There are so many stories to be told, but often not enough people telling them. Part of the interplay between content and PR doesn’t have anything to do with creating content, it’s about consuming it wisely.
No matter the niche you’re in, you are likely following social media accounts in your industry, reading articles covering the topics, listening to podcast interviews with experts and if you’re listening with a critical ear, you’ll start to identify what’s missing.
A huge hook for any media outlet is to find the unknown, new angle. So make sure you are looking for it.
Creation is obviously the largest piece of this puzzle, but be sure not to underestimate the value of consuming content as well.
Coverage Now Comes in Many Forms
Another important consideration to make when you’re approaching PR is that coverage is evolving all the time. What used to just be print and TV became online outlets. And now what used to be an article on a website is now a meme being shared in a big brand’s stories on Instagram or a clip from a video shown on a major YouTube channel.
Content and the means for distributing it have become so diversified, you may not know where coverage is going to come from. You just have to keep creating and doing so in the most targeted, shareable way possible. Because you may not even be actively seeking coverage when you land a big feature.
News outlets these days are looking for the big thing happening elsewhere to bring in rather than trying to create the magic themselves. They’ve learned the power of a solid personal brand that brings their audience to the media’s door rather than the other way around. Media is a business. A big one. And they want to know that what they are featuring will bring the clicks, views, likes, followers that make them money. So more and more we’re seeing the news as an aggregator rather than a creator. Focusing on making great content of your own helps you get caught in the net that is modern-day journalism’s curation model.
We don’t make many blanket statements, because every brand is different, but we feel pretty confident saying this:
There is no PR without content. And great content can help manufacture PR.