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Scott OlsonPresidentMindLink Marketing |
This just in: PR is changing in a big way, and that means companies better change the way they think about traditional PR services. It used to be the biggest part of your PR strategy consisted of managing your press release calendar and outreach strategy to reporters and industry analysts. For bigger news this often was accompanied by a press tour for which you would hop on a plane and make your visit to the New York-Boston-San Francisco triumvirate. You would line up a customer quote and interview, and then wait for the articles to roll in.
No longer.
The days of the press tour are all but over except for the very biggest news. Many reasons account for this, but the biggest is that print media as we know (really, knew) it is over. The holy grail of trophies for your marketing communications department -- a magazine cover -- simply doesn’t hold the sway it once did. How long has it been since you read a magazine cover to cover? Some of the largest papers are folding or canceling print versions. Media isn’t the same and, by extension, neither is PR.
What does this mean for marketing leaders trying to figure out their PR strategies? Opportunity. It helps to remember what PR was all about in the first place. PR wasn’t about magazine covers or articles; it was about reaching your ideal audience with your message and news. The opportunity to do that has never been greater than it is now.
There are three keys to reaching your audience in today’s environment: content, outreach, and influence.
1. Content: Think like your own specialized publisher. Blogs, podcast interviews, webinars, and YouTube videos are all important to producing content that will be interesting to your ideal audience. Strong, interesting content was always the key to reaching your audience. What has changed today is you don’t have to rely solely on print or other media outlets to deliver that message. Every company should be self-publishing on its own blog, conducting its own interviews, and engaging other media channels, like YouTube, as appropriate.
2. Outreach: Outreach still includes the press. When you have a press release, a great reference customer, or a new product launch, you should still engage the media and make your case. What has changed is the avenue for your content is now much broader than just the press. Start with your marketing database. How large is that database? For startups it could be in the tens of thousands; for larger companies it could be in the hundreds of thousands or millions. What would you pay to reach a media audience like this with handpicked content that highlights your values and messaging? A lot.
Your marketing database is an ideal audience for your quality content. Start with a monthly newsletter, and fill it with your interesting original content -- not marketing fluff. Highlight your top blog posts, interviews, videos, and webinars. Feature a customer story or upcoming events. You need to think like an editor, not a marketer. Essentially you are publishing your own mini e-magazine with the same goal as other publications: content that is interesting to your audience. Distribute your content through Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube, as appropriate, too.
3. Influence: Understand the key influencers in your industry and engage them. They can be analysts, press, bloggers, and end users with an active social media presence. I am following a new company, Traackr, which launched at DEMOfall09 and helps identify the key influencers for your particular industry. Once you understand who has influence in your industry, connect to them through social media. Reply to their tweets and blogs. Interview them for your own blog, if possible. Invite them to look at your latest release or blog posting.
The media industry has changed forever, and your PR strategy needs to change with it. Keep in mind the importance of your own original content, getting it to your ideal audience, and building connections to the key influencers for your industry, and you will land yourself a large helping of success.
About Scott Olson Scott Olson, a serial entrepreneur and marketing executive, is president of MindLink Marketing. He works with startups, providing strategic marketing services, social media strategy, Web content, and marketing research services.
