I just came across an intriguing proverb:
“„When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion.
When it comes down to it, there's a lot to be said about the collaboration. But what about two teams that appear to be diametrically opposed, such as B2B PRand content marketing?
A number of strong ideas on public relations and contentmarketing have recently circulated. Some argue that public relations and content marketing are distinct techniques that do not blend effectively. These folks believe that you should focus on either public relations or content marketing, but not both.
Does this logic hold up under scrutiny? No.
Let's take a deeper look at PR and content marketing and see how they fit into your entire B2B strategy.
What Is Public Relations?
According to the Public Relations Society of America, “At its core, public relations is about influencing, engaging, and building relationships with key stakeholders across a myriad of platforms in order to shape and frame the public perception of an organization. ”
Public relations specialists play a variety of responsibilities, including
- Crisis communications
- Reputation management
- Media relations
- Corporate communications
- Social media
- Writing speeches
- Events
- Product launches
As new technology and trends arise, public relations adapt to meet the needs of the times. In recent years, public relations practitioners have been forced to respond to the rise of false news, artificial intelligence, and digital storytelling.
And we can see how public relations has managed these shifts with elegance, to the advantage of everyone concerned.
Now that we've established what public relations are, let's move on to content marketing.
What Is Content Marketing?
According to the Content Marketing Institute, information marketing is
“„a strategic marketing approach centered on generating and delivering valuable, relevant, and consistent content in order to attract and keep a clearly defined audience.
Content marketing is distinct from other types of marketing. While traditional marketing relies on self-promotion, content marketing avoids it. In essence, content marketing meets the audience's requirements.
The objective of content production is to establish a brand's knowledge and reputation in order to nurture prospects and eventually convert them.
This might be accomplished through blog articles that address important questions or eBooks that dive into more in-depth industry trends and challenges. Later-stage material, like case studiesand webinars, may be included as prospects travel down your funnel.
Content creationencompasses a wide range of media, including:
- White papers
- eBooks
- Checklists
- Case studies
- Testimonials
- Blog posts
- Infographics
- Images
- Videos
- Slideshare
- Podcasts
- Webinars
To reach a certain audience, content marketing employs a variety of techniques. To promote and amplify content, these might include social media, SEO, and sponsored media.
The sort of material you generate is determined by your objectives. For example, if thought leadershipis your goal, you should develop in-depth material (such as ebooks, films, and white papers) that highlights your industry experience and knowledge. If you want to create leads, you should consider webinars, demos, case studies, and other later-stage material.
How PR And Content Marketing Are More Similar Than You Think?
Both of these B2B tactics are concerned with shaping brand perception. This involves producing:
- Awareness
- Credibility
- Thought leadership
PR best practices have always included some form of content marketing – they may not have had the fancy word for it that we have now, but it was still content marketing.
It might have included, for example, writing an op-ed on behalf of a client and sending copies to prospects.
To emphasize the importance of content marketing in public relations, the national PR group PRSA puts “Overseeing the creation of content to drive customer engagement and generate leads” on its list of PR functions.
Previously, PR was frequently restricted to earned media; however, it now frequently incorporates earned, owned, paid, and shared media as part of its strategy. This helps to link PR and content marketing so that they may collaborate closely in generating and distributing these various forms of content.
Let's take a look at owned media for a bit. This includes any media that you possess and will always be considered an asset. Consider your website's blog or the eBooks you publish. Normally, this would be referred to as content marketing.
However, owned contentis a crucial component of public relations, as you can utilize it to highlight news mentions and improve your brand image.
Another example is thought leadership, which refers to the concept of being the go-to authority and trusted source for people in your field.
This status is achieved through the development of in-depth content, speaking engagements, and the way you position yourself on social media - all of which blurs the borders between public relations and content marketing.
As public relations and marketing merge, public relations increasingly assumes the function of content marketing, including SEO, sponsored media amplification, and, in certain circumstances, lead nurturing.
All of this highlights the symbiotic link that exists between public relations and content marketing. In the end, each one aids the other. How does that sound? Let's look at six major ways in which these two techniques complement and benefit one another.
Why PR Professionals Need to Invest in Content Marketing
Why PR And Content Marketing Are A Powerful Combination?
For material to make the greatest potential impact, it must be supported by a powerful public relations effort. On the other side, the public relations industry is adopting content marketing as one of its strategies. Great contentrequires delivering compelling tales, and PR professionals who neglect this reality will perform poorly for their customers.
So, what is the benefit of combining PR with content marketing?
Reaching out to the appropriate individuals is the most important aspect of public relations. Public relations professionals cultivate and maintain connections with editors, journalists, and influencers.
Content marketing is all about grabbing people's attention by creating amazing stories. When you develop content that is useful or entertaining to your audience, it is shared and can even become viral.
When you combine public relations with content marketing, you're placing ready-made tales in the hands of editors, journalists, and influencers. They can provide your content with the strong push it requires to go viral.
Furthermore, the more high-quality material you provide, the simpler it will be to get the attention of editors. They may have seen your article before you contacted them.
According to Siân Gaskell, a public relations expert, PR companies are now the “custodians of content” for the brands they represent. It has always been their responsibility to tell interesting stories.
They are the original growth hackers, discovering shortcuts to becoming noticed. Content marketing just requires them to be even better at their professions
How Content Marketing Impacts PR
Why Content Marketing Needs PR (And Vice Versa)?
What is the value of public relations if we are all content providers these days? In reality, the fact that we are all content providers makes public relations more crucial than ever.
Consider it this way. Making your brand visible is the goal of good marketing, whether it's content marketing or public relations. It all comes down to getting your brand in front of the appropriate individuals.
People, on a basic level, have not changed, despite the fact that the means we communicate have evolved. We still only have 24 hours in a day and a limited quantity of attention. (Perhaps we have less attention to provide when our attention spans shorten.)
With so much material being generated online, it's becoming increasingly difficult to stand noticed. That is why, in order to succeed, content marketing needs the support of public relations. Because your material will be ineffective unless it is viewed by potential consumers. It's unnoticeable, and you may as well not have made it.
You can look at it this way. Prior to the internet, getting national news coverage was always preferable to a two-line item in the back pages of a local newspaper. The same distinction may be seen online.
So, how can you stand out?
Material marketing is the way to go, but only if the content is visible. Your work must be published on a big blog or linked to other influencers in order to be seen. That is why content marketing needs public relations.
Mint rose to prominence as one of the most popular personal finance applications by establishing an excellent blog with regularly excellent content.
This material aided them in becoming the number one personal finance blog. However, they need media publicity in order for their material to receive the attention it deserved.
Because PR and content marketing have the same goal, there is a lot to be gained by combining the two. Here are some of the reasons why any public relations agency should combine PR and content marketing tactics.
Offers Consolidated Platform For Sharing Ideas
It is your job, whether you are a content marketer or a public relations expert, to stay up to date on the newest advancements and trends in a variety of sectors.
When you integrate public relations (PR) with content marketing strategy, you get a centralized platform for your content marketing and PR teams to share ideas.
The insights provided by the PR team can assist the content marketing team in creating material that is relevant to current market trends.
On the other side, the innovative ideas generated by content marketers will assist your PR team in determining what sort of material your target audience likes to read.
Facilitates Content Outreach
With about 2.5 exabytes of data created every day, standing out in the digital arena is becoming increasingly difficult. Even the most beautifully prepared material will be useless if it does not reach your potential consumers in a timely manner.
This is where public relations comes in. When you mix public relations with your content marketing plan, it becomes much simpler to have your material published on a respectable website or blog.
This combination can also help you reach a larger, more diverse audience. It also allows you to deliver a consistent brand message across different digital platforms, such as online newspapers and social media outlets.
Build Trust And Relationships
Building a mutually beneficial connection with top influencers, journalists, and editors is one of the most difficult problems in public relations, as every PR practitioner worth their salt knows.
By integrating public relations with content marketing, you can routinely put more effective and ready-made material in the hands of influencers and journalists.
They are more likely to connect with you if you share well-written material with them. At the end of the day, this translates to success in developing a mutually beneficial relationship and trust with them.
Improves Your SEO Efforts
Because press releases are frequently disseminated widely on the Internet, they may be an effective search engine optimizationtechnique.
Most PR professionals, however, fail to leverage press releases to enhance SEOefforts owing to a lack of SEO expertise. You may, however, optimize your press releases using built-in keywords when paired with content marketing.
You will be able to write press releases that have quality inbound links, which will enhance traffic to your website. This might be the game-changer in your traditional content marketing approach.
How To Combine Content Marketing With PR?
Public relations (PR) and content marketing may create outstanding outcomes when used in combination. The integration of these two channels will vary based on the structure of your organization and the resources available. Here are some pointers to get you started.
Identify Each Team Member’s Strengths
Though public relations (PR) and content marketing have similar aims, they approach them in different ways. That is why you must assess the strengths of each team at your disposal.
It's likely that PR specialists don't understand SEO, and the content marketing staff doesn't understand PR. So, the first step is to determine each team member's knowledge as well as their work duties.
Content marketing professionals, for example, typically focus on solving problems that your target audience is experiencing and connecting them to a related product or service.
However, this is not a part of a PR counterpart's work, but he or she understands how tocontact the proper individuals. The bottom line is that if they continue to work in silos, they will be unable to use one other's talents.
Plan Campaign Themes Together
When more than two teams collaborate, team members are more likely to generate numerous themes and story concepts. As a result, both the content marketing and public relations teams must collaborate to create campaign topics.
Planning as a group will guarantee that your firm does not promote two separate items at the same time. Both teams must also prepare how they will distribute duties to various team members, since distributing responsibilities based on team member job profiles will only benefit your campaign.
This strategy will also assist you in developing common editorial and promotion calendars based on your company's objectives and seasonal needs.
Combine Content Creation Efforts
PR specialists and content marketers both produce high-quality material on a regular basis, but for very different target audiences. You will achieve greater outcomes if you invite each team member to contribute to content production.
Your team members will be able to pull material that may be reused to make your media outreach more clear and succinct as a result of these integrated content development efforts.
This will also allow you to execute a successful brand awareness campaign without the need for additional resources.
Communication Is The Key
In the end, it all comes down to how well both sides interact with one another. It's easy to lose sight of the process when numerous teams are working on different marketing initiatives.
To prevent wasting resources and time, you must ensure that each team member is up to date on the newest advancements.
Meetings with your team members on a monthly or biweekly basis may be necessary since there is no alternative for face-to-face communication. This is most likely the greatest approach to keep each other informed.
How Important Is Content Marketing In B2B Marketing?
Content marketing improves your capacity to communicate with a wide range of buyers. eBooks and white papers (50 percent), case studies (47 percent), and social media posts (excluding videos) are the most successful forms of content used by B2B marketers for content marketing (41 percent ).
Why Is It Important To Collaborate With Marketing And PR On Content Campaigns?
By integrating public relations with content marketing, you can routinely put more effective and ready-made material in the hands of influencers and journalists. They are more likely to connect with you if you share well-written material with them.
Why Does Content Matter In B2B?
The primary aims that B2B marketers may expect to achieve with content are as follows:
- Raise brand recognition;
- Educate audiences;
- Establish credibility/trust; and;
- Generate demand/leads.
Nothing creates brand confidence like high-quality, useful content.