The Dynamic Duo: PR & Content Marketing
PR and content marketing have always been described as two sides of the same coin and this is completely true in every sense of it. Both PR and content marketing share the same common goal which as we know is to create an interesting message to related to the brand with the use of several integral techniques that involves generation, creation, amplification, as well as evaluation. All of these combined together then provides a rounded and effective brand awareness and campaign strategy.
While PR’s strength lies in the ability to directly promote the company along with its culture and services, using the media as a tool, content marketing is geared towards driving organic traffic through a series of events that include targeting the consumer’s needs, answering their questions, and ultimately getting their interest and attention.
Both of these marketing strategies function fundamentally as a foundational approach to communication and also as effective tools for brand positioning. Rather than continue looking for the magic formula or a single effective approach to raising brand awareness, businesses can combine the duo of content marketing and PR to effectively launch a successful campaign to achieve the ultimate goal.
Sharing of ideas between both teams
A combination of PR and content marketing strategies facilitates the sharing of ideas between both teams. PR professionals are able to identify trends across different industries and as a result, can team up with the content marketing team to identify new ideas on content marketing. It is a win-win situation for the firm as the content marketing team too can update the PR with insights into specific niche markets or customer trends.
Consistency of brand message
Another reason why PR and content marketing should not be separated is the need for brand message consistency. This helps to align all branded communications to reinforce company values and ethos, as well as brand identity and personality. This helps both teams develop a cohesion and synergy in their editorials while also enhancing the unity of the themes of blogs and topics on social media. This way, it is easier to define and shape all contents towards achieving the common branding and marketing goals without distortion.
Amplification of content
While the content marketing team can focus on creating articles and webinars to project the brand identity, PR comes in to function in the form of a vehicle that propagates the content as they are able to reach influencers in various industries. This combination then means the content and brand can reach as much as many people within the target audience in an effective and influential manner.
Search Engine Optimization
Among the benefits of combining the PR and content marketing team is the added impact on SEO. Content marketing would usually involve the incorporating specific keywords into editorials to further boost site visibility on search engines. Since press releases are also widely reported on the web, this also presents an opportunity to incorporate some SEO strategies too. Combination of PR and content marketing would as well mean press releases are optimized and the PR team can also be constantly reminded of the importance of links and backlinks to the company’s website. This is another plus for search engine optimization.
For startups and entrepreneurs, bringing PR your content marketing strategy and vice versa will help you create the media buzz you need. Brand awareness and PR campaign can be launched with greater strength and the results would definitely go a long way to get you the needed attention for the growth and success of your business.
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