PR Experts: 3 Tips to Create More Effective Content for Social Media Marketing

As a PR Expert, you know the challenge you face to engage markets that are on many different social sites. According to research in the US, around 80% of the population have at least one social network profile. Coming up with quality content in social media that will attract more followers and interact with customers. As a graduate student at Northwestern University studying Integrated Marketing Communications, I have found two great articles below highlighting the importance of content marketing in PR world.

“3 trends PR pros should embrace in 2017” by Christopher Penn for Shift Communications

Christopher in his article shows three mega-trends that will influence on PR industry this year. He mentioned that more content created than ever before. They found 72 million news online stories written in 2016 and is expected to continue expanding in the coming year. Besides, Christopher also highlighted that influencer marketing is quickly becoming one of the most important online marketing channels. Today influencer marketing is on the huge rise and tends to listen and build a strong relationship with consumers. Certainly, companies really need content marketing, and PR can help create a great content marketing strategy and build trust and credibility.

 

Source: SEO Content Specialists

“PR Content Strategy: Let’s Talk Shop!” by Gini Dietrich for Spin Sucks

The second article explains the applicability of content marketing in public relations. Unlike the company messaging or traditional advertising, Gini thinks the strong content marketing can build brand awareness, loyalty, and trust. In addition, she also emphasized how to identify content that will resonate with audiences and drive engagement. To sum up, PR content strategy can deeply understand brands’ ideal customers and drive company growth.

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Based on the sights in these two articles and my studies at Medill, I listed three key learnings from PR contents strategy that can help PR pros to be successful in social media marketing world:

l   Make It Easy to Share - Influencer marketing taps into the power of writers who are well-known by brand’s audiences and uses their influence to spread the article. Adding social sharing buttons and making it far easier for influencer or audiences to share content.

l   Use the Storytelling to Connection - Great stories attract attention. We always say people forget facts, but they never forget a great story. Telling story can be a fantastic way to have a deeper and more meaningful social media conversation and successfully connect with brands’ target audiences.

l   Embrace PESO Model - We have the content and we can use shared media to spread it, paid media to extend it, and earned media to hand-stamp it. Overall, PESO model is a great tool to help PR pros to find the success they can build on. 

Next time you developing a PR piece, remember these three action items to create successful social media content.

I-Chuan Hsu currently is a Master of Science Candidate in Integrated Marketing Communications program at Medill-Northwestern University, as well as a marketer experienced in Los Angeles for 2 years. She is graduating in December 2017 and is interested in data analytics and International Marketing. Feel free to connect with her at @florina_hsu or LinkedIn here.

PR Professionals: 3 Tips for Balancing Free Speech in Diverse Markets

As a corporate communications professional, you’ve likely faced a client or executive who is eager to lead his or her company towards a social cause. I’m a senior at the Northwestern School of Journalism studying Integrated Marketing Communications and an incoming PR professional. Through my research into this relevant topic, I’ve found two articles pertaining to the issue of corporate social activism

PR Week's Lindsay Stein uses the religious freedom bills in Indiana and Arkansas, which “could have paved the way for businesses to legally refuse services to members of the LGBT community” to discuss the issue of CEO’s taking public stand on social issues. Her article discusses the multiple C-suite executives who released public statements on the issue and even changed corporate practices in response to the legislation. The article concludes that “There is a big potential upside in the greater loyalty and stronger relationships with consumers that can result if it is done right” as consumers crave transparency and engagement from brands.

WalMart CEO Doug McMillon speaks out on religious freedom bills in Arkansas. 

Edelman CEO Richard Edelman blogs about the issue also using the Indiana and Arkansas bills as an example. He takes a more editorial approach, and explores both sides of the issue. Edelman discusses the changes in trust in brands and the changes in the consumer landscape regarding their expectations of corporations. Ultimately, he says, “CEOs considering whether or not to take a public stand should have as a governing factor whether their companies have a natural connection to the issue or comparative advantage because of expertise.” He concludes that when it comes to issues of broad human rights, however, all companies have that connection.

Use this sentence to establish your expertise.  Based on my review of these two articles and my studies in communications, here are three things to consider in order to determine whether a social cause is worth your client or company's while:

• Think Targets—Focus specifically on your consumers’ connection to the social issue with which your group wants to engage.

• Know Your Values—Ensure that the issue at hand relates specifically to your brand’s mission.

• Weigh the Impact—Determine whether taking a stance will result in more positive change than potential fallout.

It is important for corporations to engage with their consumers by publicizing their values, but the decision to do so cannot be made lightly. Ultimately, taking a stand should be based on the positive impact that it can make--if your efforts are lost on your company's audience, they'll be lost on the cause as well.

I am Lily Cohen, a senior at the Northwestern School of Journalism at Northwestern University, with a concentration in Integrated Marketing Communications. I have extensive internship experience in public relations and marketing, and am an incoming Enrichment Program Associate at Edelman’s Chicago headquarters. 

Feel free to contact me and/or connect via Linkedin or Twitter.