Traditional PR and Digital Marketing, How to Get the Best of Both Worlds
What marketing means and what marketers are always changing. When social media entered the scene, we all knew that the landscape will never be the same. The same thing happened when the Internet became accessible to regular people and became so popular.
PR has been around for quite some time now. It has been used by companies to generate additional coverage. Traditional PR has been there practically since people started to read newspapers. And is there something we might learn from it and apply it in our digital marketing today, in 2020?
You might be surprised to find out that probably you are using some tactics from traditional PR. For example, a big part of SEO optimization is building links. How do we do that? We are usually sending out outreach emails. And this is very close to the tactics that traditional PR specialist would use.
One of the main objectives of PR is to grow the awareness around the brand by telling stories. In digital marketing promotion we do almost the same thing, but we are using other channels like blogs or social media. You can benefit a lot from learning from traditional PR and implement some of its principles to market your business.
Here are some examples of how you can marry these two worlds together:
Look at social media creators as your journalists
It is very common in PR to reach out to journalists to generate more coverage for a business. But in today’s world it seems like Facebook and IG are the news and magazines itself. So those doing PR are leaning more towards social media creators.
Influencers have a unique type of relationship with their following. They build a sense of connection and trust among their audience. It is extremely valuable in marketing. They actually provide some extremely wonderful opportunities for marketers to elevate awareness around the brand and shape the perception of it in the eyes of the community.
Social media creators have become a major thing in the world of marketing, and it’s not to be ignored. By leaning on influencers with relevant audiences, you can not only expand the base of your potential customers but also make your brand more visible and recognizable.
Rely on social platforms to build relations with journalists
You are probably already using social platforms to connect with your audience and expand it. But you can use them in other ways as well, like connecting with authors and journalists. They still are influential voices, and especially if you find ones that are relevant to your niche, you can benefit a lot from your partnership.
It is an essential part of PR to establish and maintain relationships with authors and journalists. Social media actually could be a perfect place for that. That’s where you share your content, achievements, and updates. Basically, you show what your brand is through social media. It means that you don’t have to do a lot to present your brand for those who may not have heard about you yet because there is social media. You can reach out to journalists and build connections through the platform that you use to showcase what your business is all about as well as your credentials.
Social media is the perfect place for you to find interesting authors and voices and connect with them. Follow them, reshare relevant content, ask for their opinion, tag them, i.e. engage with them in a meaningful and mutually beneficial way. Maybe you have some post or news content that needs additional perspective or someone else’s opinion.
It is very important to be honest and respectful in this communication. And just, in general, it’s great to be mindful about what you post and present your content in the best way possible.
Use the power of press releases on your platforms
Press releases are the base of many PR strategies. But one may think, are press releases are still relevant in the digital era?
They are used usually to convey a message regarding recent news or important updates and share it with journalists. Have you ever thought of publishing press releases on your own channels?
Emails, website, social platforms, they both work equally well. This tactic is very effective because you are directly addressing your TA. This way you can control that your message comes across exactly as you want it and shape the audience’s perception.
But one also shouldn’t ignore authors and journalists altogether. They still provide exceptional opportunities for reaching wide audiences. Press releases shared through your own platforms just mean that you become your own press and have much more control over how the community sees your brand which is basically the best strategy for the successful reputation control.
Even though it may seem as PR and marketing in the digital era are from two different goals, at the end of the day they are about the same things. They are both about coverage and shaping the brand perception. By following these pieces of advice, you can build an effective online reputation management strategy and reach wider audience.
