If you’re like most busy marketers or entrepreneurs, you barely have time to get through your own to-do list, let alone research and stay on top of the latest PR trends that can help your brand increase its visibility and attract more customers.
We’re here to help.
Today, we’re continuing our two-part series on the top PR trends for 2018. My colleague Megan Custodio shared some incredibly valuable insight on the continued rise of influencer marketing and the evolution of the press release in her blog post last week. This week, we’re diving into two other big PR trends shaping the industry this year: the role of media coverage in social media and the rise of thought leadership.
The role of media coverage in social media.
Social media has not only changed the way we interact with our favorite brands, friends, family and celebrities. It’s also drastically changing the way we get our news.
More Americans than ever are getting their news from social media. According to a Pew Research Center study, two-thirds of Americans get their news on social media.
We are already primed to consume our news and stay informed through stories our friends share on Facebook. If you aren’t constantly sharing your media coverage on social media – and positioning it in a way that provides tremendous value to your audience – you’re missing out on a big opportunity.
You can no longer simply post your media coverage on the news section of your website and hope a potential customer reads it. You must take your media coverage where your audience is – social media.
One important fact to remember about social media is this: people don’t spend time on social media to be “sold to.” They want to be entertained, connect with others, as well as find and share interesting news, blog posts, videos and pictures. Sharing your media coverage on your social media platforms provides you with a perfect opportunity to provide interesting, valuable news to your audience.
However, you must position your media coverage in a specific way to get the right type of engagement from your audience. This is where many brands miss the mark.
As the old adage goes, everyone’s favorite radio station is WIIFM (What’s In It For Me). You must apply the WIIFM principle to everything you create for your audience, and a social media post sharing one of your pieces of media coverage is no exception.
Instead of publishing a Facebook post that simply says, “We are in The Wall Street Journal! Click the link to read the story,” analyze this piece of media coverage from the WIIFM standpoint of the customer. Ask yourself what interesting ideas or knowledge your customers can gain from this story that will make their lives and/or business better.
Then, find a way to pique the interest of your audience with attention-grabbing copy that tells them exactly what they’ll learn and how it will help them if they read this story. For example, “Struggling to reach enough talented people to hire and grow your business? Learn why text interviews can help you screen more job candidates in a shorter amount of time than traditional phone screening interviews. Discover what our CEO Aman Brar has to say about this topic in The Wall Street Journal and learn how Canvas is helping employers improve their interview process with the first enterprise-grade text-based interviewing platform.”
The rise of thought leadership.
With smaller staff sizes struggling to produce enough content to satisfy the needs of their readers, media outlets are more open than ever to receiving contributed articles by outside subject matter experts.
And who are those outside subject matter experts, you ask? They are our clients – and experts like you.
Right now, there is an unprecedented opportunity for brands to position their team members as trusted thought leaders in their field through contributed byline articles that demonstrate their expertise. While it may sound counterintuitive, one of the best ways to attract new business is to stop talking about your business.
Instead, find ways to share your experience and knowledge of the industry through contributed-byline articles. Whether it’s sharing best practices, trends, or other educational topics that provide value to a media outlet’s readers, you can establish yourself as a trusted, knowledgeable expert within the field. Becoming a published author in a media outlet your ideal customers read gives you instant visibility and credibility.
There’s a fine art to pitching and securing this type of thought leadership media coverage, and at Dittoe PR, we help our clients share their expertise, get in front of their ideal customers and establish themselves as valued thought leaders within their industries.
Are you ready to take your company’s media coverage and social media to the next level in 2018? If so, let’s discuss how we can be of service to you. Schedule a call or meeting with us today.
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