This article revisits the changing relationship between PR and digital marketing described in 2016.
The digitisation of media changed the working environment for publishers, marketing teams and PR agencies. More channels became available for distributing content, while companies gained greater opportunities to publish their own stories.
A business could communicate through articles, video, social channels and even a dedicated broadcasting approach. That created possibilities, but it also made an important point clearer: producing content is only part of the work.
Start with a story the audience can use
Digital marketing and digital PR brought additional skills into agency teams. Content remained central, whether the final material appeared online or offline.
Communications professionals needed to explain messages clearly, make complex technology understandable and give the audience a reason to pay attention. An appealing story could prompt somebody to read, watch, respond or share.
But those outcomes were not automatic. Content needed to be relevant to the audience and presented in a form that suited the situation.
Plan distribution alongside creation
A company can produce a great deal of material without reaching the people it wants to influence. If content has no suitable route to its audience, the effort may contribute little to the wider objective.
Distribution options include specialist publications, a company’s own channels, video, interviews, guest articles and paid activity. Each has a different role. The decision should follow the audience and the purpose of the content.
At Progress Communications, the changes described in the original article led us to add digital marketing expertise, develop colleagues’ search marketing skills and work on websites, online visibility and paid social campaigns alongside media relations.
The wider lesson remains practical: plan how the story will reach people at the same time as planning what it will say. Our content marketing and digital services bring those considerations together.
Use measurement to learn
PR agencies have long worked on building brands and developing the stories that support them. Digital channels add information about how audiences find and interact with content.
That information is useful when it helps answer a meaningful question. Who is reaching the website? What do they engage with? Which interactions support the client’s objectives?
The challenge is to turn activity such as clicks and comments into an understandable assessment, without assuming that every interaction has the same value. Measurement should help the team make better decisions about the next stage of the work.
Combine the right capabilities
Creative thinking alone is not enough, and good content cannot do everything by itself. A stronger approach combines the ability to tell a compelling story, reach an appropriate audience and understand the response.
Each client needs a plan that fits its circumstances. PR teams need to observe, anticipate and develop a strategy, while analytical skills and suitable tools help assess the work.
None of these elements guarantees success. Together, however, they provide a more considered basis for a campaign than relying on a creative idea without a distribution or measurement plan.
For a related perspective, read how PR and marketing can strengthen one another. Our Benelux PR team can help develop an approach around your objectives.
Stella
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