Many businesses invest separately in elements of content marketing, PR, social media or SEO, unaware that combining them could deliver much greater results.
Many businesses produce press releases and other public relations to gain exposure in local, business or sector press. They also use LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram to share updates with their audience. Blogs, how-to articles and other content are published online to establish them as experts in their field. Finally, an SEO expert injects new content into their website to help it appear for targeted keywords.
Individually the results can be very powerful. Together they can be transformational.
Good Ideas & Synergy
Much of the effort involved in PR, social media, content marketing and even SEO, is in generating effective ideas for content.
The next story you pitch to the press, the next post you place on social media, the next blog you write to demonstrate your expertise, even the next landing page you add to your website to satisfy Google; these can often all stem from the same good idea.
To save time and improve results, your next piece of creative content should aim to serve as many of these marketing channels as possible. If you have an idea for an update, promotion or campaign, explore the ways it can be applied to PR, social media, your website (SEO) and other content marketing.
PR
Your next press release has the ability to not only contribute to PR but social media, SEO and wider content marketing too.
Once published, share the coverage via your social media. This works great on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Include a link to the website which published the press release rather than your own website. Third-party PR coverage of your business is seen as an endorsement and carries more kudos.
If the press release is published on a third-party website, remember to ask them to include a hyperlink to your website too. This will help boost your website’s authority by gaining a little of their website’s authority through the link. Link building is one of the hardest elements of search engine optimisation but arguably the most powerful.
Remember, if you do add the press release to your own website, it is also acting as fresh content for SEO. Though this shouldn’t be the primary purpose of a press release, ensure it includes good use of the themes and keywords you wish your website to feature for on Google.
Blogs & Content
This is where you get to demonstrate to customers and would-be customers that you are experts in your field and have your finger on the pulse.
Time creating 800 words for a blog can be well spent if it also satisfies Google and make a good feature for your social media. If it is something other websites may print, it can also result in a backlink which is valuable for SEO.
If it’s a how-to article, case study or comment on recent sector developments, it can also be something you can use to demonstrate your expertise, feature in an e-newsletter or send to customers (via direct marketing).
If you’ve something you want to shout about on social media, or a social media post which has already sparked good impressions and engagement, it could be a good subject for a blog or even a press release.
Your search engine optimisations will have identified keywords which you need to focus on in your website. Use these within the title and subject of your blog to help SEO when published on your website.
Social Media
Being both instant and easily accessible; social media is a great way to share and draw attention to press releases, blogs, website landing pages and other new content.
Around 50% of UK professionals and business decision makers are on LinkedIn. Twitter has become a harder place to gain exposure without frequent posting but you can extend your reach with genuine updates and news or by sharing content such as blogs, advice and press releases.
Facebook and Instagram are generally best for consumer marketing. Again, people value content they can use so, share blogs and other content which contain hints, tips, hacks, advice or know-how.
Unfortunately, as they can be easily created, links from social media to your website carry little authority for SEO. However, it is still a very valuable marketing channel for boosting your brand awareness and creating inbound links from third-party websites or discussion forums.
(More about Social Media Marketing)
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Google, Bing and other search engines like to see fresh content added frequently and regularly to websites to demonstrate they are alive and being updated.
Search engines also use content to define the ‘relevance’ of your website. Relevance is essentially a measure of how well Google or Bing thinks the content of your website and key landing pages relates to the keyword or search term the user is searching.
Blogs, press releases, news and updates can be used to both increase the overall relevance of your website and serve as specific landing pages for certain keywords or search terms.
To increase relevance, the content you add needs to be focused on the something related to your product, service or sector. To act as a specific landing page and appear in search results, the content needs a more specific title and content which relates to a specific keyword or search term.
The second biggest factor in search engine optimisation (SEO) is authority. This is a measure of how respected your website is as a source of information. It is best demonstrated by links from good quality third-party websites. Sometimes called ‘Link Juice’, a little bit of their authority rubs off on your website through the link they create. A link from a highly authoritative website (a website which itself is linked to by many other websites) can dramatically increase authority and traffic to your website.
SEO is a valuable outcome of successful PR. Links from websites which publish your blogs or press releases will boost your authority. Always include a hyperlink at the bottom of content and ask for one to be added if it is not included when a blog or press release is first published.
(More about Search Engine Optimisation)
Full Mix Marketing
We’re a full-service marketing agency based in Norwich, Norfolk. We provide all the strategic, digital and creative marketing businesses need to grow. We help businesses in sectors including IT & technology, manufacturing & engineering, B2B & services and retail & consumer.
At Full Mix Marketing, whatever we deliver for our clients, we maximise the benefits across all marketing channels.
We create successful PR and press releases which not only get published but create SEO back links and fresh website content. We use blogs to demonstrate your expertise, feed social media and even become the basis for direct marketing including direct mail and email. We turn successful social media updates and trends into blogs and press releases and ensure all content added to your website has the greatest benefit to SEO.
If you need help maximising the results from your PR, content, blogs, social media or SEO, simply contact us
