3 min read
The world of brand communications is getting increasingly difficult to navigate. In the digital age, there are endless ways to get information, and it’s easy to get lost in the noise. Integrating public relations strategies with digital marketing techniques can actually help your brand rise above much of that noise and reach buyers.
It all starts at the beginning of the process—whether you’re planning a single campaign or developing brand messaging. You have to answer one question that is always asked in public relations: “Would this story interest the press?”
Obviously, an affirmative answer to that question is good for PR, but it’s also good for marketing. This is why: the press is interested in telling stories that inform, inspire, or educate. That kind of story will also resonate if it’s coming from your brand as part of your marketing. The biggest thing to remember, though, is that this story isn’t about your product or its features. Unless your products are market leaders or incredible disruptors, it’s going to be near impossible to get the press interested in them. Same is true in marketing, so think bigger.
Here are three reasons that kind of story needs to be at the center of your digital marketing efforts.
It Can Increase Brand Awareness
Maintaining consistent messaging, imagery and strategy across all aspects of the account will not only be helpful for potential and current customers, but it’ll also create an overall brand presence. This will keep the brand message clear and concise and ensure your teams are aligned.
It also creates a consistent message for your potential buyers to associate with you, creating thought leadership and allowing you to become a driver of industry conversations.
It Can Inspire Audience Engagement
Delivering a consistent message across social posts, blogs and emails creates trust, and people engage with brands they trust. That engagement can manifest itself in a lot of ways. Maybe it’s a comment through social media. Or it’s someone deciding to download a piece of collateral. However it happens, your consistency is rewarded in ways that will pay off later.
It Can Improve ROI
Measuring PR campaigns has always been a challenge for agencies, but digital marketing is a data-driven practice. Measurement is at the heart of digital marketing. Having that data allows us to increase our efforts when something is working well and to iterate when something’s not. There’s not a need to waste time hoping something worked—that an email was opened or a link was clicked or a piece of collateral was downloaded. We can know, almost immediately, if any of our desired actions were taken and then adjust if they weren’t. And if they were we can see that, too, and plan on which part of our message needs to go the audience next.
Brand communications and awareness are tricky waters, but integrating public relations strategies and digital marketing can help strengthen your marketing approach.
