8 strategies to combine content marketing and PR on social media
Hayley Nguyen, Freelance Content Writer
August 24, 2022 at 3:30pm
8 min read
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The goal is to bridge the gap between PR and Social Media. The purpose of PR is to create as much as positive press for the brands. Getting the brands recognized and mentioned by publications. Social media, in fact, is dominating the internet news consumptions among Millennials and Gen Z. We can't deny the fact that both approaches are important key in online marketing and brand advertisement. However, they are totally two different methods. So how do marketers close the gap between PR and Social Media? Here's how:
1. Engage with consumers on all platform and face-to-face PR Campaigns
Responds to the target audience's questions, comments on Social media platform from Facebook post comments to direct messages. At the brand campaign, you have a chance to talk with those consumers face to face. Find out about their awareness on your brands and competitors, listen to complaints and praises. Let your existing audience know about the companies online platforms, that they can connect with the brands, update more sales and promotions and other news from you. Traditional communication combined with online interaction boost customer care and sales.
2. Support PR effort by using #hashtag while boosting press release on Social Media
Hashtag is the common feature of social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter. This helps writer easily monitor the topics of conversation, find the relatingposts of the same topic. Using hashtags to mention your brand names, create marketing campaigns and event and promote them with hashtag, for example #EasterDaysSales #FreeShippingOver50$.
PR effort is to connect clients, customers with the on-going stories of the companies. You have to announce about recent events and key internal conferences of the brand, featured new VIP faces of the companies that is an important milestones. You should post this press release on the company's website. Instead of just the website, you can briefly quotes the key info on a social media post on Facebook page, some short video of the event on Instagram story and a short notice with hashtags about that public event. Be flexible when apply PR strategies on Social media: cover breaking news and announce new products. Things that usually belongs to the PR field but converting into social content to fit in with the audience niche.
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3. Encourage employees to post on Linked In
Besides the amount of followers your brand has online, the employees of the companies are the key internal audience who can create strong connections. They are the faces that represents your companies so have them spread words about milestones and new services. Their voices are coming from the inside so there is a high level of credibility and authority. News announced from personal accounts can reach to more audiences than news just from business accounts.
4. Have influencers and celebrity endorsement
Most internet users follow their favorite celebrity on social media. Celebrities has a volume of followers up to million users. That's the good traffic they can drive to your brand page if you can get them to test and approve your products. Fashion and cosmetics are items that easily able to earn product placement on celebrities' front post. Beside, meaningful community campaigns can find the right audience when mentioned by trusted content creators.
5. Create advocacy and ambassador program
A strong brand has support from their strong community. They are long term customers, followers, endorsement, partnership. If new prospects see that your brand has so many approvals and satisfied customers, there's more likely they will choose you over other brand. Have ambassadors to represent and commercialize the products in exchange for commissions. This is similar to celebrities endorsement but instead of reaching out to famous people, take advantage of your own brand's loyal customers through their reviews, featuring their experiences on your website, and use user testimonial video. These are useful strategies to build brand trust with new consumers.
6. Interact with journalists and publishers on Twitter
Twitters through out years has been built up as the most popular channel to share and update news among internet users. You can reach to big volume of audience, not only business but also political field by connecting with big companies' accounts. Journalists and professional publishers are the connecting channels between these businesses and the people of consumers. Create a conversation by replying to their comments, boost level of interest and focus viewers' attention on your responses. Share articles that relates to your business content. This is a great way to enhance brand identity.
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7. Become contributor and blogger
You are working as Marketing Specialist or management for brands or agency. You would like to get more sources for PR campaigns and improve contents by actively become a blogger. Marketers create their online community such as Medium Better Marketing, the Guardian, Bloomberg economy. These are professional press that writes news about business and the industry. Having content that represents your brand published on these big industry blog site will earn exposure and authority.
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8. Prepare to Social Media crisis plan just like PR plan
In PR, it is common to deal with communication crisis. Things can go wrong out of control so establishing an according plan to manage crisis in publications are very necessary. Some representatives and ambassadors may make statements that hurt brand reputations. Customers may not be happy with the company product. Negative feedbacks and comments can put the business at risk. In these case, marketing and PR teams must work together to implement crisis management plan.
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Calm down your audiences by announcing news, apologize to customers on social media. Have a trusted spokesperson to confirm and clear the air with the press. Keeping brand credibility and reputation is priority.