How Public Relations Can Amplify Your Online Efforts
According to the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS), public relations is the strategic management of relationships between an organization and its diverse publics. An “organization” can be anything from a brand, an individual, or a company. As the business world continues to evolve, so does the practice of public relations. There are two main approaches to this practice, traditional PR and digital PR, which are differentiated by tactics. Although traditional PR is still relevant in today’s digitalized world, digital PR tactics can help an organization amplify their online efforts.
PR & Content Marketing
Public relations and content marketing share a common goal: to create and amplify quality messaging related to your organization. Part of a PR professional’s job is to study and predict trends across a wide spectrum of industries. Similarly, content marketers are tasked with staying on top of industry trends and consumer insights. PR and content marketers can work together to identify topics relevant to audiences and industry trends. As well, a PR professional can help amplify your organization’s quality content by reaching the right people. PR professionals create and maintain relationships with journalists, bloggers, and influencers. These relationships can act as a launch pad in amplifying your content.
At the end of the day, public relations and content marketing are working towards the same goals. By unifying these two practices your organization can increase brand awareness, educate audiences, and create better industry positioning.
PR & Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
When it comes to digital marketing, public relations and search engine optimization (SEO) go together like peanut butter and jelly. Understanding how audiences communicate about and with your organization online is a cornerstone of SEO. Using SEO keywords can help PR professionals develop content (press releases, blogs, etc.) that will drive targeted web traffic to your organization. Reaching out and maintaining relationships with industry influencers is a large part of public relations. A PR professional can leverage these contacts to get online press coverage, helping build natural editorial links from high-traffic, authoritative websites. As well, with increased exposure, chances are other publications will want to cover you, resulting in more exposure and links. It’s a powerful cycle.
Combining public relations and SEO practices is the ultimate game-changer in your organization’s digital marketing strategy. At the end of the day, it increases your organization’s visibility in the overcrowded digital world.
PR & Social Media Marketing
With a newly integrated and constantly evolving digital landscape, you have the ability to fuse public relations and social media to create notable results for your organization. Public relations and social media share the same goal: to manage your organization’s reputation and audience relationships. Public relations can present your organization with more formal and traditional communications, while social media can be done in more relaxed and conversational tone. Social media is also instantaneous and allows an organization to communicate with their audience quickly. This is a great asset when it comes to being proactive and managing your brand’s reputation in a time of crisis. As well, social media makes it easier for PR professionals to identify and reach digital content creators or influencers who can help spread your message to a specific audience.
Social media helps amplify PR efforts, while in turn, PR helps generate social media coverage. If you can seamlessly merge your public relations and social media efforts, you can achieve impressive results.