Post on 21-Jan-2018
Laura HamptonIMPRESSION
Six Kick Ass Content Strategies to Boost Digital PR and Link Building Success@lauralhampton @impressiontalkhttps://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
Six kick ass content ideas to help you build
links
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
#1: Use what you’ve got
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
It’s our responsibility to get to know our clients.Clients won’t always offer up the
information to you. But it’s important you
know who they are, what they represent,
where their core skills lie and what they
want to be known for.
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
If they like to jump out of planes, you want to know!Their passions can get them featured with
quick win comment opportunities - try
Response Source or Twitter for
#JournoRequest and #PRRequest
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
Help them identify areas for thought leadershipSpot topical opportunities for your client to
comment on a relevant issue and become a
thought leader.
Be aware of non-topical issues; what does
your client want to be known for?
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
Mine their data and use it to inspire and inform contentData is still a very relevant source of
content ideas. Identifying the data your
client already has can reap huge rewards,
especially when you use a combined data
and PR approach.
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
Find your unique selling point (USP)If you’re just saying the same thing as
everyone else, it won’t work. Rather than
banging the same old drum, this is all about
finding a new angle, whether that USP is
that your client jumps from airplanes, they
have millions of records of data or they
have a huge audience from which you can
extract content and information.
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
#2: Borrow from others
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
As creatives, we can make content from even the dullest of sources...When your client tells you they really have
nothing of their own to talk about, number
one - don’t believe them, and number two -
think about the other content sources you
can use.
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
We 💖 Government data - follow ONS!Government data is freely available - and if
you can’t find what you’re looking for, use
WhatDoTheyKnow.com.
Follow the daily ONS data updates and you
can uncover new content ideas by looking
for things that are relevant to your
audience and where you can add extra
value.
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
Wikipedia = content inspiration goldmine!Wikipedia is a great source of content
inspiration - be aware that it is curated by the
public so be sure to verify sources!
By taking information that’s relevant to your
brand and audience, and combining it with
creativity to use that information in a new way,
you can create great content!
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
Everybody loves offline marketing(no, really!)
As online marketers, we can be guilty of
forgetting about offline and the role it plays.
Be aware of offline activities, events and
initiatives relevant to your/your client’s
business and audience, and use that to
inspire new content campaigns.
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
#3: Hack the press
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
We know what they want. They want what we know. Synergy.PR hacking is all about understanding what
journalists want and then creating content
that appeals to them. There are certain
content formats that always go down well,
and we can make use of those.
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
Be ready to comment on topical (and non topical) storiesJournalists love comments. They need
them to build out their stories. Be prepared
with pre-approved comments so you can
provide them to the journalist before the
story breaks.
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
What’s been covered once, will be covered again.
Just because a story has been covered
once, doesn’t mean it won’t be covered
again. In fact, if a story has performed well
(in terms of reach and engagement), it’s
more likely to be re-covered, providing you
can give a unique new spin.
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
Journalists love data. Especially when it’s topical.
We talk a lot about data. It’s still a really
relevant content format, and journalists love
it. Be aware of trending topics and news
stories and be ready to provide data you
have if it’s relevant and of genuine value.
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
Get to know freelance journalists and their stories
Freelancers are a goldmine for content and
feature opportunities. Spend some time
identifying the journalists that can best help
you, and be aware of the stories they’re
producing. You can then create content
that either backs up or opposes their
stories, giving them a new angle to write
about.
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
#4: Make news from nothing
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
Be creative. Make something from nothing.
So many content campaigns start with a
team brainstorm or a simple thought in the
shower. Don’t be afraid to create content
from nothing! Just be sure it has a clear
purpose, hook and benefit to the audience.
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
Know the story you want, then create it.
When we start with a PR story in mind, we
have a much better chance of getting our
story covered. Creating geographical or
demographical splits can create even more
opportunities for coverage and links.
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
Take a different angle on an existing story to reinvigorate it
By giving a different perspective or point of
view, we can create new content to gain us
coverage and links. It’s made even easier
when we can simply mine the backlinks of
existing content and make those our targets!
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
Surveys are still a great source of ‘news from nothing’
If you can get a large enough sample size
(e.g. 1,000 responses), you can create
‘news from nothing’ and use that to inspire
new content and coverage/links.
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
#5: Find content in forums
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
People love to talk. And they talk a lot.
The old adage goes that if you want to
engage your target audience, you need to
get involved in their existing conversations.
Forums are a great source of conversation.
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
Follow social media conversations.Social media might not be the core focus of
your role, but it can reveal some interesting
content ideas based on what people discuss.
Hootsuite is a great tool for mining Twitter
conversations. Follow what your competitors
are talking about. Look at what influencers
have to say.
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
Mine forums to identify topics of interest to your audienceUse tools like Bloomberry and visit forums like
Reddit to find topics that are popular and where you
could add value. AskReddit is a goldmine!
You also have a ready made audience for your
content!
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
#6: More bites of the cherry
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
Content marketing isn’t just about gaining links (yep, I said it!)The purpose of content marketing, while
we do want to use it to gain links and
coverage, is also to engage our target
audience. When we incorporate this
thinking into our strategies, we can get two
bites of the promotional pie.
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
If you want your content to fly, you need to ask ‘so what?’
If you do want to create content that travels on its
own merit, it has to give the audience something -
e.g. an analysis of their driving skills, or a review of
how much time they are wasting.
Consider supporting with paid advertising.
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
1. Use what you’ve got2. Borrow from others3. Hack the press4. Make news from nothing5. Forums and featured snippets6. More bites of the cherry
6 CONTENT STRATEGIES
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/
Thank you
laura@impression.co.uk
26-30 Stoney Street
Nottingham
NG1 1LL
01158 242 212
@lauralhampton
@lauralhampton
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/