Welcome back to BG Expert Corner: The video series where we chat with experts to share our insights on topics such as digital marketing, public relations, design, and more.
BG Director Brit O’Neill and BG President/Partner Don Martelli chatted about how traditional PR is making a comeback in the digital marketing world.
Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the chat!
It’s no secret that the way we get our news has changed dramatically in the last decade. The early 2000s introduced us to social media, which permeated the 2010s and now has completely overtaken the 2020s. Today, social media is a big part of our daily diet!
Social media introduced a new fast-paced media landscape that runs on immediacy and breaking 24/7 news coverage. In addition to news outlets and stations that run around the clock, there are also everyday people becoming media experts and covering news on their own sites.
With this new sense of immediacy, agencies like BG need to focus on not only earning media hits for their clients but also taking opportunities and lengthening them to optimize exposure.
For example, an article can be extended to digital media ads to stretch the content and build more awareness.
Some of the tricks of the trade we have at BG are securing media hits and finding ways to keep the content alive and buzzing through different places online!
PR involves much more than just landing an impressive media hit for a client. It’s also about sharing thought leadership insights to spark conversation, submitting for relevant awards, securing speaking events and finding any opportunity to help clients shine and create new valuable relationships.
What makes BG unique as an agency is that we are service-based — our business is focused on providing services our clients need rather than just sticking to traditional PR categories. We keep our clients both in and out of the media with proactive/reactive media, reputation management and crisis communication services included in our scope.
A big part of PR is finding the right stories that need to be shared. For our clients, we consider who our ideal audience is, what our objective is, and what impact we want to make. Oftentimes, we are trying to inspire people to do something, whether it be a political decision-maker who may say yes to a client’s project or a parent who may choose to send their kid to a client’s school.
With all these scenarios, we think, “What can our clients offer, and how can we get them in front of the right people?”
PR plays an important role either at either the beginning or the end of a good marketing strategy. It helps generate a buzz while building brand awareness and helping drive people towards a decision or action.
Whether you rely on broadcast, print or digital media — traditional PR will get you in front of the right people to share your objective.
These days, a lot of business is achieved through third-party validation. Consumers know when they are being spoken to or sold something, so they look to others for validation before making a decision. That’s where good PR can step in.
How can PR build trust? By sharing impactful stories and creating content that can be repurposed for digital marketing, retargeting, SEO, paid media campaigns and Google Ads. After all, PR is about good stories and content.
The news media landscape may look different in the next ten or even five years, but the value of traditional PR will always have a place in any future media strategy.
The best way to prepare for the future? Keep in tune with trends, stay hyper-local and hyper-focused, and be ready to adapt and adjust your PR strategy on the fly. As we like to say, there’s never a dull day in PR!
Need help with your PR Strategy? Reach out to us at connect@thebelfortgroup.com.
