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Tuesday, December 1, 2015

The end of the year is a time for both reflection and planning — and with exactly one month left in 2015, we are ready to start looking back over the year that was and gearing up for the year to come.

For PR and marketing pros, press releases will remain a key piece of a well-rounded communications strategy.

Press releases have been evolving for quite some time, as brands embrace storytelling and seek new ways to engage their audiences. Today's press release is highly visual, written for a targeted audience, and has become a critical piece in a content marketing strategy.

This evolution was reflected in many of the topics Beyond PR’s contributors wrote about this year. To help you get your 2016 communications plan started, here are some of our top blog posts, white papers, and other content about press releases from the past year.

Press Release Writing Tips: Out with the Old, In with the News

Embargoes. Jim Dashes. "For Immediate Release." Many features that were once standard practice for press releases have become outdated as we adapt to a fast-paced digital atmosphere.

In this blog post, we break down some out-of-date practices and offer tips on how to update your press releases to better suit today's communications landscape.

The Best Times to Send a Press Release Globally

It has been said that the Internet made the world smaller, as more and more of the world's population logs online to consume content and information. A press release can reach corners of the globe with ease, and PR practitioners are blessed with the opportunity to cultivate a global audience.

This is a must-read for those looking to expand their reach to new countries and regions. Learn how to time your press release for international distribution, as well as the key points to consider for different types of content and the varied audiences you'd like to reach.

Press Release Boot Camp: What You Need to Know

Ready to send a press release? This white paper outlines the entire process from formatting your release and creating engaging content to setting up an account.

Reference this checklist to make sure you're fully leveraging each press release you write and distribute in 2016.

Achieve Your PR Objectives Faster with Multiple Press Releases

As more organizations embrace perpetual demand generation strategies, the need for a constant cadence of content is growing. Press releases are a key piece of a communications plan designed to keep your organization top-of-mind across audiences, increase visibility by connecting with the media and other influencers, and help you stay engaged in important industry conversations.

This blog post highlights three scenarios that can benefit from using multiple press releases — but your brand is certainly not limited to just these three. The key to success is continually seeking out new opportunities for your public relations and marketing programs to tell your brand's story.

How to Harness the Power of Quotes in Your Press Release

A good quote can be an effective way to offer readers a peek into your organization and inspire them to take action, making them a powerful tool for press release writers.

Just as journalists extract important statements from an interview for their articles, press release writers must aim for quotes that succinctly and powerfully capture the content’s greater message.

Learn how to strategically leverage quotations in press releases with these five important tips.

6 Tips for Trade Show Press Releases

Over the course of the year, we brought you storytelling tips for different types of press releases — from personnel announcements to nonprofit news. Our most popular, though, was this article about trade show press releases. It’s not surprising, given how trade shows can be meccas of newsworthy announcements.

The story a brand tells at an industry event is critical to helping generate buzz on and off the event floor. These tips can apply to anyone attending or exhibiting at a trade show, as well as brands who are looking for ways to join the conversations around these newsworthy events.

Content We Love: Press Releases as a Trusted Data Source

If earned media is your goal, making it easy for journalists and influencers to find and verify important information quickly is critical. A press release is an important tool for presenting answers to those key questions: the who, what, when, where and how of your story.

Featuring an interview with researcher and reporter Daniel Jameson, this blog post also highlights a press release from Beyonce that successfully answered all the right questions.

How to Write Press Releases: Best Practices for Content Discovery

The one takeaway all of these articles have in common is that content quality is the key to getting found and shared. After all, you're not just competing against your company's competitors or other brands in your industry: You're competing against all of the content on the Internet for the attention of your audiences.

If you want to do more to boost your content's discoverability, check out our latest SlideShare featuring tips for formatting and writing press releases. And then come back next week for the second installment in our ‘Best of 2015’ series.

Author Danielle Capriato is the manager of strategic communications at PR Newswire. Follow her on Twitter @dcapriato.

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Monday, November 30, 2015

[New Post] 5 Reasons Customer Advocacy Will Enhance Your Content Marketing

5 Reasons Customer Advocacy Will Enhance Your Content Marketing

Lucie Curtis

Engagement. When the PR and marketing industry talks about this content metric, it’s usually through the lens of how audiences are interacting with content after a brand has published and promoted it.

However, there’s a particular type of content that’s on the rise (again) which offers the opportunity to develop customer relationships before content is ever created.

I say ‘again’ because customer advocacy content isn’t a new concept for brands.

Case studies, testimonials, and content featuring client interviews are well-established staples in the sales toolbox. But many brands aren’t maximizing the full potential of this content.

Integrating customer advocacy content more fully into your content marketing strategy can elevate your brand to new heights. Here are 5 reasons why advocacy content is critical.

1. Customer advocacy content establishes credibility.

Content created in collaboration with customer advocates carries more weight than content solely produced internally. According to Marketing Charts, brand advocates are 50% more likely to influence a purchase.

Case studies are a perfect example of advocacy content. Demonstrating how a client’s use of your products helped them achieve their business goals is far more effective than a generic product description. Your advocate's voice will help your message resonate with your target audience because it’s coming from their peers.

2. Customer advocacy content adds diversity to your message.

There’s so much content competing for your audience’s attention; it’s important to offer a variety of content formats to break through the noise.

Advocacy content brings another layer of diversity to your content marketing strategy.

Content collaborations with advocates take on many forms. In addition to case studies and testimonials, advocacy content includes customer survey results, guest blogs, co-authored white papers, Q&As, and other user-generated content.

The more diverse your content is, the better your chances that it will appeal to the various audience personas you’re trying to reach.

3. Customer advocacy content engages your sales team.

Advocacy content gives your marketing team the opportunity to engage with your sales team in two ways.

Your sales team is going to be crucial in introducing you to potential customer advocates. By including them in the process, you help them establish credibility with their clients and further develop their relationships by highlighting their clients' success.

Additionally, effective content marketing involves using multiple channels to promote your content, and that includes your sales team. By integrating advocacy content into your overall content marketing program, you are offering your sales representatives a powerful tool to convert leads into customers.

4. Customer advocacy content nurtures relationships with advocates.

When you collaborate with clients on content creation, you achieve much more than producing new content.

You convey to your client that you recognize them as a thought leader in their field. You show that you view them as credible, valuable sources who are well-positioned to tell others about the ways your services can resolve an industry challenge.

Nurturing these relationships and shining the light on your advocate clients demonstrates to them that you cherish their partnership.

5. Customer advocacy content leads to new advocates and more content.

Use the successful advocacy content you’ve already created to illustrate the benefits of collaboration to your sales team, current advocates and potential future advocates.

Contributing to another organization’s content helps elevate your clients’ profile in front of their peers and within the industry. Seeing one customer’s success story and the attention it gets can motivate other customers to step up and do the same.

Your sales team is also more likely to be on the lookout for great advocate candidates once they've observed or experienced the process.

Advocacy content can be extremely beneficial in helping you achieve your business goals. It not only enhances your content offerings, but also can help you engage with your sales team, nurture your partnership with current advocates, and develop relationships with future ones.

Whether it’s a blog post or case study, every piece of content you create is a potential touch point with your audience—an opportunity to engage with them and convert them into satisfied customers. Download our guide Maximize the Reach of Your Message with a Strategic, Multichannel Plan and learn how to match your content to the right mix of promotional channels.

Lucie Vietti-Curtis is the program manager for channel and advocacy marketing at PR Newswire. As head of the advocacy program, she enjoys collaborating with advocates on creating thought-leadership content.