Communicators, content creators, and public relations professionals need to stop wasting content now! I see it happen all the time and it hard to watch.
For example, a publicist spends a ton of time and resources on a media pitch and more time pitching it. After all of that, they get no response or bites from media.
And face it, that happens to us all, especially as traditional media stories get harder and more complicated to secure. But what often happens is that media pitch gets filed away only to appear as a note in a monthly report or a year end summary of activity.
All of that time spent on coming up with the idea, having discussions about it, getting it approved, and writing the content are just wasted. Yes, it’s used as a touchpoint for a journalist, but it can be used for so much more.
I talk frequently about integrated communications, and that the idea behind not wasting your content. It’s not about the specific piece of content, it’s about the idea and message.
When you take a myopic view of your content, you aren’t able to see the different ways you can use that content to further your communications campaigns and efforts.
You thought the idea behind that pitch was good enough to spend the effort creating and pitching it, and you thought that idea supported the brand and made sense for your campaign. So why not use the idea and adapt the pitch to be used across your other communications channels?
That same pitch can be adjusted and turned into a blog for your owned channels, and it can then be crafted into social media posts, and maybe even used for paid digital efforts.
It boils down to this: it takes a lot less time to adjust your content and tailor it for your specific channels than it does to come up with a new idea and start the process all over again.
You did the work initially to come up with the idea, so make it count. Find ways to integrate the message into other channels and tailor that content for your audiences. Then you can look at ways to enhance that content and focus your energy there.
For instance, take that idea, turn it into a blog post for your owned channels, and then add an infographic or visual element to it to engage audiences. Or take the initial idea and, if it has enough legs, and turn it into a white paper that you can use across your acquisition efforts and paid media.
Perhaps you can even chop it up and create shorter, more interactive videos about the content, or find ways to pull in your audiences as part of a user generated content plan around the idea, or even use it for newsletter content.
The number of ways you can use content are only limited by how creative you can get with how you want to use it.
Whatever you do with it, stop wasting content!
Here are some recent posts to help as you create your Strategic Communications campaigns, including the importance of having a strategic communications plan:
– Do I Really Need A Strategic Communications Plan?
– Tips For Managing Unethical Communications Requests
– A Meaningful Message, Or Pandering Without Purpose
– Pitching Media Like The Pros
– Don’t Let Perfect Be The Enemy Of Effective
– Wake Up. Kick Ass. Repeat.
– How to Create Content That Engages Audiences and Builds Brand Trust Quickly
I’ve also been discussing how you can find success following the Coronavirus crisis through the RADD approach, which is Recognize, Adapt, Develop, and Deploy. Check out our previous posts to see how you can succeed with the RADD process:
– Get RADD And Plan For Success Following Coronavirus Crisis
– Prepare for Success and Get RADD, Part 1: Recognize
– Finding Success By Getting RADD, Part 2: Adapt
– Get RADD, Part 3: Develop Plans For Success
– Deploying Your RADD Communications Plan
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