Just for a second, put yourself in the shoes of downtrodden journos and website owners. They’re bombarded with hundreds of pitches every day – plucky influencers, SEOs and PRs; each trying to get their content on the front pages of the net. Their heads barely bobbing above the surface of the ocean of content swilling around them, they’re unsure which are worth the column pixels, which directly translates into increased difficulty for brands to get quality coverage, owing to your low PR outreach response rates.
The answer is social. 2017 figures from PR software provider Muck Rack noted that 76% of journalists felt pressured to incorporate social sharing performance when they selected stories. Sharing, reach and engagement targets are just around the corner, so by following a simple trick, you can give journos a welcome helping hand as you reap the rewards of improved PR outreach.
How to help journalists find (your) amazing content
You’ve done all the legwork and your shiny new link building campaign is live. Now to roll up your sleeves and promote. Usually involving bulk outreach to publishers you’ve identified as servicing your target markets, this stage can be an uphill struggle as you endeavour to stand out in bustling inboxes.
Why should they believe your content is better than the others? The key is providing plenty of evidence your content will perform on social – and our experience has shown that by doing so, you can give your PR outreach response rates a respectable jump from 20% to 33%.
Using social advertisements as proof of concept
The trick comes in the form of social advertisements. Here’s how to use them to your benefit:
- Promote the content with an engaging ad on your brand’s social profiles.
- Boost the post with a small amount of cash for a short period of time.
- Target the audiences of the publications you want coverage from, or comparable audiences.
- Track the performance of the post just as you would with any other boosted post.
- See your engagement start going loco.
- Take lots of screengrabs.
Next, get in touch with your target publishers. When contacting, let them know what you’ve been up to and attach the screen captures. On top of your usual PR outreach spiel, include the audience you targeted and figures showing how well it was received, and fingers crossed you’ll get plenty of bites.
The key to this easy strategy is instilling confidence in journalists and publishers. They have a very short amount of time to discern diamonds from dross, so appreciate you saving their limited time.
And if your boosted post didn’t work? Rethink and retool – there’s a problem with your content that needs fixing before you send it out to the public.
Fox Agency’s PR and content experts have an intimate knowledge of how to make powerfully effective campaigns with great PR outreach. Learn more about B2B PR and content and social media marketing services, or contact our experts today.