Newsjacking. Real-Time Marketing. Agile Marketing. There are many names for what I’m talking about, and while some implement it correctly, most don’t implement it at all.
I know what you’re thinking. It takes a lot of time, money and manpower to identify trending content via news or social media and infuse it into your marketing or communications strategy. Plus, because the available tools and resources are scarce, it can be challenging to engage in these tactics.
I’m here to tell you that you’re wrong – and created this quick checklist to help your PR strategy benefit from trending content:
- Consider the content, context and conversation. Trends are fast-paced, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t test the waters before jumping in.
While a topic may seem positive at one point, it can quickly take a turn for the worst if misinterpreted, hijacked by trolls or commented on by an unhappy segment of the community.
Avoid unintentionally becoming the center of a controversy and causing a PR crisis. How? Another tip: Don’t, I repeat, don’t use a tragedy or historical event to the benefit of your brand.
- Don’t over commit. As fast as trends come, they also go. Part of the fun with trending content is developing something on the fly that you can implement quickly. Be reasonable. Don’t brainstorm corresponding content or campaigns that are unrealistic in terms of implementation time, cost or commitment. Taking too much time to take advantage of trends will result in a missed opportunity.
For example, if you don’t have the resources in-house to make a professionally produced video or animation, don’t put it on the docket. Be familiar with your team’s capabilities and what they can accomplish in short periods of time, taking their workloads and other projects into consideration.
- Map the potential benefits. Everything we do we’d like to tie to a business outcome or result. However, sometimes it’s the little things that can provide a boost or a domino effect.
For example, doing a Mannequin Challenge may not earn your brand revenue, but posting that video to Facebook will boost your visibility in the timeline and earn you more reach on the content that follows.
Once you’ve determined that harnessing trending content makes sense for your brand, it’s time to get to work. Here are a few ways you can benefit from implementing this tactic into your strategy:
- Write a blog with lessons learned from the trend. Be sure to link back to trend origins as well as other branded links or collateral that relates to the trend.
- Offer original data that supports or debunks the trend and publish a press release as well as pitch the results to the media.
- Find how your brand relates to a trend and offer an early perspective to the media for potential coverage.
- Launch a survey with your customers or clients about the trend and publish the findings.
- Find influencers in the trend and partner with them on content if they align with your brand’s mission.
- Reshare trending content via your brand’s social media accounts to get more awareness within the conversation.
- Send an email promoting an offer that relates to the trend with a creative subject line that’ll garner opens because of its relevancy.
- Report on a breaking trend via Facebook live or a podcast interview.
- Gather compelling content related to the trend and write a byline on a site that allows community posts, like Buzzfeed or The Huffington Post.
Timeliness is key when it comes to utilizing trending content in your communications strategy. It can be difficult to pinpoint a topic just starting to trend, but being the early bird can enable your brand to become an influencer for the topic. If you catch on too late, you will waste precious resources in a sea of content. Having the right tools to help identify trends before they hit the mainstream is a tactic many brands use to earn mindshare during a trending event. Coupled with strategic planning, your brand can utilize trending content to garner more awareness, conversation and interest.
What alerts should you create in order to find trends? Read the PR Newswire guide, Leveraging Social Media to Build Brand Strategy to get more info.
from Blogs http://ift.tt/2gZgx5z
No comments:
Post a Comment