Your content strategy doesn’t need a vacation.
As summer approaches and your mind wanders from your office to pools, baseball games and backyard barbecues, it can be tempting to procrastinate and push off guest posting for another time.
Though it might be appealing to take the summer off to enjoy the warmer weather, year-round guest posting is essential to a consistent content strategy. In fact, summer is one of the most opportune times to publish your content in online publications.
Earlier this year, Influence & Co. published “The State of Digital Media 2018,” which gathered and analyzed responses from online publication editors across industries about contributed content. When asked which months were light on content, editors said they could use more submissions in June, July, August and December.
[RELATED: Write clear, bold prose that captivate audiences and promotesbusiness goals.]
Use the summer lull to stand out
Editors of well-known publications sift through hundreds of pitches every single day, and editorial queues fill up quickly. To make the cut when you pitch an editor your content, you normally have to have an extremely unique angle, takeaways the editor has never heard before or an irresistible and timely hook.
Unless you’re sure you can deliver those, or you already have a strong relationship with the editor, you can expect to be quickly dismissed or bumped to the back of the line to wait it out for a few months. That’s why it’s essential to take advantage of the summer lull.
When editors aren’t experiencing inbox overload, they can devote more attention to reviewing your content carefully and offering constructive feedback as needed. Plus, with more time to interact with the editor, you’ll also have more time to build a solid relationship.
Don’t forget that editors and publication staff take vacations, too! Fewer staff members will be writing internal content while they’re vacationing, so editors will try to fill their queues with more guest content early on. Get your article in before you get an auto-reply that the editor is enjoying a much-needed break.
How to make a splash with content
Here are a few ways you can get your brand in print this summer—no matter what your schedule looks like.
1. You have a lot of travel planned.
Don’t use that as an excuse not to write content. It’s easy enough to bring a laptop, tablet or even a notebook along on a flight to jot down some article ideas or thoughts while up in the air. If you’re catching up on some reading, let those articles spark your own opinion pieces.
2. You’re busy hiring recent graduates.
As you start the interview process, think about what you would want your candidates to understand prior to meeting you in person. This is a great jumping-off point for creating content that you can share with candidates about your industry, company values and culture to make your interview process more productive.
This also gives candidates an opportunity to learn more about your company and ask more pointed questions so they feel more prepared and relaxed in the interview.
3. You’re focused on new business development.
Use the questions that leads are asking your sales team to determine what your content should address to make the process easier for future conversations. Once the articles are published, your sales team can use content to educate and break down barriers with potential customers.
4. You’re busy planning initiatives for the fall.
As you think about your direction for the rest of the year, write about it. What lessons have you already learned this year? What action steps could lead your company toward your year-end goals?
Your current and future customers, employees and potential hires want to see what steps your company is taking, so share with them. Set aside 15-30 minutes on your calendar after company meetings to write down your thoughts and let your marketing team use those notes to create content around the future of your company and industry.
Whether you’ve been contributing content all year long or you’re looking to get started, don’t miss out on a great opportunity to fulfill a content need this summer.
Melanie Janisse is the director of publication relations for Influence & Co., a content marketing and PR firm. A version of this article originally appeared on the Influence & Co. blog.
(Image via)
from PR Daily News Feed https://ift.tt/2JNuhxU
No comments:
Post a Comment