The written word is the coin of the realm for PR and marketing executives.
Whether in-house or on the agency side, communicators have been conditioned to telling a story that can increase awareness, raise an organization’s visibility and, ideally, add to the top and/or bottom lines. That still holds true, of course, and probably now more than ever considering the hypercompetitive business environment. But the rise of online metrics and so-called big data have altered that equation dramatically. As the checklist below indicates, the success of branded content is more contingent now on PR pros’ ability to crunch numbers and analyze data.
Rather than rely on gut checks to gauge how content may appeal to certain audiences, PR must allow data to inform the content. And while data increasingly is in the driver’s seat when it comes to how to develop a robust content strategy, there are other factors at work.
These range from learning how to speak an industry’s language to hiring the right people, personalizing the message and purchasing the right software and translation systems.
This article originally appeared in the March 30, 2015 issue of PR News. Read more subscriber-only content by becoming a PR News subscriber today.