We speak with many companies of all sizes – and lately, what we’ve been hearing a lot of is, “PR is important – but right now, we are totally focused on lead generation.” Many of our clients, however, realize that PR is a lead generation activity, and works very effectively as part of their Inbound strategy and as a complement to the work the SEO team is doing.
Media Placements Boost SEO
We’ve talked about this before. If your executives are offering expert commentary through bylines, guest posts or quotes in trend stories, that content is building visibility and thought-leadership. If there’s a link back to the company, it will boost its search ranking.
Obviously, the PR team should be developing content that is optimized for SEO, in terms of both keyword placement and links, while also keeping the content fresh and appropriate for the medium. Even mentions without links can help boost visibility. Effective PR campaigns, planned in concert with SEO and other Inbound activities, can result in a nice boost in referral traffic.
Related Post: Press Coverage, Backlinks and Media Strategy
Third Party Endorsements Help Close Business
Media placements can help drive your brand’s visibility with new audiences – and lead new prospects to your website and all of that great content you are churning out. Plus, having a third party – in this case, a media outlet or blog – endorse your business by writing about it or including your executives in commentary, lends credibility in a different way from the content you are producing yourself – this can actually help close leads faster.
Good Content = Leads
To stand out, companies must be producing as much content as possible – BUT, the content needs to be valuable, actionable, and shareable. Otherwise, you’re just talking to yourself. PR media placements supplement the content you are producing for your own properties in two ways: 1) by taking your message out to new media (and linking back to your own blog, website, etc.); and 2) by producing content you can repurpose and reuse elsewhere to ramp up the impact exponentially.
Highlight Customer Successes
Customer stories are a critical tool for closing sales. A good case study can help your prospects see how your solution can make a difference for them. That’s why testimonials – whether they are highlighted on your website, or placed in a publication, are an effective closer. Why not use those testimonials on company-owned media, AND in PR to attract new prospects?
Rethink Your Approach
Although seemingly distinct disciplines, PR, SEO, and inbound strategies can actually work together to drive success for any business. If you are proactive about prioritizing and leveraging each, you can capture and support the buyer throughout their journey – and help them connect with your brand. You don’t have to – and should not – think about PR, SEO and Inbound as separate animals – they should all work together for common cause.
Related Post: The Inbound Marketing Guide for Entrepreneurs
Was this helpful? Want more? Sign up for our newsletter!