Public Relations vs Content

 

At Linked In, there is a discussion about "B2B" content. The person who started the discussion wants great examples of it, but hasn't been specific about what industry he's seeking or anything else. That kind of leaves  open to interpretation what "great content" means. One responder to the thread has suggested that a company called "Vocus" might be an example, because it puts out a lot of content, although not all of it is great.

The problem with that example though is that Vocus is not in the content-producing business, it is in the content distribution business. They are two different things. Distributing content to others is public relations. Vocus is the owner of PR Web, a tool journalists use to find story leads.

If, through public relations, you distribute your own or somebody else's great content far and wide, more people will see it. It may even "go viral," meaning it's shared over and over again. But those people who see your story may not even have the opportunity to learn more about your company, because the content you distributed can be edited by a third party. That third party is sharing it not to help your business, but to build up theirs.

For any size business another key to marketing - at least as important as PR - is putting content on your own website, and on your social media pages. This could be something you wrote, something you paid a PR firm to write for you, even something you also sent to Vocus/PR Web to distribute for you. You could also use your website or social media sites to share content written by others - even a link to that fantastic story the Los Angeles Times just wrote about you (that would be awesome for my clients anyhow). You just would want to make sure any content you didn't write or pay someone to write for you is properly attributed, otherwise you're plagarizing. You also would want to make sure it is well-written content, because no one will read it if it's not. Also, the best press releases to get reporters' attention are not necessarily the most interesting stories for your potential customers, so you have to know  your audience.

The important thing is that you keep updating your own online presence with new quality content. This way, the new content enhances your SEO by driving new traffic to your website. If that new traffic turns into a new customer, that is the reason you cared enough about the subject to create the content in the first place.