If you’ve been asking yourself: Why do we still need a public relations (PR) programme when we have a blog, a podcast and a pretty healthy following on our social channels – we have the answer for you. You need all of the channels working in concert to reach your audience. It’s not one or the other when it comes to owned content and earned media.
Let’s back up for a minute and define what falls in these buckets. Owned content is all the content a company is responsible for creating and maintaining. Think website, blog, podcasts, videos, social posts. Earned media comes from proactive relationship building with key media targets to secure press placements for news related to a company. It’s third-party, authored by someone outside of the company and it’s one of the single best ways to build credibility and validate a company’s business model.
Earned media tends to be trusted more due to it being unbiased and reported in a factual tone by a respected member of the media. Examples of earned media are articles in business outlets such as Forbes or trade publications like TechCrunch. It can also include broadcast programmes with local, regional or national news services.
A PR agency partner is primarily tasked with securing earned media placements. That said, connecting PR with your owned content can be a huge benefit because your PR team can often use this content as a starting point to build PR pitches and make your story more personal and engaging.
An effective PR strategy works best when owned content and earned media are synergistic and can build off of one another. For example, a prominent piece of coverage shared in a customer email, a newsletter and/or on social channels can help to increase engagement. It expands your reach across multiple channels to amplify your messages and create more awareness for your brand.
As part of our b2b content creation, TechComms, we work closely with our clients to create content that resonates with the media and can be used across owned channels to build stronger relationships with all audiences — customers, media, analysts, employees and investors.
Let us help you make the most of teaming up owned content and earned media for PR success. Please contact TechComms, a b2b tech marketing and communications agency on + 44 (0) 203 322 8928.
