It’s no secret that PR professionals spend a great deal of time developing thought leadership opportunities for clients. As a result, we’re often left with an abundance of ideas and content. However, things don’t always go according to plan, and we’re often left with these questions:

• How do we ensure content reaches the right audiences?
• How can we capitalize on opportunities available for powerful thought leadership bylines?
• What should we do when journalists don’t bite on a compelling proactive pitch?

To address questions like these, PR professionals should follow the four R’s – repurpose, reshare, reformat and rethink. These four strategies will help ensure that you maximize developed content and deliver results for your clients.

Repurpose content for other outlets

If you have a client with active blog content, repurposing that content for earned media placements is a great way to reach new audiences. Many outlets accept syndicated content, and there are several benefits to repurposing a client’s content, including enhanced visibility, increased website traffic and a reinforced thought leadership stance.

However, if you choose to syndicate content, it must match the audience of the outlets you pitch. For example, if you secure a placement with a business publication, but your target audience works in human resources, your content won’t reach the right people. As a result, even though you earned a syndicated placement, the content won’t connect with readers, which weakens its impact and the success of the article.

This is why you should always research publications before you pitch as it ensures you’re offering syndicated content to the right places, creating a lasting impact that can improve visibility, audience reach and website traffic.

Reshare thought leadership content as digital newsletters

It’s likely that customers haven’t seen all of a client’s earned media placements. However, it’s still essential that clients maximize the content and offer multiple opportunities for customers to read it. Resharing byline placements in a digital newsletter is an excellent way for already-developed content to reach new eyes.

Newsletters can be a powerful content-sharing source. Eighty-one percent of B2B marketers say their most-used form of content marketing is email newsletters, as the content is delivered directly to customers. However, clients should ensure they’re strategic with their newsletters. Recent research shows audiences are more likely to open emails and click through if they receive fewer than five newsletters a week.

By leveraging newsletters, clients can reinforce thought leadership positioning and strengthen relationships with current customers who may not be active on other platforms like social media or blogs.

Reformat content for social media

If you’re struggling to come up with creative social media copy and content ideas, revisiting already-developed content is a great place to start. By leveraging previous articles, blogs and newsletters, PR professionals can save time typically spent brainstorming social media concepts. In fact, 82% of social media marketers say they reuse content across social media channels.

For example:

• Twitter: Turn a thought leadership idea from a pitch or article into a thoughtful tweet. This will not only strengthen a company’s position on a specific topic, but it will reinforce the client as an industry thought leader in an easily digestible and shareable way. Don’t forget to throw in a compelling hashtag, as tweets with hashtags get 100% more engagement!
• Facebook: Turn a list of thought-provoking findings from an already-developed article or pitch into a Facebook post. This will help boost engagement and replies on the platform while providing followers with content they may have missed.
• TikTok and Instagram: Take an article, blog post or proactive pitch and develop a TikTok or Instagram video that highlights the main findings. For example, PR professionals can research the latest viral dance trends and incorporate the most critical points from a thought leadership piece into a routine. This allows companies to reach a broader audience and create a new way for followers to engage with content.

Rethink proactive pitches as thought leadership content

According to a recent survey, 48% of journalists receive between 1-5 pitches daily, and 13% get over 20 per day. As a result, proactive pitching doesn’t always get the responses you were aiming for. However, PR professionals shouldn’t get discouraged or simply move on. Instead, get creative. In what other ways might the content elevate the client?

A staggering 71% of industry decision-makers say that less than half of the thought leadership content they consume gives them valuable insights. This leaves a significant gap that PR professionals can fill with compelling, already-developed content and ideas.

If a proactive pitch campaign isn’t delivering the anticipated results, consider developing the pitch into an article for the client’s website, blog, social media and newsletters. The valuable information is still shared with target audiences and industry decision-makers, reinforcing the client’s stance as an influential thought leader in their respected industry.

This is important: 65% of audiences say thought leadership significantly improved their perception of a company. So, the next time a proactive pitch campaign doesn’t go as planned, consider how the content can be repackaged to position your client as an influential thought leader.

The four R’s

These are just a few ways PR professionals can capitalize on already-developed content and deliver results for clients. When campaigns don’t go as planned or you’re up to your ears in content, just remember the four R’s – repurpose, reshare, reformat and rethink – and put together a strategy that supports a client’s goals and reinforces them as a powerful industry thought leader.