As PR professionals, we are constantly seeking innovative ways to amplify, leverage and increase visibility for clients. Considering the investment of time and energy that goes into securing coverage for clients, PR professionals should be asking themselves how to increase the reach of the content before it’s published.
In addition to the traditional strategies, integrating paid tactics is a way to take earned media amplification to the next level. To successfully use paid channels, you first need to understand what the content aims to accomplish and the types of paid options available. Setting specific goals and tracking the right KPIs will make it easier to adapt your content and your paid amplification strategy for success. Example KPIs include website traffic, increasing video views and boosting social channel engagement.
There are countless ways to incorporate paid channels into your amplification strategy, but this post highlights a few ways to elevate single pieces of content. Here are a few ideas to get started:
Paid Social Media Posts
Social amplification enables brands to amplify the reach of organic content and target the right audience. With social channel algorithms evolving daily to provide users with a better experience, brands need to supplement organic posts with paid promotion to ensure the posts are reaching their target audiences. Nearly every social platform offers some type paid amplification options.
You can bring individual content pieces to the news feeds of new, targeted audiences through boosted posts. It’s quick, easy, priced by the click and a great way to expand viewership on content that’s important to your brand. After posting the content on your Facebook business page, select the “Boost Post” button in the lower right corner. Define your audience, select a budget and amplify away.
Similar to boosted posts, Twitter’s promoted tweets give brands the option to elevate specific posts to new audiences. Twitter bases its targeting options on keywords, interests and followers. Tweets will be displayed directly on the user’s feed and can include specific calls to action, such as “register now” or “learn more.”
LinkedIn offers a variety of ways to leverage its 500-million-strong user base. A good place to start is its self-serve PPC advertising platform, which allows brands to target audiences based on a variety of criteria, such as job title, responsibilities, geography or age. Through its sponsored content feature, brands can pay to have content featured on a member’s LinkedIn home screen or news feed.
Content Recommendation
Content recommendation platforms allow brands to place their content on respected websites and media properties underneath other types of relevant content. Through companies like Outbrain, brands submit content to be linked to websites such as CNN, Time and ESPN. It’s an effective way to amplify without interrupting, as the headlines from brand publishers blend into the rest of the content recommendations, creating a seamless user experience.
Sponsored Content
Sponsored content or sponsored articles are an evolved version of what many PR professionals call advertorials and have been around for decades. In addition to sponsored content options on social channels, major publications are developing their own studios to create and host sponsored content. They usually employ a team that is separate from their editorial team to produce content for their sponsored content offerings. Using a publisher’s content studio doesn’t come cheap so a healthy budget is necessary when exploring sponsored content. Examples of content studios include, BrandVoice at Forbes, Partner Studio at Huffington Post and T Brand at The New York Times.
The perception of paid media is changing in PR agencies. In the last several years, paid media has transitioned from being a faux pas to becoming a core part of the PR strategy. Consumers are increasingly inundated, becoming more fragmented and harder to reach. To drive results for clients today, paid media can play an integral role in your overall strategy.