There’s no doubt that I’ve blogged about content creation previously. However, it’s such an important subject, when it comes to public relations I believe it’s worth revisiting.
I am of the opinion that a key role for PR professionals these days is content creation. We’ve always created content, but I feel more so now than ever before.
So often clients say to me ‘I don’t have the time to write blogs, press releases, or social media posts.’ Well, as content creators, that’s what we do. I can knock out a Gem PR & Media blog in 20 minutes. Admittedly I’ve been writing thousands of words a week for more than at decade so as long as I know what I want to say it’s pretty simple. Yes, when I have to research or write about something new, it takes longer. But when I’ve switched into writing mode and I have a list of blogs, posts, or press releases that need writing – I’m raring to go.
I believe the content creation services that we offer clients are of great value because we have access to information from newsfeeds, third party bloggers, journals etc., we can commit the time we need to getting an article or blog written and have the writing skills; punctuation, grammar, and syntax to boot.
I don’t mind that my role moves between consulting with clients on their campaigns to creating the content for them – it’s actually the best part of what we do. So, I say, bring it on.
However, for those of you creating your own content, here are a few tips:
1. Always keep your target audience in mind
2. Don’t waffle – get to the point
3. Blogs don’t need to be 1000s of words long – 300 words is sufficient
4. It sounds obvious, but always include a beginning, middle, and end
5. Cover the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How
6. Use key terms for online content
7. Writing a headline for a newspaper article is different to writing one for online content – make sure you grasp the difference
8. Include links to your website, social media platforms and/or your email
9. If you’re including quotes from the company owner, CEO or manager, for example, make sure you introduce him or her
10. Make your content interesting, relevant, and timely
