Content Marketing and the role of PR firms

Continuing on my recent content marketing rant…

When the marketing trend du jour emerges, the sirens usually sound proclaiming that “(insert marketing trend du jour here) is the end or death of public relations.”

Having been around for a long time, we saw that during the dot-com bubble when online communications became the rage. We also saw similar headlines five years ago at the beginning of the social media era. Now, content marketing is about to kill PR.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t plan to die any time soon.

In fact, as George Costanza used to say, “The opposite, Jerry.”

A couple of years ago I wrote about how PR firms were better positioned to lead the social media charge than their ad agency cousins. At the end of the day, I was right and wrong. The development of digital-agency offshoots of both created a third type of agency. The truth is we all do social pretty well and somewhat different from one another. 

In the case of content marketing, I once again feel strongly that PR firms, especially ones with specific skill sets, are very well positioned to lead their clients down this new path. You can read about THP’s approach here. 

Here are some questions you need to ask your agency to see if they pass the content marketing acid test:

Can they write? 

Every PR/marketing firm should be able to write, right? You would think so, but some as a whole can write better than others. Ask to see writing samples for blogs and content the firm has written for other clients.

Do they truly understand social platforms? 

By now most firms have created and managed social media campaigns, but at what level? Have they managed them for both B2B and B2C clients? What results have they achieved?

Can they create, find and manage content? 

Do they understand that content curation is something you just don’t wake up in the morning and do? Do they have experience in creating “personas” to target? Do they use editorial calendars for management and content approval?

Do they understand social advertising? 

If your firm thinks that social ads are as simple as boosting Facebook posts, then you need to ask if they are the right fit. Today’s social platforms are really ad platforms used to amplify content and drive traffic to content, websites and lead-generation tools, so firms need to be versed in how those platforms are maximized through their ad tools.

Can all marketing firms (including ad agencies, digital agencies and SEO experts) bring this set of combined skills to the table? No. Can all PR firms? Well, no. But those who can have a leg up on the ever-changing world of B2B and B2C content.

The truth is PR firms who have spent the past few years paying attention to the intersection of PR, social, digital and content should have a leg up on putting checks next to most or all of these bullets. 

The challenge is how they communicate this new expertise while not totally throwing the traditional PR capabilities under the bus. They still are good at them, they still need them and they work well with this brave new world of content.

Communications is what PR firms are supposed to do. It’s time they embrace that challenge as they try to be the content marketing standard bearer.