Getting Published: The Search Marketer's Guide to PR

7:11 AM
A public relations strategy is a big part of successful search campaigns. Getting your company's brand and employees exposed through media and social channels is incredibly important and can have a profound impact on links, rankings and traffic.

If you need a refresher or an overview on this topic, check out piece from earlier this year on search marketing integration.

Getting content picked up is a difficult process, but the rewards far exceed the investment. Let's explore the process of outreach along with tips and best practices for getting the media's attention. Following these guidelines will increase the probability of success.

Finding the Author

First and foremost, you need a personality to represent the content being created. I highly recommend finding the author first, and creating the content afterwards.

Sometimes this is very straightforward, but other times, not so much. Particularly, if you work for a large organization, or work for an agency, it may not be very clear who is available and willing.

Look for the really smart people at your company. The experts and thought leaders. Who developed your product? Who does the research? Typically there's someone that has an existing reputation through speaking engagements and previous publicity.

If you can't identify anyone, don't panic. People are naturally driven to share their knowledge and build a personal brand. This is especially true for the Gen Y's. You can approach those with titles like Researcher, Engineer, CTO, Product Manager, Directors and Executives.

Next, set a meeting with your colleague and explain what you're trying to do. You'll want to focus on the value of getting published from the colleague's perspective. Talk about how this will build their personal brand; get exposure for their product and will most likely have zero negative effect on their P&L.

During the meeting, you can identify the topics they specialize in and brainstorm the content subject matter. The content creation process starts right now!
A public relations strategy is a big part of successful search campaigns. Getting your company's brand and employees exposed through media and social channels is incredibly important and can have a profound impact on links, rankings and traffic.

If you need a refresher or an overview on this topic, check out piece from earlier this year on search marketing integration.

Getting content picked up is a difficult process, but the rewards far exceed the investment. Let's explore the process of outreach along with tips and best practices for getting the media's attention. Following these guidelines will increase the probability of success.

Finding the Author

First and foremost, you need a personality to represent the content being created. I highly recommend finding the author first, and creating the content afterwards.

Sometimes this is very straightforward, but other times, not so much. Particularly, if you work for a large organization, or work for an agency, it may not be very clear who is available and willing.

Look for the really smart people at your company. The experts and thought leaders. Who developed your product? Who does the research? Typically there's someone that has an existing reputation through speaking engagements and previous publicity.

If you can't identify anyone, don't panic. People are naturally driven to share their knowledge and build a personal brand. This is especially true for the Gen Y's. You can approach those with titles like Researcher, Engineer, CTO, Product Manager, Directors and Executives.

Next, set a meeting with your colleague and explain what you're trying to do. You'll want to focus on the value of getting published from the colleague's perspective. Talk about how this will build their personal brand; get exposure for their product and will most likely have zero negative effect on their P&L.

During the meeting, you can identify the topics they specialize in and brainstorm the content subject matter. The content creation process starts right now!