Brighton SEO 2017: Six Kick Ass Content Strategies - Laura Hampton

Laura Hampton
IMPRESSION
Six Kick Ass Content Strategies to Boost Digital PR
and Link Building Success
@lauralhampton @impressiontalk
https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

@lauralhampton

Six kick ass content
ideas to help you build
links
@lauralhampton

#1: Use what
you’ve got
@lauralhampton

It’s our
responsibility to get
to know our clients.
Clients won’t always offer up the
information to you. But it’s important you
know who they are, what they represent,
where their core skills lie and what they
want to be known for.
@lauralhampton

If they like to jump
out of planes, you
want to know!
Their passions can get them featured with
quick win comment opportunities - try
Response Source or Twitter for
#JournoRequest and #PRRequest
@lauralhampton

Help them identify
areas for thought
leadership
Spot topical opportunities for your client to
comment on a relevant issue and become a
thought leader.
Be aware of non-topical issues; what does
your client want to be known for?
@lauralhampton

Mine their data and
use it to inspire and
inform content
Data is still a very relevant source of
content ideas. Identifying the data your
client already has can reap huge rewards,
especially when you use a combined data
and PR approach.
@lauralhampton

Find your unique
selling point (USP)
If you’re just saying the same thing as
everyone else, it won’t work. Rather than
banging the same old drum, this is all about
finding a new angle, whether that USP is
that your client jumps from airplanes, they
have millions of records of data or they
have a huge audience from which you can
extract content and information.
@lauralhampton

#2: Borrow from
others
@lauralhampton

As creatives, we can
make content from
even the dullest of
sources...
When your client tells you they really have
nothing of their own to talk about, number
one - don’t believe them, and number two -
think about the other content sources you
can use.
@lauralhampton

We 💖 Government
data - follow ONS!
Government data is freely available - and if
you can’t find what you’re looking for, use
WhatDoTheyKnow.com.
Follow the daily ONS data updates and you
can uncover new content ideas by looking
for things that are relevant to your
audience and where you can add extra
value.
@lauralhampton

Wikipedia = content
inspiration goldmine!
Wikipedia is a great source of content
inspiration - be aware that it is curated by the
public so be sure to verify sources!
By taking information that’s relevant to your
brand and audience, and combining it with
creativity to use that information in a new way,
you can create great content!
@lauralhampton

Everybody loves
offline marketing
(no, really!)
As online marketers, we can be guilty of
forgetting about offline and the role it plays.
Be aware of offline activities, events and
initiatives relevant to your/your client’s
business and audience, and use that to
inspire new content campaigns.
@lauralhampton

#3: Hack the
press
@lauralhampton

We know what they
want. They want
what we know.
Synergy.
PR hacking is all about understanding what
journalists want and then creating content
that appeals to them. There are certain
content formats that always go down well,
and we can make use of those.
@lauralhampton

Be ready to
comment on topical
(and non topical)
stories
Journalists love comments. They need
them to build out their stories. Be prepared
with pre-approved comments so you can
provide them to the journalist before the
story breaks.
@lauralhampton

What’s been
covered once, will
be covered again.
Just because a story has been covered
once, doesn’t mean it won’t be covered
again. In fact, if a story has performed well
(in terms of reach and engagement), it’s
more likely to be re-covered, providing you
can give a unique new spin.
@lauralhampton

Journalists love
data. Especially
when it’s topical.
We talk a lot about data. It’s still a really
relevant content format, and journalists love
it. Be aware of trending topics and news
stories and be ready to provide data you
have if it’s relevant and of genuine value.
@lauralhampton

Get to know
freelance journalists
and their stories
Freelancers are a goldmine for content and
feature opportunities. Spend some time
identifying the journalists that can best help
you, and be aware of the stories they’re
producing. You can then create content
that either backs up or opposes their
stories, giving them a new angle to write
about.
@lauralhampton

#4: Make news
from nothing
@lauralhampton

Be creative. Make
something from
nothing.
So many content campaigns start with a
team brainstorm or a simple thought in the
shower. Don’t be afraid to create content
from nothing! Just be sure it has a clear
purpose, hook and benefit to the audience.
@lauralhampton

Know the story you
want, then create it.
When we start with a PR story in mind, we
have a much better chance of getting our
story covered. Creating geographical or
demographical splits can create even more
opportunities for coverage and links.
@lauralhampton

Take a different angle
on an existing story
to reinvigorate it
By giving a different perspective or point of
view, we can create new content to gain us
coverage and links. It’s made even easier
when we can simply mine the backlinks of
existing content and make those our targets!
@lauralhampton

Surveys are still a
great source of
‘news from nothing’
If you can get a large enough sample size
(e.g. 1,000 responses), you can create
‘news from nothing’ and use that to inspire
new content and coverage/links.
@lauralhampton

#5: Find content
in forums
@lauralhampton

People love to talk.
And they talk a lot.
The old adage goes that if you want to
engage your target audience, you need to
get involved in their existing conversations.
Forums are a great source of conversation.
@lauralhampton

Follow social media
conversations.
Social media might not be the core focus of
your role, but it can reveal some interesting
content ideas based on what people discuss.
Hootsuite is a great tool for mining Twitter
conversations. Follow what your competitors
are talking about. Look at what influencers
have to say.
@lauralhampton

Mine forums to
identify topics of
interest to your
audience
Use tools like Bloomberry and visit forums like
Reddit to find topics that are popular and where you
could add value. AskReddit is a goldmine!
You also have a ready made audience for your
content!
@lauralhampton

#6: More bites of
the cherry
@lauralhampton

Content marketing
isn’t just about
gaining links (yep, I
said it!)
The purpose of content marketing, while
we do want to use it to gain links and
coverage, is also to engage our target
audience. When we incorporate this
thinking into our strategies, we can get two
bites of the promotional pie.
@lauralhampton

If you want your
content to fly, you
need to ask ‘so what?’
If you do want to create content that travels on its
own merit, it has to give the audience something -
e.g. an analysis of their driving skills, or a review of
how much time they are wasting.
Consider supporting with paid advertising.
@lauralhampton

1. Use what you’ve got
2. Borrow from others
3. Hack the press
4. Make news from nothing
5. Forums and featured snippets
6. More bites of the cherry
6 CONTENT STRATEGIES
@lauralhampton

Thank you
laura@impression.co.uk
26-30 Stoney Street
Nottingham
NG1 1LL
01158 242 212
@lauralhampton
@lauralhampton

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