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

1. 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/

2. @lauralhampton https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

7. Six kick ass content ideas to help you build links @lauralhampton https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

8. #1: Use what you’ve got @lauralhampton https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

9. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

10. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

12. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

14. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

16. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

17. #2: Borrow from others @lauralhampton https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

18. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

19. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

21. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

23. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

25. #3: Hack the press @lauralhampton https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

26. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

27. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

29. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

31. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

33. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

34. #4: Make news from nothing @lauralhampton https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

35. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

36. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

38. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

40. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

42. #5: Find content in forums @lauralhampton https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

43. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

44. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

46. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

48. #6: More bites of the cherry @lauralhampton https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

49. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

51. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

52. 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 https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/

53. Thank you laura@impression.co.uk 26-30 Stoney Street Nottingham NG1 1LL 01158 242 212 @lauralhampton @lauralhampton https://www.impression.co.uk/brighton-2017/