Brand Journalism: It’s All About the Why
In case you haven't heard, brand journalism is all the buzz in the world of public relations these days.
For the PR industry, there is a great opportunity to share a closer look at a brand or client's story, whether it's a product, service, customer, employee or an issue the brand cares about. That opportunity is made easier with the continuous advancement of social media and technology, such as smart phone apps and digital media capabilities.
With most people now receiving their news in the form of 140 characters on the screen of a smart phone, audiences are now ready to listen to a brand's story directly from the brand. Since they also have a lot of options on who to listen to, it is becoming increasingly important to curate content in ways relevant to your audience. By utilizing photo, video, social media and smart phone applications, we can generate compelling stories for our clients' brand journalism. Through social media, PR specialists can monitor what audiences are talking about and what is important to them. If this information is used wisely, it can be used to shape a client's story, thus enhancing the client's brand journalism.
For example, to build conversation around an important client event or promotion, PR pros can capture important moments and spread excitement for the event through different digital elements. Some ideas include conducting short video interviews with the client and audience participants, live tweeting the event with visual elements, collecting images for a future Facebook photo album, and filming brief portions of the event such as audience interaction, speakers, vendors, etc.
Taking that content is not enough. It is taking the right content and using it to tell the right, engaging story that will help PR pros take "content" and turn it into successful "brand journalism." The key to successfully document and share a client's story is to focus on the "why," not the "what" or "how" of a story. When capturing moments at an event or during a campaign, PR pros should focus on conveying their client's "why" in distinctive ways, such as behind-the-scenes actions, in order to make the client's brand journalism effective, engaging and easy to share.
Brand journalism is making waves in the PR world and it's safe to say that it is not going anywhere. When it is executed properly, brand journalism adds significance to the client, the client's audience and the media industry. What are you doing to incorporate a brand journalism strategy into your PR?
