This document discusses the rise of content marketing and its impact on public relations (PR). It notes that brands are now directly telling their stories to audiences through social media and organic search without media filters. Content marketing has become an important tactic for generating earned media. There is now a crowded content marketing landscape with many players competing for audiences. The document questions how brands should organize their content marketing efforts, what skills are needed, and how PR can fit within this new landscape focused on engaging content.

1. Content
Marketing:
The Earned Media
Revolution
2014 PRAM Conference
Kevin Briody
@kevinbriody

2. Generating earned
media used to be
the special domain
of PR and the tools
of that trade
media was the primary
non-paid path
to the audience

3. Today, brands are
telling their own
stories
direct to the audience
without filter, interpretation
bypassing the media
relying on mechanisms such
as organic search and social
media spread to drive that
wonderful earned media

4. AUDIENCE
METRIC
TACTIC
Media & Influencers
Influencers & Customers
Placement & Tone
Organic Search & Social Spread
Relationship – Pitch
Brand-Created Stories
Worth Sharing

5. Result? It’s getting
crowded out there
social media was just the
start of the change
content marketing turns
generating earned media
into an omni-channel
marketing function
everyone is piling on:
agency partners
internal teams
every kind of expert

6. “Content marketing is the technique of
creating and distributing relevant and valuable
content to clearly defined and understood
audiences - with the objective of driving
profitable customer action.”
-PACE

7. content
marketing
≠
simply
storytelling

8. “Content marketing is the technique of
creating and distributing relevant and valuable
content to clearly defined and understood
audiences - with the objective of driving
profitable customer action.”
-PACE

9. Content marketing
is not new
aka
branded publishing,
custom content

10. PACE has been doing it for 40 years…

11. So why is it all the rage now?
1. Distribution got vastly cheaper
2. We figured out how to prove it works
3. Rise of social media catalyzed demand
for engaging content

12. 2013
Content
Marketing
Institute
/
MarketingProfs
86%
USE CONTENT MARKETING
14%
DO NOT USE
CONTENT
MARKETING
The evidence of
the wave is in…

13. What does the rise of content
marketing mean for PR?

14. Remember the crowd
I mentioned?
It’s like an earned media rager out there!

15. But the questions this raises for PR, and
the industry as a whole, are immense…

16. Who owns content
marketing within
brand walls?
PR, Marketing,
Brand, Social,
Support…
A cross-audience
“content” function?
Varies by desired goal:
brand affinity, satisfaction,
reach/impressions,
sentiment, e-commerce,
retail referrals, etc.

17. How do we measure success
against those goals?
Blending web
analytics, social
analytics, PR metrics,
& omni-channel
attribution modeling

18. …don’t forget endless performance optimization

19. Who do brands
partner with?
AORs (Creative, Digital, PR)
Specialists (Content, Social
Media, SEO)
Technology Shops
Everyone is building a
content practice or toolset,
but each with a distinct
flavor and focus.

20. What skills, work experience, and functional
specialists are the best fit?
Editors, journalists, PR, marketers, content strategists…?

21. Social media as a
guide to content
marketing’s future?
ü Massive hype and
expectations
ü Rise of specialists
ü Everyone jumps in the
pool
ü Ownership battles ensue
and PR stakes a claim
ü Transformation from
discrete strategy to
ingredient tactic
ü Still unsettled…

22. Where does PR ultimately fit into the emerging
content marketing mix?

23. Traditional PR skills and
expertise are essential in a
content marketing world
Mastery of storytelling, working
with editors and journalists
Expertise with timely content
& how to influence the news cycle
Knowledge of identifying and engaging
influencers
Generating earned media

24. “Content marketing is the technique of
creating and distributing relevant and valuable
content to clearly defined and understood
audiences - with the objective of driving
profitable customer action.”
-PACE
what’s unspoken is the how

25. PR = Earned
Media
Specialists
Content
Marketing
Social
Media
Influencer &
Media
Engagement

26. Thanks!
Kevin Briody
SVP, Content Marketing
kevin.briody@paceco.com
@kevinbriody

27. Image Credits
Images not listed were sourced through iStockPhoto or provided by my
employer. All others found via Creative Commons search on Flickr and
Compfight. Flickr source user listed by slide, with apologies for any slight
errors:
2. WilsonRivera
3. muffin9101985
5 & 14. marfis75
7. armadillo444
13. LizGrace
15. Penuja
16. Panouino
17. Filmingilman
18. Livenature
19. spblatt
23. Damianhopper
25. Mformatthjis (background image)