The PR industry has evolved beyond traditional media relations and now requires a variety of skillsets. In a world where content is king, it’s vital for PR professionals to master working with content creators. 

Earlier this year, the PR Club tackled this topic with the help of panelists Jennifer Bonney, Creative Director at PAN Communications, Owen Mack, freelance videographer and owner of Cobrandit, Lindsey Flynn, experienced content strategist and leader, and moderator Manny Veiga, Content Strategist at March Communications. 

Because each panelist plays a different role in content creation, it made for an interesting and insightful discussion. Here are three key takeaways:

1. Content can be repurposed in various ways

As the need for content grows, the ways it can take shape are constantly evolving. Infographics are an excellent example of this. Typically a robust, visual representation of data, Infographics are meant to get a lot of information across in a digestible way. While this can be overwhelming depending on the platform you see it on, Infographics can be broken down into smaller, social-friendly formats that are more suitable for mobile consumption. The same is true for a podcast. While podcasts in their true form are great ways to tell stories, those stories can be repurposed for different platforms as well. For example, a podcast transcript can be repackaged into an ebook, the key takeaways can be turned into quick hitting videos, and quotes can be turned into social graphics.

2. Content creation is a critical part of PR 

Believe it or not, five years ago content teams were trying to prove their value to clients. For a while, content creation was mainly project based, with little room for integration. Fast forward to 2020, PR and content teams are now closely integrated within agencies, showing how crucial content has become to brand communications.

From an in-house perspective, content was originally seen as a “nice-to-have,” but brands are finally starting to recognize the value of content, making it an integral part of their communications strategies. Instead of creating a single video or infographic, marketers are thinking about ways to transform long-form content into short, digestible formats that can be integrated across marketing efforts, from the top of the funnel right down to the bottom.

3. Communication is critical to achieve the best results

Each panelist emphasized how important communication is, whether you’re the person requesting the content, or creating it. A strong content team starts with a project manager that can help manage client communication. As Own explains, establishing an outline upfront with goals, objectives and the content’s overall look and feel can be vital in avoiding confusion and keeping frustrations to a minimum. The more details provided upfront can help save trips back to the drawing board later on.

Overall, the best way to work with content creators is to lay everything on the table from the start. If both sides can align on goals and objectives at the beginning of a project, the more successful it will be in the end. 

This blog post was written by Rachael Lewin from March Communications.