Use Contributed Articles to Up Your PR/Marketing Game

Contributing a bylined article in a print or online healthcare publication is one of the best ways to up your PR/marketing game by building your organization’s reputation as a credible information source and bringing attention to your capabilities as a solutions provider.

Here’s what the research tells us:

• Earned media is the most trusted form of advertising. (Nielsen, 2013.)
• Lead-generation driven by earned media outperforms lead generation driven by paid media by 10-15%. (Conductor, 2014.)
• 70% of consumers want to learn about products through content, rather than traditional advertisements. (Inc., 2015.)

In addition to its stellar performance against traditional marketing and advertising tactics, earned media bylines have the potential to enhance every facet of your current PR and marketing efforts.

Think of vendor-neutral, solutions-agnostic bylines as the stock base of a really great soup or stew. Home cooks and professional chefs use these flavorful stock compounds to enhance countless dishes. Similarly, contributed articles can refitted to enhance any number of PR and marketing vehicles, including social media and blog posts, white papers, and case studies. Positive coverage that earned contributions garner can also be a stepping stone to encouraging existing customers to participate in media interviews or as co-authors on future articles.

They can also serve as key collateral for your organization’s sales team. IGD Enterprise notes that 74% of technology influencers and decision-makers turn first to third-party content sites for information on vendors and solutions in order to develop RPFs or RFIs. A glossy reprint or simple PDF of a contributed article is a great for prospects seeking additional information and validation on your solutions and services.

Producing regular bylines will help you build lasting relationships with editors and the audience their publications reach. I helped a client develop an editorial calendar that included topics and targeted publications. After three or four placements, we found that we no longer had to solicit editors they were coming to us.

Whether you are penning listicles, high-level thought leader pieces, or granular articles in the style of long-form journalism, earned media contributions are proven, long-lived, and essential components in any PR/Marketing toolbox.