Your Marketing And PR Content – Recycle To Make The Most Of Your Copy

Most businesses have positive stories to tell that will help them sell more of what they do, if only managers could get around to telling them by sitting in front of the word processor more often. Visitors to your website, trade and local media – all are hungry for worthwhile information which your company could provide.
Trouble is when management time, staff or budget is limited, there are just too many excuses. Consequently little may be delivered on a regular basis, if at all. And when you – as owner or beleaguered manager – are finally ready to put fingers to keyboard that blank screen can seem a mighty big space to fill, especially when day-to-day matters are pressing. You know you have a vibrant case study that really shows your company in the best possible light but where’s the space to get it done? How do you make good intentions happen?
One answer is to think of the story you have to tell in as wide a context as possible; that way you make the effort needed to generate it truly justifiable and worthwhile. Don’t think solely in terms of a single output, such as a press release, but look at how the core story elements can be used again in other ways – as a case study, or perhaps an article. View your company’s activities, products and services as the source for a varied and adaptable content library that will really add to your promotional efforts.
Consider it a form of recycling. You reuse your content in different forms again and again to demonstrate your business’s expertise and value to potential customers while making the best use of your valuable time.
Let’s take a closer look at case studies as an example. These are great additions to your website, but don’t stop there. Include them in your press kit, reformat and print them off as PDF hand-outs to leave with customers or use them as a basis for targeting selected prospects who’ll be interested in the work you carried out. You can re-shape the key information as a press release by highlighting particularly newsworthy aspects of the story (the results you achieved, say, or your innovative approach to the problem). If you publish a newsletter, make sure you feature the outcome, or write a tantalizing summary to direct your readers to your website for the full story.
What about that feature article you never find the time to write? Why not regard this as a first step in spreading the information it contains across your business’s other marketing efforts? Consider it as an exclusive download for a lead generating email, or as an offer to your key trade journal for publication. The opinions you give, or the expertise and know-how you demonstrate, might even generate an interview or opportunity to be quoted. Don’t forget to re-use your thoughts on your website where they will add content for better search engine friendliness.
Start thinking about your company in terms of the solutions it provides and you’ll never be short of material. And if you take a wider view of where you can place that material with just a minimal amount of adaptation, finding the resources to get it written shouldn’t be a problem either.