What is brand journalism and is it right for your company?

5 tips to help you use brand journalism to connect with your audience and boost your brand awareness

Most companies have a love/hate relationship with journalists. They know they need journalists to increase their visibility and boost their credibility, but getting their attention can be frustrating and time-consuming. As a result, many businesses take matters into their own hands by using brand journalism.

Telling your company’s story is a wonderful way to connect with your audience. With brand journalism, you can build a media function inside your own company and control your story. If you decide that brand journalism is right for you, trust public relations professionals to help you use it to its maximum advantage.

Definition of brand journalism

Sometimes called corporate media or corporate journalism, brand journalism is creating journalistic content for your own company instead of waiting for the media to do it. Some companies may hire journalists to craft news-like content on their behalf with the purpose of generating leads. Others create a full, dedicated news site, complete with camera crews and an on-site studio, to cover their company and their industry.

News is really just another type of content. You can use it to attract your target audience, provide information and build brand awareness. Journalists receive dozens of news releases and pitches every day, but may only write one story per day. This often means that even good stories can fall through the cracks. Having an in-house news setup allows you to publish important information the media may have missed.

You can use this type of news/storytelling to highlight important aspects of your company, presenting your company the way you want. It’s also another way to attract media interest. Make your branded journalism content open and available to the media, and they might decide to use your information for a news article.

How to use brand journalism effectively at your company

Only publish information that is verifiable and true.

Just because you’re in control of what’s published and you want to show your company in the best light doesn’t mean you can lie. You must be honest about the content, where it comes from and why you’re publishing it.

Don’t make it all about your company.

Customers expect more than just long advertisements about your company. If you provide valuable information about your industry and tips to improve their lives or businesses, they will keep coming back.

Be bold with your content.

Don’t be afraid to express an opinion, show your personality or take a side. This will make your information more appealing and encourage engagement with your audience.

Look for promotional opportunities.

Creating your own content is great, but it will be useless if no one ever sees it. Seek out influencers in your industry or on social media to help spread your content. Some mainstream media outlets also look to publish syndicated articles, providing even more opportunities to get your story to a wider audience.

Hire a PR agency to help you.

Brand journalism helps to get the conversation started, but you need PR to keep it going. Just providing content isn’t enough; you have to provide the right kind of content to be effective.

Axia Public Relations will help you tell good stories designed to interest your buyer personas for increased brand awareness and impact. We use videos, marketing materials and other award-winning special effects to help you meet your biggest promotional challenges. To learn more about how we can be your strategic partner, contact us today or download our e-book Maximizing Your Public Relations Investment.

Lisa Goldsberry is a blogger for Axia Public Relations with more than 15 years of public relations experience. She specializes in business and technology PR. Lisa has worked for Axia since December 2013. Learn more about Lisa Goldsberry. Connect with Axia on Twitter @axiapr or tell us what you think in the comments below.