Why your marketing department needs inbound PR now!

4 ways to drive traffic to your website

These days, it’s not enough for your marketing department to make cold media pitches, write news releases and send cold emails to journalists, hoping to get coverage. In this digital marketing age, your corporate marketing department needs a more comprehensive strategy – one that will attract customers and bring the media to you. The answer for your business and your marketing department may be inbound public relations.

What is inbound PR?

Traditional PR is outbound and interruptive, rarely getting you in front of many audiences or reaching many influencers. Inbound PR combines the strengths of PR with the inbound marketing strategy. Writing and content are at the heart of every great marketing department, and these are two things PR does well. Enter the inbound marketing strategy, which uses the methodology – attract, convert, close and delight – to bring customers and the media to you. This methodology is a terrific way to measure success. The power of content and writing plus the power of inbound marketing = inbound PR.

Starting inbound PR in your marketing department

Let’s focus on four things that your marketing department can do to start the inbound PR process and drive traffic to your website:

1. Research your media personas.

Find the journalists, bloggers, YouTubers and more that have an interest in you. Find out what a day in their lives looks like and figure out how they prefer you to contact them. Research, research, research.

2. Write remarkable, educational content.

The key to writing remarkable content is doing research. Make sure you center your content on your media personas and what they need. Educate, inform and focus on the people you want to reach.

3. Have a tremendous online presence.

Once you write your content, be sure that it’s findable and available. It’s not enough to post on Facebook once a month. Write often, publish often and use the power of your content to build your web presence and drive customers and the media to your site.

4. Nurture your media leads.

Once you develop relationships, continue to foster trust, and share your expertise on a regular basis. Media relations are essential and knowing how to stay in touch with journalists is a must.

Attract with inbound PR

With inbound PR, media and journalists will come to you. Combine remarkable content with the inbound marketing methodology and attract the right media personas. No more pushy cold calls and mass emails, and no more crossing your fingers waiting for a response. With inbound PR, you can build a solid strategy to drive interested traffic to your site. Download our e-book Learn Media Relations from the Media to learn what journalists want to know before you start your inbound PR process.

Alan Helquist is an entrepreneur and marketing professional with extensive experience in copywriting and public speaking. He graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Arts in English and passionately writes and speaks on anything from sports to public relations. Alan has been a member of the Axia team since June 2017. Connect with Axia on Twitter @axiapr or tell us what you think in the comments below.

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