Leveraging synergies, maintaining specific characteristics

The solution lies in a well-thought-out strategy and efficient content planning. After all, a press release does not translate directly to Facebook, and employer branding on Instagram works differently from employee advocacy on LinkedIn. Nevertheless, content managers can leverage many synergies between PR, social media and other disciplines, which both deliver added value for the target audiences and boost the communicative success of the sender.

A sea of possibilities – companies don’t have to use them all!

The foundation of all successful activities is, first and foremost, clear planning and prioritisation:

• What are my communication objectives?
• Which target audiences do I want to reach, and which topics and channels are suitable for this?
• How do I allocate my human and financial resources to achieve this?

These considerations not only lay the groundwork for day-to-day operations. They also clarify which activities companies can initially do without – perhaps because other tasks are more important, or because the external specialists required do not fit within the budget.

First the topic, then the implementation

Modern newsrooms focus not on channels and formats, but on topics, which they then adapt for different target audiences and media formats. This approach enables synergies, efficiency and transparency even for small communications departments, whilst still addressing the specific requirements of stakeholders and channels.

For example, a case study is a classic PR tool. But it doesn’t have to stop there, because there is much more to this carefully crafted content: meaningful quotes from project managers help establish expert positioning on social media, on the website or in further PR activities for both external and internal communication. Authentic photos relating to the specific customer story are ideal as visuals for social ads. And an illustration of the project timeline fits perfectly on the next sales flyer. Central to the versatile use of content is considering the various formats from the outset – for instance, tailoring quotes so they are understandable on their own, and creating video and image material in both portrait and landscape formats, making them suitable for multiple channels. This allows a single topic to be used in a way that is tailored to the target audience and specific to the channel, whilst presenting the overarching story consistently, emotionally and with genuine added value.