Whilst many construction businesses may assume that PR is not only costly but also difficult to measure, the evolution towards digital marketing has ensured that justifying your PR budget and decision-making has become a whole lot easier. Whilst print will always hold a worthy place within the construction industry, particularly for professionals wanting to see their names in magazines, the opportunity to combine this with data-driven, defined metrics is now possible with the shift towards online media coverage.
Here are a few advantages & disadvantages of both online and print PR:
Digital PR:
Advantages…
- Trackable: easy to measure success by setting up tracking codes within Google Analytics
- Link building opportunities: encourage external online websites to link through to yours to increase search visibility
- Long shelf life: a single, well written article can engage audiences for a long period of time, particularly when answering a well sought-after search query
Shareable: easily shared across a range of social media platforms amongst target audiences and with key industry publications
Disadvantages…
- When used without print coverage you may be missing out on visibility with more traditional audiences
Online PR:
Advantages…
- Popularity: traditional audiences and construction professionals still like to see printed copies of their project
Disadvantages…
- Difficult to measure: whilst shortcodes can be created, it’s difficult to know what percentage of readers will use this when visiting your website
- Short shelf life: magazines soon become replaced with the next monthly edition
With this in mind, construction marketers should incorporate an informative blend of both online and offline media activities to best meet business objectives. The options below will help to introduce you to the broad selection of PR coverage available, whilst allowing you to identify the type of terminology you’re bound to hear when liaising with different media publications.
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Considerations for combining Print and Online PR:
Regardless of the type of media coverage used, any content piece sent to the media should be carefully considered and reviewed for both relevancy and optimisation purposes. This will prevent you from sending content to the wrong place, which will undermine your credibility within the media.
What is the content for?
Have you considered the audience type that will be reading the piece, and is it engaging enough to encourage them onto the next step? To avoid random acts of marketing, each content piece should firmly sit within your content calendar schedule and be steered towards educating your audience on a particular topic, product or service.
Is the title suited for either print or online inclusion?
Titles that are interesting and engaging in print may not transfer well online, for example – ‘the devil is in the detail’ reads well as print inclusion for a specification audience but what type of online search results will your article show up in?
Is the copy optimised for online purposes?
If the copy is to be found online, consider the use of H1 header tags and introductory copy, along with keywords throughout the piece. Our post on optimising pages for your construction website covers tips that you can apply to online press releases.
What does the copy need to link to?
Your copy should always be accompanied with a clear call-to-action to ensure the reader is directed onto the next step – whether this is to try out a specification tool, download a brochure, enquiry form, newsletter sign-up or CPD .
If you’re interested in finding out more about how PR can be used as part of a larger, integrated construction marketing strategy, our new guide details exactly how to choose the right publication houses to work with and ways to successfully manage the process going forward.
You can download your free copy here.
