Messaging is a critical component of any successful public relations strategy. When you clearly and consistently communicate with target audiences, they’re more likely to retain the information you’re sharing and engage with your brand.
That’s why it’s a good idea to periodically review all of your written materials to ensure they still convey the story you want to tell and align with both your PR and business objectives. Such a content audit can help identify gaps in messaging and strengthen marketing communications campaigns.
By taking stock of your content, where it lives and how it’s used, you get a clearer picture of how well it meets audience needs and can identify opportunities for improvements.
The best place to start is evergreen verbiage, like the boilerplate paragraph at the end of news releases and website copy. Then go through your social media posts, your blog and other existing marketing materials. Review the language, answering the following questions as you go:
- Does it support your business objectives?
- Is the tone of voice consistent across all mediums?
- Are target audience benefits clearly communicated?
- Is the messaging on point?
- Does it include the most current information?
- Is it appropriate given existing social or economic conditions?
- Does it spark high engagement?
- Does it contain the most relevant keywords for search engine optimization?
Keep your company’s growth goals and positioning in mind as you go through this exercise. Consider recently updated mission or vision statements, as well as shifting priorities that could include initiatives around diversity and inclusion, promoting new products or services, remote work or other trending deliverables.
Systematically analyze the copy, starting with the most visible pieces. For example, you could begin with the home page of your website and then look at other pages according to how many visitors each one receives. Address the most popular blocks of copy on your website first, and work your way through the entire site.
Prioritize other copy according to the business priorities you identified when you began the audit. As you finish evaluating each chunk of copy, revise or update it so that you can answer ‘yes’ to as many of the above questions as possible. You may also conclude that the best course of action is to delete some of it.
Your findings should also reveal if any new content needs to developed. Use your research to determine what copy works and reads well, and mirror successful style elements when writing new materials.
Content audits can be time-consuming, so you may want to break the project into pieces and complete it over a reasonable period of time. It’s worth the effort, though, because you’ll glean insights that will help you craft more effective copy going forward that can maximize PR results.
Another option is to partner with qualified experts like the seasoned PR pros at GYC Vegas who can sift through everything for you and report back how you can improve your copy – and, in so doing, get more out of your PR efforts. We’ve been helping clients find the right words for decades.
That’s because words matter. Strung together properly and thoughtfully, they can influence purchase decisions, change minds, stir emotions, start movements, and make or break companies. Contact us today to learn how we can put our experience to work for you.