Last month, I attended a seminar about brand journalism with the one and only Mark Ragan, CEO of Ragan Communications and publisher of PR Daily. Ragan is among the kings of PR, but even this king has been forced to revise his strategy as we move into the next world of marketing and communications that goes beyond solely media relations.

At the event, hosted by PRSA Colorado, Ragan pointed out the differences between what he has established as brand journalism and traditional PR storytelling, as well as the need for the former within any comprehensive communications strategy. The reason why? Brand journalism, which is a journalism-style approach to mixing content marketing, public relations and corporate communications, creates credibility and affinity for an organization. Many people are tired of in-your-face-type marketing in this day and age, and just want to be told a good story, which brand journalism does.

Here are the key differences between the brand journalism and traditional PR approach to content for you to consider incorporating into your communications program:

  • Brand journalism is the exact opposite of the traditional press release. It should be engaging, inspirational and/or fun, whereas traditional press releases tend to be bland, more matter of fact, and potentially with the company “beating its chest” about the great work it’s done, what it has accomplished or the new project it launched.
  • Brand journalism doesn’t tell, it shows. For example, consider a traditional healthcare press release that begins with “U.S. News & World Report names XYZ hospital to its recent list of best hospitals”? Ragan says a better way to tell the story of being named to this exclusive list is to develop a patient profile piece that showcases what the facility and its doctors do for patients that earned them this recognition.
  • Brand journalism is audience centric, not executive centric. Brand journalism focuses on writing for the audience, whether that be patients, a certain neighborhood or employees – not writing for what the executive team wants to say about their business.
  • Brand journalism focuses on audience benefits versus company achievements. Showing what you can do for people, rather than bragging about what it is you do, is the way to go.
  • Brand journalism publishes news as a news outlet. Utilize your company’s communications department to be your own New York Times – publishing news about unique things happening at your company, emerging research or interesting employee profiles. Be a reporter within your own organization.
  • Brand journalism is explanatory journalism. By explaining things and creating stories, you avoid the boring “graveyard of press releases,” as Ragan describes it, on a website that no one uses. For example, when President Trump recently visited Pittsburgh, the city didn’t tell the story of “Trump visiting Pittsburgh because of XYZ.” The city created a story about what goes into prepping for a presidential visit, showing a side of the story that not many people know.

When starting your brand journalism strategy, you must keep in mind a business purpose or it will not succeed – for instance, if you’re trying to sell more furniture or want to be seen as an expert in a certain subject matter. This is also a great way to get buy-in from top-level executives who may not understand brand journalism and push you on your way to continuing with traditional PR, marketing and advertising tactics.

As a brand journalist, you must also act as a publisher – whatever content you create, make it for multiple uses and platforms. Create a story for your brand journalism site, which could take the shape of a separate tab on your current site or a microsite outside of your existing website. Make a video for social media posts and stand-alone video sites. Put the content in newsletters. Use this content to create a better pitch for media, and so forth.

But won’t this affect my ability to get media coverage, you say? Quite the opposite. In fact, taking a brand journalism approach will better prepare you for media outreach as it provides content that saves media time and gives additional resources. Not only can you pitch this same or similar information to media, you can also develop a subscription for journalists to regularly receive content from your company and/or send it out in newsletter form on a weekly or monthly basis.

All in all, Ragan encouraged us to become the media, which will also help us appeal to media. Knowing that we’ll never completely steer way from pitching traditional media, brand journalism is a great complement to your existing media outreach strategy, giving a way to build your own content and create your own newsroom to tell your story.

‍