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Best Move for Content Marketing? Hire a Journalist

 

content marketing journalistsAs inbound marketers, it has been beaten into our brains that content marketing is the coolest new kid on the block. CONTENT! CONTENT! CONTENT! OK, we get it. But where does this content come from? How do we make it engaging and influential? How do we make sure it is, you know, grammatically correct?

The answer is easy: hire a journalist. There are plenty of people who agree:

There are plenty more, but here's what you really need to know: The top 5 reasons why ex-journalists are rocking this new content marketing world and why you need to hire one ASAP.

  1. Journalists have good ideas: One of the hardest parts of content marketing is continuously coming up with ideas. Fresh content is a must, but sometimes brainstorming topics is a bust. Journalists, especially those who worked at daily newspapers, were forced to come up with several enticing topics every day. Give them a topic and they will create 10 ideas in a matter of minutes.
  2. Journalists get their facts straight: Knowing your topic is essential when writing content. Whether you need to know about one software product or a variety of clients, journalists take care to research and learn the topic first. They learn things in an hour then turn around and write content that teaches other people about the topic, only in a consumer-friendly way.
  3. Journalists get to know their audience(s): Not all content can be created equally. Whether the potential customer is a senior citizen, an engineer or a millennial, journalists know how to talk to each one of them. Just like they learn the facts, they learn the buyer, too.
  4. Journalists get it done on time: Journalists thrive on deadlines. It is where they get their drive and dedication. There is probably not a single journalist who likes to turn in her story late. In fact, they’d probably lose their jobs if they did it more than once or twice.  So they write like their lives depend on it. Not a bad quality in an employee, huh?
  5. Journalists make it all better: Journalists will make any content throughout your organization better. Emails, newsletters, press releases, fax cover letters— you name it, they can improve it. Maybe it is just adding in a missing comma, or maybe it is reshaping the message, but when you let a journalist loose in your organization, all of your content is bound to improve.

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Comments

Couldn't agree more, Chad! We hired a journalist last summer (Sean Johnson, @Sean_P_Johnson) an ex-Gannett writer, and it was a great move for us and Sean. And for all the reasons you've cited. While the world of traditional journalism is coming apart, the opportunities for the journalist 2.0 are exploding. There's no keeping skill down!
Posted @ Monday, February 20, 2012 8:22 AM by Greg Linnemanstons
Sorry, Brianne! I guess I have a little bit of a Chad bias. My mistake.
Posted @ Monday, February 20, 2012 8:24 AM by Greg Linnemanstons
No worries Greg! We all have a bit of a Chad bias ;)
Posted @ Monday, February 20, 2012 8:28 AM by Brianne Carlon
It's a brilliant move to hire them for both small and large companies. All you are online is based on the content you produce. 
 
I see this as a growing trend because in PR we outnumber traditional journalists 4:1 now, which makes getting coverage for our clients that much harder. I would call this Brand/PR Journalism that through the use of social media allows us to engage with our communities directly in meaningful and honest discussions. A good journalist based on your five points above wants to write stories that will build an audience so that they can become an influencer themselves. Like any other position or job, they want to shine based on the work they do so if they have any agenda, bias or "spin," it will only their chances.
Posted @ Monday, February 20, 2012 9:22 AM by Trace Cohen
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