In our previous posts about the PESO model, we explained about paid and earned media and what benefits they bring to engineering, manufacturing and industrial companies. Today we’re looking at shared media.
Shared media is a term used to describe content that is created, shared and consumed by a group of people. It can include anything from photos and videos, to articles and social media posts. Shared media can be used to build community, engage customers, and create connections with others.
One of the benefits of shared media is that it can help businesses build brand awareness. By creating content that engages customers and encourages them to share it with their networks, businesses can reach a larger audience. Shared media also provides an opportunity for businesses to connect with their customers on a more personal level. Customers are more likely to trust businesses that they feel are connected to them.
Finally, shared media can be used to create connections with others. By sharing content that resonates with others, businesses can develop relationships with potential customers and partners.
It is true the as a company you don’t have much power on who and in what way your content is being shared. So we encourage technical and engineering companies to adopt a shared content optimisation strategy that supports their greater marketing goals. Simply put, this means optimising your content to ensure an uptake in social sharing, likes, impressions, and subsequently, sales.
Shared media is a great way to increase the reach of your content, but it can be difficult to optimise for different platforms. Here are a few tips for getting the most out of your shared media.
1. Make sure your headline is catchy and relevant to your audience.
2. Write a brief description that will entice readers to click through.
3. Use images or videos that are visually appealing and engaging.
4. Keep your formatting consistent across all platforms.
5. Maximise your reach by sharing on multiple platforms simultaneously.
If we fail to include shared content optimisation into a content marketing strategy, this will lead to poor returns for the entire campaign. Shared content optimisation is meant to produce content that resonates with the audience, which encourages sharing throughout various channels. You do this not necessarily by starting with the goal of ‘going viral’. A much better aim is to create content that is genuinely useful, interesting and educational – and engineering companies normally have a wealth of in-house knowledge to make this happen.
The difference between shared media and traditional PR comes from the combination of using content marketing and social media marketing that is needed to generate it. When it comes to shared media, the channel is open to both the company and its customers, whereas with earned media the brand has no real influence over the channel.
Social media provides a platform to actively engage with customers and become part of a digital community – so by liking, sharing and commenting on posts, you’re becoming part of the conversations. The best way of doing this is by creating content that gives people a reason to consume it. One way engineering or industrial companies can do this is by creating informative videos about technology with the aim of educating and helping, rather than selling one’s products. Crucially, followers can always smell a disingenuous ‘educational’ video so do not be tempted to do it!
Shared media is wonderful when the right people – be they influencers or representative of other companies – share your content. If it ends up in front of your preferred audience, then that means your PESO model has worked! But what can you do when things don’t go exactly to plan? Shared media is uncontrollable and cannot always be planned for. It's impossible to know how many people will see your piece of content and deem it worthy of sharing. It takes a lot of time (and patience) before shared media begins to yield results.
The main drawback of shared media is that brands have no control over who shares their content. Shared media can be a great way for businesses to connect with their customers and create a more personal connection. However, there are also some drawbacks to using shared media. One is that brands and businesses have no control over who shares their content - it can be difficult to keep track of who is saying what and responding to which comments. This can lead to frustration on the part of customers and businesses alike. Additionally, when businesses rely too heavily on shared media, they can miss out on opportunities to connect with potential customers in other ways. Finally, as with any online communication tool, there is always the risk of misuse or abuse by individuals. Although most people go to YouTube to watch cat videos, it's an increasingly popular platform for B2B companies too. An instructional video could help increase visits to your website, but equally, negative comments underneath it can undermine the success of hours of filming and editing resource.
In conclusion, using shared media for PR efforts is an effective way to reach a wider audience and create a positive image for your company. It is important to consider the target audience and the message you want to send before selecting the platform or channels to use. Additionally, using hashtags and targeting specific demographics can help to further optimise the communication strategy. Finally, always be sure to monitor feedback and respond to comments in a timely manner in order to build stronger relationships with followers.
For all of its challenges, shared media remains an extremely valuable resource for B2B companies in the engineering sector wishing to build their reputation. Although it doesn’t happen overnight, shared media success is within reach for every technical company out there.