As the great Fleetwood Mac once described, there’s nothing worse than being Second Hand News. In other words, don’t let someone beat you to your own message: take centre stage yourself. Your great ideas need constant exposure: make sure you get in front of the right people, at the right time, in all the right places.

It’s said that marketers consume up to 13 pieces of content on average when seeking to hire a supplier: eight penned by the vendor, and five viewed through third-party sources.

Okay, I’ll admit that if you look for similar stats in 13 different places, you’ll no doubt find 13 different answers. But the point I’m making is this: if your content or PR coverage isn’t appearing across all the places your clients and prospects could see it, it’s not working hard enough for you.

Don’t just take my word for it. According to research into new business trends, using marketing as sales engagement is the top prospecting activity for seven out of 10 agencies. Dare I say it, the use of lead generation agencies is also on the rise. These approaches are ranked ahead of the likes of building external partnerships and chasing organic growth through an agency network.

"PR coverage should be seen as an essential part of lead generation"

You may be certain of your message, stating how you intend to solve brands’ problems; but do you know where to place it? And once you’ve secured a great piece of coverage or published a brilliant content asset, how will you capture the gaze of the people you really need to reach?

The best way to approach PR is to view it as a two-stage process. One: get coverage. Two: amplify it. Each of these needs a distinct strategy, and neither is as easy as it sounds.

PR coverage should be seen as an essential part of lead generation. When the message is insightful and actionable, it’s fuel for the new business fire. It generates awareness and is a true conversation starter, with clients as well as prospects. It can provide the basis for an event, or an email campaign to potential new clients, and give you a reason to reach out to your existing pipeline with a bespoke note.

But coverage amplification is key, too. I can’t even count the number of PR clients we’ve helped secure column inches in outstanding titles, who have then failed to build on that platform by keeping the coverage to themselves. At many agencies, even sharing these successes internally isn’t a given. It’s why we’ve started taking on social and marketing amplification for clients, too.

"A smart, integrated PR, content and business development strategy will make clients sit up and take notice"

Tech has given clients a multitude of channels where they can pick and choose content to suit their needs. The trick for agencies, and their PR and content teams, is to seize the opportunity to align all comms and create a fertile sales and growth environment.

Imagine for a moment that you’re the CMO of a confectionery company (I mean, you might be!). You read an intriguing article in The Grocer that speaks to an industry issue you’re wrestling with. Then you log on to LinkedIn to see a rival brand marketer has shared the very same piece.

That afternoon, you’re pinged with an email invite to a roundtable about the very same subject asking you to contribute to a piece of content. Signing up will feel like a no-brainer.

A smart, integrated PR, content and business development strategy will make clients sit up and take notice. It’s an approach we take for clients as often as we’re allowed, frequently with great results. The Impero case study you can read in this report is case in point. In effect, we aim to guarantee the reach that publications claim they can secure through editorial and advertising. True line of sight between the message and real commercial value for our clients; revealing the power of owned media (self-published content) and earned media (PR) combined.

What you say and how you say it are still central parts of PR strategy. But in the days of media fragmentation and constant content consumption, knowing where to land your message, and how to maximise it across your marketing and sales channels, is just as crucial to achieving commercial success.

Ubiquitous consistency is the key. But if that’s too much of a mouthful, think like Fleetwood Mac and their immortal words, I wanna be with you everywhere.