Your lead engineer’s headshot is grinning back at you from one of your industry’s leading magazines. Congratulations! After weeks of identifying a topic, developing content with your team or PR firm, finalizing stats and language with the engineer slated to author the piece, and submitting for consideration, your byline article has been published.
Byline articles are a great way to offer your company’s thought leadership for industries you work in. The article is often ghostwritten by someone else, authored by a leading (knowledgeable) name from your company, links back to your website, and demonstrates your company’s impact and expertise in a particular area.
This kind of article takes time to write, develop, and get published. It can feel like a weight has been lifted when the hard work you put into getting 1,200 words of quality content posted on a valued site is over. However, just because the writing is done and you’re left with a freshly published piece of content doesn’t mean that the project has finished.
For every byline, you should plan additional PR and marketing strategies to maximize the reach of this valuable piece of content. Here are Milldam’s top 3 hit-list of what to do with your byline article now that it’s been published:
Sharing is Caring
Push the reach of this article as far as possible! Every reputable online publication will receive lots of eyeballs from organic website traffic to its pages, naturally drawing in an audience for the piece. However, it’s important to extend the reach as much as possible through the use of social media. You should be sharing the published article on all of your company’s platforms, the author’s, your PR firm’s (if applicable) and encourage your coworkers to do the same from their own accounts.
Spread the Word
While social media can give snippets of information from the article and link back to the source, an email gives you more space to express the benefits of reading this piece. Include a brief synopsis and link back to the article in your next email update to constituents as another way to spread the reach of the byline. If your company has a blog, you can also post a brief synopsis of the article to it with a link to the full piece. It’s a great way for the byline to generate additional attention on your website while still giving full credit to the publication that has posted it.
The Jumping Off Place
If the byline has created some noticeable activity and discussions, consider making it part one of a series. If it’s really resonating, consider how the piece can be expanded into a whitepaper. It can also be used as an abstract for a call-for-speakers at an upcoming conference. The concepts that a byline explores often are the launching pad for new ideas and additional pieces. Don’t let them wither on the vine.
Once you’ve created the content, using it as a spring board for other PR and marketing activities leverages the work you’ve already invested in and maximizes the value of a single article. Getting it published is only the beginning.
Have an idea for another byline article? Need help placing a piece in a magazine? Fill out the form below so Milldam can get you published!
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Caroline Haley authors the column “Caroline’s Cloud” and is Vice President, Outreach & Operations for Milldam Public Relations.
