Much like good work begets more work in the business world, good content can lead to more opportunities in the media world.
With this in mind, offering and contributing content, or byline articles, is a smart way for educational institutions to share expertise across a variety of subjects like curriculum choices, student wellness, governance, recruitment, and more.
For example, your school counselor could discuss student emotional health over school breaks in your community paper, or your marketing team could share tips with an industry outlet on how to utilize the latest social media channels to reach parents and students online.
Assuming you’ve followed our tips on researching and pitching bylines, you’re on your way to publishing content that not only helps the editor’s audience but highlights your own expertise. But why stop there? It’s time to turn one media placement into two, or maybe even three, in order to establish an ongoing content relationship.
Here are two ways to help make this happen.
Offer a follow-up idea
One way to boost your chances of securing multiple media placement opportunities is to suggest a logical follow-up to the article you already published. If your first piece is from your school counselor discussing emotional wellness over the holidays, perhaps you could pitch a follow-up outlining strategies for the long summer stretch.
Of course, not all follow-ups need to be so direct. If your first piece was from a department head explaining how to navigate course choice, consider offering the same topic from the lens of a parent. Perhaps a PTA member could frame the discussion on how to help students follow their passions in a challenging way. Both perspectives would be helpful for either a community or industry audience, depending on the angle.
Sometimes, something timely can warrant an inviting, natural follow-up as well. For instance, a social media marketing piece would be ripe for a follow-up on the heels of a major platform update.
Pitch a series idea
Once you’ve established your educational institution as a reliable source of quality content, we recommend proactively pitching a byline series. Whether two-, three-, or four-parts, these planned series demonstrate long-term thinking to the editor and can help alleviate his or her publishing schedule.
As for you, this is a rare instance where more really can mean better — for your brand’s reputation, that is. By offering installments on a specific subject, you can take a deeper dive into your expertise. A series can also strategically introduce new voices from a particular team or department and, as a final bonus, increase all articles’ visibility through cross-referencing and hyperlinking.
As always, be sure to offer your spokespeople as available resources to these editors, which could lead to future interview opportunities beyond the byline realm.
Put these tips to work, and you’ll be elevating your educational institution’s visibility – and your thought leadership voices – throughout the year!
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