Deep Content PR Strategy: Win By Going Deeper

I often sug­gest the Deep Content PR strategy.

Deep con­tent isn’t com­plic­ated; any­one can use it as a digit­al PR strategy, and the res­ults are predictable.

The down­side: You have to put in the work and cre­ate use­ful con­tent — lots of it. Also, growth is usu­ally a slow burn. However, slow and steady wins the (SEO) race!

Here we go:

The Deep Content Structure

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Deep Content

Above is an example of an online con­tent struc­ture that’s five levels deep. In the example above, five lay­ers of ever­green con­tent are stacked:

• Level 1: Articles
• Level 2: Content Upgrade
• Level 3: Resource/​Lead Magnet
• Level 4: Ebook
• Level 5: Online Course

Deep con­tent is centred around provid­ing increas­ingly high­er qual­ity to engaged users. ideally, the user­’s engage­ment should determ­ine when the inform­a­tion need has been ful­filled, not the lim­it­a­tions of the web­site’s avail­able content.

• The few who reach your content’s call to action (con­tent diver = click­ing ver­tic­ally) are more valu­able than those who only scan its first head­line (con­tent surfer = click­ing horizontally).

As for the import­ance of struc­ture and depth, the logic is the same as that of ice­berg pub­lish­ing and con­tent themes.

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The basic struc­ture is derived from vari­ous levels of con­tent qual­ity. It doesn’t mean that your brand gets a free pass for pub­lish­ing low-qual­ity art­icles; it means that your art­icles must meet the require­ments of the social object cloud — and from there, the con­tent qual­ity must increase as users dive deep­er into your con­tent catalogue.

The Strangeness of Press Releases

Think of a reg­u­lar press release:
How do most press releases end?

You will find con­tact details besides a stand­ard boil­er­plate with com­pany inform­a­tion. Why use those con­tact details? You rarely get a pre­cise reas­on, and there’s typ­ic­ally nev­er a com­pel­ling call to action.

So, let’s back out for a second:

The press release writer tries to make the head­line more com­pel­ling than the actu­al press release because every­one wants clicks. The most valu­able inform­a­tion is then grouped into a few sen­tences at the top. The longer you read, the less attract­ive the con­tent becomes.

Press releases are designed to become duller the fur­ther down the page you read. The typ­ic­al end is only befitting:

“For fur­ther inform­a­tion, please contact.”

If someone is so damn inter­ested in your dull press release that they’re read­ing it to the end, that’s how they should be rewar­ded? Huh.

Content Surfers and Content Divers

If a user has shown interest in your sur­face-level con­tent and wants to explore and learn more, it’s your job as a brand to allow this.

When users are sat­is­fied, they decide when not to go any deep­er. Your com­mit­ment to this strategy is to ensure that users nev­er leave because the option to go deep­er doesn’t exist.

Why deep con­tent? Unless you’re Wikipedia, offer­ing total breadth is a Sisyphean task. However, provid­ing great depth is pos­sible — with a nar­row enough focus.

Depth is neces­sary because con­tent surfers (click­ing hori­zont­ally) are still just look­ing around, turn­ing over stones here and there. Content divers (click­ing ver­tic­ally) are immers­ing them­selves — which is more inter­est­ing from your brand’s perspective.

There’s an argu­ment to be made here:

Alas, con­tent divers are gen­er­ally more valu­able than con­tent surfers.

The struc­ture requires the highest qual­ity con­tent at the base. Because if you “put your best foot for­ward,” con­tent divers will quickly aban­don ship if they notice that your con­tent is get­ting worse and worse the deep­er they go.

Content divers are, by nature, pick­i­er about their con­tent. Convince and con­vert them, how­ever, and you gain loy­alty and trust bey­ond any­thing you can accom­plish with sur­face browsers.

Strategic Prerequisites and Fit

The Deep Content PR Strategy isn’t the right fit for all brands:

Deep con­tent is SEO-friendly and caters to online audi­ences look­ing to dive deep­er into spe­cif­ic niches. It’s a good fit for busi­ness-to-busi­ness ven­tures. It’s a good fit for thought lead­er­ship PR strategies. It’s a good fit for B2B know­ledge work.

However, the Deep Content PR Strategy also goes bey­ond con­ven­tion­al white-col­lar industries:

Users are also look­ing to go deep in the most cre­at­ive of spaces. It can be any­thing from music to art, from gam­ing to col­lect­ables. Many online pub­lics are inter­ested in diving into the most remote online deep­sea trenches imaginable.

PR Resource: Free Strategy PR Course

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Doctor Spin’s PR School: Free Strategy PR Course

Unlock the power of stra­tegic pub­lic rela­tions with this free Strategy PR Course. Elevate your skills and boost your career today.

Public Relations Strategy 101

• The Bad PR Strategy
• The Magical PR Strategy Question
• The 1‑Page PR Strategy
• How to Create a PR Strategy That Actually Works

Public Relations Strategies

• Thought Leadership PR Strategy: Rule Your Domain
• Extra Mile PR Strategy: Wow Your Customers
• Hidden Arena PR Strategy: Mobilising Change Agents
• Superhero Solution PR Strategy: Be the Obvious Answer
• Easy Street PR Strategy: Keep It Simple To Win
• Surround Message PR Strategy: Make the Box Smaller
• Stupid Majority PR Strategy: How Underdogs Dominate
• Rebel Yell PR Strategy: Picking a Fight To Get Recognised
• Wisdom Whisperer PR Strategy: Educate Your Industry
• Deep Content PR Strategy: Win By Going Deeper
• Evergreen Content PR Strategy: Forever Is a Long Time
• Content Themes PR Strategy: Focused Birds Gets Worms
• Honeymoon Outreach PR Strategy: Influencer Relations 2.0
• Inbound Shift PR Strategy: Beauty From Within

Learn more: All Free PR Courses

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PR Resource: Free Content PR Course

Spin Academy | Online PR Courses

Doctor Spin’s PR School: Free Content PR Course

Unlock your poten­tial with this Free Content PR Course. Learn effect­ive digit­al pub­lic rela­tions strategies and elev­ate your career to new heights today.

Content Communications

• Content is Not Marketing — It’s Communications
• “For Content!” — The Infamous Influencer Battle Cry
• The AI Content Explosion
• Mediocrity is Slowly Killing Your Corporate Content
• My Content Marketing Experiment (That Failed Miserably)

Content Messaging

• The Core Message

Content Structures

• Content Themes: The Power of Focus
• Content Packages (And What To Include)
• Content Skyscrapers: Better Inbound and SEO
• Deep Content: Win By Going Deeper

Content Strategies

• The Superhero Solution: Become the Obvious Answer
• Evergreen Content: Forever Is a Long Time
• The Surround Message: Making the Box Smaller
• Level 5 Content: Go Big or Go Home

Learn more: All Free PR Courses

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