The art of the pitch

How to get the media to care about your content [View Message in Browser]( / [Add Us to Safe Sender List]( WEEKLY NEWS 5.17.24 WEEKLY NEWS 5.17.24  FEATURED [The Dos and Don’ts of Pitching Journalists To Get More From Your Owned Media]( By Michelle Garrett You spend a lot of resources on the content published on your brand’s site. Why not get a credibility boost and a wider audience for it? Put on your PR hat (or get with the PR team) and get pitching with these tips. [Read more](  READ OR LISTEN TO MORE STORIES FROM THIS WEEK: [What You Need To Know About Recent ChatGPT and Gemini Features]( by Content Marketing Institute Team OpenAI and Google’s AI ecosystems made headlines this week. They’re going all in on analyzing images, video, and speech features. But it’s what they didn’t say this week that marketers should pay attention to. [3 Contextual Link-Building Strategies That Actually Work]( by Aaron Anderson Context matters in your content. Contextual links matter in your SEO strategy. Discover three strategies to acquire contextual links to boost your content in the eyes of Google and the linking sites’ audiences. [Time To Evolve Your Social Media Strategy for 2024]( by Robert Rose The TikTok “ban” grabs the headlines. But TikTok’s impact on other social media algorithms has a bigger impact on marketers. Is your content and marketing strategy ready? [ICYMI: How To Combine PR and Content Marketing Superpowers To Achieve Business Goals]( by Mariah Obiedzinski Are you ready for the transformation? We’re not talking about AI. It’s the convergence of public relations and content marketing. If you tackle it the right way, you can forever enhance your brand’s storytelling.  A NOTE FROM ROBERT ROSE How to get more from social now What the heck should you do with social media in marketing these days? Content and marketing teams have been so wrapped around the AI axle for the last 18 months that many haven’t reacted to the fundamental changes in social media. Some of these changes have AI underpinnings, like Meta’s launch of AI chatbots on Facebook and Instagram. Others, such as the forced divestiture of TikTok, the decline of X, the rise of Threads, LinkedIn’s prolonged moment, and Instagram’s new emphasis on original content, speak to the continued viability of social platforms as media outlets. Those headlines and the more granular changes behind them should prompt marketers to shift how they use social media platforms for business success. Let’s look at what’s going on under the hood of social media. Social media is still growing — just differently. Similarweb data shows that traffic to news sites from Facebook and X took a steep dive as of October 2023. Casual sharing, posting, and commenting are also down. The reasons run the gamut from the “dismantling” of Twitter into X and concerns about misinformation to overall user fatigue. Yet social media [consumption is up almost across the board]( except for Facebook and Twitter (sorry, X). So where did the “social” go? To direct messaging and chat. [Research]( shows people still spend at least two hours per day consuming social media. But among the [top apps and websites]( social media ranks behind direct messaging and text messaging. Sharing no longer happens on public-facing social media channels. The “social” of social media now happens in communities where friends share content in private groups, texting groups, and one-to-one messaging. Social media is simply becoming media. Here’s another significant change: Followers now matter less. All the platforms have copied elements of the TikTok algorithm to varying degrees when displaying content to their audiences. These changes seem positive. Instagram recently introduced [substantial changes]( to its Reels algorithm that buck its longstanding embrace of accounts that aggregate content. It will now detect whether the post is original or aggregated (i.e., reposted) and favor the original content. It also may remove content from aggregators from the recommendations feature. More interestingly, Instagram also changed its algorithm to [surface smaller creators](. That should be good news for social media marketers who operate accounts with smaller followings. Your content will surface more and pierce the noise of those with huge followings. But more disruptive implications to the value of social media arrive with these changes. The biggest seismic shift happens around the importance of followers and community. Many platforms have introduced more “for you” content in their feeds (a la TikTok). They no longer prioritize content from the people or brands someone follows. Instead, they optimize the content feed by the user’s actual behavior and content consumption, favoring content from “new” creators rather than those whom the user follows. Put simply: Social media platforms now de-emphasize the value of a large following (or audience), which belies what brands have worked on for years. The new focus means every post must compete to be seen. All these changes can leave you feeling overwhelmed and confused about how to adjust your marketing and content strategy. In [Rose-Colored Glasses this week]( I explain how to adapt to the biggest disruptions. Remember, it’s your story. Tell it well. Robert Rose Chief Strategy Advisor Content Marketing Institute Robert Rose Chief Strategy Advisor Content Marketing Institute Would any of your colleagues or friends benefit from Robert's weekly updates? Please invite them to [subscribe]( here.  A WORD FROM OUR PARTNER [New Data] What’s Keeping Your Target Audience Up at Night? Refine your content strategy with a look at the top topics, keywords, and most pressing issues on your audience’s mind. Spark the next big idea for your brand with analysis of key trends + tips from industry insiders. [Get your industry’s snapshot »]( MORE FROM CMI Content Marketing Awards: Submit by Sunday Time is running out to show off your creativity and gain recognition for your exceptional work! Submit your cutting-edge projects and standout results to CMI’s Content Marketing Awards for an opportunity to be celebrated among the best in the largest and longest-running international content marketing awards program. Apply by this Sunday, May 19, to avoid late fees. [Start your entry »](  Next Week’s Livestream: Can We Really "Measure" Marketing Anymore? Year after year, our research shows that measurement is a top challenge for marketers. With all the new AI technology, as well as changes in cookie tracking, search, and social media, it’s about to get even harder. Join CMI’s Amanda Subler and Joseph "JK" Kalinowski on Tuesday, May 21, at 2 p.m. ET, for an all-new livestream, Live With CMI. They’ll sit down with the one and only Rand Fishkin, co-founder of SparkToro, to chat about the challenges marketers face when it comes to measurement and why it may be harder, but not impossible. [Tune in here »](  Was this email forwarded to you? Please [subscribe here.]( To change your email preferences or unsubscribe, visit our [preference center.]( Copyright © 2024 Informa Connect, All rights reserved Content Marketing Institute, an Informa Connect brand 605 3rd Ave | New York | NY 10158 [Terms of Service]( | [Privacy Statement]( [informa tech]