Summer is officially here. Your inbox might be quieter, PTOs are in full swing, and your team might even have a lull in news announcements, which makes it the perfect time to pause and reevaluate your PR, content, and communications strategy.
It’s a time to revisit a content strategy you’ve been thinking about, draft that blog post that has been on the back burner, or reevaluate integrated digital and marketing tactics.
Ideally, you’re already doing some of these things — but let’s be real, urgent deadlines tend to push them aside. Think of the slower summer news cycle as a gift: a chance to amplify what’s working and get organized before the fall rush.
Here are four ways to strengthen your communications program during the summer months:
Optimize your content for AI search
As my colleagues wrote, “when it comes to AI-generated content, it’s important to remember that AI is regurgitating, not creating. Most AI tools are designed to use what already exists, leading to a surge of increasingly generic owned content.”
Search behaviors are changing due to AI, and communication tactics will need to shift accordingly. It’s more important than ever to have a clear, strong brand narrative that helps LLMs understand your content and connect it with relevant queries. Audit your content and see what areas can be tweaked to help answer ‘why you matter right now.’
Familiarize yourself with emerging media platforms
Journalism is shifting fast. Amid layoffs and burnout, reporters are leaving legacy outlets for platforms like Substack, podcasts, and LinkedIn, altering how news is shared and how PR professionals present themselves.
Inkhouse recently hosted a media panel with four journalists who left their traditional news outlets and went off on their own journeys to launch Substacks and become alternative media authors. You can hear from those reporters here about why they made the shift, and the best way to engage with them to tell your stories. Take the time this summer to update your lists and explore new ways you can engage with reporters to tell your stories.
Focus on thought leadership on LinkedIn
Thought leadership is an incredibly broad term. While jumping on breaking news and providing a quote to a reporter for inclusion in a story is definitely a tactic to continue, especially if you don’t have any announcements this summer, simply posting a POV on LinkedIn is now a great way to build thought leadership. More and more reporters are turning to LinkedIn to look for sources or share stories.
Posting a thought or a point of view on something doesn’t need to be incredibly polished. It’s about authenticity and not sounding like AI wrote your thoughts for you. Allison Carter, editorial director at Ragan Communications/PR Daily, recently posted on LinkedIn that “if you actually want to maximize your following and reach on LinkedIn, stop taking advice from people on LinkedIn and just post what you like and you think is interesting and what other people are benefiting from.”
Ease your spokespeople into posting a couple of times a week on LinkedIn with their thoughts on trending stories in your industry, or simply a thought starter to engage with their followers.
Reevaluate your integrated strategies
Lastly, summer is a good time to look at where you’re investing your resources and what you might want to change to maximize your strategic impact. From increasing owned content to amplify search in the AI world, to doing more press releases or launching an awards program (both of which help feed LLMs), these additional tactics can strengthen your communications program.
At Inkhouse, we’re happy to help. Reach out to us at [email protected] to learn more about how we can create a customized, integrated communications strategy for your company.
