Developing the content strategy for a brand new client is always one of the most rewarding parts of my job. Digging deep into the background of the client, analysing the competitor space, understanding the audience, and then bringing all that research together with some exciting content ideas – it’s an amazing part of the PR and content planning process.

I was working with a leading student accommodation provider, who while not new to the UK market, were keen to find new ways of elevating their presence in the media space. They also wanted to optimise their website with SEO blogs and help drive more enquiries through their site.

After winning the tender, we got straight on with the process of establishing:

  • Ways of working – work in progress documents, meeting updates, communication preferences, reporting
  • Competitor list
  • Current UK market positioning and future aims
  • Current Google rankings for keywords and what search terms were driving the most clicks (conducted by partner digital and SEO agency)
  • Media lists – key titles and journalists to approach and introduce the client to

Research Approach

For any new content strategy, my first approach is always to get stuck into research. The client had a number of competitors in the UK market, and it was essential to get a key understanding of each of them.

Competitor analysis involves looking at the following:

  • Recent media or press (negative and positive)
  • Social media channels – what are they using to talk to the audience? Is the audience engaged? Are channels updated regularly?
  • Website experience – how easy is it to use? Can the audience find helpful information?
  • Tone of voice – how are they talking to the audience? Are they speaking to students, or students’ parents?
  • Locations – what cities are the competitors active in? Are there any gaps?
  • Reputation – what is the general feedback around the living experience in their accommodation, or the customer experience for students?
  • Any campaigns/awards/recognitions of note?

Once this process has been completed, I review all the findings and look at areas where the competitors are strong, and where they are weak. This helps with identifying where we can potentially bridge the gaps or go head-to-head in the space.

Audience research is also essential. The client was able to supply me with some of their own research that had been conducted which was very useful, but I also did my own desk research. Analysing what problems are facing students, what they want from a university experience, what their expectations are, and where they prefer communicating are just some of the questions I asked when searching.

I was also able to dig into the background of the client, understanding their positioning, values, goals and mission for delivering student accommodation to the UK market.

With all my research in hand, and a detailed SEO analysis supplied by a partner agency, I was ready to start building the content strategy framework.

Strategy Framework

Once I have all the pieces of the puzzle for the background, I pulled out my key findings and set these against what I knew the client was keen to achieve. Summarising this is a great way to distill the facts and bring clarity to the research process for the client.

Using the client values as a basis, I developed four content pillars that informed the overall strategy. This allows the work to stay on track, and as we develop more pieces, we can identify which content pillars are resonating best with the audience and in the press.

Taking the SEO data and report, I pulled out key search terms and phrases that the client is keen to rank for. Now it was time to bring the creative flair in. Drawing on the SEO report and research, I worked to develop a series of ideas for PR content and on-site blog content, as the client had commissioned both as part of the retainer.

Linking into evergreen and trending topics (using tools such as Google Trends, SEMRush, Buzzsumo, and Instagram and TikTok hashtags), I assembled an extensive list of potential topics, then whittled that down to an example 3-month plan to demonstrate how the approach would work.

This strategy document outlining the competitor findings, audience insight, content approach, and example plan of attack was presented back to the client. They were exceptionally pleased with how much detail had gone into the presentation, loved the creative ideas and use of on-trend examples, while also appreciating the evergreen content that is necessary for search purposes.

We also provided some example tone of voice pieces to show how we would be taking an approach that distinguished them from competitors and spoke directly to a student audience.

The strategy was signed off later that following day, which was a great sign, and we then got started on writing the content for month 1. The press offices continues to run and within just a few weeks the client was seeing improvements in website traffic and rankings thanks to the on-site blog content being uploaded.