Brands have always relied upon journalists to help tell their story. More often than not that role has been led by the armies of PR people - such as the good team we have here at Coast.
But increasingly, companies are creating engaging content themselves. The role of the 'corporate journalist' has never been more valued.
Professional services firms, I would argue, are world leaders when it comes to content marketing. Consulting firms, lawyer and accountants have been doing it for years - although it is often called something completely different (a client newsletter or briefing note, for example).
Consumer and B2B brands could learn a lot from them. Professional services brands should, however, look to what their own clients are doing and learn from them too.
It is now quite common to see successful journalists lured into in-house 'corporate journalism' roles. This interview with Visa's head of content is a great example.
Law firms, for example, still believe that lawyers remain best placed to create client content. This often results in overly dry and technical copy. If they do share ownership it is all to often to hard press marketing teams.
The larger firms no doubt have copywriters, but the need for professional services firms to take a more critical look at the content generated is needed.
What has stayed the same is that brands need journalists, period. They used to need them at publications for media coverage, to tell their stories, to get the word out. Now they need them in-house, to craft and push out content that is worth their customers’ precious time.
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