Content marketing and exposure are becoming increasingly important in digital marketing and today’s race for eyeballs. In the automotive space, there are many companies that do great jobs marketing and optimizing exposure for dealerships through websites, search engine optimization, social media marketing, pay per click ads, newsletters and more. While these companies do an effective job for their clients, many neglect to market themselves in the dealer space, despite knowing how important it is.

Most vendors have public relations professionals – whether in-house or through an agency – handling press releases, media exposure, product launches and messaging. However, one of the most underutilized services that many PR professionals offer today is assistance in generating exposure through content marketing. The transference of content marketing towards public relations has been occurring for quite some time now. It’s a natural marriage as who better understands your message, products, and audience than your public relations firm? It’s not enough anymore to simply issue press releases. Companies must position themselves as thought leaders in their industry through well-written content targeted to their audiences.

This helps to ensure an integrated and cohesive online personality for your company across all channels, offers brand protection and guarantees delivery of a positive message. Just like social media, a great content marketing initiative involves not only creating helpful articles, but also joining conversations and establishing yourself in the online community in which the content is being published. Having employees and staff write content is a great start, but I think it would be even better to see more key executives of companies sharing the many years of wisdom in their fields directly with their audiences.

Vendors have a wealth of knowledge to offer car dealers and dealers appreciate the sharing of that knowledge. Interaction between a key executive and a dealer is much more powerful than the simple act of creating content. We all know that this industry is built on relationships. With so many vendors seeking to gain a dealer’s attention, it’s very difficult to do so directly. However, integrating yourself into an automotive community and helping dealers overcome challenges that they may be having is one way to connect with dealers without continually trying to be heard over all the solicitous noise overwhelming dealers.

Consider contacting your public relations firm when designing or implementing a content marketing strategy. Our job is to help your company rise above that noise and gain the exposure you seek. By involving your public relations firm in your content marketing, you can better safeguard your brand while maintaining a consistent positive message being delivered to your audience.