Brand journalism, inside-out

Mention brand journalism and people think PR, content marketing to customers and prospects, thought leadership and media pitching.

It is certainly all of those things.

But to make brand journalism work for your external comms, it’s best to start by perfecting your approach internally. After all, that’s where the stories live.

 Brand journalism is just about telling better stories, right? I get asked that a lot, and I always answer the same way:

Well … sort of.

Telling better stories is certainly what we’re all trying to do, and for all the right and obvious reasons: to better inform and engage our audiences,  attract media attention and enhance the reputation of our organizations.

But better storytelling is really the end result; it is the product of effective brand journalism. The real work is how we organize ourselves to get there, which is why I like to start brand journalism on the internal comms side of the house. If we can make this work inside, it will improve everything we do outside.

And speaking of sides  …