A controversial, contrarian viewpoint can help content marketing stand out in a crowd.
PR usually avoids controversy like an infectious disease. After all, controversy can damage brand reputation and ultimately hurt sales and revenue. Yet some PR and marketing experts urge organizations to at least consider pursuing controversy in developing articles and social media posts for content marketing. Controversy attracts attention. It can drastically boost referral links and incoming website traffic. Even those opposing your views will share a link to a controversial recommendation or opinion.
Controversial blog posts tend to spark more engagement than more mundane commentary. In addition, while a controversial post may upset many, it may prompt just as many people to become passionate supporters of your brand. Strong advocates make a strong brand.
Proceed Cautiously
While recognizing the potential benefits of controversy, Forbes contributor Jayson DeMers urges PR and marketing players to think carefully about the article’s topic and possible repercussions. If you take too harsh a stance against an industry standard, your audience may perceive you as inferior to competitors.
The article will succeed only if it’s well-researched, well-structured, thoughtful and well-written. It must contain a thorough exploration of the subject with fair, balanced coverage. “If you get the facts wrong or end up otherwise appearing disrespectful, it could have a negative effect or fail to generate any attention at all,” DeMers warns.
If you pick a controversial topic just because it’s controversial, readers may perceive it as exploitive, gimmicky or contrived. Instead, seek a topic that’s worth exploring, and one you truly have something to say about.
No Mud Slinging
Don’t stoop to mud-slinging, advises the ShoutMeLoud blog run by Harsh Agrawal. Justify your views and leave it for others to accept; do not compel. Question others thoughts, not their ethics or morality. Avoid appearing arrogant. Do not be a Mr. or Ms. Know-it-all. No one knows everything.
Monitor trending topics to seek opportunities to inject a strong opinion, using your own data or insight when possible, advises Elisa Gabbert in the WordStream blog. Naming a point person to scan news daily and send out an email digest will save your team time.
Stay within your topic areas. Offer recommendations and express opinions that are within the subject areas of your corporate concerns. Venturing into controversial topics that are removed from your direct business concerns backfires more often than not. Think hard before expressing public opinions on contentious political and social issues.
Believe what you’re saying. Don’t lie or invent contrary opinions just for attention.
Respond to disagreement respectfully. If people get vehement or angry in your social streams or your comment field, stay cool in your own responses. Chances are it’s not worth burning bridges over.
Apologize when necessary. When colleagues you respect are genuinely offended, you probably went too far. Get some perspective and issue apologies when and where they’re due. “But remember, it’s better to anticipate and prepare for disagreement from the outset, than to bloviate blindly and then have to clean up the mess later,” Gabbert says.
A Contrarian Example from PR
Let’s look at an example of a well-honed content marketing article on a controversial subject in public relations. The issue is the use of advertising value equivalency (AVE) to measure the value of editorial content placements for PR. AVE equates the value of a media mention in editorial content to the cost per inch of advertising in the same publication. Many leaders in PR and standards bodies within the industry vigorously oppose use of AVES because editorial mentions can be either positive or negative and therefore are not equivalent to the cost of advertising.
Mark Weiner, CEO of PR analytics company Prime Research, wrote a well-researched and well-reasoned article on the controversial subject entitled PRs Love/Hate Relationship with AVEs in which he advocated for limited use of AVEs in certain situations where PR clients require AVEs. The article satisfies all the key principles of taking a controversial position on a contentious issue. No apologies necessary. Though the controversy will likely continue, Weiner has established an advantageous position in middle ground for his company. (For the record, CyberAlert takes the other side of the issue and does not currently support the use of AVEs to measure the value of media placements for PR.)
Bottom Line: Employing controversy as a marketing tool can be a potentially powerful though risky PR and marketing strategy. Organizations can rise the top of the content marketing heap by investing time and resources to publish contrarian viewpoints that are well-conceived, well-documented, and well-written without lecturing or appearing arrogant or domineering.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
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