The saying goes that you should work smarter, not harder. Creating original content for social media and promoting your company to stakeholders can require a lot of time and effort. As part of your media strategy, you should aim to create content that can be repurposed across multiple platforms and at different times.  
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For example, say your company produces a short informational video on a new service you will be offering clients, with the purpose of presenting the program to board members. Assuming the video doesn’t include any confidential information, you could also repurpose this video in a number of ways. You could include it in a press release when the program rolls out. You could share it on social media (Facebook, in particular) when the service becomes available to the public. You can repost the video one year out, even, in celebration of the program’s success.

The popularity of the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise money for ALS research provides some helpful guidance when it comes to public relations and earned media.

As you probably know, the Challenge is for someone to be videotaped getting doused with a bucket of ice water to generate awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and to raise funds to help find a cure. It's been a dominant theme on conventional and social media in recent weeks, helping to raise more than $40 million.

Why has it worked so well?

Video must be a major component of any public relations campaign. This article sheds light on what's expected to be an explosion in mobile video viewing in 2013.

What's that mean for companies trying to generate earned media coverage in the coming year? Everything. Here are just a few suggestions:

Media advisories are a well known tool to alert members of the media to an upcoming news event. It could be a press conference, an interview opportunity with an expert or a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Advisories are typically matter of fact -- who, what, when, where, etc. What you may not realize is that advisories that offer a short video can maximize your chances of generating interest. Here are just three reasons.

Press kits are not always necessary. In many cases, a simple press release will suffice. But when the issue is a bit more complicated than usual, when you want to brand your event or when you're involed in an extended media campaign, a press kit becomes invaluable.

Press kits can be distributed at press conferences or one-on-one interviews. They can be mailed to a reporter ahead of an event to bring him or her up to speed on the issue. They can also be adapted for editorial board sessions, giving the editors the materials they need to understand and, ultimately, support your position or issue. But don't stop there. Go digital.