OurChallenge
In addition to being the state’s leading dental benefits company, Delta Dental of Colorado (DDCO) is a leader and innovator in corporate social responsibility (CSR). To strengthen its role as a CSR thought leader, DDCO sponsored a CSR-focused content hub in the Denver Business Journal (DBJ) Online. In its second year as the hub’s sponsor, DDCO engaged Barefoot PR to re-think how to manage and craft content for the hub.
OurSolution
Alongside DDCO, Barefoot worked to transform Good Works from an online content hub to an engaging weekly column that would share the story of company-supported good work happening across Colorado.
Our first step in this process was to audit and analyze the prior year’s content hub results and determine a path forward. We advised DDCO to expand the hub’s reach by showcasing a variety of CSR leaders and experimenting with the themes, formats and styles of the articles.
Using our experience with and understanding of the CSR landscape in Colorado, Barefoot identified six article themes to rotate through: core tenets of CSR/ESG, creative applications of CSR/ESG, corporate volunteerism, innovative corporate/nonprofit partnerships, dollars for doers programs and measurement. Next, Barefoot developed four article types: profiles, Q&As, best practice features and leadership pieces. From there, we created an editorial calendar organizing the companies we would feature by article style and theme.
Working at the pace of submitting one 500-600 word article a week, Barefoot coordinated interviews, phone calls and Q&As with dozens of CSR thought leaders. We worked 4-6 weeks ahead, providing time for DDCO and the featured company to review and approve the content. To ensure the information for each profile was accurate, timely and engaging, we attended panels, sat down with business leaders and researched the latest trends in local CSR. Barefoot also selected relevant pictures for each article in partnership with the DBJ.
Over the course of the project, Barefoot PR delivered over 55 articles highlighting 45+ companies across the state and dozens of other nonprofits and civic organizations. The hub generated 433,367 headline impressions, over 7,500 page views and averaged a 67.50% scroll depth on articles. These numbers are a significant increase from the 2021 hub, especially the increase in scroll depth.
