Does it matter if you have the best products in your field if no one knows about them?
Some business owners think that being a great company will be enough to get the media’s attention. While this does happen occasionally, innovative PR strategies are the most common way for companies to gain public attention.
Creating buzz about your business and implementing a solid public relations strategy is not as difficult as it sounds. Here are three tried and tested ways to increase your media exposure and brand recognition.
Please focus on the uniqueness of your pitch and create it around that
You should now know what makes you different from your competitors. It’s a good idea to go back and review the things that make you extra if you aren’t sure. Start focusing on these things.
Your spokespersons should include at least one message about your uniqueness in every feature article. Repetition of these messages will help to shape public perceptions.
Focus on the uniqueness of your business. This can help you to create awareness and also provide new ideas.
Write down the different angles you can take to approach these unique elements. You may be surprised at the number of publications that you can pitch. Pitch without delay!
Bonus tip: Be alert and aware of what is happening around the world. Your unique offering is suddenly more relevant within a specific context. Send out a release to the media and increase your pitching. Newsjacking remains a powerful PR technique, so do not miss out.
Take advantage of your talent
Many founders and CEOs fail to promote their business. Untapped PR opportunities that are free but not taken advantage of… Isn’t it a shame?
You’ll be surprised at how many outlets are interested in your story and your insight, especially considering the number of outlets eager to use it.
How do you find these? You can find a lot of exciting information by doing a little research.
Start with the easiest: Interview platforms. Their employees interview entrepreneurs to learn how they can grow their businesses. You can search for them using specific keywords and save those you think could be pitched. It’s great to know that some don’t require you to list. The interview is completed and submitted.
Add to your list also:
You can improve industry blogs by adding short quotes from in-house experts. If I find a great article but feel one of our executives would make it better, I will reach out to offer my help. Our website gets a link back to the company, and we promote it extensively across our channels. Everyone wins.
Sites that don’t fall under your domain but have topics on which your C-suite can comment. I’ll pitch our team about topics like productivity, working at home, or even health if I’m a fan of a lifestyle magazine. Writers may be interested in the insights of your colleagues.
Bonus tip: Some authors resist promoting a company but are happy to feature its CEO or executives. Use this approach to help them add a human element to their stories. Be selective when choosing such publications. Use Ahrefs or another tool to find out each website’s domain rating (DR) and traffic. ZeroBounce focuses on websites with a domain rating (DR) of at least sixty.
Cross-promotional partnership
Sometimes, things can be slow. You may feel like you have exhausted your list of stories and publications. But putting off your PR is not an option.
What do you do if nothing happens? You have to make something happen.
Consider all the companies with whom you could form a partnership and contact them with ideas for cross-promotion. This is a great way to reach a new audience.
How can you select these companies? Here are some points to consider:
Look for businesses that provide complementary services to yours. For example, a lead-generation platform and email verification are the perfect co-marketing match. You could partner with another company offering Microsoft Word as an alternative if you’re using a grammar checker. Has your tool been integrated with other devices? If so, then building connections will be easy.
Consider companies that are in your immediate vicinity. Let’s say you offer online yoga classes. You could approach a health-food company with creative cross-promotion ideas. Contact other businesses that are involved in wellness.
Expand your network and look at less obvious options. For example, a travel agency might join forces with a shoe company to promote comfortable shoes for vacation. It’s already been done. A music streaming service could partner with an app for a workout. Who says you can’t?
Bonus tip: Our company has received countless media placements through collaborations over time. Associate with those who take them seriously. Promote your partners using blogs, Social Media, and email. You’ll both benefit.
The best PR strategy is to put the audience first
Focus on what will engage your audience in the publications you are targeting when pursuing these PR avenues. Journalists do not work for us; they work for the readers. You’ll get better reactions and more PR if you use that anchor in every pitch.