As a small company, you don’t always have a large marketing budget. Because of this, you often need to find alternative ways to get the message out about your firm.
In this post, we take a look at some of the actionable steps that you can take to attract media attention and use the press to generate leads. If you get this strategy right, it could prove to be highly lucrative for your enterprise.
Guest Blog On Reputable Outlets
Journalists are continually looking for up-and-coming people who offer something new to the narrative. That’s why they will often scour top blog outlets and channels to find people who are saying something a little different.
It is a good idea, therefore, to guest blog on reputable outlets. This gives journalists a kind of “anchor” that they can use to see who you are and where you’re from. It also establishes your personal brand, giving them confidence that you are somebody who is worth listening to.
Attend Networking Events
Journalists and the media also regularly show up at media events. In the business community, many want to see what brands are doing, their new products and elevator pitches.
These are a great way to introduce yourself to media personalities. You can become their go-to expert whenever they need quotes for stories on a particular topic.
This is a tactic that technology public relations firms use a lot. When trying to forge closer bonds between their client brands and news outlets, they will often present their clients as experts in their field. This approach helps them to generate long-term exposure in the media because journalists often return to them with more and more questions.
Host Events And Notify The Media
Leveraging the media also sometimes requires hosting your own events and then notifying the local news. Often, news stations will dispatch journalists to the event to cover it on your behalf and then report it later to their audiences.
If you can, try to organize an event with a newsworthy twist. So, for instance, you might host an event to help a local charity or do work in the community. The news media loves covering companies that embark on projects for good causes.
Contact Journalists Directly
Sometimes, your company is doing something so interesting that you can get away with contacting journalists directly. Simply emailing them and telling them that you have a story to share can be enough to pique their interest.
Whenever you communicate with a journalist, try to see things from their perspective. Think about the type of audience they want to appeal to and why. Then craft your proposal around that.
If possible, build the relationship up ahead of time. Look for common friends that will introduce them to you. Send them emails saying how much you liked their articles when they write them.
Also, be sure to provide them with plenty of resources that could help them. For instance, you might provide a guide that they can use to write in an informed way about what your company actually does.
Try to avoid being overbearing. Getting journalists on your side requires carefully crafting a relationship with them. You need to build it up slowly so that you have somebody you can go to whenever you need to increase your publicity.
Write Press Releases
Press releases are one of the most powerful ways to quickly and easily start talking about your company. The way the process works is actually quite simple. First, you write a press release describing a newsworthy aspect of your company (such as launching a new product). You can either do this yourself or get a professional writer to do it for you.
Then you submit it to an agency that distributes news stories across various channels. Usually, their standards for the quality of writing are quite high. However, if you can pass these, you can get the information out to hundreds of publications. Newswires distribute articles among their associates.
Please note, however, that press releases can be a little expensive. The cost of writing them is low, but distributing them is high. Essentially, you’re paying for space on the page which comes at a premium.
Boost Your Social Media Posts
Lastly, some companies like to attract press attention by boosting their social media posts. Things you put up on social media won’t always perform on their own. Often, you need to pay for platforms to increase your visibility and get them in front of more people. As with press releases, you get what you pay for, so prepare yourself to spend some money.
