Public Relations
In recent years, public relations have evolved from being just a sales strategy into an art. However, only large firms have the ability to carry out large PR campaigns. This does not mean a small business cannot have great public relations. Here are a few tips that we at Guttulus have prepared for you.
Solidify Your key message
For any PR campaign, you will need to have a key message. This is what you want your target audience to know about our products. The key message should emphasize the company’s core strengths and its uniqueness. Besides that, ensure that is backed by a lot of reliable information.
The key message has to be woven into all communication with employees and content that you generate. Besides that, consistency is important. If the message changes to often, it could create distrust in your products.
Identify what is newsworthy
Not all news is newsworthy. A small business needs to understand that each news cycle in the newsroom is competitive. Publicists and corporate communications are always fighting with each other on what can appear in the news. If you want to win the battle in having your story in radio, print, television, and social media, you need how to check which stories you want to go out to the public. Thus, you need to vet and curate your stories carefully.
Develop good relations with journalists
Familiarize yourself with the work of journalists with whom you are trying to connect. Read the stories they write, check them out on social media too. By understanding the kind of stories they write, you will be in a better position to create stories for your company that can get their attention.
Learn how to come up with great news releases
If you want to generate press coverage for your products, the first step to achieve that is to send news releases to media outlets. However, most small businesses usually do not get this right. Most of them confuse every opportunity to interact with the media as an opportunity to sell rather than to inform. The release needs to have a professional and reliable voice to it. Besides that, the information shared needs to be unique, exclusive, and interesting.
In short, try to sound like a major news outlet such as CNN or MSNBC. Ensure that the focus is on sharing information which is noteworthy and that has some use in the marketplace. You should never send out breathless hype that may keep you from getting attention from a major news outlet.
Learn how to pitch to publications
If you want to pitch an idea to a magazine, the first step should be to read the letter from the Editor of the publication. This letter is normally found at the front of the magazine. By reading this letter, you will be able to learn what is on their mind both professionally and personally.
For instance, if the editor says they love to travel, you can use that as an opportunity to pitch a travel guide. Besides that, you can pitch clothes or products that are useful for travelers. You can even pitch a story of how travels inspired you to create your business.
Be reliable and organized
One of the most important public relations tips you will ever get is to be reliable and organized. That means you should always respond to emails in good time. No matter whom the email comes from, you should respond immediately. Even if you do not have an answer, respond anyway to inform them that you saw the email and are working on it.
Work with a local PR company
If you have a small budget, avoid a retainer budget that a large PR firm will charge. You can check into a startup PR firm in your area. This firm is probably working just as hard as you are to succeed. With the help of the internet, it is very easy to find such companies.
Tunnel vision is a bad thing
Everyone is trying to target publications with a large circulation. However, you have to check who your target audience is. Just because a publication has a large circulation, does not mean that it has the audience you need. In some cases, you may choose a small publication but one which has all your audience. Always do your research.
Personalize the pitch
When trying to reach out to the media send them a personalized pitch. Ensure that you get the spelling correctly too. In short, avoid drafting one pitch and sending it out to hundreds of media outlets. They receive similar pitches daily, and they will reject it.
Summary
With these tips, even a small business will be able to enjoy some level of success in their PR efforts. However, never neglect PR and hope that your great products will attract customers. In most cases, it is usually not enough.