Times are Hard? Focus on PR not advertising!
14th November 2008
Thanks to all of you who gave me feedback last month on my article about Business Plans. It is quite motivating to make contact with my readers!
I have a client who has a hefty budget for advertising each month and with the recession, is looking to reduce costs without lowering his profile. Advertising is notoriously expensive and the output difficult to monitor, particularly if you are using a number of routes. So how could maintain his profile? The answer may lie in Powerful PR, and tool utilised by many start-up businesses to great success, but soon forgotten once you get bogged down in the ‘busy ness' of running a successful organisation.
Positive press coverage can provide an invaluable boost, because it lets new markets know that your product or service is there, generate leads and establish new networks. To the outside world, your product or service may seem unexciting or difficult to position, so the key is to find a connection that will link it to something more interesting. One example is my local evening newspaper who are inviting business to write about themselves, with the purpose of attracting local customers to be loyal to local businesses. So what? Well I have been amazed at the number of businesses I have never realised were in my locality that I am quite interested in seeking out! I can't help wondering how many other people have had the same feeling after appreciating the passion the owner has for their business.
Articles in trade and technical magazines are often welcomed with open arms by the Editors, and should concentrate on how your new service or product offers something different in the sector. This is often a good route to take if you are offering Business 2 Business services or products.
You should also consider the less than conventional routes. An old client of mine had been trading for one year part time as a portrait artist and felt she offered a more contemporary approach than others. A chance meeting with the editor of a glossy women's magazine led to an article on rural businesses. Within a month of publication her order book was full for six months! It was not something she had considered within her marketing plan.
So what do you do? When approaching the media always think of the story from their publication's perspective. Who are their target audience? What might they be interested in? Journalists are under a lot of pressure to find stories, but have little time to extract the story for themselves and will shelve anything that needs a lot of work on their part. Make it easy for them.
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Construct a press release – see this article from Thomas International
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Show it to everyone you know and ask for immediate reactions
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Send it in written format AND follow it up within two days to the News Editor
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Badger, badger, badger. You need to be a Jack Russell in attitude!!!
