Publicity is the notice or attention that the media gives you.
Today, the media covers multiple channels. From television to twitter, the media can talk about you and share your story.
Publicity, press, and public relations are somewhat synonymous. They are all approaches to getting media coverage and creating a buzz about your business, within your target market.
They are also often overlooked by small and medium sized businesses, who feel the marketing tactic is only beneficial to big business.
The truth is that one of the ways that big businesses become successful is because when they were smaller, they leveraged all the marketing tactics available to them including publicity.
No, publicity is not the same thing as a press release.
A press release is a tool that you can use to get publicity. However, there are other ways to get publicity as well. For example, a video can go viral and get publicity for your company.
You might take a controversial stance on an issue in your industry and get media attention and publicity that way. That being said, when coupled with a strong content marketing strategy, a press release is one of the best ways to get publicity.
A press release is an announcement of news.
Your news might be an event you’re hosting, research that you’ve gathered, a new product or service, an award or just about any other announcement that your audience will care about.
The goal in a press release is to pitch your story idea to the media in the hopes that it will capture their attention and they’ll “pick it up” and cover the “story.”
Getting newspaper, magazine, radio, or television coverage can have a dramatic impact on your business and a press release helps you reach a broad audience, which also contains your target market.
With newspaper readership on the decline, you might think that the press release’s heyday has come and gone. However, in reality, the increased speed at which information travels online has made press releases more useful than ever.
Editors of offline publications are busy people.
They spend a great deal of time searching for news stories and assigning journalists to write them. Press releases can save them time by alerting them to potential news stories.
Press releases that are written properly can be published as-is. This is especially helpful if the editors have page-space to fill and are on a tight deadline.
Those who edit online publications also have tight schedules. If they receive a good press release via email, they can simply cut and paste for an instant story. Even if they decide to add to it, most of the work is already done for them.
Many bloggers like press releases, too.
Mainstream bloggers use press releases in the same way as media professionals. Personal and part-time bloggers often use them when they’re short on time but still want to give their readers content on a regular basis.
Publicity is free. Unlike an advertisement, which you have to pay for, publicity costs you nothing.
The press release needs to be written and there will be some time spent building relationships with the media and pitching your story idea. You may distribute your press release to get it into the hands of as many people as possible, but many of those distribution tactics are free as well.
Publicity builds brands and reputations.
When a journalist mentions your company, and shares your solutions with their readers, you gain exposure to a new audience. This audience becomes aware of who you are and how you can help them.
Credibility gets a boost.
Like word of mouth marketing, publicity also gives you a big boost in credibility. Consumers tend to trust and value the unbiased information that a journalist or reporter shares.
If a journalist writes an article and quotes you in it, you have some earned credibility. You’ve become a resource of information for that journalist and for the consumers who read the article. You’re an expert.
One of the most common misconceptions people have about press releases is that they’re difficult to write.
There is a format to adhere to and your audience is different. You’re not writing to your customer, you’re writing for the media. The goal of a press release is to grab media attention with an interesting story so they bring that story idea to their audience.
As stated, a press release is simply a document written in the form of a news story and sent to members of the press.
Anyone can write a press release, but it’s important to use the proper format.
A press release should include the following:
For best results, try to keep the entire release no more than one page long.
Always write press releases in the third person, and take care to use proper grammar and correct spelling.
If you’re distributing the press release on social media, use social sharing buttons to increase engagement.
Journalists and reporters like videos and images. The visuals help them tell their story. When distributing your release on social media or when pitching to journalists, include links to video to help draw attention to your story.
There are many different reasons to write a press release. While the goal is for your business to get media coverage, it’s important to remember that the focus has to be on your story.
You might write about:
In order for a journalist to be interested in your story, it has to be newsworthy. That means that the information or story that you’re sharing needs to be relevant, timely, and interesting to the reporter’s audience.
For example, launching a new product isn’t newsworthy. The fact that your new product improves weight loss success by 75 percent is newsworthy. Journalists look at your release from the reader’s point of view.
When writing a press release, think about why a journalist or reporter would care. What’s in it for their audience?
Master that skill to put yourself in the media’s shoes and write a release that grabs their attention.
Once you do, you’ll be well on your way to getting the press and publicity you want for your company – the kind that can grow your business.
You write your newsworthy press release. You pitch your story idea to targeted media representatives. To distribute it, you can send it to individual media outlets, use a distribution service, publish it on your blog or website, share it with your email list, and more.
Once your press release is out there and it’s generating the media attention that you’re looking for, your release isn’t done working for you.
You can…
Publicity is an ongoing process.
Position yourself as a credible expert in your industry. Look for opportunities to help others and to offer value. When you find them, pitch press releases and story ideas to the media.
This information along with this month’s tools will help you get the publicity you’ve been looking for.
Our goal is to make things simpler for you… so you get quicker and better RESULTS from your marketing.
With that in mind, let’s look at the tools.
Publicity is about getting the attention of the media. Their words hold weight so when they recognize you in publications, they bring attention to your name and comany.
Here are 50 smart ideas for you to incorporate into your marketing strategy.
Press releases can get you the attention you’ve been looking for in your business. It can be difficult to determine when to send a press release, however.
Here are 50 detailed reasons you can use to send a press release to get the attention of the media and grow your business.
Writing and distributing press releases can be difficult if you don’t have experience with them.
They must have a unique format and you must keep your goals in mind when creating them. This brainstorming sheet will help you create an effective press release every time.
Keeping track of where you have submitted your press releases can be cumbersome. It is essential however to ensure that you have all the information in one place.
This tracking sheet includes everything you need to stay organized and on top of things.
A media kit is a page on your website where you include all the information that a media representative may want to know about your company. They use it to research information for their story and press release coverage. They also use the information and resources in your kit to help them decide if they’re going to cover your press release. So, the kit you put together can have big implications.
Use these instructions, sample and template to create your solid media kit quickly and easily.
Following up with a thank you letter after an interview is essential.
Use this sample thank you letter and template to continue to build relationships and remain top of mind with your interviewers.
Never get stuck again trying to write your press releases. We’ve got 6 different press release templates that you can quickly run with along with detailed instructions and tips to help you along.
The templates include:
These handy checklists are going to keep you on track to ensure you don’t miss a thing.
We’ve included checklists for:
As you can see these templates and tools will help you with every step of creating and distributing your press releases, so you can get more publicity and grow your business.
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