“Without publicity, there will be no prosperity.” -Yakov Borisovich Zel’dovich.
For small businesses, brand recognition plays a significant role. Correct? It helps in making a small brand become big and achieve all the organization’s goals. However, the process of brand recognition is long and requires impressive strategies.
Nonetheless, as you might be aware of the fact that the beginning of every process is small. So, what is the beginning of getting brand recognition? Yes, you are absolutely right! It is by getting the attention of local customers. But how? No! Providing discounts and offers is not going to benefit you. These are temporary solutions only. You need to think of a strong strategy that creates a buzz and makes your company a talk of the town.
And this brings you back to square one! So, what else can you do to create a buzz? The answer is to grab the local media’s attention and get famous in your target market.
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Having said that, we should also remind you that there are generally two types of publicity, i.e., positive and negative. Both are good for a company to improve its industrial exposure and generate more leads. However, in this article, we are going to talk about positive publicity. So, are you ready to learn? Let’s get started!
Understand your target audience
First of all, just like any other strategy that you plan for your company’s success, you have to consider the target audience. Who are the people that you want to reach? However, as your motive is to attract the media’s attention, this time, your target audience is not your customers but the journalists and media outlets.
Yes! You read it correctly! You need to understand what “beat” you want to attract. In more simple terms, every news outlet has different sections for different types of audiences. Thus, you need to decide whether you want to get recognition in the entertainment, CSR, or an informative section. So, kindly select cautiously!
Contact the right person for the pitch.
Once you have decided your beat, you need to approach the right person. Why? Well, several journalists and editors can write a story for you. However, you need to contact the person who, according to you, can understand your intentions and help you achieve your goal.
You might agree with us that every word used by the press has a significant impact on society. That’s the reason why you need to select the right person. Who can show you the company as its own and help you grow?
Try to take advantage of breaking news.
Another thing that you can do is to take advantage of burning topics of the news. For instance: Consider the situation of Covid-19; you can take the help of this pandemic to get coverage. You can offer free masks and hand sanitizers to needy people. It’ll help you complete your CSR (corporate social responsibility). This gesture will also make you a hero in front of the eyes of your target customers.
Keep in mind that every time you try to be a part of a burning news topic, think and speak from the perspective of a layman. It will help create a soft spot in their heart, and they’ll be more interested in knowing about you. Results? The media will try to reach out to you to get more stories.
Invite the press to your events
If you plan on hosting any event either for a product launch or for sharing news. Inviting competitors and press should be on your priority list. Give them some exciting and intriguing stories. Besides that, you should also address them from time to time throughout the event and give them a media kit.
In addition to that, you can also add a question-and-answer round. So that in case any person has a question they can answer. Believe it or not, it’ll create a great impression about your organization which will take you a step forward towards your dream goal.
Remember, press releases can do wonders.
Needless to say, that press releases are one of the effective tools to get media attention. Not only it helps in providing excellent and captivating content to the media, but because the information is provided by the company officially, it is a great way to spread positive information about the company.
Nonetheless, as reporters will write a few short yet different articles, everything in the press release must be written precisely. If you want to learn more about how to overcome writer’s block and how to write an impactful press release, you can read more here. It’ll help you write a press release as per your target audience and the announcement you want to make.
Use social media to create stories.
Social media isn’t just for connecting people and getting entertained. You can use the power of social media to help your business get famous, especially among teenagers. With your marketing team, you can create an impressive social media campaign that makes curiosity in the mind of viewers.
Understand that the more fascinating your content on social media is, the more people will engage with it. You can also collaborate with social media influencers and budding artists and help each other out. Good content will not only help you gain more followers but will also grab the attention of local media channels. They would contact you on their own and learn more about your campaign idea, eventually helping you get more publicity.
Be philanthropic
Last but not least, you should keep in mind that as an organization, people expect you to do good for society. The reason being is that your organization uses the resources of the community. Thus it is their responsibility to give something in return. You can do that by being philanthropic! Organize charitable events, take steps to help nature, and provide opportunities to society with employment and quality standards of living. Believe us; your excellent work will speak for you and give you positive media coverage.
To conclude! It isn’t easy to operate a business and take it to new heights. Everybody knows that. However, what people don’t know is that the media can help businesses to get successful. And now that you have read the whole article, you can use the techniques mentioned earlier and help your small company grow big!
