Being the driving force behind advertising and marketing for your brand is one of the most empowering parts of being an entrepreneur. Nevertheless, having an outside source write about your business can be helpful. Not only do you get the opportunity to gain recognition among an entirely new audience, but a new perspective on your brand’s strengths and potential can be both valuable and refreshing.
But how do you go about getting somebody – a newspaper, magazine, blog, website, etc. – to write about your brand? The eWomen Network has some great advice on the first few steps you need to take in order to get the media buzzing.
We highly recommend checking out the entire article here!
In the meantime, these are our favorite tips:
Tell a story. Your customers don’t want to be sold to. They want to hear the story that you have to tell. What about your business and brand makes it stand out from the competition? What part of your story will resonate with your ideal customer? These are the messages you want to focus on when pitching to a media outlet.
Research your audience. Journalists, writers, and media outlets are going to want to see that you have an awareness of the audience they cater to if you are looking to be written about in their publication. Not only should you research the makeup of the outlet’s audience, you should gain a solid understanding of your own target audience as well. From there, you can find a publication that appeals to the people you are trying to reach.
Set goals. It is important to set goals that you can realistically measure and reach. Make a clear timeline of all of the steps you are going to do along the way. Furthermore, outline what your goals of the campaign or story in general are. Higher audience engagement? Increased sales? Again, make sure these are specific and measurable.
Practice pitching your brand. You’re going to have to convince the writer or outlet that your business and brand encapsulates a story worth telling. Make sure you can quickly and concisely explain both your brand and message. From there, describe the story that you think could be told. Make sure it is relevant, interesting, and unique. Do you have an event coming up? Do you have a unique philosophy? Are you contributing to your community in some way?
As always, quality images are the cornerstone of any successful brand, and can be used extensively in your PR campaigns!