In a recent analysis of over 150 Atlanta-based public relations firms, Expertise included EllePR in its ranking of the Top 21 firms. Each agency was scored on more than 25 variables across five categories, with criteria including:
Reputation
Credibility
Experience
Availability
Professionalism
To view the entire list, click here.
You have a great product or service. And you want the media to talk about it. Every brand stands to benefit from an article, video, or social media shout out touting their brand, but in today’s crowded marketplace, how can new and established consumer brands get in front of relevant media and catch their attention?
Media relations is a topic we think about daily at EllePR, so we have outlined 3 points that will help your brand improve its media relations efforts whether you have a PR agency or not.
Here’s what you need to know first: JOURNALISTS ARE BUSIER THAN EVER! You must make your business “media-friendly” by getting to the point and highlighting your unique brand attributes right away. You also want to make it easy for journalists to learn more or contact you. The more helpful content about your brand that is out there (i.e., on your website, social channels, etc.), the more likely someone will share it or take the time to follow-up with you or your PR rep for additional information.
Here are a few starting on improving your media relations game:
1). Make it easy to learn what you do, who you serve, and why you exist via a well-branded company website. We cannot overstate the importance of your business website – this is your storefront. Make sure it includes all relevant company info, is visually appealing, and easy to understand. Don’t make media (or your customers) go digging to get the relevant factoids on your business!
Cheat sheet on what your website should include:
Who you are
What you do
Who you do it for
Key team members
Brand story (do you have a mission statement?)
Why/how your brand got started
A Contact Page listing the email of a RESPONSIVE team member or your PR rep
Make it easy for journalists to follow-up with someone from your company (or preferably a PR rep) to get more information or schedule an interview. We suggest listing the name and email of an actual person who is prepared to interface with the media on your brand’s behalf versus simply listing a generic "info@companyaddress.com" email.
2). Get to the point. Put your USP up front, in bold, and reiterate it throughout all of your company messaging. Why is your brand special? What attributes have you and your customers found to be the most interesting, helpful, exciting?
3). PLANT THE SEED and share it! Create and share engaging brand content to entice both media and your target customers.
Things to consider when creating content: How can people best use your product or service? What kinds of partnerships make the most sense for your brand? Think about ways to make your business more accessible to broader audiences. Can you piggyback your brand onto current events, changing seasons, or otherwise trending topics?
Don’t stretch this too far, but chances are you can make your business more relevant by suggestive selling that does not feel like selling.
For example, say you have a spirit brand. You could create tasty, easy recipes featuring a popular sparkling water or juice brand and distribute on your website and via social platforms. This gives you great content to share directly with your target customer as well as suggestive ideas for media who might be writing a piece on creative holiday cocktails.
Where do you share this great content? Your blog or website, on social media platforms, in targeted email newsletters, and in media outreach.
Spinsucks recently released an article highlighting “4 Ways to Help Media find and Understand Your Brand” that goes into greater detail on best practices for social media and online networking sites. This is a great starting point if you do not currently have a marketing team advising you on these points. Click here for the full article and let us know your thoughts!
At this point, you probably know your business should be using video to engage existing, new, and potential customers through your digital and social channels. However, knowing and doing are two very different things, so we put together a few quick pointers to help you get the ball rolling.
1). What’s the goal of your video? Do you want to introduce your startup, share a new product launch, or tell your brand’s origin story? Would a series of videos be most useful in helping you achieve the desired outcomes?
2). What resources do you have? Now that you have a general idea of what you want, how are you going to make it happen? Do you have an in-house production team or a marketing budget that allows you to bring in experts?
3). How will people consume the video? Where will you distribute the video? If you plan to share to Facebook, for example, it’s great to use captions since up to 40% of consumers are more likely to finish videos with subtitles. You can also keep in mind video length when you know how you will share.
Hubspot recently released a handy guide on “How to Get Started with Marketing Videos” that breaks down the steps a bit further. This is a great starting point if your team is new to video marketing! Click here for the full article and let us know your thoughts!