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!