What do you do when you see a competitor featured in the media? Do you get mad and wonder ‘why didn’t they ask me?’ If this is a reaction you’re familiar with, it might be time to make over your PR strategy.
Just like a business plan, a PR strategy should not be carefully thought out and then filed away in a drawer; it should be a living document that is updated often.
Start by working backwards from your dream media outlet. This might be Sunrise, the Sydney Morning Herald or TIME magazine. Whatever your dream media, a clear PR strategy is more likely to help you get there, so map out the steps to achieve it.
A PR strategy will include the following points:
- Goal – what you want to achieve and how
- Brand positioning statement – what is it that makes you and your business stand out?
- Objectives – what it is you want to achieve with PR (brand awareness, website traffic, build your customer database or increase sales), numbered in order of importance
- Promotion strategy – how are you going to achieve your objectives?
- Evaluation – measure your PR activity so you know what worked?
Why your business?
What is it that makes you a credible business owner? Jot down the following points to use in your PR efforts:
- What is your USP (unique selling proposition)?
- How long have you been in business?
- What experience do you have in this industry?
- Have you tested your product?
- How do you customers find you – referral, word of mouth, internet, walk past your shopfront?
- Do you have customers who would provide a testimonial?
Target audience
Be very specific about who you are marketing to and what problem your product or service can solve for them. Develop PR strategies for each audience segment so you know you’re really hitting the mark.
Media
Put together a media list with all the outlets you will target. Include the following:
- Newspapers, radio stations, TV networks, magazines, websites etc based in or covering your suburb or region
- Industry media, including bloggers, and association newsletters
- Other markets your business might extend into, for example children’s toys could be covered in parenting and educational media
- Business media, including the business reporters at the major outlets in your region and state, business magazines, websites and podcasts, etc
- Outlets that cover successful business women
Now that you know who you are targeting for your PR efforts, here are some methods to use to get their attention:
- Media releases for your business news
- Articles, vlogs and podcasts to show off your expertise in the industry
- Guest blogs and social media to extend your network
- Case studies to show how your product or service is used by customers
If you start working on just one of these tasks, you’ll be on your way to generating some great publicity.
But if you implement all of them, you should become the go-to person for media wanting to know more about your industry.
