Want to continue to generate awareness of our product or company while cutting your advertising or marketing budget. Try public relations. Not only is is a lot less expensive than advertising, the media coverage it generates is 3 to 5 times more credible than advertising. And, by reaching out to the media in a targeted way, you can reach a brand new audience for your messages - through print and broadcast media, via blogs and Web sites - so a whole new group of people will read about you.
Try these simple steps:
1. Develop a media list of the media most likely to cover your type of business - local newspapers and business journals, or trade publications, Web sites and bloggers;
2. Create simple news releases about a new product, a new client, a new trend in your industry, remembering to include the traditional who, what, when, why and how information. Make sure it's something people want to read about, not just a company or product promotion. And, include benefits of this news to the reader.
3. If you can send out your releases electronically, optimize the release by inserting embedded links that provide direct links to more details on information contained in the release.
4. Get copies of anything that appears anywhere. And, you can set up a Google News Alert to track most anything that appears in the media on your products or company as a result of your releases.
5. Keep sending out releases on a regular basis, perhaps once a month. Like any kind of promotion, it is the steady and ongoing mentions in the media that keep your company top of mind.
Jim Thebeau
Partner
Henry Russell Bruce