You don’t need a PR agency to get media coverage for your business. Taking the DIY PR route could save you a lot of money and allow you to have complete control over the voice of your brand. Here are just a few steps when launching your own successful PR campaign.
Have a clear objective and angle
If you want media publications to take interest in you, you need to have a strong angle and a clear objective. Your angle needs to be something unique or exciting about your brand – it could be a fascinating back story or a revolutionary feature with your product.
As for your objective, you need to decide whether you are looking to boost your reputation or simply gain exposure. If your reputation is important, focus on encouraging positive reviews and telling inspirational stories. If it is just exposure that you want, find ways to link your brand to current events through news stories and studies.
Write a press release
Once you have a clear angle and objective, it is time to write a press release. This is the news piece that you will mail or email to each one of your media contacts. This needs to be well written and engaging – it needs to be information that journalists want to write about and radio presenters want to interview you about. There are lots of tips on press release writing online that can help you.
Do your media research
Media research is likely to be the hardest part. This involves finding media outlets that you want to get coverage from – whether it be newspapers, magazines, blogs, radio shows, or YouTube vlogs – and then finding contact details allowing you to get in touch. Try to understand the content and tone of each outlet so that you can alter your pitch dependent on the media outlet your contacting. Online reputation management (ORM) is essential in the modern business marketplace.
Consider upgrading your email service
Upgrading your email service could be helpful if you plan to send bulk emails. It could also be useful if you plan on sending large files online such as electronic press kits or video files. You may need to pay for such an email service, but the convenience is likely to be worth the cost so that you don’t have to deal with email congestion.
Have a strong email subject line
The subject line of your emails needs to grab readers, otherwise no-one will open your emails and no-one will read your press release. Try to find the most interesting point and make this your focus. Don’t be afraid of being a bit like clickbait – a good subject line often has to be clickbaity to get people to click on it, especially as media outlets could be getting dozens if not hundreds of emails a day.
Follow up your emails
Once you have emailed every media outlet you can think of, send follow up emails to those that haven’t responded. Allow a few days for people to get back to you so that you don’t come across too pushy. If you are lucky enough to get any positive responses, make sure to thank them for their coverage. If no-one gets back to you, don’t despair – not every PR campaign is successful and you may need to simply readjust your strategy and try a new campaign with a new angle.
