Developing a plan for public relations might seem as if it is a daunting undertaking, yet if you do it properly, it may assist in growing your brand, as well as improving profits.
For the majority of organizations, public relations campaigns independently work from marketing; however if they're integrated, it is going to assist in growing your company even more.
Establish your Goals
Do not start your public relations campaign without having knowledge of what you have a desire to accomplish. This way, you are going to ensure your communications are targeted, that consequently, is going to ensure a better response.
Build up Relationships
The traditional public relations model relied on media like newspapers, television, as well as radio to spread the word and speak with potential customers. Murray Newlands coauthor of How to get PR for your Startup: Traction said "PR should be part of an integrated digital marketing strategy. With 67 percent of the usual B2B purchaser's journey now digitally done, the necessity for high quality integrated public relations is greater than ever."
Putting together a killer media list is going to allow you to target every campaign, and permit you to provide angles which are of interest to each website or publication.
If the media list is sparse, begin to build relationships. Follow niche journalists upon Twitter, as well as locate relevant publications or blogs which match your goals. Relationship building will include the crux of good public relations and will take time, yet it will really be worth it.
Concentrate on Content
Now that you have the distribution list, you just have to send out a press release - right? Erm, actually no.
It is obviously important to get the pitch out there, yet you cannot depend on that alone. You must take an integrated approach, as well as create a plan for public relations which will go above and beyond a press release - share the news on the company blog, upload an image on your Facebook business page, or Tweet about it.
Blending the two is going to spread the word even further - after all, 80 percent of business decision makers like to get company details in a sequence of articles.
Become Newsworthy
You are going to have a larger impact with the pitch if it is newsworthy. Think outside the organization and see what is happening inside your field or the globe in general.
A topical hook will mean the media is more than likely to carry it and also, it is going to have a better resonance with possible customers. High quality content, particularly when it is timely, also is going to begin spreading naturally.
Get Attention
- Be certain the subject line is going to stand out, as journalists receive a lot of emails; therefore, the subject line must be enticing.
- Keep it brief and to the point.
- Do not make it overly text-heavy. Embedding images are going to increase engagement by 12%.
- Involving a video has been proven to boost engagement by 55 percent.
There isn't anything bloggers or journalists hate more than a business who isn't prepared; hence, once you have made contact, be certain you possess relevant support material on-hand.
Keep a large library of videos, photographs, quotes and extra information prepared to send out - or better yet, on your site - in order for you to merely email a link.
Publish Yourself
There has been a major change within the media over the past couple of years - everybody now is a writer - therefore, take advantage within this shift of power and begin to get your own message out to your targeted audience. Use these tools to help with this.
If you have developed a survey for a public relations campaign, turn these results into an infographic then post it on the Facebook business page. Or place exclusive news upon your blog, and tweet it to all of your followers.
Incredible content is going to be shared around several channels and spread the word for you!
Important Takeaways
Targeting the content to the proper media list is going to improve the efficiency of the plan for public relations. Integrate your public relations campaigns using inbound marketing in order to witness better results.