So your company was just featured in a newspaper article.
Perhaps you were interviewed for a segment on the 10pm News or supplied comments for an industry blog.
Bottom line is you just got some great press. The question now becomes how to get the biggest PR bang for the buck, so to speak, to maximize the impact of your publicity efforts.
Many businesses are just happy to get the exposure. They will get a few comments such as, “Hey, saw your article,” or “Saw you on TV last night,” and be excited that someone mentioned it.
Unfortunately, while many of these of placements provide good name recognition, in many cases they reach only a very small percentage of your actual customers and prospects. This is especially true for business-to-business type companies.
At the end of the day, the article, in and of itself, yields little in the way of increased customer awareness, website activity, and prospect inquiries.
But there are ways to leverage your coverage and create some real benefits with your targeted customer list. Here are some of them…
1. Post your article on your website. Hopefully you have a newsroom on your site. Companies wishing to check you out will always go to your website before they will let you in the door. Showcasing a nice article or interview will help solidify your place as a segment leader in the marketplace.
2. Post your article on LinkedIn. You probably have hundreds of connections on LinkedIn. So too do your employees. Many of those connections are clients and some firms you wish to do business with. If three or four people post the article in their newsfeed there is a great probability that thousands will see it, and many of those are the right people.
3. Post your article on your Facebook page. Your Facebook page may or may not be viable when it comes to reaching your targeted audience. Still on a local level it can enable you to connect with hundreds of key influencers. It can be worth the effort even if you have to purchase a few Facebook ads to spread the word.
4. Highlight your article in your email newsletter. Most companies do some type of email marketing. Including your article will add some excitement to the mailing and build credibility with your customer base.
5. Send the article to prospects. Trying to win new business as part of a shoot-out with two or three competitors? Sending the decision maker your new article or interview may be just enough to sway them your way.
6. Use your article as a tool in your sales kit. In addition to sending your publicity piece to your customer list you should run off a copy of the article, or create a digital link, as part of your sales kit. After all this is a third party endorsement of your business from a reputable media outlet. All salespeople should have this in their tool box and should be excited to display it when they meet new prospects.
7. Reuse the content as part of a company blog. You spent a lot of time preparing for your media interview. As part of the process you wrote down a number of key talking points and key company information you would like customers to know about. That content can be easily used as part of a company blog. You have this information easily accessible so why not write it up and post it?
We shared a few insights on this process as part of our interview on The PR Channel
There are probably other ways to get the biggest bang from your media placements. If you would like to share one feel free to post it here.
