Generating Media Attention: A Guide for your Start-Up
Four Tips to Immediately Boost Your Media Presence
You might be one of the thousands of entrepreneurs struggling to generate media attention for your start-up. It was the same for us at Evocati PR. Where do you focus your efforts to attain max ROI?
If you want to stay relevant and attract customers, you need to get your brand out there. But where to start? Media attention is a key goal. But how do you effectively create media attention for a startup?
Here are a few pivotal strategies to help you maximize your marketing efforts and get people talking about your business.
Pitch Yourself
Source: Evocati PR: Members of the National Potato Council participating in a reporter roundtable (2023)
First, the most straightforward way to increase your media hits is to take it into your own hands. Contact the journalists who write about your industry or community. Are you starting a new program or offering a new product? Great! It's time to generate some buzz. Start local. We recommend starting with local media as they are always looking for relevant content. Trust us. Make sure you include why the story is newsworthy, how it relates to their audience, the benefit of including your story, and stand out!
Harness Social Media
Source: Squarespace (2023)
If used correctly, pushing content on social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook can be an effective way to increase visibility. If used incorrectly, these are a massive waste of people power. It’s important to establish a presence on social media channels that are relevant to your brand and post content regularly. For example, we focus on LinkedIn because that's where professionals go to connect and learn about PR. You can use these platforms to post updates about your products/services, launch contests/giveaways, promote company events, share relevant and positive stories from customers/clients, and much more. Don't try to "boil the ocean" by being on every platform, just the ones where your customers are located.
Create Engaging Content
Creating content that resonates with your audience is crucial in getting media attention. Not only will customers be attracted to your work, but journalists will take an interest in what you have to offer if you’re producing quality content. This could include writing articles or blogs, creating videos or interesting social media posts, hosting webinars and podcasts, or even giving interviews yourself! When you create high-quality content, your audience engages and interacts with you. This interaction builds your brand and raises public opinion. When the public is interested in you, journalists are interested in you. Put yourself out there. We promise, if your start-up is solving a problem, someone else—like a journalist—wants to learn how and why.
Find the Right Partner
Source: Evocati PR (2022)
Partnering with other professionals in the same or a related industry can be a great way to generate media attention for your business. By forming relationships with people who understand what you do and why, you can get their input on how best to market yourself and increase visibility in the marketplace. Additionally, the people interested in them, are much more likely to be interested in you than a random person. Find a partner that validates your contributions as a start-up to increase your credibility.
Garnering media attention should be a priority as it helps your start-up grow and mature. Investing your time, money, and effort into these marketing strategies will absolutely pay off in the long run (and likely in the short run too) increasing your customer base, brand visibility, and revenue. And we would know because it's what we do on the daily for our clients.
We’re here to help aspiring entrepreneurs and professional marketers get squared away. Let us know in the comments where you’re stuck and what you’d like to learn next from the experts. Or contact us today for support.
#SquaredAway #PRWithaPurpose #Media #Pitching #PR
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