PR on a budget
Large companies have millions to spend on courting the press but how can small businesses with a tiny budget get that all important media coverage? Matt Henkes investigates.
Remember Fathers for Justice? They included the portly old gentleman who scaled the walls of Buckingham Palace dressed as Batman; or his comrades who managed to blag their way into the public viewing box of the commons to flour bomb Tony Blair as he addressed the house. These were PR stunts on an extreme level, and demonstrate the power of the media and how it can be used to get a message heard.
Obviously, we're not suggesting that you don the black cape and set out to wreak havoc. These are extreme examples, but a vast amount of the information you see in the media relating to companies or organisations will be a result of some kind of PR exercise.
Essentially, PR is the means by which you manage your reputation and build long term relationships with your customers and stakeholders. It doesn't necessarily have to have anything to do with the media, though that is its most visible form.
While large companies invest huge amounts of money in PR campaigns, their smaller counterparts have far less to spend on getting their message out. However, it is still possible to get that all important media coverage by forking out very little.
How do you know if you need PR?
"A time will come when you have to start thinking about the extra things you can do to push your business," says Anna Mealor, deputy director general and head of marketing at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR). "I think people know when they have to do more. It's usually at that point when they start to think, 'What else can we do to increase our sales?' What can you do to encourage people to visit you or use your service?
"At a certain level you can virtually call it customer relations when you first start off because it is about the way you present yourself; how you answer the telephone, how your stationary looks and how you use your email and website.
"Speak to some of your customers," she adds. "Get their endorsements and put them on the website. Ask them questions about the service, what they like about you, what they don't and where you can improve."
Take a step up from these simple actions and you begin wading into the world of media coverage, press releases and journalists. This is not as scary as it may sound, but there are ways to go about it.
Finding your target media and building contacts
This is where you work out who you are trying to get your message to. Who are your potential customers, investors or partners and where does your message need to be for them to see it? Look at the trade press coverage of your industry or sector. Which of your competitors are included and why? What is the message that they're trying to get across? Getting an idea of the type of things that gain coverage in your trade press will help you to grab some of that valuable exposure for yourself. Look at the style of the paper or magazine you're aiming for and copy it. If your news release fits in with their style, it's more likely to get published.
Make the effort to contact the journalists that will be covering your area, both in the trade and general press, and find out what is most likely to get you coverage. Ask them what they want and they'll tell you. Find out what their deadline days are and make sure that anything you send them is well in advance of this. Bear in mind that the more often you supply them with suitable content, the more they will come back to you in the future.
When dealing with the media, it is important to have an established idea of exactly what it is you want to achieve. Keep this in mind at every point of contact, be it sending a press release, doing an interview or running a competition in the local paper. Remember when talking to journalists that everything you say is a matter of public record, unless you both specifically agree otherwise.
Catching their interest
Journalists deal in news. This may seem obvious but it's important to make sure that what you're supplying is not just an advert for your business disguised as a press release. It has to have some news value. If you're writing for the trade press, they're more likely to be interested in some of your latest deals or product developments. However, a local paper would probably be more interested in a story with a human angle, such as how you've supported a member of your team through a qualification or how your sales team are training for the London marathon.
Writing a press release
Your average news desk is constantly awash with press releases of all shapes and sizes. They are constantly bombarded, so make your release short and sharp, with a catchy headline.
Don't try and include too much information. A good press release will always have the date at the top and will typically be no more than two pages long, with the important information at the top followed by a nice snappy quote from yourself or one of your company directors. It's a good idea to include some background information about your firm with contact details at the bottom.
Never underestimate the value of a high quality image. Editors want their publication to look good, so including an interesting picture will increase your chances of gaining the coverage you're after.
Getting the professionals in
Of course if you feel like you want to invest in a professional PR consultant, and go about finding one in the proper way, it's highly likely that they will do a much better job than you. The CIPR offers a service that it claims will find the right agency to meet your needs. Be prepared though, they don't come cheap.
"It depends what you want to do, but if you were hiring a PR consultant by the day then you can expect a ball park figure to be around anything from £400 a day and upwards," says Mealor. "If you do it on a project basis it could be cheaper, but you are going to invest some money in it.
"Ensure that the consultant you work with is recognised by a professional body like the CIPR," she adds. "Then you'll know that they're accountable and they've had to meet certain criteria.
"Decide what you want to achieve before you approach them and always ask around before signing with someone. Find out if anybody in the local area has also been using PR, and who they would recommend."
Why not just advertise?
Getting a journalist to write about your company is worth more in terms of the reader's perception, than paying for an advert, says Mealor. "Advertising is paid for, so you pay for your piece and it's not presented by a third party," she adds. "With PR, if you get an article in the paper and the journalist is saying good things about what you're doing, the reader and your stakeholders will know that it's impartial and this person is writing about it because the product or service is good."
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BusinessZONE - 13-Apr-2007
Categories: Marketing/PR
Story read: 3891
Number of comments: 2
PR Boosters
Penny Haywood, 14 April 2007 @ 18:32 PM
Penny Haywood
PR pros score higher than DIY PR efforts when they have credibility with media contacts. We often find a call to a media pal works a treat but as ex journalist/editors, we have an advantage because we're treated as peers, not PR people, and we'd never pick up the phone unless the story was good.
But in a specialist sector, the business owner can often profitably develop their own specialist trade press contacts - if they have the time and inclination to do so. We'd recommend some media training so you are confident you know how to deal with the media. You're always aiming to get invited back, so check carefully what type of media training you're getting into. Bad media trainers will suggest you get your point across at all costs, and it may work once, but you'll be the last person the media want to see again if you follow that advice. Becoming your key media's favourite spokesperson for trends in your sector gets the media to come to you!
Just don't expect press coverage to do all your sales and marketing work for you. Research shows sales are 50% easier to make if people have read good things about you in the press. But 50% of 0 sales effort is still 0. When you do get a good press mention, up the odds in your favour by sending out friendly short emails with a link to the positive coverage to ensure your potential customers see it. And if it's about a new product or service, don't forget your current customers: 80% of your potential growth is probably achievable by selling more to existing customers who have already 'bought in' to your organisation.
And prestigious coverage can give you the chance to up your prices if you consistently make a good name for yourself.
Incidentally, despite the advice in the article to include good photos, always send a link to them rather than email photos to the media: at best, the webmaster will strip attachments off your email and at worst, it will be deleted unread. The media get too much attention from hackers and other smart Alecs to open attachments.
And back up your efforts with a good website containing a virtual press office.
If you just need a few new clients, why not look at networking or running free seminars that allow you to showcase your expertise and deliver that one-to-one chance to build rapport with people who can recommend you to potential customers?
We we have dedicated PR services and media training with cost-effective and equity share options for fast-growing entrepreneurial businesses.
Smart PR thinking means Smart Business
Ash Gupta, 13 April 2007 @ 15:50 PM
Ash GuptaThe profile of a company is key and with search engines it just takes a few minutes to see what that profile is on say, Google. So, a smart business should seek out an equally smart PR firm. These days there are plenty of excellent small PR firms which are run by people with vast previous experience in more structured firms, so ask about to seek out one that has a focus on your particular sector. For a very small fee some will "hothouse" your company. We did this with a two man firm called iteration::two and in just a few years they became Adobe Consulting Europe. So choose with care and get several opinions before you commit. A PR investment does not have to cost the earth but good people chemistry is a must!
