PR in the 2020s

The days of press releases being the only route to getting publicity are long gone.  Today’s editors are looking for something much more interesting than your latest product launch.

In fact, getting published is actually easier - there are new publications popping up daily - most of them online - and they’re hungry for good articles, so if you choose the right publications and can give them something that will educate and inform their readers, they’re likely to be receptive.

Choose your publications carefully.  If your target market is local and direct to consumer then local magazines may be a great place to promote your services.  If your audience is national or global then online publications are probably a better bet.  

Don’t get carried away with distribution figures - a national daily may have a distribution list of hundreds of thousands, but how many of them are your ideal client?  An industry journal may only have a distribution list of a few thousand - but if they’re all your ideal clients (or most of them) you’re much more likely to make an impact.

There are also online platforms where journalists post requests for quotes and expert opinion.  Again there is a cost in terms of a subscription and you would need to be on there daily to make the most of it - this is more the domain of professional PR executives.  If you have a good PR company that offers you a couple of mentions in your chosen press a month, it can be worthwhile; there are companies that have gone from zero to hero with good PR coverage.

Influence the influencers

But it’s a mistake to stop there.  There are so many other ways to get noticed.

Does your target niche have bloggers, YouTubers or podcasters who they follow?  If they do there’s an opportunity to engage with those people.  At the free and simple end you can always share what they publish on your social media with an intelligent comment, or comment under their post/blog/video.  

Real influencers cost money as that’s how they pay their bills, but not all of them are expensive and you could get coverage or promotion to their followers for as little as £50 - although some cost thousands.  It depends on the size of their subscriber/follower list and also on the level of engagement they get.  

Get a gong

Another aspect of PR is to either win an award or sponsor an award for your target market.  

Search online for your industry awards or local/regional business awards and enter.  When you’re completing your entry, the hottest tip we have is to answer the question they ask, not the one you wish they’d asked!

If your target market have industry awards and you have a budget, offer to sponsor an award and then your brand will be in every mention of the award and you’ll be in all the pictures with the winners!

It all comes back to knowing who you’re trying to reach and what they read, view or listen to.

What’s the point?

Newsletters are becoming fewer.  It’s rare to get an actual printed newsletter in today’s world, everyone is going green and the perception is that a digital communication is greener than a printed one (and there’s a whole can of worms there, but now is not the place to explore that!)  However, even digital newsletters seem to have reduced in number - or maybe I’ve just unsubscribed from all the ones that used to land in my inbox, so I don’t see them anymore.

The reality is that none of us will voluntarily subscribe to someone’s newsletter, unless there is a good reason.  We don’t want any more ‘stuff’ cluttering up our inbox.

So, if you want to keep your email lists warm, how do you persuade them to:

a) Part with their email address?

b) Stay subscribed when they start getting your newsletter?

The answer to a) is to offer subscribers something of value - that’s usually a digital download that gives them useful information, tips, a checklist, a worksheet or something else your target audience will see as worth parting with their contact details for.

To keep your subscribers you have to keep delivering value.  In other words, not just a monthly update on what you’ve been doing all month.  You’re not interested in the machinations of other people’s companies, so why would they be interested in yours?

If you’ve given them a free item that they’ve wanted enough to subscribe, then you know where their interest lies - and if you keep delivering more information around the same subject or allied subjects they will keep getting the value they want.  

Yes, a few people will unsubscribe. But they are probably not the people you want to engage with anyway.  It’s the ones that stay connected, keep opening your email newsletters and appreciate the value you deliver.

You may not hear from them for months - or even years - but every newsletter reminds them of your value.  When they want whatever you offer, your name is at the top of their consciousness.  Also if anyone asks for a recommendation, they may well recommend you as you’ve proven you know your stuff!  I have a call recently from someone who had been on my newsletter list for at least 5 years and when she needed some help, I popped into her head straight away, so I know it works.

Your newsletter can educate your readers about the range of your knowledge and talents, in a way that adds value for them.  It’s not selling, it’s marketing.

Plan for social media success

Social media success isn’t an accident, it’s the result of a great deal of effort.  Some people find it easy, others consider it’s a necessary evil.  

Your approach will, to a large extent generate the results - if you hate doing it, your posts will reflect that.  If you enjoy finding and creating content your audience will appreciate and engage with, your posts will have more life and energy.

Here are our SOCIAL tips!

Schedule

If you leave it to the day of posting you’ll fall into two potential traps:

1. You’ll be too busy and you won’t get around to posting
2. You’ll have brain fade and be unable to come up with anything worth posting.

A schedule with at least some indication of what you want to post and where ensures you have a plan of action and some ideas to get your creative juices flowing.

Oooo-factor!

Nobody engages with bland content.

Very few people engage with sales pitches.

Watch any social media feed for a minute or two and you’ll see the speed at which content is posted.  Most of us scroll until something catches our eye - and if the first few words don’t make us sit up and take notice, the chance of engagement vanishes fast.

This is why you need to know your target audience really well and then create content that you know will excite and engage them.  It’s OK to do some sales posts on social media, but if you just do that and only talk about your products or services you’ll ban them with boredom!

While cute cat videos may not be relevant, something entertaining in some way will get you noticed and engage people who want to see more.  Time to get those creative juices flowing.

Consistent

Everyone is deluged with information and memories are short.  Consistency is about posting regularly so you don’t fall off people’s radar.  They may not need what you offer today, but if they keep seeing great content from you, you’ll be the first person they think of when that need arises.

Posting once a month or when you remember won’t get the results you hope for.

Influence

Your posts are your means to influence the audience who follow you or see your posts randomly.  That means you need to know what you want people to think about you and your business - and make sure that your posts reinforce that message.

Authentic

Be you!  Sound obvious, but so many people use different language in their online posts to how they communicate face-to-face.  That means that when people get to know you online and then meet your face-to-face (even that’s in a Zoom meeting) there’s a disconnect.  That doesn’t make them feel comfortable - and reduces the likelihood that they’ll consider using your products or services.

Lively

You can kill a perfectly good post by using passive language and losing the life and energy from your message.  Here’s an example - which of these sounds livelier?

You can improve your business results with our tried and tested plan

OR

Put your business on the fast track to success with a guaranteed step-by-step guide

I’m hoping you picked the second one.  The language is more active and it has energy.  The first example is very bland and corporate and doesn’t sound exciting.

Sharpen up your posts so they grab people’s attention and interest.

Follow the SOCIAL checklist and your posts will perform well.

What’s the gossip?

Human beings are curious creatures - they’re always gossiping about each other.  Even if you don’t think you are - when you discuss someone else with another person, whether on the phone, in person, at a networking event or on social media - you’re gossiping!

When Peter Roper and I wrote The Reputation Game we came to the conclusion that reputation is really gossip.  In other words it’s what other people are saying about you.

Gossip isn’t good or bad, true or false; - it’s anything anyone says about you.  

I received an email from a networking contact several years ago that went something like:

I just wanted you to know that whenever I mention your name everyone knows who you are and always have good things to say.

I got a warm glow from that.  That’s the kind of reputation money can’t buy - but you can influence what people say.

Say something often …

As a marketing strategy you need a clear message and then you need to deliver it consistently, in many places, using different media - and often.

The more people hear your message, the more they will think they know you.  And the more likely they are to think of you when someone asks for a recommendation for someone with your expertise - or, indeed, if they need your kind of help themselves.

That message needs to be clear and you need to invest time in polishing it to a fine shine.  When your core message is clear, then you can create content to support it for:

• Your website
• Your blog
• Social media posts
• Profiles and biographies
• Networking 60 seconds
• Presentations
• Regular newsletters
• Email campaigns
• Articles for publication
• Client proposals

It’s all about congruency and authenticity.

Personal v. Professional

If it’s your business, your personality will influence your message.  There is nothing worse than an energetic, bubbly person whose website is very formal and corporate.  If you’re a quiet and thoughtful person, your website, social media posts and other material needs to convey that too.

The disconnect when someone reads the website and then meets the business owner makes them uncomfortable.  They may not be conscious of why, but the result is likely to be that they will continue looking elsewhere for help.

That doesn’t mean you have to be someone you’re not - that’s definitely a bad idea - but the tone of your message needs to match your personal approach.

When people gossip about you - you want them to say what’s true and positive.