It’s exciting to win positive press coverage. However, it’s not always easy to capture the attention of editors and journalists. Even well-known companies struggle to get their news releases read and picked up.
PR pro and founder of Enty, Sophia Matveeva, has learned a lot from doing her own publicity and working with influencers. She has discovered six building blocks to win press coverage. In this issue of Promotional Consultant Today, we share Matveeva’s six publicity rules.
Rule #1: Know what you want and why you want it. Think about who you want to hear about you and what action you want them to take. This allows you to consider where your target audience is and reach out to them accordingly.
Rule #2: Start small. Matveeva admits that it is highly unlikely that your first press appearance will be in a top global publication—and this is a good thing. It is better to make mistakes in front of a small audience. Start by giving interviews to small blogs and company newsletters to hone your message. By building up a bank of content about you, larger publications will see that someone already finds you interesting and will be more likely to write about your news and views.
Rule #3: Be interesting. This is the most important rule, according to Matveeva. Think about it like going to a party and meeting someone you want to impress. They are more likely to remember you if you tell them an interesting or a funny story, not if you just roll out your credentials. Remember that a journalist’s job is to tell stories, so make yours interesting.
Rule #4: Create content. Matveeva says that creating content shows your expertise and can impress editors and customers. Just make sure it’s useful. Worry less about writing excellent prose, and more about giving practical suggestions that readers can implement. It is no good to talk about general industry trends, unless you suggest what people can do about them.
Rule #5: Build relationships by being useful. Journalists often have a lot of broad knowledge but will not have the sector depth of someone running a business. This is your opportunity to be useful. Explain sector developments and make introductions, even if they are to your competitors, encourages Matveeva.
Rule #6: Be proactive after publication. When you get press coverage, the work’s not over. Even if you are featured in your dream publication, clients with big contracts will not necessarily beat down your door, notes Matveeva. While some inbound interest is going to happen, you can make the most of your press coverage by being proactive about who sees it. This is not only limited to putting it on your social channels once. To make press coverage evergreen, add the article to your email signature and to your company credentials. Even if a prospective client did not read the article at the time of publication, they are likely to be impressed if they see it as part of your sales presentation.
Getting coveted press coverage takes time and effort. By following the simple and effective rules above, you can help win your business shine.
Source: Sophia Matveeva is the founder of Enty, a retail tech platform that connects consumers, stylists and brands. The company won App of the Day by Mashable, and Grazia named Enty one of the world’s best fashion tech startups.