You’ve been featured! Now what?
There’s no such thing as bad PR, right? (Well, that’s debatable.) But how do you take earned media and make it soar? Your CEO has been featured in The Wall Street Journal. Congratulations are in order! Pop the bubbly, get the plaque made and clear a spot on the office wall to hang the clip.
But don’t blink, because if you’re not careful your brand’s five seconds of fame will end before you can click share. In this fast-paced media world, where the consumer is bombarded with an ever-increasing number of messages, consider your story a mere blip on the radar that disappears like your latest Snap.
Unless … you give the story some legs. As a third-party endorsement, positive PR coverage is valuable if the right people see it (and even better if they see it multiple times). While the power of print steadily declines, the beauty of the rise of digital media is that it is so shareable. The value of consumers’ likes, shares and engagement with a story is like the traditional print metric of “pass-along rate” on steroids. While there is no way to make a story “go viral,” there are ways to “merchandise” it so that it gets in front of the most important people – your customers and prospects.
Here’s how you can take an integrated marketing approach to leveraging PR placements:
- Plan ahead and be prepared to mobilize your marketing resources. An effective campaign could help your story land on the most read articles list, which will expose it to even more readers! Most New York Times bestsellers don’t find themselves in that position without a lot of behind the scenes work – namely smart PR and marketing.
- Share via your social media channels. Be sure to acknowledge the journalist and the outlet (a digital pat on the back). You can also re-tweet a journalist or outlet if they share the news. It’s all about clicks these days, and if you help drive traffic to a media source, you become a powerful ally for them as well.
- Use hashtags to expose your news to relevant audiences – both topical and regional. Not sure what hashtags to use? There are several free sites like Hashtagify that can help. Pay attention to trending hashtags, especially if your news is tied to the topic.
- Feature excerpts from articles in your press room in an “in the news” section or on your blog. Be sure you don’t post the whole article (for various reasons including SEO impact and copyright) and always credit the outlet. Each outlet has certain restrictions when it comes to when and how their content can be shared. Always ask if unsure.
- Include recent coverage in your email newsletter.
- Create a social media ambassador army! Using tools like SocialToaster or Thunderclap, you can leverage your fan base to help spread your message.
- Do it the old fashioned way! Share internally with employees and with partners, members and supporters, and ask them to share on their social channels. Be sure to provide suggested copy to help make it even easier to post.
- Reflect the subject of the article throughout your marketing channels – provide supplementary content like videos and calls to action to drive conversions. For example, if you are launching a new product, make sure your website and other customer communications are sharing a consistent message and you are prepared to deliver.
- Cross-promote! Did you win an award? Think of all the places you could feature it. From your email signature to your wifi login page.
- Include award logos on printed materials (brochures, guides, etc.) Note: this is increasingly becoming a “pay-to-play” activity, but some awards programs will allow you basic usage rights.
- Select pull quotes and use on any “testimonials” pages that your website has or in sales presentation materials.
- Use your previous coverage to build momentum for future media opportunities. By listing where you’ve been featured in your bio and sharing previous appearances, you will instantly establish that you are a seasoned, credible news source.
- Employ social media advertising and targeting through a sponsored story linking to the article.
- Use a content amplification service like Outbrain or Tabula to distribute the story across the web through targeted channels.
- Get digital pdfs or reprints created and arm your sales team with them.
- The old tried and true technique for staying power still applies – frame it and hang it!
Not every placement warrants a full-court press, but for those stellar articles that truly convey your message, the extra effort will pay off in dividends.