For new upcoming companies with a decent budget, it is a tricky challenge and a risky job to gain an upper hand for their new business or brand through advertising. Once the first wave has passed, there are no second chances. Effective PR is a good way to obtain vermore editorial exposure for the brand or product, great for getting more leads, generate more conversions to build a great brand.
The reason that makes PR so powerful is credibility.The most effective way to gain good PR is finding out methods to get the media to seek you out. Compared to conventional advertising, people get more convinced and take actions if your product is featured in a news report. News report gives your product third party credibility which the advertising wont give you.
So what can you do to make the PR process work wonders for you? Here are 10 essential rules you must follow to create an effective PR which will give your product an upper hand in the market.
1) The Market –
Know which community will be using your product. The more precise you can be about the target group, the more simpler it gets to identify which media you must be working with. Don’t keep high expectations, be narrow in your targets, remember that no product ever needs share of the complete market in order to be a hit.
2) Product benefits in relevance to the market –
The benefits that will bring to the potential client are more important than the features you add in the product. Your main purpose is to sell your product or service. As your product or brand will be published, give them proof, show the people what your product has in store for them. Prove it to them that your product or service will bring them convenience and will save them time and money or even make them money.
3) A Unique Identity
You must be able make your product look stand out. Prove it to the people that it it is way better in every way. Faster, better in hygiene, or more cost- effective than the products of your competitors or industry. Having such opaque evidence and proven advantages will give the media enough to believe in your product and feature your product over the others.
4) Use Testimonials and Sources
Over all other things, testimonials are the best way to boost the promotional status of your product. This also a holds a genuine reputation for your editorial for the editorial as well. The way you present the testimonial will be the main difference. The editorial piece should be about a targeted benefit.
5) Targeting the Media –
Avoid the shotgun approach and carefully target specific section editors and magazines. Find out writers who cover related topics. Send them a direct and personalized emailed that speaks for their media outlet as well as individual section. You also need to do some homework on the media, which are most viewed or most read by your targeted community. You can fetch this information from SRDS and any one of the Bacon directories. These publications cover newspapers , newsletters, radio and television broadcasts as per the region and specific interest groups. These groups also provide names and contact details for key editors.
6) Preparing For Your Press Release. –
Begin your release with a strong headline and keep in mind it follows the associated press style so that the journalist can cut and paste your copy for their story needs if they want to. Restrict your first paragraph upto 25 words and must explain the headline and also summarise the story. The first 25 words are important. The journalists spend seven seconds on average on the hundreds of news releases they receive each day. Also, make sure your editorial is not more than a page.
7) Selling the release. –
Now that your release is ready, give a ring to the person in the media guide. Inform and educate them about your story which may interest them and their readers. Give them the headline and the first paragraph. Whether they liked it or not, they will come to a decision. If reply with a ‘Yes’ or hit you with a ‘Maybe’, send them an email or a fax with more details. Earn the right to follow up. Ask them if you can give them a call maybe next day or any other time, depending on the publication dates.
8) Follow Ups and Keeping In Touch –
Don’t be too annoying by calling again and again. If the story is that good, it will sell on its own.Give them a call only when you’ve said you would to confirm whether they’ve got the details you sent and only provide more information if necessary. The only thing you’re supposed to do is provide them your contact and more information for convenience. Also a good method to ensure a second look for your press release.
So if plan on starting your own PR program, just follow these tips. Will these tips bring success always? No. But following them sure does increase the chances of success. Hope this post benefits you. Thank you for reading.