Daily operations of your business can sometimes lead to neglect of marketing side. Without self-promotion this can lead to new customers to overlook your business and previous customers to forget about your brand. To help keep up with the important PR side of your business here are 11 tips that you may have not thought to incorporate into your monthly or quarterly marketing strategy:

1. Send a Pitch to a Journalist

Writing an email that includes your bio and a link to your website is the bare minimum. Think about what the journalist might want to write about in relation to your company or industry. For example, if Halloween is coming up, you might they be considering content themed around the getting ready for the holiday or Fall/Autumn? Say you sell furniture, you could pitch a few of your own creations as suitable additions to shopping guides the journalist might be pull together for the season.

2. Research the Publication & See What They Typically Feature

Do you have a favorite magazine or news outlet you subscribe to? Get to know the magazine or piece of media you can see content about your product or service in. Certain publications have inspiration pieces. Think about how they write them and match the tone. Journalists are busy and juggling lots of items, so make their life easier by sending them a text-rich, well-informed pitch deck along with everything they need like photos and logo files. If they have a submission page, follow their instructions to a “T”. The less correcting they have to do the more likely they will work with you now and in the future. 

3. Make Your About Page “Journalist & New User Friendly”

When trying to find out about a business to write about, one of the first things users do is click on the About page of their website. If they can’t find the information, they need they will back out of your website altogether. Here are the items that put users and potential journalist off and that you need to fix right away: 

• Not including your full business name
• Not including your location or locations you serve
• Not having a professional photograph of your business or its work 
• Not including an email address and/or contact form
• Not making it obvious that media enquiries are welcome (encourage questions)
• Not providing enough information about your background or history (how did your business come to be)

Make sure to add in details to make life easier for anyone hoping to write or interview you. If need to deliberately avoid some of the above features due to privacy concerns have a FAQ section or add a sentence that says, “For media enquiries, a professional bio, and a full portfolio please email us directly.”, then add a way for them to contact you. 

4. Become “Podcast Ready” 

Podcasts continue to grow in popularity for all kinds of industries. Buy a half-decent microphone and headphones. Let your internal marketing team up with your sales team to create media and graphic content. Also, on your About page say how you have everything needed for a quality broadcast and that you are open to podcast interviews with others in your industry or any media outlets willing to talk about your product or service. 

5. Add a Case Study Page  

Say your company launched a new product or service for a client and it was a complete success.  Create a nice case study that goes in dept about the problem and how your product or service solved it. Bonus if you can add a client testimonial. Then add it to your website. Make sure to create the visuals for all your social media accounts and link them to your new case study page. This help builds credibility and authority to your business. Potential clients have more reasons to trust you vs other companies that don’t have case studies. 

6. Spend 15 Minutes a Day Engaging with People

Social media gets a bad rep when it comes to discourse, but it doesn’t have to be a war zone. Take as few as 15 minutes liking or sharing people’s tweets, commenting on clients’ updates, and reaching out to brands you’d love to work with. This helps to build a network as well as raise your own profile. By being active on social media, you are opening doors and creating more avenues for brand awareness. 

7. Optimize When You Post 

Know when it is the right time to tweet, add an Instagram post or share a LinkedIn update. The algorithms are difficult to figure out because they are always changing. So, the best way to approach this is by analyzing your own feeds and seeing when you have had the best engagement. It is also a good idea to research when your target demographic in on the platform. For example, if you are selling to mothers. Avoid posting at early hours when they are taking their kids to school. To make life easier, schedule updates during the best times for you. Use an automation tool to schedule and publish your tweets and posts whilst you are doing something else or hire an agency that provide social media marketing services. 

8. Ask Clients if They Want to Stay Informed Via a Newsletter

Build your own subscriber list. Never rely on social media platforms alone. People take breaks or leave social media all the time. If a platform disappears, you still have connection to loyal customers. If you have your own newsletter to send out to people, you are in control. Create a well-designed monthly newsletter and include things like your latest product, service, or industry news. Include links to recent blog posts that demonstrate your wealth of knowledge. People are more likely to check email daily and there is a high chance they will open it every month. Include spaces on your website where they can sign up. WordPress has widgets and tools you can use. Mailchimp is also a good option to get start with due to it being free based on 2,000 contacts. 

9. Write a Blog

Speaking of a blog, add a blog to your domain and not as a separate site. Each blog post is a new landing page, enticing potential clients to you. Write about problems or questions potential clients might have. Users like to Google questions and if create a great piece of informative long-form content Google might show your business directly to them. Use it to educate, compare to competitors, and share industry insights with viewers. You can also use it to foster b2b relationships. You can share and interview other complementary businesses. This will strength your relationship and if you need to partner up on a project, they are more likely to say yes with enthusiasm. 

Need help integrating PR into your marketing strategy? Call 248.528.360