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Among the CES madness, we are heads down prepping next year’s PR strategies for our clients. You may want to get started on this so you can hit the holidays feeling accomplished and ready for the big 2020. Check out these five quick and (fairly) easy ways to jumpstart your PR program, gain clarity and focus on what you need in the New Year.
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Answer the question “What are 3 things you’d like to achieve with PR?” Whether you are looking for sales, app downloads or just brand awareness, think about three things that would help make a dent in your business goals. The key is to think about the bottom line of your business. (Estimated time: 1 hour)
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Outline your 3 key messages (1 per target audience type perhaps). This is a highly important piece of PR planning. Identify your three main target audiences and what they need to know about you. This will help streamline your messaging when developing pitches to target media contacts because it is likely that they are interested in the same things. Make sure you are addressing industry pain points. This will also help with marketing materials, social content and anything else audience-facing.(Estimated time: 1 hour)
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Make a target list of business and trade publications your target audience reads. Now that you know who your audience is? What kinds of things do they read, subscribe to and watch? Put those on your list of key media targets. Take the time to review these outlets and imagine where you would fit into the fold. (Estimated time: 2.5 hours)
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Research 25 reporters that have covered key competitors. No need to reinvent the wheel if there already is one. Who is that thorn in your side competitor? Check out their media coverage and see who’s been following them? There is a good possibility that the same reporter would be likely to cover your news and space in general. Have some extra time? Check out two of your main competitors, or have the intern do it. Are you a unicorn? Check out your industry and find out who the reporters are that cover your topic area. Good news! We’re coming back with our “Reporters to watch” series in 2020. (Estimated time: ~3 hours)
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Develop 3 trending topics that you can provide commentary on. It is harder and harder to get media to do a standalone piece on a company or product, so offer yourself up as an expert. Identify some key industry trends and hot topics that you can provide “expert commentary” around. Make sure your insights say something different or controversial. Reporters aren’t looking for “me too” comments, they want strong opinions and support behind those. You can use these as a jumping point for an editorial calendar as well. Starting to write about these topics on your blog may also help provide additional credibility when reporters come back to you for some validation on your background. (Estimated time: 2 hours)
These five hacks will give you an idea of the direction you need to take to begin speaking to the media and getting coverage. There are hundreds of things that you can do to make yourself relevant in the New Year, always focus on building relationships and providing expertise and you can never go wrong.
Ready to add tactics to your PR Campaign? Check out our blog: 10 tactics to have in your PR arsenal
If you need additional insights into the pitching process, take a look at our blog: How PR People Secure Media Interviews.