D.I.Y. Public Relations

The latest issue of eBusiness Live from Enterprise Ireland advises how to handle your own PR.

All companies need to get the word out about their particular product or service. Using PR to attract media attention is a long-established method for raising your profile and, ultimately, increasing your customer base.

Given today's challenging business climate, most companies, particularly SMEs, are not keen to spend scarce resources on an area like PR, where the return can be difficult to predict or measure. Fortunately, new technologies mean that businesses can avoid paying for expensive PR services by doing a lot of simple PR activity in-house, particularly by making good use of your company website and social media tools.

Company news
Your own company website should be the first stop for all new PR or marketing initiatives. All business sites should have a 'news' section containing details of new product releases, new client acquisitions, investments in new equipment or technologies, and job announcements, while many companies also benefit from regularly updated blogs which take a more personal look at the day-to-day running of the company or comment on the industry in general.

Company news should be written in the form of a press release and include only relevant information conveyed in a clear and straightforward manner. Topics journalists particularly like include survey results, new trends, significant events or, best of all, good jobs news. Try to include facts and figures and retain a certain amount of objectivity. Press releases full of overblown claims and hyperbole are likely to be quickly dismissed by any media professional. You may want to bring in expert help from outside for this part of the PR process. (See below for more on bringing releases to journalists' attention.)

Your blog can and should be written in a more personal style, even using humour on occasion to create an entertaining conversation with customers or industry colleagues. Blogs can be especially useful in positioning someone from the company as an expert in their particular field - whether that be bicycle repair or energy efficient heating systems. This person might then become known to journalists as a commentator on industry issues.

Taking some colourful, high-resolution photos of people, products or events with a decent digital camera and making them available on your site is also worthwhile. Journalists often need to look for good images to accompany a story so making these easily obtainable helps them do their job. In addition, a compelling photo of something genuinely new or innovative can help attract media attention. A short YouTube video, showing products or services up close and in action, and featuring someone from your business who looks comfortable in front of the camera, can also be a great way of engaging with the media and, indeed, the customers.

Social media
Social media marketing, including your presence on sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, should really be joined up into a campaign. If you have a new product or special offer to promote, use your online fans/followers to generate some buzz and viral activity, which might then come to the attention of a journalist looking for a story, introducing you to an even wider audience.

Using Twitter to send short messages, including a link to your latest blog post or press release, can be a handy way to spread the word. You should also look to follow the Twitter feeds of journalists or opinion formers in your sector, and try to interact with them in a meaningful way.

Be proactive
Getting your press release or company story picked up by a media outlet requires plenty of energy and forethought. Make a list of relevant media outlets where you can send your releases. It's often at this stage of the process that companies look for outside help with PR, if they haven't already done so, but you can make certain strides in this area if you're willing to put in the time.

Target particular media outlets with different types of story. For example, local papers might like news of award wins or open days, while trade publications would be more interested in new products or technology developments.

It is worth doing some research to find the right person to contact at each organisation, as emails sent to general info@ or news@ addresses are more likely to be overlooked. A phonecall a couple of hours after sending the email, just to ensure it has been received, can be a useful reminder to the journalist in question. Be careful about being pushy though, as journalists tend to know pretty quickly what will or will not work for their publication.

Doing your own PR is not particularly technically challenging; most of the techniques and technologies outlined above are fairly straightforward to master. What is required, however, is an investment of time, thought and energy. Building relationships with journalists and a media profile for your business takes patience but, given the potential rewards available, it is well worth the effort.

Source: eBusiness Live

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