PR ON THE GO April 22, 2022

Public Relations Hacks: Top Ways To Increase Press Coverage

Win extended earned media

We asked our PR and growth experts to provide entrepreneurs with a top tip to increase press coverage from Public Relations efforts. Find examples for PR tactics to gain extended earned media here.

Work On Your Brand Message

Andrea Sok, Owner at SOK Influencer PR

"The number one way you can increase press coverage is to spend time developing your message. For many founders and entrepreneurs this is the difficult and boring side of PR, but it is the number one way to ensure a successful PR campaign. Work with a professional and get the message right! It will save you a ton of time and money in the long run."

Focus On Media Relations

Maria Shriver, Co-founder & CEO of MOSH

"Developing relationships with journalists can help advance your outreach efforts. While you may not land a quote in Forbes the first few times that you pitch a high-caliber writer like Eric Segal, put some time and effort into getting to know a reporter and show them you are a go-to resource for information.

Devote some time to researching and understanding the topics the writer specializes in. This background information will enable you to give them a better idea of how your knowledge and experience, as well as aspects of your business, can provide additional meaning to a future story. Fostering media relations takes time. And by proving that your insights are valuable, journalists will start contacting you whenever they need a reliable quote."

Evan Nierman, CEO and Founder of Red Banyan

"Business owners who want press coverage need to explain to the media why a story about their company is newsworthy and why the angle they are pitching matters to the public. Sharing newsworthy items on social media is a great way to garner free attention and possibly create enough buzz to engage reporters. A story that matters to the public will provide the best chance for news coverage. Companies that focus on media relations establish working relationships with the press so the likelihood of getting publicity improves."

Pitch Bylined Articles

Christel Henke, VP of Earned Media for STIR Advertising and Integrated Messaging

"I’d like to suggest to pitch bylined articles as a great tactic for entrepreneurs. Many magazines today are light on staff and very open to working with companies who want to share content – as long as it’s thought leadership and non-promotional. It’s a great opportunity for entrepreneurs to let others know about their expertise with short ‘how-to’ pieces that fit within a magazine’s editorial calendar. First, do an online search for publications that accept bylines to avoid pitching to staff-written outlets. Most that accept outside content provide editorial guidelines online that you should pay close attention to. Share a worthwhile article that stays within these guidelines and you have great chance for success."

Remove yourself from the workplace.

Steve Pogson, Founder & E-commerce Strategy Lead at FirstPier

"Although digital connections are important, genuine in-person networking can result in PR and industry connections. Conferences are an excellent method to network with influential people, presenters, and scholars. Furthermore, you're seeking vital continuing education and gaining new skills while expanding your network.

Take the time to complete your homework ahead of time so you can comment on the backgrounds and work of important industry people. When you meet someone in person, collect their contact information so you can reach out to them in a genuine way after the conference.

Work on your leads after the conference. Thank the presenters for their time and expertise in a follow-up email. They may return the favor by recommending you or your company to their contacts in the future."

Respond To Journalist Queries

Jonathan Zacharias, Founder of GR0

"Answering journalists' source requests is a key way to build backlinks and grow your press coverage. Websites such as Help a Reporter Out (HARO) and Terkel provide entrepreneurs the opportunity to respond to journalist queries, and potentially be published in online articles. Once published, the entrepreneur will receive a backlink in the journalist’s article. The more places on the internet that link to your site, the more popular your site becomes. This is proven to boost your brand’s online presence, authority, and trust."

Target Local Media

Chris M. Walker, Owner of Superstar SEO

"PR tactics tend to be so advanced, forgetting how the local market can completely impact the entity. Increasing press coverage by working on the local media will be a great strategy to consider because of its perks. Local media obviously has a greater influence on the local market and having a local support community will make the business much stronger. Also, beyond the notion of being local is the fact that local media is becoming a louder paper with a wider reach, thanks to the help of technology. Hence, we can say that working on getting attention from local journalists and newspapers is a worthy effort."

Research Is Crucial

Yasmine Jarkass, PR specialist at Pearl Lemon group

"Make sure you've done your research on the types of articles published by the publication. You can acquire ideas on what to write, how to write, and what to say by discovering what type of publication posts they are looking for. When you conduct research on a publication or journalist, you can determine the topics that they have or have not discussed, and create something more unique to impress the publication and ensure maximum media coverage. As a result, while reaching out and building links are crucial, I believe that it is the research that will help you determine out how to stand out in your pitch and receive the media coverage you desire."

James Dyble, Managing Director at Global Sound Group

"To get the best PR outcomes, you need to conduct serious analysis. The best PR consultants are so focused that they know what their target wants before they do; consequently, conduct thorough research and then deliver with value."

Develop The Right Press Materials For Your Goals

Matt Lee, Founder at Innovative Building Solutions

"The type of material you develop will be heavily influenced by the goals of your press outreach. If you want to get noticed, focus on shareable, visual tales, especially those that deal with contentious or sensitive issues. Data-driven tales function especially well in this context. If you want interaction, focus on content with an "ask." Your goal here is to get people to click through and interact with your website or content. If you want backlinks, focus on content that may serve as expert-sourced and gain links over time. Research papers, case studies, and other methods work well for this. If you want to get news attention, provide a fresh take on an established topic. Founder biographies, interviews, and research papers do well."

Work Towards More Authentic Relationships

Leo Livshetz, Founder + CEO of Unhide

"PR offers the opportunity for businesses to form connections with their customers and audience. In 2022, businesses need to start using things like predictive AI to develop the most effective and authentic messaging to create these connections. Businesses need to focus on being storytellers, whether they are using videos, website copy, social media posts, or webinars. There are higher standards that businesses have to meet when it comes to PR in 2022, so be prepared to work towards creating deeper, more authentic relationships with your audience than ever before."

Create Transparency

Rachel Roff, Founder& CEO of Urban Skin Rx®

"The most important part of PR in 2022 is building an authentic brand that aims to provide something of true value. Giving insights into how your company operates, who makes up your team, what initiatives your company is making a committed effort in helping further, etc. helps show your audience what your company stands for. You should be using PR to create transparency and build open, honest relationships with your customers and stakeholders. This will help you grow your brand reputation and in turn grow your business overall."

Newsjacking

Nezahat E. Sevim, Global Head of Media Relations and PR at Animals Asia

"Build a strategy around newsjacking. Defined as "the practice of aligning a brand with a current event or a major well-discussed news subject", newsjacking can be the most important PR tool to break through the clutter.

The most common trap that brands fall into is being blinded by the excitement and self-important internal conversations around a new product, service, or campaign to be promoted, and ignoring the importance and relevance of this news on the broader news scope for wider audiences.

Think out of the box, find links to trending discussions, do your homework about the journalist, and find more specific angles for their beat and audiences. Give journalists a unique story value that can't be rejected and relevant to the current trends and news."

Repurpose Earned News Content

Wendy Agudelo, Principal at Image Professors, Inc.

"To extend the life of earned media, the fundamental go-to word is: repurpose. There are so many ways to repurpose earned news content across social channels. Turn quotes and insights into graphics or infographics and add as a post, tweet or Reel to extend life and reach over a period of time. As your company reaches another milestone (anniversary, for example), repurpose and refresh the content again! Earned news article appearances can also gain extended digital play when included (along with viable links) within a company news release. Include your company’s Forbes, Washington Post, or Bustle article link within the boilerplate or copy of a news release that gets distributed via news wire. "

Collaborate with Your Existing Network for Obtainable PR

Amrita Saigal, Founder & CEO of Kudos

"Entrepreneurs have vast networks, yet sometimes we forget to collaborate with whom we've already connected. For example, you want to generate buzz around a new feature of your product, but you're unsure how to get the attention of the journalists in your network.

Scan your network first. There might be a CEO or marketing manager within your industry who wouldn't mind including you in a blog post or plugging your product on their podcast – this provides them with content as well."

Thought Leadership

Rich Rudzinski, Founder of Oversight.co

"Thought leadership is a great way to get press coverage. People usually say that when it comes to thought leadership, quality content is essential. Although this is true, what most people forget to point out is that consistency is equally as important. Consistency is what expands followers. Posting on a schedule is necessary for building a strong following, as well as open communication. Make sure to communicate to your followers if you will be out for vacation, etc. You can start slowly by posting once a day, however, you should be posting multiple times a day on a consistent schedule. There are multiple tools available online that help you schedule multiple posts ahead of time to save you the headache of manually posting them. That way you can take time off, and rest assured that the content will keep being consistent."

Use Copy.ai To Personalize Pitches

Sam Feng, Copy.ai

"When you send a pitch, it's likely that you'll be sending the same message to different people asking for the same thing. Copy.ai makes it easier than ever to personalize these pitches. It gives you the ability to tailor your message to the specific needs and wants of each individual journalist, blogger, or podcaster that you're reaching out to, all in a fraction of the time that it might normally take!"

Regular Check-Ins With Journalists

Madeleine Shin, Executive VP of Media Relations at Weber Shandwick

"Check-in regularly with your target journalists. You never know what a journalist happens to be writing on at that particular moment. Companies tend to only reach out to journalists when they have “news,” and often overlook the areas of expertise that they can offer to journalists on an ongoing basis. Your expertise or perspective on a topic might beexactly what reporters are looking for, but you’ll never know that unless you have regular means of communicating with them. Don’t be afraid to check in with target journalists, offer your areas of expertise and upcoming milestones, and offer to be a resource should they write on similar topics in the future. But don’t stop there – offer other industry fodder for them, namely trends they might be interested in outside of your company, and reach out when they’ve written on an interesting topic that caught your attention. Most importantly, don’t expect coverage every time. The more you appear to be a “go-to” expert with no strings attached, the more likely a reporter will file you as a regular resource and increase the likelihood of future coverage.​"