Do you think of social media first when it comes to word-of-mouth marketing and PR?
Well, before you start Tweeting, posting photos on Facebook and adding videos to YouTube, tell your story to the media.
After all, if your business is featured in a major news-story on radio, television, print, or online, you can build buzz while obtaining third-party credibility you simply can’t purchase.
With this in mind, here are a few activities to consider prior to posting your news via social media:
Research specific media members.
Who will be interested in your story and reach your target market?
Figure out a unique story angle for each press member.
Do you have a client “before-and-after” story to share?
How do your products and services relate to a current trend, holiday or industry event?
Think of a specific story idea for each media member on your list.
Pick up the phone.
Contact the media members on your list and pitch your story. You have nothing to lose and some free publicity to gain!
Write a press release.
Take your story idea and create a press release. Optimize it for the search engines with the appropriate keywords, or hire a freelance, SEO expert to do this for you.
Post your release on free, press-release sites, http://www.rembrandtwrites.com/FreePressReleasePostingSites.htm, and industry sites or use a press-release distribution service like PRWeb, www.prweb.com, or PR Newswire, www.prnewswire.com.
Also, post the release on your site, and give it a specific website address. And if you haven’t set up Google Analytics to monitor your site activity, you’ll want to do this right away at http://www.google.com/analytics/.
Once you’ve pitched your story to the press and posted it online, then tell the world about your news using social media. You can provide a link to the specific, website address you created for your press release and monitor the results. This way you’ll know who is visiting your site due to your recent news, what’s working and what’s not.
Social media is a great way to build word-of-mouth, but don’t forget about traditional public-relations in the process. After all, with a simple call or press release, you may garner a feature story that catapults your business to the top of the news channels fast!
Do you need help with your SEO copywriting, public relations and social media activities? Please let me know here or at www.rembrandtwrites.com. I’m here to help!
