How To Get Media Coverage For Your Business

One of the biggest marketing challenges for startups, small businesses, and even marketing departments in large companies is getting media attention.

If your business cannot gain media coverage, it will have difficulty building credibility, awareness, and exposure. These are the foundations of PR and businesses need to start with them from the beginning.

It can be difficult for startups and small businesses to get media exposure using traditional PR methods. To get free press for your small business, you need to be a bit more creative.

This guide provides you with the tools you need to win the media coverage you deserve.

What is media coverage?

This is because unlike other forms of advertising, you are not paying for the space or time. This text is discussing media coverage, or publicity, and how it is referred to as “earned media” in the world of PR. This is because unlike other forms of advertising, you are not paying for the space or time.

A better question to ask would be “what is earned media?”

At the end of the day, the goal of all PR tactics is to win earned media.

It’s a way of making your company look good by getting it mentioned in the press.

Owned media is different from paid media, which refers to any content that you pay to have published on someone else’s channels, such as a banner ad on a website.

Earned media vs paid media

I know what you must be thinking:

“I thought there were only two types of media? What’s the third one?”

Don’t worry, here’s a handy infographic to differentiate between the three:

Both earned media and owned media are types of marketing that rely on organic growth. Paid media, on the other hand, is a type of advertising that is directly paid for.

Paid media can help increase traffic to your site, but it may not be as effective as other methods.

Why?

Well, 40% of Americans use ad-blockers, which means that not everyone will see it. In addition, 92% of customers say they trust earned media more than advertising.

Paid media may bring people to your website, but if they don’t trust your brand, they probably won’t buy anything. Before customers spend money, they want to be sure that they can trust the brand.

It is much more effective to have other people say good things about your company than to try and boast about yourself. Therefore, a good marketing strategy should include a mix of different media outlets to reach the most people.

What are the benefits of earned media?

It’s difficult to count the benefits of earned media on one hand. But we’re going to try here:

Here’s a deeper dive into how earned media achieves these benefits:

Builds awareness – Earned media allows you to reach more of your target audience. Winning earned media across different media outlets opens you up to new customers by getting more eyes on your product or service.
Heightens your credibility – Press coverage is invaluable while you’re trying to build your social proof. By producing thought leader articles for publications read by your audience, you demonstrate your industry knowledge and build credibility.
Increases trust – Consumers like to buy from brands they trust. 92% of consumers trust earned media, while only half trust paid ads. Therefore, it’s clear that positive media coverage is an effective way for your business to build trust with your target market.
Boosts your SEO – Earned media will have a positive effect on SEO if you go after the right type of press coverage. Winning press coverage on industry-relevant sites that have good domain authority scores helps you rise up Google’s rankings.
Increases your leads and sales – The positive attributes of earned media all lead towards business success. Through increased visibility, credibility and a clearer identity, you’ll no doubt experience an increase in leads and, ultimately, sales.

How to get media coverage for your business?

Build your narrative using owned media
You need to make sure your internal messaging, branding, and in-house content is of high quality before you start wondering how to get press.Although it may seem like a lot of work, we promise it will be worth your while. Try to think of it this way: If you’re trying to get journalists to write about you, they will probably check out your website before making a decision.Let’s say you get some press coverage and it leads to more people visiting your website. But if your website and branding look like they’re from a 14-year-old’s Bebo page, these new visitors won’t turn into leads or customers.
Identify the most relevant journalists
If you don’t plan your PR strategy, you will fail. This is a cliche that we have heard many times, but it is very relevant in the world of PR. Your press coverage should be related to your business.It’s important that you do research to find places and ways that you can earn media coverage. We have written a guide that will help you find relevant journalists in your industry.To start, make a list of all the publications that you read or are aware of which report on your industry.You can find the publications your competitors have won media coverage in by using tools like Google News or Moz. To find related outlets, widen your search to include similar publications. You can use Similarweb to find online publications that are similar to the ones you’ve already found.Identify a few key words that relate to your business or industry, and then search for each publication with these phrases. Make a note of all the journalists who have reported on these stories.It is very important to make sure that you take note of all of the relevant journalists when you are trying to get your story out there. You want to make sure that you have a list of all of the people who are going to be interested in what you have to say so that you can get in touch with them and let them know what is going on.
Setup media monitoring
Media monitoring is basically just listening to what others are saying about your brand, your competitors, and your industry. It’s a way to stay up-to-date on what’s being said about your business and to make sure that you’re responsive to any negative publicity. For example, here at Publicize, we monitor our own brand, our competitors’ brands, and a bunch of industry terms such as: -Startup PR -Tech PR -Silicon Valley PR -Digital PR Here are some tools you can use to media monitor:
Define your PR tactics for winning press coverage
This section is for you if you’re wondering how to get earned media and scratching your head. There are many different types of earned media wins you can go after.”Earned media” is a commonly used term for publicity that you haven’t had to pay for. It’s considered to be an effective marketing tactic, and one that we often use for our clients. Getting earned media can help improve your credibility and increase your exposure, while also being beneficial for your search engine optimization.However, there are people in the PR community who say that press releases don’t work well anymore. This isn’t accurate. Press releases can be effective if you have something newsworthy to announce—but this usually only happens once or twice a year for the average startup.We recommend you only use these methods sparingly and take the time to learn how to write a press release. This will help you put your best foot forward and make a great impression.
Set REASONABLE goals
Do you have a checklist for winning media coverage? If not, start one. However, make sure that the earned media wins you’re going after are realistic. SMART goals are: Specific Manageable Attainable Relevant Time-based

There are now five times as many PR professionals as journalists. In order to get your company noticed in today’s world, you need a plan. Here are five steps to help you get the coverage you need.

Step 1: Start With Your Story

If you want to get press coverage, you need to do something that will get the media’s attention. Whether you’re a celebrity or a startup selling widgets, you need to give the media something that their readers will find interesting. If you can do this, your chances of getting coverage will increase dramatically.

If you want your startup to be covered by the press, your company story needs to be really interesting, because journalists receive a lot of pitches every day.

Your story is your chance to present your news in a way that’s impossible for the press to resist. It’s your purpose, your reason for existing.

Step 2: Establish Goals – Reasonable Ones

Make a list of things you need to do every week, month, quarter, and year.

Make sure that your goals are something that you can reasonably achieve.

It is more important to focus on achieving specific goals that will help you overall, rather than goals that are based on numbers that may not mean anything. Set your objectives based on a plan, rather than vaguely hoping for something to happen. For example, rather than hoping to become famous, set a goal to increase brand awareness by targeting well-known publications.

Your objectives should be clear so you can tell if you are on the right track. Use a spreadsheet to keep track of everything, including the journalists and publications you want to cover your company. Opt for outlets that help you reach your publicity goals.

Step 3: Build Rapport With Journalists BEFORE You Need Them

It is best to ask writers and journalists concise and direct questions. Crystal ensured that the writer had dealt with this kind of material before sending the email, and she stated that she was willing to help, rather than increasing the workload.

We tend to feel more comfortable asking people we know for favors than complete strangers.

You need to establish a relationship with journalists before you can expect them to cover your company.

Step 4: Build the Perfect Pitch

If you do your research and pitch your story to the right outlet, you can turn one media mention into long-term exposure. Brenton Hayden, founder of Renters Warehouse, got his story syndicated to Yahoo Finance and landed an interview on the Steve Harvey show after contributing to Entrepreneur.com.

If it is, then you’re on the right track. It’s easy for startups to get excited about their own achievements, but it’s important to consider whether the story will be just as exciting to the media. If it is, then you’re on the right track.

Try to look at your news from a different perspective and see what headline would interest your customer. This will help you to create a more effective pitch that will capture the writer’s attention.

Before sending a pitch to a journalist, it is important to check how they prefer to receive them, or to ask for permission first.

Step 5: Close the Deal

Make sure your assets are beautiful and detailed. Be prepared to answer any questions the media has. Time is important, so try to predict their questions and have answers and assets ready.

When talking to writers, don’t be pushy in order to get them to cover you. Your goal should just be to confirm their interest, not to pressure them into anything.

Is it really that important to wait a full day? You should wait at least 24 hours before following up.

Make sure you can provide everything a writer needs to tell your story if they respond positively to your pitch. This includes having a launch-ready website and being available for interviews. Have high-quality press assets ready, such as founder bios, product photos or videos, and a company story or media release. A few great pieces are more impactful than a large quantity of average ones.

If you want to avoid being rude, keep your promises and meet deadlines. Don’t change your mind after promising something to someone, and be aware that your actions are affecting your reputation. If you make things easier for journalists, they will likely be more receptive when you have a story for them in the future.