Everyone wants publicity, (good publicity, anyway) but not all businesses are able to easily obtain it. If you are struggling with the task of generating publicity for your ecommerce business, you aren’t alone.
Small business owners, in particular, who are responsible for many of the day-to-day tasks of running their businesses, may find it hard to find time for promotion and public relations. Fortunately, it isn’t always necessary (or advisable) to hire large, expensive PR firms to take care of this for you.
Getting Started
Don’t have time for PR? You have more time than you think. For example, you can jumpstart your PR strategy by doing what the big PR firms do: examining your existing PR efforts.
Do you regularly distribute press releases? Do you have a media or press kit on your website for advertisers, customers, and media outlets to download and use? Do you have a list of media contacts, a Facebook page, Twitter account, or a blog? Your answers to these questions will help you to get a sense of where you are currently in terms of your PR strategy and efforts.
Press Releases
The most commonly-used tool in the PR arsenal, press releases are designed to inform the public about relevant news, while generating publicity for the company that they represent. Traditionally, press releases have been used to announce product releases, company expansions, and financial news.
Over the years, the definition of what is considered to be “relevant” and “newsworthy” has shifted considerably. The Internet makes it easier for businesses to create and generate releases, and many businesses are now using press releases to highlight the business successes of customers who use their products, the efforts of charities and organizations that they support, and to educate consumers about their products and services, rather than simply advertising them.
There are many free press release options, but these usually have limited distribution. Your best option, if you haven’t already done so, is to create an account with PRWeb, PR Newswire, or one of the many other press release services. Prices vary depending on the service that you use and the distribution options that you select.
Media Kits
Media kits, also called press kits, are basically a collection of marketing materials. An online media kit, designed to be placed on your website, and can also be printed, copied, and distributed, can contain:
- Links To Recent Press Releases
- 25, 50, and 100-word paragraphs about your company (mission statements) and the services that you provide.These can be used in turn by advertisers and online media outlets as bios for your company.
- Marketing materials (flyers, brochures, product manuals, etc)
Don’t worry if you don’t have all of these materials right now. Collect what you do have and upload it to your website, and plan on expanding the items in your “kit” as time allows.
Connecting
How do you connect with your customers and the media? If you have a Facebook and a Twitter account, you can use these social media tools to promote your business, as well as your marketing materials and press releases. Your blog can also be a great sounding board.
Signing up for Google Alerts is a great (and free) way to find out who is talking about your company, and who is talking about your competition. If you discover something unfavorable written about your company, or reviews of your competitors that don’t mention you, contact the source and provide them with a link to your media kit and any other information that they may need to correct these problems.
Press release services have their own built-in media lists, but you can also create your own by leveraging your existing relationships with bloggers, other business owners, and any media contacts that you may have acquired over the years. You can also use a free service like Media Sync to gain access to media contacts, blogs, publications, journalists, editorial calendars, and more.
Public relations doesn’t have to be complicated and confusing, and while it may require a work in the beginning, you’ll find that the results will be more than worth the time and effort spent.
Miva