PR is all about communicating messages. These messages can be anything from new products, to changes in websites, to building hype for a new or growing company. The difference between PR and marketing/advertising is that PR is…FREE! I oversee the PR here at BMG, and here’s the “Best Practices” I like to stick to!
Here’s a few tips I found to be super helpful from an article posted on Mashable. Some of them overlap to the BMG Best Practices, but we’ll discuss them at little more in depth! I’ll site it at the end for everyone to read over. Here we go…
1. Know What’s Newsworthy
Before you begin pitching your startup, stop to think about what is truly newsworthy, especially to the publications you’re targeting. Newsworthy = Something unique or offering added value beyond the existing competition.
Once you figure out what qualifies as newsworthy, begin crafting your message by first understanding all of the details about what you’re pitching.
2. Have a Concise, Value Driven Message
Before sending out any pitches, take time to craft your company’s message. Be able to explain your startup in one sentence so that anyone — techie or not — can understand its purpose. For example, “Skillshare is a community marketplace to learn anything from anyone.” Cut down on industry jargon so that any average Joe can understand your pitch with one read.
3. Customize Your Pitches
People generally don’t like to be part of blast emails. When you want a particular person to cover your story, customize your pitch to be relevant to his coverage area and audience. Take the extra time to craft custom emails for a small list of journalists that you really want to cover your story. They will most likely notice that you’ve taken the time to write a thoughtful email and be more likely to respond.
4. Have Useful Assets Available
As you get down to pitching time, make sure you have all assets ready that an actual journalist (someone trained to ask questions and dig deeper!) might request, such as a company or product description, photos relevant to the story, and screenshots of the product.
5. Offer Up Unique Data
When pitching, include data and numbers that support your ideas when possible. In fact, an interesting study, infographic or other data sometimes warrants its own pitch. If your company has gathered proprietary information that tells a compelling story, pitch it.
6. Follow Reporters On Twitter
Make it your goal to build relationships with the group of journalists (or bloggers, or other marketers) that cover your industry. A great way to stay in touch is to follow your key contacts on Twitter. Writers often tweet when they’re looking for sources, and they share articles and other news that they’re interested in. Use these pieces of information to learn more about each contact and tailor your communications accordingly.
So as previously mentioned, Tips #1-6 were taken from the article titled “10 Essential PR Tips for Startups” posted on Mashable. Even though it was a little too focused on journalists, I thought it was a great article with so much real-life application! Here’s the link if you want to read the other 4 tips!
Do you think PR is as effective as paid advertising and/or marketing? What’s the most creative and effective use of PR you’ve seen?
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