PR Tips
When I sign a new client, I’m very direct with them about our timeline. More often than not, it takes more than three months to see a lot of traction. It can be difficult for a results-based business culture to “trust the process” when it comes to public relations, but luckily there are plenty of good reasons to commit to this service and wait it out.
There may be a few curves in the road you aren’t expecting, but that’s why you’re hiring an expert, right? Let me drop some public relations tips that may just make your life quite a lot easier.
When you’re hiring a firm to do your PR, there is inevitably a getting-to-know-you stage. It can seem tedious to spend so much time connecting with your publicist when you’re ready to see your name in print and flashing lights and all.
But you're not just looking for any publicity. You’re looking for the right publicity — the kind of mentions and features that
A. Accurately and authentically represent your brand identity
B. Connect with your target audience
C. Move you further in the direction of your business goals
Again, thank goodness you’ve got a professional on your side! What a treat.
To accomplish this seemingly magical outcome, a publicist studies you, your brand, your visibility goals, and plenty of other little things that come naturally to someone like me who’s just built for this business.
Let me share a few public relations examples from my own work.
After our initial conversation, I meet with clients biweekly to keep this relationship growing and ensure I’m up-to-date with your needs and expectations. These biweekly connections are rich opportunities for us to address the most exciting, pressing, or interesting things going on for you — ideas, concerns, strategy.
Most importantly, we have regularly scheduled time to ensure you’re heard. Ultimately, this time is building towards a clear map of how we’ll get your brand out into the world in ways that really work for your business.
Regular meetings are also super valuable for establishing a foundation of trust between us. I find it’s essential to build these relationships from the start because it creates more opportunities for understanding and helps me know your brand better so I can do better for you.
Even though I’m very clear up front not to promise any sort of coverage, I can honestly say I get my clients 2 to 5 placements a month on average. Even so, these placements don’t necessarily convert right away.
A PR campaign is like preparing a garden. With rich, nourishing soil, the harvest possibilities are infinite. But such abundance can be hard to imagine at the start. It’s not until the sprouts really get growing that you can envision the reality of this new endeavor.
In public relations, just as we would when preparing the soil for a new garden, we start with the primary nutrients. The small pieces serve as a nourishing foundation and shape the initial placements for many brands are super important.
I’m a huge proponent of small blog mentions. Small blogs are usually run by passionate people who create meaningful content. Their audiences aren’t choosing to follow another mainstream internet celebrity. This means that small blog followers are likely quite invested in reading and gathering meaning from the content. Even if the views are small in number, the impact of these views could mean quite a lot.
In fact, I kinda feel like these small bloggers are taking over the world. Smaller blogs tend to have larger and more trusting readers. Their readers rely heavily on the blogger’s advice and perspective.
Readers trust small bloggers’ opinions — their product reviews, brand highlights, and personal commentary. They turn those details into word-of-mouth communication. Positioning you with small bloggers can get your brand name into the minds of folks in your target audience.
Over time, placement with small blogs can really add up. And this builds public trust. With every feature, your audience is more likely to recognize your business as an established and therefore trustworthy brand.
PR successes have a sort of compounding impact. Your placements may start small. But as you become more searchable and visible online and in more varied spaces, the impact of each of these placements enhances the possibilities born of the next. Until you are literally watching this little PR garden we’ve planted blossom into a lush and brilliant field of flowers ready for picking.
There’s no specific map to inform just what your experience will look like. I find that we often exceed the original goals and expectations we’ve set by the end of our PR campaign, 9 or 12 months after we get started. And, with new projects or products, you may be ready to roll out another one.
PR successes take many shapes. You’ve got the familiar brand features in articles and stories, but there are also great opportunities for CEOs and other brand representatives to be called upon for thought leadership or commentary in their field and beyond. These features can look like articles, interviews, podcast appearances, commercial placements, and more.
We’ve had clients featured in Bustle, Forbes, Mashed, Health, Buzzfeed, PopSugar, Glamour… luckily, there are just too many to name.
So, if you’re thinking this process sounds pretty good to you, here are the first steps.
Put a complimentary consultation with me on the calendar so we can talk about your vision and goals as your brand grows.
Since a PR campaign is such a building process, we set up Symbiotic Public Relations contracts to last a minimum of 3 months. Your retainer is dependent upon the services package you choose and the goals you envision. But, no matter how big or small your business, you will be preparing that soil for your beyond-brilliant garden of success.
With support! Together, we’ll talk about the ins and outs of what you do, who’s behind it all, why people want or need it, and how we can amplify your voice. We’re aiming to get your name on the mind of your customers in a meaningful way.
When you’re committed to the process, to creating these rich foundations, it’s only a matter of time before you’ll see what blossoms.
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