If you run a business, then getting coverage from the media is one of the most valuable things you can try to accomplish. If the media covers the release of a new product for instance, then this can be equivalent to free advertising. Meanwhile, any stories about your business will help to improve your brand visibility and ensure that your name is in the minds of potential customers. But how do you get the attention of the media? There are several strategies you can use, so here are a few of the best ones.
Top Ways to Get Media Attention
Press Releases
A press release is basically a short story that you will release to the press. The idea here is that the story is something that they will want to cover – that therefore is of interest to their audience – and your release will contain all of the information they need to write that story.
In other words, if you are releasing a new product, the press release will provide all the details about that product so they can write about it. It would then be sent to magazines and websites within that industry. If the press release simply says that your business exists, then don’t expect it to get covered because it isn’t of interest to the audience and therefore isn’t useful for the magazine. They are not interested in giving you free exposure! Press releases can be uploaded to press release sites, sent directly to journalists or even given as ‘exclusives’ to big outlets.
Events
Events are one of the primary methods through which companies can communicate with the press. A launch event will for instance announce the launch of a new product or service. Meanwhile, a prebrief is an event designed to provide members of the press with the details they need to cover a story but before the embargo is lifted.
Publicity Stunts
A publicity stunt is some kind of action designed explicitly to be ‘news worthy’. It might be a flash mob, it might be some large work of art that you reveal or it might be a mascot appearing somewhere. In short, this is literally a bid for attention, though it should ideally somehow gel with your general mission statement and the message that you want to get across about your brand identity.
Rebrand
If your brand is losing traction, then rebranding can be a great way to draw more attention to it and to help you reinvigorate it. In short, you are going to change your company name and/or logo and maybe even change course somewhat. This is interesting industry news and can get a lot of attention – especially for brands that are surrounded by some element of nostalgia.
Sponsorship
Sponsoring some kind of charity or other organization is a great way to get your logo seen and this will often be worthy of a short story in the papers/magazines/websites relevant to your industry or that charity/organization.
Competition
Competitions are excellent for publicity. Not only do they curry favour with an audience, but they also provide a genuine motivation for people to spread the word about your brand.
