You’ve just landed a fabulous story in the Wall Street Journal, your daily newspaper, or a great segment on your local TV station. GREAT! Now you’re in the news. PR efforts are paying off, and that media coverage can provide powerful benefits of credibility and third-party endorsement for your service or product.
Now, what do you do with it? Add value by merchandising your media coverage and play an active role in building your own brand.
Here’s how:
- Post a link to the news story on your company Web site. Your site should have a “Newsroom” or “In the News” section showcasing media articles, press releases, and other resources. Post the most recent articles at the top, in descending chronological order. Include the name of the media outlet, the spokesperson and a brief sentence summarizing your quote or contribution to the story.
- If you have a company blog, expand on the coverage by adding commentary that may have been cut from the story. Add value to what your customers or potential customers have already read. Expand your reach by working the coverage into your Facebook page, streaming the blog on your LinkedIn profile, posting the news to LinkedIn Groups to which you belong, and/or “tweeting” about it (but don’t forget that successful social media marketing shouldn’t be focused on shameless self-promotion more than about 10 percent of the time).
- Send an email to friends, colleagues, customers and clients…or anyone you think could benefit from and/or simply enjoy the story. Sounds simple but many people often forget about this one. Sometimes it’s hard to talk about yourself in a way that you may think is “bragging.” But if you are doing something noteworthy and a leading publication wrote about it, don’t be afraid to let people know.
Include a simple note: “You may find this article in the Atlanta Business Chronicle – with input from XXX [insert person quoted and name of your company or organization] – of interest.”
Then paste the link to the story in the body of the email. (You can also have a friend or colleague send out the email on your behalf).
- Include reprints (reprinted copies of articles) in your marketing materials that you provide to prospective clients or distribute at conferences and meetings. Check with the publication or media outlet for its rules on obtaining copies. Often the outlets require purchasing reprints from the publisher for a fee. Some will also include an electronic version that can be posted online.
- Include a link and short description about the news story in your organization’s e-newsletters.
Merchandising media coverage also opens the door for a dialogue with your key audiences and provides an opportunity for them to comment on your company’s success. It’s always nice to receive an email from a client, colleague or friend that says, “Thanks for the note. Enjoyed reading the article in BusinessWeek today. Great story!”
Or even better, when a stranger stops you at the supermarket and says, “Hey, I saw you in the paper. I read that your company just opened a branch in Atlanta.” There you go – you’ve just engaged another audience, and in doing so, the value of your brand continues to grow.
As design director at Cookerly, Tim serves as the creative lead in the development of branding campaigns, print collateral and digital media for clients across a broad range of industries, including consumer, professional services, healthcare and technology.
As senior vice president at Cookerly, Mike Rieman specializes in building and maintaining relationships with the media and has an excellent track record of landing significant placements in print and broadcast media including USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Money Magazine.
As vice president of Cookerly, Sheryl Sellaway uses her extensive corporate communications background to lead consumer PR efforts, deliver strategy for marketing programs and share expertise about community initiatives.
As a senior vice president at Cookerly, Matt helps organizations protect and advance their reputations and bottom lines through strategic communications programs. Using creativity, planning and flawless execution, he works with a team to deliver compelling public relations campaigns that produce results and support clients’ business objectives.