Among the best features of earned coverage is that it stays online perpetually because search engines like DuckDuckGo and Google consider it valuable content. Paid media disappears the moment you stop paying the bill.
By Hunter Haley
Do you want to improve your reputation in your industry and among your customers? It doesn’t hurt to offer incredible products and services, but they won’t do anything for your credibility if nobody knows about them.
Paid advertising represents one opportunity to spread your name. You can spend as much money as you’d like to reach as many people as possible. The drawback is that consumers know that you bought the space and dictated its message, which dilutes its sincerity.
Marketing through newsletters, your website and social media enables you to touch customers and talent where and when you want to, but the same asterisk applies. People know you paid directly for it.
Your other opportunity to reach your specific customers and employees is to earn your reputation through public relations – or more specifically – earned media.
You don’t pay newspapers or journalists to cover you. You offer a compelling story in a subject area that the journalist covers. The more closely you align your message with their interests, the more they will consider writing about you.
Identify the journalists most likely to respond to you by researching the material they cover. Find their biographies on the web, read through stories they wrote and follow them on social media until you find a fit. Only then ask them whether they’re interested in your story.
They will often thank you for reaching out to them and making their jobs easier.
Earned media enhances your reputation because it’s written by an unbiased credible source with no stake – money or gifts – in the outcome of your business. Journalists only want genuine stories that add value to the lives of their readers.
Among the best features of earned coverage is that it stays online perpetually because search engines like DuckDuckGo and Google consider it valuable content. Paid media disappears the moment you stop paying the bill. Say you pay for space on a highway billboard. The interest generated by the ad disappears when you take it down.
You and your organization offer incredible products at tremendous value. You’re able to do it through the time-worn principles of following the Golden Rule and always doing the next right thing for your patrons.
Start telling your customers and potential employees your authentic story and build your reputation in the process by earning your media!
Hunter Haley is the Public Relations Manager at DYS Media.