The Ultimate Guide to PR for Small Businesses with Purpose
Getting media attention often feels like an impossible aspiration for many small business owners. But armed with the right PR skills, it is more achievable than you might think.
This article is the ultimate guide to PR for small businesses with purpose. I will show you how to become your own PR expert and capture the media’s attention. Above all, how to attract more customers, win more sales, raise your profile and ultimately have a greater impact.
You’ll learn how to get your business in the media, using my tried and tested PR techniques based on 25 years of industry experience. You’ll also get expert tips from my Beginner’s PR for Ethical Entrepreneurs course, which gives you all the inside knowledge you need to boss your own PR!
1. What do you want to achieve?
The first question you need to ask yourself is this: ‘What do I want to achieve?’. Defining your objectives is the first step to creating your own killer PR strategy.
A specific, measurable and realistic goal will help you to craft a fantastic marketing plan.
Do you want to increase sales? Perhaps you’d like to raise awareness of an exciting new product or draw more clients to your consultancy services? You may have several goals but try to hone it down to one particular objective.
This will help you to fine tune your PR strategy. If you bombard the media with too much information, the chances are they will ignore it. Spending time deciding what you want to achieve, will help to avoid your press release being deleted from journalists’ inboxes!
2. What makes you unique?
Figuring out your own Unique Selling Point (USP) can be a real light-up moment. Think about all the things that make you different from your competition. Such as:
· What do you do that’s different to your competition?
· Do you have a special connection with your customers?
· Are you an expert in your field?
· Are your products unique, unusual or innovative in some way?
Decide what makes you stand out from your competition. It will help showcase your business and shine a light on what makes your business special. Be careful not to over exaggerate or make false claims!
3. What makes your customers tick?
Another helpful tip is to think about your product or service from your customers’ point of view. Why should they choose you over your competition? What problem or need does your product or service solve? It’s human nature to want to know ‘what’s in it for me?’.
You may not be conscious of it, but you generally don’t make random purchases for the fun of it. Every transaction, whether it’s booking a back massage or buying a new car, involves making a decision based on what a customer wants or needs. For example, a customer might ask, “Is this app going to help me to sleep better?”, or “Will this hand cream keep my hands soft?”.
Always put your customer at the forefront of your mind when planning your PR strategy!
4. Who is your audience and what media do they love?
Whether you have an existing customer base or you are just starting out, try and identify who your target audience is. Build a profile so you can begin to understand them better — this helps you communicate with them in a way they will value.
Do they hold strong ethical values? If so, how strong? Perhaps they are at the start of their sustainability journey or want a better understanding of community development, and need a certain level of guidance.
Are customers always on the hunt for a bargain? Or do they have healthy bank balances? Are they new mums or teenage gamers?
You may have more than one type of ‘typical customer’, but the important thing is to get to know their wants, needs and desires. That way you will have much better success in trying to reach them.
Once you have identified your main audience, explore what type of media they are most interested in. What newspapers, magazines, websites, blogs, podcasts, TV or radio shows do they engage with? Imagine that you’re a retailer of organic baby food. Research competitor mentions in the media, such as parenting websites, baby magazines, newspaper advertorials or back issues of publications.
Where are your competitors being talked about in the media? Not only will this give you some great ideas of what media platforms to target, it may even show you where the gaps are.
Knowing what media your customers love will allow you to target the right media outlets for your business. There’s no point in targetting fishing magazines when you’re selling an app that helps to educate children. It might be stating the obvious, but you get my point!
5. What makes a newsworthy press release?
Now that you have figured out your USP, who your customers are and how you are going to connect with them, you need to create a story angle or hook to capture the media’s attention. Journalists are busy people and unless your story has a strong angle, it’s unlikely to be published.
So start thinking strategically about your PR.
For example, if there are two other yoga studios in the town where you live but your new yoga studio is the only one with a café where customers can hang out after their class; this gives you a great angle for a local media story.
You could write about the positive impact your yoga studio has had on creating new friendships or tackling loneliness.
6. What makes an effective press release?
A press release is a short, factual and interesting story that editors, journalists and broadcasters can use to feature in their publication or show. Remember that a press release is not an advert and if it reads like an advert (telling everyone how amazing you are and that they should buy from you), it’s unlikely to be taken seriously!
Here are my top tips for writing an effective and newsworthy press release:
· Attention grabbing — give your press release a short, snappy and eye catching title.
· Topical & timely — if the festive season is on its way, use Christmas as your angle. A word of warning — some of the media work months in advance so be ready with your ideas from July onwards (this is the deadline for getting products into Christmas guides for many monthly magazines).
· Newsworthy — if you run a gym, is there a shocking statistic on obesity that you could quote as your angle for why people should attend your gym?
· Relevant — your apple cider is home produced on an organic farm, but you want to reach a mainstream audience; adjust the angle to make it attractive to people who wouldn’t normally buy organic produce.
· Unique — a good news story tells the reader something new or original that they haven’t heard before. Be 100% honest with yourself — if it’s not really new or different, it’s not a strong enough press story (sorry).
· Human interest — people love a good story about other people. Have you or one of your customers done something extraordinary, e.g. overcome a personal tragedy or gone viral on TikTok? You could even get a celebrity or leader in your field to get involved, especially if there is a photo opportunity for the press.
Remember that everything you write must be authentic, specific, true and jargon-free. Keep your sentences clear, concise and compelling and make every word count. Include quotes, facts/ evidence and any useful supporting documents such as high-resolution photographs and background information about your company. It’s your job to make things as easy as possible for journalist, which is part of the job of a PR expert!
7. Promote your business like a pro
Now that you’ve learnt the fundamentals of how to promote your business effectively to the media, you can build on this knowledge and become your own PR expert.
However, if this article has ignited your interest and you want to get the full inside story on how to get your business noticed in the media, then why not join my Beginner’s PR for Ethical Entrepreneurs Course? I’m also a PR coach and can work with you to realise your business aspirations.
As a result of doing my course, students have secured coverage in the national and trade press.
During the course, you will learn pro-level skills that will empower you to raise your profile, establish your reputation and create exciting income-boosting opportunities.
You’ll learn how to find and pitch to journalists, get step-by-step instructions on how to formulate a newsworthy press release and be shown how to research your target media to get good quality, sustained coverage.
The course is available online and can be started at any time.
The course is suitable for business owners who:
· are driven by purpose.
· have no idea where to begin with getting media coverage.
· have secured a little bit of media coverage before, but want to know how PR can be used to grow their business.
To book a coaching session or check out the course, go to: www.elmaglasgowconsulting.com/work-with-me-pr-small-businesses
