How to get free* Press *or, at the very least, low cost press

In this age of social media, the definition of “press” has much evolved.

Going viral on TikTok is now a legitimate business goal as a pathway to gaining publicity.?

Chief Viral Officer

No joke, I recently met a successful entrepreneur who reverse-engineers how to go viral and has a team of 10 on payroll dedicated to this very task.?

I wouldn’t be surprised if Chief Viral Officer becomes a must have for a consumer brand’s C-suite.?

Amid all the social media rage, “traditional” press coverage, such as television, journals, and magazines remain a prominent avenue to awareness.

When it comes to brand building by social media native entrepreneurs, getting free / low cost press coverage certainly isn’t second nature.?

To uncover this process, I sat with former BBDO advertising executive, Partner at her Manhattan based marketing agency Viener & Partners , and founder of Black Paw Memorial Pin — Hilarie Viener.?

You’ll hear from Hilarie in our upcoming podcast. But here’s what I’ve learned so far.

Press 101 for social media natives

To me, it comes down to getting 4 things right:?

1. Elevator pitch?
2. Company fact sheet
3. Media contacts list
4. Media pitch

While this list is short, execution requires finesse.

The elevator pitch?

The elevator pitch is a succinct group of sentences that summarize the business, products, vision, and unique differentiator.?

Whether you are pitching to the media or investors or explaining what you do for a living at a holiday party, the elevator pitch should be packed and ready to go at all times.

Fact sheet

Usually a PDF shared as an attachment, the fact sheet tends to comprise the following sections and range between 5–15 pages:

1. Company Overview: Briefly describe your story, how you got started, and where you want to take your business. As journalists, your recipients would likely dig further into your website and social media profiles. Be sure to include those links.

2. Key Facts and Figures: Include relevant statistics such as customer quotes, where you are based, where your products are made, who your target audience is, your team, etc.

3. Products or Services: Highlight the main offerings of your company and any unique selling points. Include where customers could learn more or purchase these products. If you sell physical products or services that are easily sampled, it always helps if journalists could try it out.

4. Recent Achievements: Showcase any media coverage, your launching press release, awards, partnerships, or other notable accomplishments.?

5. Industry Insights: Provide context of the pet industry and your vertical, including interesting learnings, trends, and possible tailwinds for your business.

6. Leadership Team: Introduce key executives or founders with brief bios. For startups, one of the founders is usually also the media facing spokesperson.

7. Media Contacts: Include contact information for media inquiries, preferably with names and direct email addresses. Unless a consultant, agency, or internal hire leads PR, this tends to be the spokesperson.?

8. Visuals: Incorporate links to high-resolution images, graphics, and videos that represent your company (i.e. logo) and products/services.

Remember to keep the fact sheet concise and engaging, focusing on the most compelling aspects of your business to capture attention.

Another helpful framework to follow while crafting the fact sheet, is the 5W1H — Who What When Where Why How.?

In my PR consulting days at Ogilvy & Mather, I surely relied heavily on this framework when drafting press releases for our clients.

Media list & Outreach

Now that we have our WHAT, which is elevator pitch and fact sheet, it’s time to figure out the WHO to contact our target journalists.??

Other than PR consultants and agencies who have media relationships, today’s businesses are lucky to be able to access journalist contact details online and through software subscriptions.

First, put together a list of magazines, social media news accounts — such as BuzzfeedPets or Pubity on Instagram — and other channels that have the most access to your target audience.?

If you can’t describe your target audience — such as “40 year old pet mom based in LA” — get clarity on this as a “step zero”.

The old-fashioned and most cost effective way, of course, is the “contact us” or “team” sections of your target media outlet’s website or social profile.?

Softwares such as Prowly , Meltwater , Agility PR , and Birdeye provide databases — and in some cases, outreach service — enabling businesses to enjoy benefits similar to hiring a PR agency at reduced cost.

Media pitch

The media pitch essentially aims to convince a journalist to prioritize your story.?

Media outreach, just like any other sales effort, takes time, rejections, and persistence.?

Leverage CRM tools such as Hubspot , Salesforce , or good-old Excel to get your fact sheet and media pitch in front of your target editorial teams — via email and/or phone call.

It helps to review the media outlet’s existing coverage and identify gaps where your angle fits in.?

The good news: It’s a meritocracy.

If you, like me, didn’t study communications or have any media friends, worry not.?

The editorial team often has a subject matter mandate and would prioritize stories that stand out within their verticals of focus.

What truly matters, is finding the right type of journalists who exhibit interest in your angles. Then, providing them with interesting, sufficient materials to tell that story effectively.

Parting tips: Alternative press ideas

Target both pet and non-pet focused media. While pet media is clearly interested in the subject, you may stand out more on a Forbes or any non-domain specific outlets.

Get on Shark Tank .

Pay ~$100 to get the press release you wrote out to a news wire service such as EIN Presswire and Newswire . Getting existing media coverage never hurts and could further signal that your story is worth telling.

Pay for an “advertorial” — a hybrid between an advertisement (typically more expensive) and editorial (free).

Going full circle, we know that viral content is especially interesting to media outlets.?

While virality can never be “guaranteed”, making interesting social media content can be a great and free way to supplement ongoing press outreach.

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