PR Party for 1...
PR- the one left alone at the dance...
When starting out in business there are soooo many things to think about, and so many things it seems you need to invest in. You’ll hook up with branding and marketing experts, an IT guy, an accountant, maybe even a team and before you know it you’ve been on a merry dance and spent thousands. Little old PR is left in the corner, all alone, sometimes with the promise of 'I’ll come back to you', but other times totally invisible.
Often PR gets abandoned at launch stage- thought of as a ‘nice to have’ not a necessity but what opportunities are being missed by leaving PR out in the cold?...Stacks, as what better PR hook do you get than a launch? A chance to tell your story of where you’ve come from, why you’re doing what you’re doing and sharing your mission? This chance doesn’t come around again!
When you've been in business for a little while you can't really use PR to 'launch' without re-inventing yourself, creating a campaign, or taking a different PR slant. Book launches or new arms of the business launching give you a second chance, but your initial launch is such a fantastic PR platform.
So - if you are just setting out in business, or have been trading a few months, but have never really 'launched' your business in the media this is my plea to you - Go grab PR from the corner of the room and get together - I promise it has a lot to give!
So - tips - how do you use PR to promote your launch?
1. Get clear on your story. Make sure you have a concise, structured way of telling your story, explaining where you have come from, how you ended up here and why you are passionate about doing what you are doing. Be clear on your mission and purpose and the need for your services and tie it all together in a media friendly document. You could write this as a mini interview with yourself (Q&A style) or you could create a media bio to act as a synopsis of your personal and professional story
2. Get clear on who needs to know about you. So you're launching a business - who are you looking to serve? Do some research to find out where your ideal clients are and make a list of media to introduce yourself to. If you're working locally local media is powerful, if you're working online you have the whole world to target!
3. Build a media list - a specific list of targeted journalists who write for the sections you can see yourself in. When contacting media it's unlikely the editor is going to be your first port of call - see who writes the business section, or the family section, or the women's section and hunt out their details so you can make a targeted approach.
4. Create content to send to the media. Your launch is a story - yes! Challenge 1 one done -finding a story to use - but remember your story is not all about your business- it is about you. Journos cannot be seen to be promoting commercial organisations for free so unless you are a charity you need to focus your story around you rather than your business. This means telling your back story, focusing on your 'human hooks' and mentioning the business as a bi-product of your passion. Journalists like to receive info in a format that is useful to them so a press release is still the most favoured way of communicating a story to them.
All of this is do-able - it's not rocket science - but it could be a total game changer for your business.
- You could achieve media trust tags within weeks of launch to then use in your marketing material - as seen in...makes you sound pretty credible from day 1
- You are reaching out to a wider audience than your own, probably limited network, thus increasing your impact and visibility from the outset
- You help your audience get to know like and trust you -and sharing your press across your social media gives prospects the chance to fast track the research process
BOOM!! ??
If you'd like to learn more about how to do this and would benefit from a hand help approach check out our Dare to Be Seen Programme opening again this September https://www.chocolatepr.co.uk/dare-to-be-seen-sept-new