When marketing budgets get smaller, few know to turn to Public Relations campaigns. BizVid Communications is a multiple Diamond award-winner (the highest award in the international credit union industry) for our PR expertise. I’d like to take a moment to offer some tips on ways that the average person without industry know-how can generate great Public Relations campaigns.
There are three components that a small business must embrace to develop good PR:
1. Knowing how to pitch a story idea: The story angle or slant has much to do with the receptivity by your selected media. Your idea must hit a “nerve” with the media, proving that it is timely for their viewership, readership or listenership.
2. Knowing how to craft a story that is both newsworthy and commercially beneficial: Your lead sentence and headline must speak to the heart or the “instant gratification” of the recipient. In times of a soft economy, “leads” that speak of ways to save or stretch money are particularly commanding. Build your stories with a win, win, win mentality. That is, so the consumer wins by receiving invaluable information, the media you’ve pitched for the story wins because of the clear consumer value they’d provided, and you win by product and/or service exposure for an investment small less than with paid advertising.
3. Knowing who to present your idea to: Marshall McLuhan once said that the medium is the message. Often, it pays great dividends to select the “mouthpiece” for your messages. The media choice can speak of the calibre of your product or service. Other times, just getting your message out there is the optimum strategy.
Each of the aforementioned tips are best entrusted to experts. We call ourselves BizVid Communications, because we major in communications of all types. If you have an invaluable message, but a small budget… PR can be an important key. Then, when you combine a solid informational video on your website or send it out in tandem with the story release to support the media coverage… look out, because success is coming your way. Contact BizVid for more helpful tips.
Caz Taylor, co-owner
BizVid Communications