A carefully considered marketing strategy can take your business a long way. To draw attention to and create hype around your brand, you need to get the word out. However, getting the media to take notice of your company can be trickier than it sounds. Quite a few people tend to be intimidated by the thought of approaching media professionals to get more exposure for their business name. Thankfully, there are steps you can take to make this process easier.

Here are several ways to optimise your business presence for greater media visibility.

Sell a Story

Nothing attracts the media more than an exciting story. Think of stories relevant to your business that might work for the media. These stories can be recent awards or accomplishments your company has achieved. It can also be a local event your company has participated in. Anything that pertains to how your company is benefiting the local community can be valuable for editors and writers. Once you have a story worth sharing, you can start reaching out to local media outlets to have it published.

Compile a Media List

Generating media attention can be easier when you have a reference list of who to contact. The next step is to make a list of media outlets you want to reach out to. Do not forget about active bloggers or social media influencers as well. The list should incorporate YouTube channels and online publications that are relevant to your industry. In addition, think about your target audience and the media channels they are likely to use. Through constant networking and research, you can develop an extensive contact list that you can reach out to at any time. At OKMG, we have built up our own extensive list of National media contacts throughout Australia which can be leveraged by our clients.

Reaching Out to the Media

Once your list is ready, you can start preparing your event or story. A press release in the form of an email can make things easier for you. Make sure you include your accomplishments in the email as well. Another good idea is to send personalised emails to specific editors. Many editors have a tendency to click on messages or emails containing their name.

Craft Effective Pitches

It’s important to acknowledge that media professionals and journalists receive hundreds of pitches daily. Being able to present your pitch in a way that aligns with the specific topics the media outlet finds newsworthy will significantly improve the chances of your email being read. Aim to craft compelling email subject lines, introduce your company and its achievements and always strive to be succinct when giving details about your company news/event.

Stay Patient and Diligent

Building media awareness of your business is not something that can be done within a short period of time. It’s also not uncommon to face countless rejections during the process. However, with practice and persistence, you will naturally become better at communicating with professionals in the media industry as well as improve your relationship with them. Avoid being too aggressive or appear pushy during your interactions with them. Over time, they will come to trust you and value the content you share. Once media personnel know you are genuine in your interests, they will eventually respond to you more.

Keep at it!

For many businesses, a successful tactic for sustaining awareness involves generating media mentions on a consistent basis. There are many paid systems available that allow business owners to do this, but having an organic method of building media awareness can be valuable as well. Through these steps, you can optimise your business networks and have a better chance of generating media awareness naturally.