One of the best ways to promote a new, revolutionary product or business is to catch the eye of someone influential. It could be a single journalist or even a well-known blogger. If you get the right person, you might get the visibility you need to give your business some much needed media attention. Unfortunately, that’s not as easy as it sounds.
Every day, media personalities, bloggers and journalists are inundated with hundreds, if not thousands of emails asking to publish articles about their products and their news. It’s not easy to stand out amongst all those emails and grab attention of the influencer. But there are some ways you can increase your chances. Just make sure that your story follows the guidelines suggested below:
Is the Story Worthwhile?
Consider whether you might read such a story about another company or product with interest. For example, if your company came up with a smartphone battery that would last 48 hours on full use, that’ll definitely catch the attention of any influencer or journalist. That’s simply because smartphones are a big thing right now and always everyone has one.
Similarly, a smartphone battery is something almost everyone gripes about. Despite the example quoted above, your product or service doesn’t need to be so significant, but it should be tied to a larger need and trend. That would get you noticed faster and perhaps get you the exposure you need.
What’s the Background Story?
Launching a new business or a product might be newsworthy for you, but such things are old new to everyone else. There are just too many competing businesses out there that are vying for attention as well. In fact, you need to compete against 11 year old girls selling unbreakable cryptographic passwords to get your headline.
A unique background story, a show of struggle and perseverance can easily catch attention. Here’s a list of factors that might interest a journalist and blogger:
- Whether it’s too young or too old, doesn’t matter. There’s nothing newsworthy about a 30 year old starting a business, but one started by an 18 year old or an 80 year old is certainly newsworthy.
- Successful business owners with virtually no educational background make for a compelling story about hard work. Similarly, people with high level of education that keep studying are also an inspiring story.
- Social connections. Activities of people connected to high-profile people will always attract curiosity.
Is Your Company Worthwhile
If an influencer or a journalist does intend to write a piece about you and your company, they’re going to research your company first. They’ll look into your social media presence, your online engagement, your customer reviews, your reputation, and your website.
You need to make sure that your online presence is sleek and clean. This means that your website should be well designed and user friendly, your social pages should have relevant and engaging content, and your reputation should be sound. With all of these aspects aren’t in place, the influencer will turn away. You need to design your story with these things in mind to get any attention from influencers and journalists.
