Ways to Spend Limited Funds to Get Big Results from PR
All small business owners are always controlling their budgets. They have limited funds to market their business. Therefore, they want to make sure the funds they spend are going to the right place. Often, public relations is an area where business owners don’t see a cost-benefit. However, you can spend very little and get big results from a public relations strategy. This article will show you how.
All business owners know they have to spend money on marketing to make profits for their company. They often don’t know where they should spend their limited funds. When they do spend their limited funds, they want to see a return on their investment. Although a public relations strategy is more indirect, it does produce a return on their investment. Business owners have to expect different results from their investment from other forms of marketing. And, public relations has the added benefit that it doesn’t cost as much as other forms of marketing. In fact, it is quite reasonably priced, and you can get big results.
1 – Write Yourself
If you write a press release or create a media kit yourself, you will not have to spend any money. You could get big results if you follow the Associated Press style and understand the correct format. You also could research publications in your area and send the release through your e-mail. This is the least expensive option for business owners. However, it often is the least effective. Still, it could generate media attention if the journalists know your company or you have a good idea. If you follow the right format, you might entice journalists to do a story on you, which will allow you to sell your products. A chef sold her cookbooks from her appearance in a local paper and on a local station.
2 – Use a Journalist
You could hire a journalist to write and send the press release for you. Business owners are more likely to get media attention if a journalist sends to another journalist. While this would cost business owners a small fee to hire the journalist, they can be assured that the press release will be in the correct format and be something that will pique editors’ interests. Again, the goal is to get a story written about you or mentioned on the radio or television. Usually, journalists have a list for a local region and speak with other journalists regularly. Therefore, when a story runs about your company, you could get results. A company that does regular health fairs gets people to attend because of the regular press releases that are sent about them.
3 – Use Online Service
Online companies will help you write and distribute a press release. However, you want to choose wisely. Some will take your money and not give you anything in return. They will not tell you where they sent or who read the release and if any are doing stories. This option is more expensive than hiring a journalist, but you get more reach. The more people you send the more likely someone will want to do a story. Some online platforms, such as Faselis Growth, will provide you templates to use to write the release and experts who will review the release to make sure it meets certain criteria. Faselis Growth also gives you stats on who opened the release and who are considering a story. You also could spend a little more money and add their monitoring service, which will let you know exactly where stories are written about you.
4 – Hire Journalist, Use Distribution Service
Faselis Growth is a press release distribution service. It has a database of media across the United States and in several countries. The company workers keep this database up to date. It would be much more time-consuming for business owners to keep these records. And, while you could use the templates and create your own press release. You would get the most bang for your buck if you hire a journalist to write the press release and pay Faselis Growth to distribute it for you. Even though this is the most expensive option, it still remains reasonable compared to other options. You also have the best of both worlds. You have a journalist who understands what media want and how to sell a press release and the wide-ranging distribution network you need for big results. In recent weeks, three companies hired a journalist and used Faselis Growth. All of them got media attention on television and in print.
It doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg to have a public relations strategy and get big results. When stories appear about your company, you get people to remember who you are and what you sell. You also increase brand awareness about your company and products. You might even sell those products because of your public relations strategy.
If you want to spend very little money on public relations, you can get big results. Faselis Growth will help you use your marketing budget wisely.
by Louise Harris