Now that your business that was once a crazy idea is a reality, you want to tell the world about it. Your website is live, your SEO is in place and you’ve even devised a clever data capture tactic.
So, what’s next? You need mass awareness and you need people to trust your business straight away so they buy from you.
Getting media coverage could be just what you need. Not only will it give you the reach, but it will also get you that all-important third party endorsement that appearing in the press gives you. It’s like word-of-mouth on steroids. You could try buying the attention of the same audience, but an ad doesn’t come with an endorsement.
But how do you get the media to take note of your business? First up you need to think very carefully about what you’re going to tell them.
In the 20 years I’ve worked with brands helping them to get in the press, the one mistake nearly all make is focusing too much on their product.
The harsh truth is the media doesn’t care about your product.
I know it’s hard to hear after you’ve spent so long building your business, but sadly the media really doesn’t care that you’re launching a new app, a new product or a new service.
What a journalist really wants to know is how your product or service solves a problem for the end user. That means before launching into a detailed description of all the product features and how it works, think about how it improves the lives of that journalist’s audience.
If you can explain how your product makes people’s lives better, easier, more streamlined first, you’re far more likely to pique their interest and have them asking more questions.
Nine times out of 10, the founders that come to us when they want to learn how to approach the media are so caught up in the day-to-day, that they’ve forgotten the real reason they created the product in the first place. Our process takes them right back to the beginning, to that ‘aha’ moment that gave them the inspiration to chuck in their day job.
And that’s where you need to start when building your story; it’s the problem your product solves first and product details second. Once you figure out your messaging for the media, it flows through all your communications.
To give you a working example, one of our DIY PR kit users, Baxter Blue, recently launched a fashionable range of non-prescription glasses that filter out the harmful blue light from digital devices. The story here is of course the launch of the glasses, however the more interesting angle is the dangers and symptoms of digital eyestrain.
With the average Australian spending 10 hours a day looking at digital screens, 65 per cent of these people are experiencing digital eyestrain with symptoms such as dry, sore, tired eyes, blurry vision, headaches and poor sleep.
The reason this story appealed was because it’s a real problem that affects many people and Baxter Blue provides an easy solution.
So, if you are thinking about doing your own PR, then remember to start with the problem you solve and use that as a way to introduce your product.
Jocelyne Simpson, Co-Founder, www.idomyownpr.com
