Mavis Amankwah
By Mavis Amankwah
Entrepreneur, PR Guru and Author Mavis Amankwah shares twelve easy PR tips for start ups and businesses.
1. Always make sure your plans are SMART
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Timely
2. Define your primary target audience and constantly promote your brand to them
Pinpoint who your main audiences are, this will assist you to streamline your publicity.
3. Create a PR and publicity plan beyond your imagination
There are various PR strategies and methods available. Remember every piece of publicity must have an end result. So ask yourself, why I am using this particular strategy or method? What do I hope to achieve?
4. Choose different types of media outlets
Establish what media your target audience consume and choose a varied mix of them, this will increase your chances of successfully reaching your target audience.
5. Draft up a social media strategy
Social media enables you to directly interact with your target audience/clients. Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, are increasingly becoming premium tools for promoting businesses and brands. All are free and very easy to use.
6. Create a media contact list
Contact each medium to ascertain the correct person to send press releases to and contact for advertising opportunities. You should update your media list every 6 months. This will ensure you always have up-to-date contact information. Your media list should include all publication circulation figures, website hits and editorial deadlines.
7. Have you got the budget to implement your PR and publicity plan?
How much will it cost your company to carry out your publicity campaign? There is no point in starting a plan that you will be unable to complete due to insufficient funds.
8. Be more innovative to gain publicity
Writing a book, making a short film, participatingin CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) campaigns, mentoring or conducting a specific piece of research are all great ways of creating extra publicity.
9. Have a launch party
A small launch event inviting ‘trade’ press within your industry or associates who may be interested in your business or brand is a good way to raise your profile and build your reputation in your field or sector.
10. Public Speaking
Speaking at specific industry or networking events will give you the opportunity to inform people of your business, brand, products or services. It will also increase your presentation skills, which will be helpful for when you are pitching to clients.
11. Get nominated for an award
Being nominated for an award within your industry is an excellent way to generate free publicity.
12. Always review everything you do
Review and evaluate your PR plan on a regular basis. This will help you to determine your winning strategy - number of products sold, bookings or articles secured, are just a few measures you can use to measure the success of your campaign.
* My book “44 Ways to Grow your Business or Brand” gives you more in depth tips on how to formulate a winning PR strategy. It can be purchased here:
http://mavisamankwah.com/business/44-ways-book/