Publicity Ideas You Can Use Now
Copyright: October 2003 Hyperactive Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. This document cannot be duplicated in any form or media without the expressed written consent of Hyperactive Communications Inc. HYPERACTIVE COMMUNICATIONS INC. 75 King Street East, Unit 306 Mississauga, ON L5A 4G5 Tel: 905-273-4724 Fax: 905-273-6219 E-mail: info@hyperactivecommunications.com Web site: www.hyperactivecommunications.com
Free Advertising Comes in Many Forms: 50 Publicity Ideas You Can Use Now Like many companies, one of Hyperactive s clients was spending $50,000 per ad for television-based promotions on one of our local stations here in Toronto area. The ads were generating good sales results for our client, but the company also wanted to develop a certain credibility in their field to generate greater prominence and stand out from the crowd. They wanted publicity. Publicity is part of the broader field of public relations. It helps define what a customer or prospect thinks through a series of appearances in the news media. Unlike advertising, which is a precise form of marketing, publicity gets your company or product on the radar screen of editors or producers with the intent of getting interview opportunities and eventually being featured in a story. It is not an exact science. You cannot book it like an ad to correspond with a product promotion. It is also somewhat unpredictable; there is no guarantee that your story will be picked up - if a war breaks out or a health crisis looms, your story will likely be pushed aside. It is, however, free. And it is available to any size organization. Here are a few ideas that you can incorporate to get free publicity.
1. Do a survey about the changes in your industry, then publish the results. 2. Turn a customer story into a magazine feature by linking it to a current social issue and demonstrating your customer s ROI. Just get their permission first. 3. Run a contest in your local community it could be to name a new product, to identify a product s ingredients, to hire a new CEO, or any other thing that provides broad public interest. 4. Pitch a story about your company s unique office setting (location, structure, etc) 5. Talk about how your company is handling a unique crisis in your industry (ie. Alberta s beef industry or Ontario s SARS crisis) 6. Identify unique use of technology in your organization and tie it to results of your firm. 7. Identify and share a unique marketing approach. 8. Do your employees enjoy unusual benefit packages or flexible work arrangements? 9. Think back to the company s journey to where it is today is there some historical hardship that still affects the company today? 10. Highlight a recent management shift that has significantly benefited your customers.
11. New product development. 12. Create a publicity stunt hire an artist to do a large-size impression of your product or something that creates visual community effect. 13. Announce a new partnership with a complementary firm. 14. Demonstrate the benefits of your product in a customer s site. 15. Win an award. 16. Highlight an achievement with a customer. 17. Speak up on an issue related to your industry. 18. Write an article for your local paper or trade magazine just make sure it s not self-serving. 19. Unique challenges that your business creates for your personal lifestyle. 20. Research about the benefits of your product s ingredients ie. The foundation for your health and beauty products, etc.
21. Tell a story about your firm s success when they grabbed an unforeseen opportunity. 22. Create a series of how-to tips related to your business. 23. Sponsor a local kids sports team. 24. Explain a complex, new technology or scientific product. 25. Prepare a research report 26. Announce a new client win. 27. Do a press release about a new product development 28. New employee hire can be the basis of a story on your company s growth. 29. Invite the local television media to your new office space for a ribbon-cutting. 30. Identify a new buying trend with your customers.
31. Position yourself as an expert in your field. 32. Form a group that specifically relates to your firm s focus area. 33. Suggest a follow-up story to a piece published one year or more ago. 34. Present an award. 35. Give something away your services for free to a local community organization, a large quantity of your product to help the homeless or meet a specific social need. 36. Deliver a standard press release in a different or unusual way ie..with helium balloons attached. Do something different. 37. Write an advice article or column. 38. Send a letter to an editor or journalist when you want to respond to a story you ve seen recently. 39. Make a presentation at your local community group or business association. 40. Hold an open house.
41. Take a poll. 42. Tie your story to a celebrity how have they benefited from your product use? 43. Define your unique position in your industry by suggesting a story highlighting the different types of players in the market space and using your own company as one example. 44. Expose the myths of your industry. 45. Tie your product to a current holiday season. 46. Pitch a story to coincide with a magazine s editorial calendar. 47. Tie your story to a political issue. 48. Treat your product story with a playful angle ie. A CEO support organization could play on privacy issue with a story entitled: CEOs Anonymous 49. Be controversial. Pick a stance on an issue and stick with it. 50. Spotlight on a customer, employee or partner.