Building a good publicity campaign

One of the best marketing techniques you can use is to build a good publicity campaign. Public relations is a large industry for a good reason. These individuals have the media connections businesses need to get news stories run so they can gain more attention for their business. Have you ever noticed when a movie studio is releasing a new film and all the promotions you see about the movie? Not only do you see promotions in print, radio, internet, and television media, you start to see actors show up on talk shows during the week when their new film is being released. This is all part of a publicity campaign where the primary focus is to inspire people to go see this movie on opening weekend so the movie studio can make back their investment, plus some.

Building a good publicity campaign has several steps; let's look at a few of the most important:
1. Contact the news media if you have a new product that you feel will make some headlines. Send them press releases via fax and email; this is the best way to get their attention. If you have some established media connections, make sure you contact them personally to let them know about your new product. You can meet news media members at events and social gatherings through some of your other connections.
2. Establish your company reputation by responding to some of the stories that are run in the media. Write some editorials and send them into the paper and news broadcasting studios. Provide some factual evidence with your editorial. If you can build your reputation on a particular field, news media members will start contacting you the next time they run that story. Even getting your name in the paper as a comment can boost your publicity.
3. Create your own blog and radio show. Start talking to your customers about your particular industry and encourage them to call in or to leave comments. Take the time to actually respond to their questions and comments. This gives you a great opportunity to build your reputation and to gain some free publicity.
4. Send newsletters to members of the news media. This is a wonderful way to keep them up to date with information about your company and changes in the industry. If you have a lot going on, they may just run a news story about your company without receiving a press release.
5. Hold a fundraiser for your company and donate some of the money to charity. Every time a fundraiser is held with a good intention, the media wants to hear about it. They are always on the look for a feel-good story since most of their news stories focus on negative things. Fundraisers are great way to attract multiple members of the news media. If you are lucky, you may even get a local news station to set up a broadcast booth on site and do their news feed from your office for a day.
6. Build an online following through your blog and other sites. Create a profile on several social networking sites and start participating in discussion groups. You can attract a large following this way and it's a wonderful way to gain the attention of the news media. Don't forget to host your own blog so you can continue posting new information on a daily basis.
7. Call into radio shows and suggest they do a story on your particular market segment. This is a great way to land some time on air and possibly get more news channels interested in what you have to say and your company.