Public relations is an essential component of any company’s growth strategy, including affiliates. Good PR will raise awareness of your business while building trust with your potential customers, increasing the likelihood that they’ll make a purchase with you. And, with a little time and effort, it’s relatively easy to do some of your own.
In its simplest form, PR is about getting other people to say good things about you. Whether these people are bloggers, reporters or influencers in other realms – like social media and web forums – the key to getting them to write or talk about you is building mutually beneficial relationships. Just like in the real world, people help people they know.
When beginning your PR effort, one of the first things to do is research the influencers in your industry. There’s no bigger waste of time than pitching people who either don’t cover your industry or don’t draw the audience you want to target.
Do your homework – use Google News, Google Blog Search and BackType to see who the influential bloggers, reporters, commentators and Tweeters are and create a list of people you want to target.
Less is more here; the more targeted your list, the better. Start with realistic expectations – chances are that USA Today won’t be interested until they see others on the web buzzing about your business.
Once you’ve got your list, start finding ways to provide value to your targets. Comment on their latest story or offer to introduce them to another expert. Be helpful – don’t just sell yourself.
Sooner or later, you’ll start to develop a relationship, and you’ll have much more luck getting their attention when you have news to share.
The next best thing to do is brush up on your writing skills. There are tips on writing good PR content all over the web. Some of my favorite sites include CopyBlogger and TopRankBlog.
Learn what’s really newsworthy (hint: it’s usually not your newest widget). Put your company news in context with what’s happening in the industry and help tell the bigger story.
Be willing to share data and include other companies as examples in your pitch. Not making it all about you will increase the chances of people taking you seriously.
Learn how to write a news release, which can be sent over a newswire or the web, getting you in front of journalists and web searchers while increasing SEO.
Try offering your targets pre-written articles. Bloggers are always on the hunt for more content, and offering them neutral, non self-promotional guest blog posts targeted to their audience is a good way to build relationships while generating good PR.
Finally, sign up for HelpAReporterOut (HARO). This daily newsletter alerts you to reporters looking for sources for their stories. With your newly minted writing skills, pitch yourself as an expert for articles about your industry.
PR isn’t rocket science. It just takes time. Like in affiliate marketing, research, test and optimize for the best results.
Ali Croft is Director of Public Relations at Just Drive Media.
Download the entire FeedFront issue 11 here – http://www.scribd.com/doc/29057000/FeedFront-Magazine-Issue-11
FeedFront issue 11 articles can be found here as well: http://feedfront.com/archives/article00date/2010/07
