Guest post By Janice Beetle
If you want to raise awareness for your business or nonprofit organization, sending press releases to the media on a regular basis is a great idea, and, for some, that can mean monthly or bimonthly while for others, the distribution might be quarterly.
The reason you want to be front and center in the media is so that people see and hear your name in the news over and over and over again and begin to connect you with the product or service you provide.
When you are top of mind in the news—not in ad space—you position yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
Think about the companies you see and hear about repeatedly in the media—not the Fortune 500s, but the small boxers. Your local businesses. When you need a roofer or a lawyer, wouldn’t you automatically think about the one you just read about in the Business section? They might be your first call.
We respect business owners who care enough about their firms to ensure that people are educated and informed about what they do. It’s an indication that the quality of their services would also be good.
It’s a good idea to develop a PR strategy so that your news rolls out over time and is consistent and methodical.
Sometimes, determining the topic of a press release is easy. Perhaps there is a new employee, leadership team member, or board member. Or maybe your organization has received an award for a particular service or program, which gives us the chance to talk about that service or program, who it serves and how it helps the community.
Sometimes we have to dig deeper for a topic for a press release. It’s a good strategy for the organization to hold a live—or, these days, virtual—event or workshop or offer a speaker. Events are a great way to raise awareness, and they give the organization a great reason to talk about itself.
In some releases, you might write about substantive changes a business has experienced over time, perhaps changes that aren’t so obvious. This type of release has been common since the pandemic, as businesses were forced to pivot and reinvent themselves.
Whatever you talk about in the media is key because people don’t know that you are sending the press releases out, and that’s why they are reading about you. People instead think the media has chosen to focus on you; they see editorial content as an endorsement, and that’s far more valuable than paid advertising.
Janice Beetle is a PR strategist and the owner of Beetle Press. She serves leaders of for- and nonprofit organizations in Western Massachusetts and the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, helping them map out content and PR campaigns to raise awareness, boost sales and fundraising efforts, and inspire participation.
Janice Beetle
PR and digital marketing: Beetle Press
Book development and editing: Janice Beetle Books
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