Get the Most “Bang” Out of Your Economic Media Buck: Four Tips for Maximizing Press Coverage
October 3, 2016 | By: Caitlin Teare
When your community receives positive news hits, whether it be a placement in a much sought-after publication or an in-depth story highlighting your key messages, capitalize on the moment and get the most “bang for your public relations investment buck” by following these easy tips for maximizing press coverage:
Post the Story on Your Website
Post the full content of the placement on your community’s website. It’s a simple tip with two significant benefits. With the 24-hour news cycle, today’s news becomes old news and then archived news in the blink of an eye. Hosting the placement on your website will help prevent the story from vanishing into the digital archive ether and allow you to easily access it as needed in the future. Most importantly, it creates a link which will drive traffic to your website each time it’s shared. And remember that not everybody has online subscription access in today’s increasingly “pay-walled” world, so by hosting the story on your website you’re helping them see a story they might not have been able to read otherwise.
Share With Your Social Media Networks
Put power behind your successful story placement by utilizing social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to attract more eyes to it. To most effectively promote your content across various networks, it’s important to know and understand the advantages and nuisances of different platforms. A few general rules to keep in mind when posting to any platform:
- Get visual: Research shows that visual content generates far more engagement on social media than a written post. If there are no visual elements included in the placement, add a relevant photo or video to the post.
- Leverage trends: Identify trending topics and, if applicable, tap into the conversation by including key words and relevant hashtags to posts to further their audience reach.
- Create a call to action: Make a call to action prompting followers to seek out the full placement and/or share the story with their own social networks.
- Hook ‘em with the headline: Craft eye-catching headlines to grab users’ attention and pique their interest to read the full media coverage. Be provocative if need be with headlines like “What does The New York Times think about the state of our economy…click the story to find out!”
Enlist the Help of the Community
Tap further into the power of online, word-of-mouth marketing by creating a digital program designed to regularly engage your community’s most passionate and socially-savvy executives and residents. Once you’ve identified and invited these community members to join the program, share meaningful content and news coverage with your “digital ambassadors” and make it easy for them to socialize on their own various networks.
Re-purpose, Reuse and Repeat
The fundamental rule of any effective message is repetition. Social media is a great start, but to truly get the most bang out of your media buck, utilize all of the communication tools at your disposal. Examples include newsletters and reports to stakeholders, blog posts and re-printed stories or mailers to site selectors highlighting phenomenal coverage.
What strategies are you using to get more mileage out of your community’s media coverage. We’d love to hear your thoughts in a comment below or tweet us @aboutdci.
